Reniform POLLs -- Autechre :: Draft 7.30 :: LP7

<3 this album

Previous: POLLhelic Triangle -- Autechre :: Confield :: LP6

There wasn't an associated EP for Draft (right?), so no EP poll this week.

xp challopsy!

Surripere, i think

So this, and the next one are gonna be the toughest to vote for since I can't quite remember which tracks are which. Much more conceptual in their vision than any of the former.

Think I'll vote V-Proc though as I remember a successful attempt at mashing it together with "Who Said Funk Bands Can't Play Rock?" by Parliament/Funkadelic.

I thought that this one was my personal nadir, but listening to it again in preparation for this poll, it wasn't as agonizing as I feared. Not to say I liked it, but I had thought it was literally unlistenable, so when it wasn't that harsh, I was pleasantly surprised. (I'm still feeling that way about Untilted.)

Before my re-listen, I'd have voted for "Surripere," easily, because at least part of it has everything I want from a recent-era Autechre track (beautiful, grayscale melody, pristine production, microscopic beat details) before it goes for the metallic, high-frequency generative wankery, which I obviously could do without (still, if I think about it enough, that half of the song has some nice breaks on it).

"Reniform Puls" (i.e. kidney beans!) though stands out for me now, with the '00-style flat, squishy beats, the weird melodies like a babby computer cooing.

Oh, and I do wish that "Theme of Sudden Roundabout" was entitled "Prince Moth Mothy Moth Moth" instead.

need 2 hear this

having heard 'confield' and then 'arch carrier' but also 'gantz graf' and bits of 'untilted', I know which way I'd rather go from it

will get round to the earlier stuff after persuasion/sb

arch carrier and gantz are both great

i find autechre a little too dark/granular/introspective/contrapuntal (kinda) to listen to them a lot these days

i guess an autechre playlist i could play most days would be something like

r ess
see-on-see
cap iv
corc
drane2
milk dx
altichyre
eutow

I found Arch Carrier to be a bit dull and Gantz Graf to be completely superb, ban me

rly wanna hear Cap.iv, youtube it is. I shall presently fall asleep to it. Goodnight

(but are all of those on YT? if so I will trawl (when I wake))

man, lj is going to be crazy intense tomorrow

V-Proc is such a great song. I think even the people who really dislike this album should at least like that one.

will check that one out. i remember loathing this whole record and my unhappy re-acquaintance with confield doesn't suggest that i would feel any different now.

Well this is (slightly) interesting. I only revisited this album a few months ago and it still sounded like I always thought it did - arid and barren. It seemed that although they weren't exactly going in reverse, no longer were they breaking new and interesting ground. The comparisons people have mentioned with Confield I thought especially baffling, as the depths and spaces and textures that eventually revealed themselves in that album just seemed entirely absent here, even after many listens.

But now, suddenly, I can hear that lineage. It still doesn't seem quite as dimensional and layered, but I can hear similarities in texture, and especially in the overall general approach. I'd still rank this album at or near the bottom, but, somehow, it has regained some stature in my estimation - I had completely written it off but now I can see myself revisiting it once more.

V-Proc is the populist choice here for sure. An upfront banger with some great cavernous echoes.

There wasn't an associated EP for Draft (right?), so no EP poll this week.

no peel session polls? (i had figured that out already, but curious as to why.)

yeah, where's the cavity job poll? 8)

am listening to these again as you poll them, or nearly. and they aren't as unpleasant as i remember them. maybe the world has caught up, or my listening habits have.

the mark of a quality band is one where none of their fans can truly agree on their best work

this one is the one I listened to the most of all of them -- a cassette of this album + grantz graf + ISS:SA + 'Microphone Fiend + Blifil' from Coachella just kept getting played. 'confield' was the furthest out on the trajectory, but in so many ways it was even more satisfying to hear them reintegrate earlier influences into their new sounds & structures

that being said; perhaps I just wore this one out, but these days when I do return to this period, 'confield' is the one that's more interesting, but for top notch weird city driving, I clocked the most hours on this one and really felt it as a peak

& I'm always going to wonder re: 'Surripere' if it's a direct reference to Richard Pinhas' 'Iceland: Part 3'. It's a basic enough drone those two tracks are working themselves out on, but I love the idea of those two guys checking out my favorite Pinhas album and thinking 'let's do this again with an 808 kick'

I can't stand this album. It's like Confield sans atmosphere. Uptight, formless, unlistenable.

That said, I'm listening again.

I've listened to this one a bunch as well and never got anything out of it. gonna spin it again.

There wasn't an associated EP for Draft (right?), so no EP poll this week.

no peel session polls? (i had figured that out already, but curious as to why.)

― e.g. delegates at a set age (ledge), Monday, November 29, 2010 4:28 AM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah, where's the cavity job poll? 8)

No Peelies because those aren't "official" EPs (i.e. they don't factor into the EP numbering, if they had, EP7 would be EP8).

I am laughing, at the Cavity Job jibe, on the inside.

