----- Original Message -----
From: "Mr. Erigeomag" <auxopoly@hotmail.com>
To: "Lee Billings" <bill0089@tc.umn.edu>; <idm@hyperreal.org>
Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2001 9:29 PM
Subject: Re: [idm] ae's confield
quoted 9 lines From: "Lee Billings" <bill0089@tc.umn.edu>>
>
>
> >From: "Lee Billings" <bill0089@tc.umn.edu>
> >To: <idm@hyperreal.org>
> >Subject: [idm] ae's confield
> >Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 19:10:05 -0500
> >
> > I feel I may have missed the boat with the majority of the
discussion
quoted 8 lines over Booth and Brown's newest release, but due to the exceedingly harsh> >over Booth and Brown's newest release, but due to the exceedingly harsh
> >criticism Autechre has been receiving over their latest effort something
> >must be said. I find it inconceivable that individuals who purport to
> >enjoy so much of Autechre's backcatalog are failing to find something
> >wondrous and touching within Confield.
>
>
> Inconceivable?? really? it's not that hard to imagine. every musician lays
a
quoted 1 line stinker, some just more frequently than others. have you heard the lp yet?> stinker, some just more frequently than others. have you heard the lp yet?
I've listened to the mp3 versions off Napster, yes. You think I'd write
all this in defense of an album I had yet to hear? I've always considered
myself an Autechre fanatic but that would be pushing my envelope!
quoted 2 lines The complexity of the music defies easy acquisition of a definite> > The complexity of the music defies easy acquisition of a definite
> >initial impression. Even now after years of listening I can pop in
almost
quoted 11 lines any Autechre release and still occasionally find new sounds and> >any Autechre release and still occasionally find new sounds and
> >relationships between layers that I have never noticed before. The
> >subliminal subtleties contained in Autechre's music are where its true
> >power lies, and are what most of the recent naysayers are totally
> > >overlooking.
>
>
> A piece of turd is extremely complex too, made from compressed
> micro-compounds of waste and dregs expelled from the body's convolution of
> intestines ...but at first glace it looks...shitty. you can find beauty in
> anything if you look deep enough and have a willing mind. i'm of the
belief
quoted 2 lines that music should return more (positive) energy than is put into the> that music should return more (positive) energy than is put into the
> listening part (if the musician is to be considered artistically
competant).
quoted 2 lines there might be some subtlities i'm overlooking now, but where's the intial> there might be some subtlities i'm overlooking now, but where's the intial
> draw?? give me SOMEthing to keep me coming back, and then i'll study it
more
quoted 2 lines closely and hopefully be rewarded with new dimensions of fullfillment.> closely and hopefully be rewarded with new dimensions of fullfillment.
> that's the trick!
You make an excellent point here, and I must give you props on your
vivid scatological description. :) I think most people on this list would
agree with me that Autechre's music is by and large becoming progressively
more "difficult" with each release, in that the hooks that bring one back
time and again are becoming more and more subtle. The trouble many people
are having with Confield could be that the hooks aren't immediately apparent
due to their subtlety, and they slip under the radar. A prime example that
comes to mind is track 5, Parhelic Triangle. The first time I heard it the
only thing that leapt out at me was the apparent monotony of the whole
track, a loop of distorted sounds over distant clanging. The second listen
was much richer: I heard what seemed to be two categories of sounds in the
dominant loop operating in a kind of counterpoint to each other, and I could
trace the development of the clanging from simple backing tones to the
full-blown sounds of bells back to tones again at the end, carrying on quite
a nice melody. The third listen lead to further distinctions, and I noticed
the absences of sound (especially static) that actually give this song
GROOVE! A plodding, slow groove, but a groove none the less. I noticed how
the bells at times follow the pattern of the dominant loop (which makes me
wonder if they aren't more intimately connected), and I heard faint
piano-like notes interwoven with the sounds of cawing crows. And I still
feel I've only scratched the surface. Maybe some people can pick out all
those details at first blush, but I'm definitely not one of them. I think
someone not enjoying Confield should take time off from listening to it
precisely because the hooks in many of the songs are practically subliminal.
Given time they have a better chance of sinking in and effecting one's
perception of the music.
Confield, more than any Autechre release before it, is almost like an
auditory "Magic Eye" picture... At times you need to unfocus to bring out
the overall structure.
-unit
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