Autechre - Exai...

[Igro]

So what is your opinion about this new album?

I loved Oversteps with its huge sound, but not sure about this one yet.

I like "bladelores" and "spl9" and jatevee C" so far.

[secretkillerofnames]

It's very long.
It's super ravey.
There are some very deep modulations going on.
I think it is a grower.

[Gone soft]

Got the 24-bit wav with mp3 files included package from Bleep.com the other day, which to my delight included FLAC so I downloaded those instead (24-bit wav mainly in case I'd want those later, or if I figured I'd want to analyze the files for some reason...).

First impression from first track (beyond the first five seconds...) was that it sounded dissapointingly familiar. Part of the wonderful experience of listening to most anything Autechre for the first time used to be not knowing quite where they're going to take you this time, I didn't find that so much with this one. Some great and fascinating moments though, just not quite up to previous efforts in my ears - at least on first listen. It may grow on me. And I may have had too high or just somehow the wrong expectations..
On first listen I found some material a bit to Overstepsy, for instance nodezsh. To me that takes a bit away from the beauty of Oversteps as it makes it less unique.
As (most) always there where those "how the f--- did they do that, what am I listening to here?" moments - the wonderful occasional WTF-ness of Autechre.
cloudline made a bit of an impression on first listen, as did bladelores and the last 3 tracks packed quite a punch.

Fragments of initial thoughts there, I found parts of it really grabbed my attention on relistening so It's growing on me allready. And it didn't seem to test my patience quite as much on relistening.

I think it is a grower.

+1

[Igro]

Great little review V-GER.
As for me, seems like those three songs i mentioned earlier are the only i can handle. This is not the album i can listen for months or even for years. Too cold, too digital, too unmusical. IMO. I will give it a few tries more though.

[secretkillerofnames]

http://thewhaleshipglobe.blogspot.com.a ... rp234.html

I think this review covers everything I could possibly say about Exai.

[monas]

i'm thrilled to see there's a new autechre record. from the first listen it seems they are going back to being weird. i like that. i'd love to know more about the creating process here, but i guess it will be kept in the dark as usual with these guys.

the 4x12" looks amazing. unfortunately preorders will be shipped only from the uk, and shipping to germany is 20$. so no mp3s for me for now...

[Deranger604]

I think it sounds great...

[dayjob]

i think it's great. i like some tracks more than others but overall it's a great record. the last 2 tracks are just insanely good. great sound design on the whole album and so well mixed and mastered.

[Volterock]

T ess xi is very tasty & makes me think of a rolled oat skateboard ramp loaf covered in cranberry mustard tricycles.

[blakecasimir]

I've posted about Exai on my blog, suffice to say this is not the follow-up to Oversteps I was expecting, nor is it nearly as enjoyable.

There are few interesting moments, most of it is excessive beat-munchery with little melodic content of worth. But cloudline has some of those quirky and disjointed FM-esque stabs that used to be much more common in Ae's music, T ess xi sounds like it could have fitted on Oversteps with its futuristic chords, and Spl9 is the ONLY moment on the album where it sounds like Sean and Rob want to "rock out". Exai could have done with a lot more of this, and much less "Confield mk 2" + the masturbatory rhythm work of Draft / Untilted.

[Numanoid]

Is it just my perception, or does Autechre these days sound a lot like Morton Subotnick's Buchla powered creations of the 60's?:

[dayjob]

Is it just my perception, or does Autechre these days sound a lot like Morton Subotnick's Buchla powered creations of the 60's?:

i thought the same thing when EP7 came out. if you listen to subotnik's Silver apples of the Moon/the wild bull there are parts of it that remind of EP7 and vice versa... but only vaguely. it's possible to listen to all kinds of things from the past and draw connections to things made more recently.

[dayjob]

I've posted about Exai on my blog, suffice to say this is not the follow-up to Oversteps I was expecting, nor is it nearly as enjoyable.

There are few interesting moments, most of it is excessive beat-munchery with little melodic content of worth. But cloudline has some of those quirky and disjointed FM-esque stabs that used to be much more common in Ae's music, T ess xi sounds like it could have fitted on Oversteps with its futuristic chords, and Spl9 is the ONLY moment on the album where it sounds like Sean and Rob want to "rock out". Exai could have done with a lot more of this, and much less "Confield mk 2" + the masturbatory rhythm work of Draft / Untilted.

[dayjob]

it's a terrible thing to have expectations about what someone else may create. it means almost always being disappointed.

i'm sorry that autechre didn't make an album just for you.

[Igro]

After proper listening all the songs i can say now - set your synth and effects to a random modulation and let your cat walking on your synth notes back and forward. Instant Exai. Interesting, would they ever replicate those modulations LIVE?