I've always avoided this due to comments from others. So far I've listened twice and the only standouts are "Surripere" and "Reniform Puls", which are gorgeous — the rest is monochromatic, uncharacteristic, unimagistic, non-dynamic — IOW, boring.

ha, and already on a third listen the other tracks are sounding more distinct.

Been hitting this hard in the past 24 hrs. The opener is great and sticks in the mind but the rest are slippery like a fish.

btw I love how all these threads have resulted in a nifty kind of book club for ae albums.

Just noticing — is the mellotron sound in Reniform sampled from a Tangerine Dream track? It sounds like something from Zeit.

> No Peelies because those aren't "official" EPs (i.e. they don't factor into the EP numbering, if they had, EP7 would be EP8).

can we do them after? they are some of my favourites.

plus, i don't think there are any more eps, are there? wikipedia is full of wrong and lists the two hafler trio releases and the quadrange remixes and move of ten...

Move of Ten is an EP according to the catalogue number. But Quaristice.Quadrange.ep.ae is an EP according to the name, an LP according to the number :/

also, POLL Sessions -- Autechre :: Peel Sessions 1 :: EPb

Quardrange also a bit of a platypus as it was digital only...

Been listening along with the polls too and I'm honestly baffled, really baffled, at peeps who think this is unlistenable or a mess.

1 caveat is that I don't really get into (or like) the "sound pictures" approach to AE's (or most anybody's) music, which is partially why these later albums with their crunchy, rich but abstract textures appeal the most. But seriously, the sheer pleasurableness of the sound of this thing, its envelopingness, its rumbling dubby bass clouds and tickly clicks and bleeps and thrumming, massaging midranges...it reminds me more of NWW or Merzbow or somebody who likes you to FEEL THAT NOISE, but it's prettier and more luxurious than most of anything.

yeah agreed

so, I listened to this earlier today and actually dug it! cranked it and the crunchy beat-driven stuff sounded great at high volumes. "61e.CR" and "V-Proc" in particular but "Surripere" and "Theme of Sudden Roundabout" work of each other pretty well too.

xxp funny you mention say that 'cause I was just thinking Gantz Graf is much more enjoyable once you have Merzbow in mind.

mobb deep hell on earth followed by draft 7:30 is a good listening combo btw

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

2nd half of 6IE.CR is gorgeous.. the album feels so inconsistent (2nd half of it), yet it's my favorite of theirs.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

relistening now and still love this

can't remember if i voted in this.. guess not since i probly would've gone reniform. kind of odd to me that this is made out to be the most maligned... thought that would be untilted. draft isn't one of their top albums in retrospect, but i listened to it a lot, from the promo cassette rip (which reinforced milton re: integrating old influences i think) to the actual cd release. 6ie, v-proc, and p.:ntil all have sick beats imo. xylin and suriepere also good, rest are basically throwaways outside of the album context

POLL Radii -- Autechre :: Untilted :: LP8

& I'm always going to wonder re: 'Surripere' if it's a direct reference to Richard Pinhas' 'Iceland: Part 3'. It's a basic enough drone those two tracks are working themselves out on, but I love the idea of those two guys checking out my favorite Pinhas album and thinking 'let's do this again with an 808 kick'

Listening to Iceland for the first time, and I can sort of here the ambient drone of "Part 3" in "Surripere," but isn't the beat copped from "Part 2" as well?

I'd like to hear this album REALLY loud on massive speakers in a huge room.

Xylin Room makes me think of being in the quarters of a huge creaking pirate ship.

Whereas most Ae albums make me think of futuristic stuff, this album sounds old, ancient. It sounds like the soundtrack to a saga or sea voyage to me.

surripiere reminds me an old spanish galleon capsizing off the galapagos while the dashing galician captain is effing the living daylights out of a cabin boy below decks

"IV VV IV VV VIII" is the music that's playing in the head of a giant turtle as she gnaws on the bloated corpses of the sailors

man, lj is going to be crazy intense tomorrow

― rouxymuzak (nakhchivan), Sunday, 28 November 2010 19:38 (1 week ago)

Cap.IV was unfuckingbelievable btw - absolutely wondrous music

Am now listening to Draft 7.30 crtsy of utube and so far so excellent - didn't Autechre say they were going to be making music more organically and less programmatically after Confield? Certainly feels that way to me.

ok how the blazing fuck cd people hate this album, it's a christ-goddamn work of wonder

2nd half of 6IE.CR is gorgeous

― Palpatean Mists (Lowell N. Behold'n), Saturday, 4 December 2010 22:24 (1 week ago)

yes

surripere randomly came on today when I was driving just as I was entering a fairly long tunnel. That was perfect.

could only have been better if the tunnel started collapsing towards the end.

this is a motherfucking motherfucking all-time work of genius, and it's becoming even more so with each second it graces my headphones

how did this happen. how was this allowed to happen

Must admit I sometimes wonder if Ae really are 8 years ahead of their time. I swear albums like Draft fit waaaay better into today's musical context than back in '03.

