Post by Pinch on Jun 2, 2019 8:16:26 GMT
The last time I did this I chose something that had been released relatively recently, and in which recorded instruments and melodic elements were fairly prominent. Much of the music that I enjoy does not fit the latter description, but I figured there'd be little point in nominating an album of unmelodious electronic music. All the same, the pick didn't go down especially well, so this time I figured I may as well eschew my prior instincts and nominate an album of unmelodious electronic music! 
This pick was also inspired by recent discussion around core albums and musical milestones.
This is the fifth album from British duo autechre (pronounced: aw-tek-er).
If you told me that for the rest of my life I could only listen to music from one artist, I'd have a hard job to pick anyone over autechre.
I started listening to electronic music in the late 90s. For the first couple of years I was only really drawn to stuff with a very obvious melodic component. This reflects the fact that my listening up to that point had more or less been confined to songs, and music structured around obvious hooks and melodies. In turn, the way that I listened to music was still primarily a process latching onto and enjoying melodies. This changed when I discovered autechre, and I credit their music with teaching me how to listen in a different way. Their music is not easy to describe - there's something alien about it, and no other artist makes anything like it. Each of their albums has a distinctive sound, and explores a unique set of musical ideas. Their most recent album - last year's NTS Sessions - is eight hours long.
This album - released in 1998 - captures them at something of a turning point, between their first few albums, in which melodies were still dominant, and their next set of albums, in which the focus shifted onto rhythm. For the most part the tracks are built around the repetition of dense rhythmic motifs, which alter a little which each repetition, with the effect that the tracks gradually morph from one thing to another - each track is a process. But buried under the rhythms there are a lot of strong melodic elements, some of which are really beautiful ('Rae' and 'Drane2', for example). This might not seem very obvious at first - at first pass it might all seem like a messy repetitive cacophony! But the melodic elements begin to emerge more prominently once you start to properly parse the rhythmic structures. It's album that really rewards repeated listening, and I still notice new things with every play. Though the music does sound alien, it's also very emotive, with numerous beautiful moments. It's also album that's best enjoyed as single continuous experience.
If you're not at all used to this kind of music, I would actually recommend giving it a few plays in the background whilst doing something else, and getting a little familiar with the sound before then engaging with it more attentively.
I'm not expecting this to go down very well, but I'll be pleased that people are trying it, even if it's not at all their cup of tea.
Here are links to some reviews:
Review 1
Review 2
And wikipedia entry on autechre: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autechre
As with last time, no numerical poll - they baffle me.
This pick was also inspired by recent discussion around core albums and musical milestones.This is the fifth album from British duo autechre (pronounced: aw-tek-er).
If you told me that for the rest of my life I could only listen to music from one artist, I'd have a hard job to pick anyone over autechre.
I started listening to electronic music in the late 90s. For the first couple of years I was only really drawn to stuff with a very obvious melodic component. This reflects the fact that my listening up to that point had more or less been confined to songs, and music structured around obvious hooks and melodies. In turn, the way that I listened to music was still primarily a process latching onto and enjoying melodies. This changed when I discovered autechre, and I credit their music with teaching me how to listen in a different way. Their music is not easy to describe - there's something alien about it, and no other artist makes anything like it. Each of their albums has a distinctive sound, and explores a unique set of musical ideas. Their most recent album - last year's NTS Sessions - is eight hours long.
This album - released in 1998 - captures them at something of a turning point, between their first few albums, in which melodies were still dominant, and their next set of albums, in which the focus shifted onto rhythm. For the most part the tracks are built around the repetition of dense rhythmic motifs, which alter a little which each repetition, with the effect that the tracks gradually morph from one thing to another - each track is a process. But buried under the rhythms there are a lot of strong melodic elements, some of which are really beautiful ('Rae' and 'Drane2', for example). This might not seem very obvious at first - at first pass it might all seem like a messy repetitive cacophony! But the melodic elements begin to emerge more prominently once you start to properly parse the rhythmic structures. It's album that really rewards repeated listening, and I still notice new things with every play. Though the music does sound alien, it's also very emotive, with numerous beautiful moments. It's also album that's best enjoyed as single continuous experience.
If you're not at all used to this kind of music, I would actually recommend giving it a few plays in the background whilst doing something else, and getting a little familiar with the sound before then engaging with it more attentively.
I'm not expecting this to go down very well, but I'll be pleased that people are trying it, even if it's not at all their cup of tea.
Here are links to some reviews:
Review 1
Review 2
And wikipedia entry on autechre: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autechre
As with last time, no numerical poll - they baffle me.
