Autechre- rew(1)

Since first hearing Tri Repetae, Autechre have held a special place in my heart and position in my top 10 favourites. I have followed them on their various tangents, some of which I have liked more than others, but all of which have been interesting, inspiring and exciting.

I bought Oversteps online, in blind faith, and found that each listen would reveal another side of it, and be quite a different experience. Sometimes it seemed a bit jazz-with complex harmony and rhythms, sometimes it seemed a bit noodly and random, and sometimes it seemed to work perfectly as sonic architecture.

However considering it in the context of their previous work, I did feel that Oversteps was in many ways an appropriate title.

The live show that accompanied this release in Melbourne was perplexing. In pitch darkness, all but the flickering on stage of a few LED's, a massive wall of sound descended- constantly busy, erratic beats, as though randomly generated, met with ambiences and more typical Autechre sounds, with an odd assortment of stylistic influences that seemed to emerge throughout the set [DnB, glitch, even 90's rave].

I read a review a while back where someone described it as being a room full of nodding heads desperately trying to find the one.. Quite a few people that I knew who attended grumbled about the show, and I must admit to wishing that there were more moments of spaciousness and groove and wanted to know what the hell they were doing on stage, though I quite enjoyed it.

Move of Ten [also released in 2010] seems to be the album that I was expecting- progressive yet true to form, experimental yet intricately arranged, dynamic with a range of sonic contours.. and it grooves and ticks all my boxes. Enjoy this track entitled rew(1).