Pulsating machine hums combine with off-kilter, faltering drum beats and labyrinthian keyboard figures, and may make one think this is the theme song of some clandestine, sinister, underground cult. But no, it's just the song "Stud" from the techno act Autechre's latest collection, "Tri Repetae."
One may wight ask where such a group come from? As Urb magazine tells it, "the Autechre saga began nine years ago when Sean Booth and Rob Brown met through a mutual friend, bonded by mutual passions for graffiti art and music, [and] a natural sonic partnership formed."
They debuted on Warp Records in 1993 with "Incunnabula" and followed up with two EPs the following year, "Basscadet" and "Anti." However, "it wasn't until the ... beautiful 'Amber' was released to critical acclaim that America was captivated," according to the group's press release.
"Amber" was also released in 1994, marking a departure from the "sinister territory" of "Incunnabula."
After this, Autechre had three releases in 1995, the EPs "Garbage CDs" and "Anvil Vapre" and the full-length "Tri Repetae."
"Tri Repetae" was originally released only in Europe, where it "received instant acclaim from that region's most respected publications ... the revered music magazine The Wire placed 'Tri Repetae' as the best electronic album of the year."
The new "Tri Repetae" is a collection released in the United States last February. In addition to last year's "Tri Repetae" album, it contains a second CD which combines the "Garbage CDs" and "Anvil Vapre" EPs from last year -- all in all, it is two and a half hours of Autechre's last three releases.
On these CDs, the band creates sparse, minimalist sonic soundscapes. As Urb magazine described, "Autechre is careful ... that they don't reveal too much in any one track." Indeed, the songs seem to subtly pervade the listener's consciousness, serving as the brooding undercurrents to possibly dark thoughts.
Still, Autechre take in-depth critical comments in stride. "I'm constantly shocked by peoples' reactions to our music," band member Sean Booth said. "We just write it because we need something decent to listen to."
Autechre's unofficial home page is located at http://www.infinet.com/~eufonix/autechre/ae.html.
The songs usually begin with constant beats and add several layers of scant instrumentation, most of which are very subtle. They only reveal themselves after a few listens.
The beats are widely varied, both rhythmically and texturally, and so too is the instrumentation.
For instance, the bass pulse is crucial on "Dael," "Second Scepe," and especially on the throbbing "Clipper." In the last song, the bass groove does not appear until well into the song, rising up into discreet dominance and directing the tune's flow for its duration.
Strings and horns weave throughout "Eutow," "Dael," "vletrmx.21," and "Rotar."
"Eutow" features a dark, rhythmically-warped string figure which supports the song's fuzzy, distorted bass and propulsive drumbeat. "Dael" employs funky, mellow and bittersweet horn sounds to punctuate the whispered voices and airy keyboard figure.
The use of echo is also important on many songs, including "Overand" and "piobmix19".
On the former, a basic piano figure is repeated to hypnotic effect, alongside high-pitched, triangle-like sounds. The latter centers on spooky, frog-like noises and mysteriously repetitious echoes.
"Tri Repetae" is truly ambient techno music made for listening as well as dancing. The basic beats can usually be grasped right away, but perceiving the disparate instruments and whispered voice-loops on these albums can be truly tricky and requires very close listening.
Once these more subtle elements are heard, the song's grooves become even more propulsive, creating an interweaving, compelling sonic array.
Autechre has recently been touring the U.S. and Canada since March 6, when they appeared in Manchester at The Cage.
