Autechre: Relentless Progression in Sound

In 1992, Warp Records released the first in their “Artificial Intelligence” series, which is a compilation album of the same name. Within the compilation, there were several examples of laid back, ambient techno tracks that were not meant for dancing to, but for listening to.

The compilation had some other iconic electronic music artists, such as Aphex Twin under a different pseudonym, but few are as iconic as Autechre. 

What makes Autechre so special, even in their early days, was a relentless devotion to progressing their sound. Even in their formative years, Autechre continued to push their sound into what they found suitable.  

One early example of this was the way they further leaned into ambient territory from their debut album, “Incunabula” to their sophomore album,“Amber.” While “Amber” isn’t fully an ambient album in itself, ambient music definitely holds more influence on the songs than on “Incunabula.” One of the more obvious examples of this is the song “Yulquen,” which focuses a lot on the melody with microscopic-sounding drums throughout.  

While Autechre continued to progress their sound, they have made some stylistic shifts over the years in their discography.  

One notable example was when they were recording their album “Quaristice.” According to their interview with FutureMusic in 2008, Autechre recorded long jams using hardware they utilized primarily for touring and cut it down using software. This was a far cry from the way they recorded their previous album “Untilted,” which utilized more careful and precise drum programming.  

Because of this, Autechre’s music shifted heavy from the sharp, pointed and long songs of “Untilted” to shorter, more loose tracks in “Quaristice.”These tracks ended up being rounder and bouncier, and some tracks were freer to be exclusively ambient. One ambient track from that album was also the opening track, “Altibizz.”  

Since all of the tracks from “Untilted” were largely beat-based with intricate patterns, “Altibizz” was a sort of breath of fresh air from the duo. The pulsing synths almost come in and out of the song in the beginning, and the more hopeful-sounding synths starting in the second half signal a new era for Autechre.  

Their more beat-based tracks on “Quaristice” are quite different, as well. “Steels” is a good example of this, being murkier and more abstract than any beats presented in “Untilted.”  

The songs on “Quaristice” were also largely more concise than “Untilted.” Out of “Quaristice’s” 20 tracks, 17 of them are under five minutes long. These track lengths pale in comparison to “Untilted,” whose tracks are all over five minutes long, apart from one.

That’s all to say, though, that if one prefers Autechre’s longer, jam-oriented sounding tracks, they can still check out “Quaristice (Versions),” a companion album of the sessions from “Quaristice.” These tracks are quite long and leave the album tracks room to breathe and transition from one to another. 

Autechre has further progressed their sound in their later years by experimenting with format. Their output has been getting longer starting in the early 2010s, and they continue that today by focusing on their live performances. 

In 2016, Autechre released their album “elseq 1-5,” which, suggested by its title, had five specific parts within it. Within these parts, Autechre appeared to experiment with how much they can include in a song at a time. In “elseq 2” especially, they seemed to take inspiration from noise music. In the latter half of the 20-seven-minute-long “elyc6 0nset,” they have a harsh static backdrop that melts into the beat introduced earlier into the song.  

This experimentation, while not entirely expected in that way, was hinted at in the chaotic music of their album “Exai,” which has many songs that have bizarre or jerky rhythms, such as “T ess xi” and “irlite (get 0).” 

Starting in 2022, Autechre has been focusing more on their live shows. In an interview with Metal Magazine, they express they aren’t interested in the album format anymore, and they are focusing more on their live performances. 

In short, throughout their career, Autechre has proven they can innovate their sound time and time again, especially later into their career. From different recording techniques to experimenting with form, Autechre has always kept their edge and progressed their sound further than any other electronic musician I know of. 

FutureMusic Interview Transcript: https://aepages.org/wiki/FutureMusic_Interview,_2008 

Metal Magazine Interview: https://metalmagazine.eu/en/post/autechre