Amber is actually pretty unique, there is/was a lot of stuff around that sounds like Incunabula (Black Dog indeed), and again a lot of IDM that sounds like the later stuff, but Amber (and largely, Tri Repetae) hits a sweet spot in between that hasn't really been imitated that much.
― Siegbran, Friday, 4 May 2018 16:41 (six years ago) link
Garbage has the best melody ever in ae history
― Main man (Ross), Friday, 4 May 2018 16:42 (six years ago) link
While I get that Autechre have long since moved away from this album artistically, I still think very highly of this record and still enjoy the hell out of it. While I'm listening to it, I don't think "meh, this is old shit and it sucks that it's not more like Exai", I enjoy it for what it is. It's where their heads were at at the time and they did a great job of it.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Friday, 4 May 2018 16:43 (six years ago) link
Otm
― Main man (Ross), Friday, 4 May 2018 16:44 (six years ago) link
i actually have a lot of work to do today but how many youtubes would it take to convince people amber is not unique among its contemporaries in 1994 ambient electronica
― the late great, Friday, 4 May 2018 16:49 (six years ago) link
years back, somebody on ILX talked about this album - https://www.discogs.com/Phthalocyanine-Navy-Warship/release/11956 , by Pthalocyanine.. it's pretty singular-sounding, though it def shares some qualities with Ae's music.
― braunld (Lowell N. Behold'n), Friday, 4 May 2018 16:50 (six years ago) link
Lowell is a quality poster imo
― Main man (Ross), Friday, 4 May 2018 16:50 (six years ago) link
idk did another group release an album called amber under the name autechre
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Friday, 4 May 2018 16:51 (six years ago) link
*Phthalocyanine
― braunld (Lowell N. Behold'n), Friday, 4 May 2018 16:52 (six years ago) link
the goal was not to show that somebody released the exact same album but to show that autechre was not particularly "advanced"
― the late great, Friday, 4 May 2018 16:52 (six years ago) link
Fwiw, I don't care about advanced. What impressed me most about this period of Ae was how overwhelmingly emotional something like Yulquen or garbage or bronchsvnmx or GoSheep could be.
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Friday, 4 May 2018 17:07 (six years ago) link
The Beatles made records that were more advanced than Please Please Me but I still enjoy that album for what it is, and it makes very little difference in 2018 as to how Please Please Me compared to more advanced music being made in 1963.
It's a similar deal for me with Amber. I don't give a shiny shite how "advanced" or "unadvanced" it is in comparison to other electronica albums put out in the same year - it's not relevant because everyone knows Autechre went onto make more "advanced" records and the fact that people still enjoy listening to Amber as well as appreciating it as an artistic stepping stone for Autechre basically justifies its existence.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Friday, 4 May 2018 17:08 (six years ago) link
xp yeah i agree that that's what they're good at
i would not agree that autechre went on to make more "advanced" records
― the late great, Friday, 4 May 2018 17:09 (six years ago) link
This surfaced several years ago, and it's great. https://youtu.be/7uTUnTGb15c - Autechre - Kalpol Introl (Live) 1994 (apologies, OT)
― braunld (Lowell N. Behold'n), Friday, 4 May 2018 17:15 (six years ago) link
I don't know man, I was pretty heavily into all this stuff back in 1994 and Amber immediately stood out amongst the likes of Joey Beltram, FSOL, Luke Slater, FAX etc - much more than Incunabula which fit right in there.
Whether or not they went on to go more "advanced" is a bit of a misnomer anyway - "abrasive" yes, with new plugins yes.
― Siegbran, Friday, 4 May 2018 17:16 (six years ago) link
I was also pretty heavily into this stuff in 1994
here's a joey beltram track from the same year as amber that i think sounds more like amber and less like incunabula
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6v6BVkRYMQ
― the late great, Friday, 4 May 2018 17:18 (six years ago) link
Idm it’s for the intelligent.
― That’s All Folks... (Ross), Friday, 4 May 2018 17:30 (six years ago) link
those ones aren't so bad. take out the "mx" and the numbers (which correspond to the % of the EP they take up) and you have a fairly normal tracklisting..."Garbage", "PIOB", "Bronchus Seven", and "VLetr"
And "Bronchus 7" refers to the seventh mix of "Bronchus," and in fact, I know of 3 other "Bronchus" mixes that've been released, which means of course we'll need to poll them.