I found Arch Carrier to be a bit dull and Gantz Graf to be completely superb, ban me

rly wanna hear Cap.iv, youtube it is. I shall presently fall asleep to it. Goodnight

(but are all of those on YT? if so I will trawl (when I wake))

― underrated aeroflot disasters i have wikisearched (acoleuthic), Sunday, November 28, 2010 7:32 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

man, lj is going to be crazy intense tomorrow

― rouxymuzak (nakhchivan), Sunday, November 28, 2010 7:38 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Rank Anything You Feel Like Ranking

id probably rate oversteps just after draft (their sunniest and darkest respectively)

still unsure abt quaristice which is a total outlier

Quaristice's inconsistency is what i like about it. Prolly my fave, followed by untilted, draft, and amber.

There are some annoying-ass (stilted) rhythms on draft... but some beautiful moments. Reniform Puls starts off dope, turns into shit.

Oversteps is by far my fave of their post-Confield material

Appreciating Untilted more these days. Tangibly solid & heavy. Meaty. Also funky.

yeah, untilted might be my favorite popst-confield as well. 'iera' is the track that's really been doing it for me lately.

Did we ever poll all the winners from all the various Autechre polls? I'd like to make a playlist.

this is ilx, you'd imagine so

Cannae find a link cap'n!

i find this album very difficult. i guess a lot of people do. rewarding, but difficult. "xylin room" obviously a banger. "surripere" obv an 11 minute trip through the electromagnetic field, it's sick. love the way the beats disintegrate from a funky wholes into fragments rubbing against each other. but i still can't quite... figure it out

"IV VV IV VV VIII" is the music that's playing in the head of a giant turtle as she gnaws on the bloated corpses of the sailors

― every clint has a silva lining (nakhchivan), Saturday, December 11, 2010 6:40 AM (nine years ago) bookmarkflaglink

this strikes me as correct

https://i.imgur.com/pQ1BMBB.png

"61e.CR" really goes also

^my favourite autechre song

also how dare they have a normal song title on this particular album

but it isn't actually normal lol

sudden roundabout is my *father*'s name!

their recent releases have had more real words in them but not once have they remotely risked making linear sense

it's pornographic for there to be any clarity at all in the sea of text that is an autechre tracklisting

'north spiral! yesss'

'but wait -'

https://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/2028/rochdale-clearly-not-in-bloom-at-sudden-roundabout

holy fuck :o

actually i take it back, this record is less difficult than i implied, i think "iv vv iv vv viii" just throws me, my brain can't wrap around what it's doing

perhaps its working title of 'prince moth mothy moth moth' will reveal its secrets

Still think of this as sparse, sonically and conceptually. time for another relisten i guess.

Also, reniform puls(e): kidney bean.

Anyone else seeing these revived polls pop up and getting hyped for LP14?

def need a new new lp thread

"xylin room" obviously a banger

i can't see this as a banger, where are the bangs? feels more like a confield texture piece, except the pieces on confield go places with furious intent and this kind of wanders around lost in a wood. which could be a good thing idk. should i try and find the bangs or appreciate the lost in a wood vibe, or is life too short for either of those.

iv vv etc, still lost in the wood, getting angry and beating up some trees.

6ie.cr: making a log cabin

much of this album has woody, knotted feel for me. It's all creaky floorboards and complicated pulley systems

i can't see this as a banger, where are the bangs?

new board description

i can't see this as a banger, where are the bangs?

the pattern that opens the track and rules it for most of its runtime... knocks

george_michael_bluth_with_woodblock.gif

i find it hard to imagine loving Untilted but not being as into Draft7.30 - they feel something of a pair to me.

hmmm not sure i agree. inasmuch as confield, draft, and untilted should be def grouped together, sure. but the beats on untilted are considerably more linear (as much as you can say that about anything autechre produced in this period), whereas for the first half of draft it's mostly morphing aquatic lifeforms

Untitled really threw me at first in that it's so beat driven and there was very little in the way of tonal sounds. it's grown on me loads since of course. B-boy breaks for impossible robots in a gigantic stadium

But then something like V-Proc is very breaksy. you're right that the start of Draft is all about implacable ebb and flow though

I listened to this again after Brad said he had trouble with it. I think I do prefer it slightly over Untilted, but they make a nice pair:

Untilted's beats are hard, bouncy and metallic. It makes me think of that old Amiga game Speedball in that it sounds like a futuristic spectator sport set in an enormous stadium. By comparison the beats on Draft7.30 are crunchy, wooden and brackish. I've always felt like there's a slight maritime theme on this one - especially the first few tracks which make me feel like I'm in the hold of an old wooden ship, the textures propelled by the ebbing of waves, the creaking of floorboards and ropes being pulled tight, the wind blowing everything along in gusts. There's something really interesting about the quality of the beats they've used on this one comapred to the gigantic pinball machine of Untilted.

This is the Autechre album that has risen the furthest (and slowest) in my estimation. It's taken 20 years but I unequivocally love it

please don't tell me this record is TWENTY YEARS old, it's part of the "new Ae" for me.
noting for the record that "xylin room" as a title is a nod to the wooden sources they used for a lot of the sounds on the album.