Autechre’s Latest Album – Quaristice
If you know Autechre already, it would save a lot of trouble. If you don’t, then you must take a listen. Autechre, the British electronic music duo comprising Rob Brown and Sean Booth, is bread-and-butter IDM, a stalwart of the musical subculture that uses the studio as its instrument. To understand Autechre, I would recommend first listening to their tome, Tri Repetae (1995). When a friend gave me the utterly nondescript 2-disc set for my birthday (I believe in 2001), I was stunned by the sonic beauty inside. I had never heard anything like it before (even though I later realized that I had heard them in Darren Aronofsky’s film “Pi”). Many albums later, the lasting impression I have of Autechre might be akin to crushing, then wringing out, an empty Coke can and turning the sounds into the elements of the edgiest, coolest electronic symphony.
Autechre’s latest album, Quaristice, deserves comparison to Tri Repetae, because its lush harmonies and captivating movements are nearly as accessible to new listeners as the more dance-able tracks found on that earlier work. On Quaristice you can find the familiar spirit of electronica which makes you stare into space pondering the nature of a particular sound and compels you simultaneously to the point of bodily movement. That, in short, is IDM (Intelligent Dance Music).
Like many of their Warp cohorts, Mr. Brown and Mr. Booth started out as DJ’s. Making mix tapes on cassettes, they gradually mutated their works to carry the stamp of what came to be known as Autechre. With a tweakhead ethic and a resourcefulness that valued any piece of gear they could get their hands on, the two methodically created music that continues to inspire. Seemingly random beats supporting deep and gritty soundscapes are punctuated occasionally by a warm, grinding synth lead. Sampled voices or other objects appear throughout their work but not enough to fully reveal what they are. On EP7 (1999), the rhythm section in “Pir” sounds oddly like a sample of a car door being opened and closed.
Interestingly, Mr. Brown and Mr. Booth have claimed that they do not really know how to write music. But perhaps Autechre’s contribution is that they illuminate the fundamentals of music, that is, anything that has a tone or other sonic quality may be used as the building block for music. In this way, there is no difference between a key struck on the piano and a sample of an object mangled to sound like a note. And while Autechre’s accessibility has not always been consistent, their body of work might just reflect the varied paths one might take if one had free reign to influence a generation of electronic musicians, which is exactly what they have done.
Autechre’s ninth album Quaristice was released in March.