― Twyla Thwoorp (Leee), Friday, 4 May 2018 18:21 (six years ago) link
― Siegbran, Friday, May 4, 2018 10:16 AM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
i agree with this but i don't know how to broach without incurring the wrath of all the autechre fanboyz here
― brimstead, Friday, 4 May 2018 20:31 (six years ago) link
if youre looking for more early autechre type stuff, the late 90s/early 00s saw a TON of copyists.. check the Merck label for example... or like the first Arovane album?
― brimstead, Friday, 4 May 2018 20:34 (six years ago) link
I think I get where Vahid is coming from on this. If you take a synchronic slice of "electronic music" at any given point in time in the nineties then Autechre seem to be "on trend" more than out on their own. I don't think this is actually more true of Amber than the later material, it's just that Amber (and certainly Incunabula) can be more easily situated within a 'scene', whereas by Tri Repetae what had been ambient techno was going in a bunch of different directions - but that doesn't mean the latter album doesn't basically sound like the beat construction of Orbital's "Sad But True" crossed with the sound of LFO circa "Tied Up" and the mood of FSOL's ISDN.
None of which is to detract from how great an album Tri Repetae is - as with Amber, part of its greatness stems from how Autechre were exploring so many possible directions in tandem with a lot of different producers and carving out their own distinct sound within what was a dense field of innovation and cross-pollination.
― Tim F, Friday, 4 May 2018 23:54 (six years ago) link
Fwiw, I can remember back in the dark days of ilx starting a thread that was "tearjerking techno" top 100 or some such. And started off with Microlovr and Dexter and then people started posting things that were not techno and were "tearjerking" because they had sad lyrics, which wasn't my intention for the thread at all. My intention was to think about very emotional techno (without lyrics/vocals) and I remember the late great getting annoyed about that. I was too, actually. It's quite tangential but I do think that Ae in this stage were making sometimes "tearjerking techno" and I still yearn for more of that. Maybe that's what tlg is getting at. I think, maybe it is.
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Saturday, 5 May 2018 01:57 (six years ago) link
It's what I still yearn for. I wouldn't find it with the current iteration of Ae though.
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Saturday, 5 May 2018 01:59 (six years ago) link
Not that I want to project what tlg is getting at
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Saturday, 5 May 2018 02:03 (six years ago) link
garbage is supremely sad
― you bet, nancy (map), Saturday, 5 May 2018 02:05 (six years ago) link
It is.
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Saturday, 5 May 2018 02:07 (six years ago) link
latentcall from elseq gives me a similar feeling and has jerked a tear or two from me.
― you bet, nancy (map), Saturday, 5 May 2018 02:12 (six years ago) link
it's so crazy to think it's been 24 years since amber. that's equivalent to 1974-1998!
― you bet, nancy (map), Saturday, 5 May 2018 02:13 (six years ago) link
― Tim F, Friday, May 4, 2018 4:54 PM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
tim otm
it’s not necessarily that i think autechre were “advanced” at this point in their career as much as amber as a whole accesses a v specific mood for me. it’s definitely connected to other contemporaneous dance music but it’s special via the particular approach
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Saturday, 5 May 2018 02:16 (six years ago) link
This was my favorite AE album and in some ways probably still is. These days the old FM patches grate a little and I wonder why nobody else points out that a lot of the tracks don’t “go” anywhere but that’s probably more about how I’ve changed and not about this record.
