From noze Sent Fri, Dec 4th 1998, 07:47
Autechre Autechre (Nothing/Warp) Sheffield, England's Sean Booth and Rob Brown, a.k.a. Autechre, have achieved what many boys who work the outer limits of electro land have failed to do. Autechre make music that's freaky as all hell, yet as warm and wooly as grandma's old smelly socks. Their musical currency is similar to that of their U.K. brethren: the mashing, caustic rhythms and cooing melodies of early Aphex Twin, the organic grandeur of fellow Warp label-mates Plaid, the surreal sliminess of Germany's Mouse on Mars. But more so than any of these worthy techno trendsetters, Autechre couple childlike sensibilities with more formal, if incredibly skewed, structures. Minimal melodies glide overhead, odd meters dart to and fro, classical allusions abound, and those rhythms! Like hungry ants teaming over a rotting watermelon, the beats undulate, squish and bend, vying for survival as wave after rhythmic wave washes in. The second line New Orleans groove of "Acroyear2" is decorated with carnival-like, music box melodies, a constant theme in the Autechre sound arsenal. As mock steel drums rattle and toy organs echo, a subtle melody rises from the din. Such is the system in much of Autechre's work. Like matching Kraftwerk (on 45rpm) with Bach's Goldberg Variations, surfaces are never as they appear, manic merry-go-rounds of texture revealing playfully eloquent designs. "Rae" contains what resembles a conventional marching band beat, offset by drooping, liquified ambience; "Vase In" dissembles a jumble of squealing arachnid sounds into a dissolving sonic stream of stereo panning and outer space reverberations; "Fold 4, Wrap 5" is like a band of drunken geezers marching over hills, splashing and spilling as the song's tempo speeds up, then slows down. If you don't listen closely, Autechre's muse may sound like a pile of rumbling rubbish. But unlike most techno-lite, or much of today's drum and bass, where originality is a non-starter, Autechre continues to push the boundaries of electronica. The question is, can you handle it? -- Ken Micallef ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]