Intuitive Music

Autechre

Autechre are probably most influential electronica artists from the 90’s. The duo, formed by Rob Brown and Sean Booth, met in Manchester in 1987, amidst a growing British scene influenced by techno, mid´s 80s hip hop and electro sounds.

Influenced by hip hop, indian music, early ambient artists such as Brian Eno, and electro gurus like Mantronix or Bomb Squad, the first work from Autechre saw the light in 1992, on the legendary “Artificial Intelligence” Warp compilation alongside artists like Black Dog and Aphex Twin.

In November 1993, Autechre released their debut album “Incunabula” on Warp label. At this time the duo started concentrating in the live manipulation of the sound sources and using special software to physically change the data live, as explained in Sean’s own words: “Crawl right into the machine and fuck about with it from the inside”. “Incunabula” reached number 1 in the Britsh Indie Charts. At the same time, they’d been DJing on a Manchester pirate radio rig.

Autechre’s music is characterized by bringing a curious contrast between calm melodies and harmonies, sharp and blasting rhythms, complex abstract structures, and digital breakbeats. During this period Autechre pioneered the digital live performing, manipulating the sound with special software to change the sample data live. In 1994, Autechre released “Anti EP”, which was a personal response to the UK government’s Criminal Justice Bill that tried to ban any act of free meeting to enjoy Dance music or any “repetitive beats”. The duo donated all of it’s profits to the charity Liberty and their personal answer to the bill was “Flutter”, a 10 minutes masterpiece of restlessness “non-repetitive beats”. At the end of this year, the duo released their acclaimed second album “Amber”, bringing a curious contrast between calmed melodies and harmonies, and sharp and blasting rhythms.

In 1995, their “Tri Repetae++” album was featured into the Melody Maker Top 50 albums of the year. That same year the duo also released two EPs under the Autechre’s signature and “The Sound Of machines Our Parents Used” under the moniker of Gescom. Also, an EP of that name had been released the previous year on a small independent label, a further release, “Motor”, surfaced at the beginning of 1996 on Germany’s highly respected Source Records, and a minidisc of material is about to see the light of day on Or Records. Whether or not it is actually Autechre still remains a mystery.

The following EP “Anvil Vapre” was the seed of their third album to come, which would be considered by the critic as their masterpiece: “Tri Repetae”. The album was into the Melody Maker Top 50 albums of the year, and, along with Richard D. James (Aphex Twin) were marked as the kings of a style that was labeled as “IDM“.

After this success, the duo embarked on the UK “Tri Repetour”, followed by an USA and a European Tour in 1966. There were still technical limitations to their live performances, but these were self-imposed. The duo were keen to keep their on-stage gear to a bare minimum, relying instead on a bank of pre-programmed loops and their instinct, to push the music in whatever direction they choose by simply selecting from a certain area of a certain loop at the “right” time. Rob described this set-up as “amorphous”.

By this time, Autechre became an unforgettable mark in the 90´s musical history, and most important is the influence that the duo had over a new generation of electronic musicians, techno experimenters and avant-garde artists who were seduced by their instinctive way of treating organic rhythms, industrial and agressive rhythmic sounds, and a deep sense of the harmony and melody.

In February 1997, during their European Tour, their first Autechre’s works in over a year were released: the “Envare” EP, and the “Chiastic Slide” album. The album title purports to refer to the crossfader on a DJ panel or mixing desk, but the Oxford English Dictionary’s definition of “Chiasm” - the intersection of two tracts - cites as an example the two optic nerves of the brain.

The 00’s marked the coming of a harder Autechre’s sound as a consequence of the duo’s experiments in the field digital manipulation for the forthcoming albums “Confield” (2001), “Draft 7.30″ (2003), and “Untitled” (2005).

Autechre have also re-mixed and collaborated with numerous artists suchas Mira Calix, Scorn, Lamb, Merzbow, and Stereolab. Brown and Booth have also worked together under the name of Gescom, releasing the “Mini Disc” album in Touch (1998) and a serie of EPs.