― El Tomboto, Saturday, 5 May 2018 02:36 (six years ago) link
going places is overrated
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Saturday, 5 May 2018 02:39 (six years ago) link
Also how come someone on this thread is asking for other IDM albums from this time frame that sound like this and nobody said B12
― El Tomboto, Saturday, 5 May 2018 02:40 (six years ago) link
“Nine” is basically straight off Time Tourist ffs
― El Tomboto, Saturday, 5 May 2018 02:41 (six years ago) link
true but i didn’t bring it up because time tourist was two years after amber
― the late great, Saturday, 5 May 2018 03:11 (six years ago) link
i’m listening to rihanna needed me at the taco shop and it sounds like she’s singing over autechre
if you want a straightfaced recommendation for “sounds just like amber” it’s not going to be 100% easy because they nicely carved out a niche for themselves - there’s a lot of darker ambient electro from the era that dhares the atmospheres and synths but not the beats, there’s plenty of stuff with the intricate beats but the atmospherics are different (b12 would fit here). the closest i can think of is higher intelligence agency but that doesn’t have the steel grey aesthetic ... so yeah, reiterating my sense that the most special thing about autechre is their manipulation of mood and atmosphere
― the late great, Saturday, 5 May 2018 03:22 (six years ago) link
dhares = has
torta fingers
― the late great, Saturday, 5 May 2018 03:23 (six years ago) link
if you want a straightfaced recommendation for “sounds just like amber” it’s not going to be 100% easy because they nicely carved out a niche for themselves
hm sounds pretty advanced
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Saturday, 5 May 2018 03:29 (six years ago) link
it wasn't so much new plugins as it was gradually moving to max/msp and an object-oriented programming approach to composition though, right? at least that's how i always think of their transition from more conventionally arranged music of the amber era to their amoebic morphing (but always readily identifiable as autechre) recent music.
― obviously DLC (Karl Malone), Saturday, 5 May 2018 03:30 (six years ago) link
I haven't heard torta fingers fwiw but I trust you.
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Saturday, 5 May 2018 03:31 (six years ago) link
ah yes i forgot that these two guys making syncopated industrial with delay units are such an important totem that bringing up other artists not named Richard is just silly I mean why bother
― El Tomboto, Saturday, 5 May 2018 03:32 (six years ago) link
dhares = has Was a banger tho.
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Saturday, 5 May 2018 03:33 (six years ago) link
The niche was carved in Tri Repetae / Garbage / Anvil Vapre - Amber is not as special for its time as some people are making it out to be
― El Tomboto, Saturday, 5 May 2018 03:36 (six years ago) link
i don’t really think we’re making it out to be special
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Saturday, 5 May 2018 03:37 (six years ago) link
unless oh damn, these dudes aren’t special!!!
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Saturday, 5 May 2018 03:38 (six years ago) link
tlg just paused mid-sandwich to explain how nothing else sounds like this record
― El Tomboto, Saturday, 5 May 2018 03:39 (six years ago) link
jeez dude take a chill pill
you’re a special and valuable person, whether or not the music you like is
― the late great, Saturday, 5 May 2018 03:40 (six years ago) link
that is not tlg’s point at all
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Saturday, 5 May 2018 03:40 (six years ago) link
tombot u mean richard h kirk right?
i’m just confused about why we have to spend so much time determining why autechre is not special especially during this record
i’d be totally fine with talking about contemporaneous work if it wasn’t framed with this bullshit
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Saturday, 5 May 2018 03:41 (six years ago) link
I always thought their remix of Tortoise was an odd match. They never remixed or worked with NIN, did they? That's surprising, all things considered.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 9 March 2021 19:29 (three years ago) link
YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO @ the madonna combo
― flappy bird, Thursday, 25 March 2021 07:55 (three years ago) link
Heh, yeah always makes me laugh. It was a genuine double take on my part - the Madonna album was out on a shelf one day and in the corner of my eye I thought I saw Amber. Some of the detailing and how they may have up is uncanny
― Party With A Jagger Ban (dog latin), Thursday, 25 March 2021 08:08 (three years ago) link
https://www.stonesthrow.com/app/uploads/2020/06/beauty-and-the-beast-1024x518.jpg
Just read that was a thing
― maf you one two (maffew12), Saturday, 27 March 2021 10:15 (three years ago) link
I dreamt that there was a suite of videos for the whole album that somehow I'd never discovered - drone flybys of landscapes like the one on the cover, manipulated with 2d and 3d digital effects, fitting the music perfectly and talking it to another level (though I think in the dream the music was actually my own subconscious creation!)
― ledge, Wednesday, 22 September 2021 07:55 (three years ago) link
Feel like I need a full-library Autechre session soon, it's been a while since I've listened to any of their albums which is stupid because they are perfect for losing myself in sandbox video game worlds and late night hacking
― Sorry, but that is how I feel (Ste), Wednesday, 22 September 2021 09:44 (three years ago) link