A Guide to AUTECHRE

Ever wanted to get into Autechre? Hopefully this guide will help a little! I take a journey through their imposing discography, from their early techno days to the experimental mosaics of their recent work.
Let's discuss these legends in the comments section!
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Link to buy Elseq1-5 and AE_Live - autechre.bleepstores.com
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[@Subzearo]

Autechre the type of lads to make a 70 minute project and call it an EP

[@cometcourse381]

the quadrange EP is 149 minutes lol

[@nodezsh]

And expand their four hour live release into seven hours, and then years later into one day and still call it the same release

[@fl260]

Autechre the type of lads to be even weirder than Tony Ferguson.

[@NB-qr2rt]

EP7 was basically this.

[@kosi684]

Car Seat Headrest

[@deyanstroughair5256]

Sometimes I just watch his videos to increase my vocabulary.

[@musicalman1995]

Watching this channel is like walking into a comforting cafe, being greeted by a warm hug, and have someone talk passionately to me for hours, accompanied by a light English Breakfast on the house.

[@deepcuts]

Best comment I’ve ever received ❤️

[@musicalman1995]

You’re very welcome. Thank you so much for your content. You make music so much more special than it already is.

[@nathanielelmer2190]

from one total autechre obsessive to (clearly) another: you have done an incredibly admirable job explaining their majesty without sounding like a watmm poster lol

[@a.nobodys.nobody]

Watmm poster?

[@makemake9247]

@@a.nobodys.nobody we are the music makers forum user

[@ashercohen8440]

“elseq 1-5 is gargantuan.” *laughs in NTS Sessions*

[@rbdriftin]

A 50 minute deep cuts video talking about my favourite living band... gonna make a coffee and settle into my comfy chair, this'll be great.

[@ayooubxino3090]

rb driftin yees

[@richardroberson2564]

"Rob B" are you Rob Brown 😳😳?

[@DanThibodeau1]

I literally feel like Howard Moon

[@RobertMaxwellMediaCorp]

Timestamps for each LP: 7:39 Incunabula 10:26 Amber 13:09 Tri Repetae 17:44 Chiastic Slide 21:21 LP5 25:57 Confield 29:34 Draft 7.30 32:42 Untilted 34:33 Quaristice 37:51 Oversteps 40:28 Exai 44:18 elseq 1-5

[@robertkottkamp2401]

Thanks dude

[@SamuelPearlman]

Muchas Dankes

[@kingj282]

Legend

[@vogelvogeltje]

@@SamuelPearlman dank u mucho

[@michaellk2254]

Hi Sam

[@coffeedude]

He actually did it! The absolute madman!!

[@Unifono2012]

50 minutes autechre talk. Can't wait to come home!

[@rbdriftin]

While I love all of Autechre's work, I think it's a shame that my favourite record, Amber, has fallen through the cracks and is seen as a misstep by the band themselves. It's not cheesy at all and it has aged really beautifully, sounding just as timeless as SAW 85-92, just as rhythmic and layered as their later work while retaining that emotional depth through its melodies and tones.

[@jonzaremba]

rb driftin agree totally. It was an intentional album, which is why it worked so well for me. Love Amber to death.

[@sdfghghjkl3764]

Autechre have said that they still like Amber, so they probably don't think of it as a "misstep"

[@thehitherto5348]

Amber is easily my favorite by them, and one of my favorite records period.

[@vincentlane1175]

yes Amber is so good!

[@BIadelores]

I don't think they see it as a misstep, I have seen them say that it was made during a time where their creative minds were totally different and that's why they'll probably never make anything like it again. But they don't write off their early stuff or anything, if I'm not mistaken Shaun's (baldy) favorite Ae record is Chiastic Slide.

[@damirplicanic4190]

I don't want to be pathetic, but my first contact with Autechre was Chiastic Slide (CD). War in Bosnia stopped few years ago , but somehow we were able to still get, as we used to call it "Bulgarian rip cds", so we were in touch with music. Ok 1997 my sister send me (thanks Jelena) couple vinyls and CD to my, and she knew I like Rave/Techno/House, and in that package was Chiastic Slide, Selected Ambient Works II, U.F.Orb - The best of Orb (Vinyl was Jeff Mills - Vanishing Act (PM 006) and Jeff Mills - Waveform Transmission vol 3 (Tresor25) ). I went far away... Ok first time I put "original" CD in my relative new CD player, and when those hard hip hop beat started, and then that melancholic melody - everything made sense, so Cipater will always remind me of that moment of sun lights through curtain. Something when you take E or acid (bad example 8-) ) or you get that feeling of connection and that everything has purpose. I still get goosebumps!!! For the rest of album it was nothing I have heard so dysfunctional on bring of falling apart, but somehow all clicks again together (ok later there will be drill'n'bass scene). I was begging my friends to record for them the tape of Chiastic Slide (sorry Warp). Thanks @deep cuts, and I must say, I really like your channel and your passion for music... and all those "A Guide to..." actually presents bands and musician I personally like, and fortunate to have almost all of their discography. I like also cause you mention fantastic AE_Live, that is great record material. One that mutate in your mind and senses If I may suggest next a guide to, cause I see you pick bands/artists that have long carrier span, and they are almost a mainstream, but their contribution to modern culture is enormous... so suggestion is: Sonic Youth or John Cale. or maybe guide to musique Concrete and modern minimalist composers like Philip Glass, John Cage, Xenakis, Stockhauzen, Pierre Shaeffer, Bernard Parmegiani (my favorite tape/avant-garde/music concrete album is De Natura Sonorum), etc... Keep on!!

[@nameswillliveforeverandtha1880]

Fantastic post.

[@fucklchn]

Let me just take this time to say that Chiastic Slide and SAW II are such great albums

[@lotusglobe2671]

@@fucklchn that makes 2 of us. Chiastic Slide is just SOOOO good and their most well balanced album melody wise and rhythm wise that it's my #1 recommendation to anyone new to Autechre.

[@lotusglobe2671]

@@fucklchn likewise I'm the same with Aphex Twin SAW II.

[@Decoy303]

Dude! What a fantastic introduction to electronic music.

[@jaffro1325]

I'm writing an essay on Autechre and their relationship with Max/MSP which is due in on the 9th of April so this is PERFECT TIMING THANK YOU

[@ramonloza3885]

Show us your essay please

[@soukainamelhaoui2237]

Any news on that essay ? Would love to read it now 5 years later

[@chandrastar5939]

Young Rick Astley presents Autechre.

[@neeltheother2342]

But he did run around and desert us for over a year. :(

[@SamuelPearlman]

We just got DeepCuts rolled!

[@shaunhamilton8217]

@@neeltheother2342 And hurt you?

[@neeltheother2342]

@@shaunhamilton8217 But he almost made me cry when he said goodbye.

[@stephenhall2980]

Things that Rick Astley will never do: give you up,let you down,run around,desert you, make you cry,say goodbye,tell a lie,hurt you.

[@ScoutXdude]

Never heard Autechre before, but I typically like all of the artists you talk about, so I thought I might as well try them out. Heard you say Chiastic Slide is the weirdest, and I like weird, so I decided to listen to it first. Really like it; great recommendation, and I hope you keep making vids. Love your stuff and keep it up!

[@alterdings]

your enthusiastic description of elseq 1-5 encouraged me to give that record another listen after a long break. great vid, very well researched and produced

[@mtsairmass1123]

A guide to Venetian Snares would be really fun to see next

[@nameswillliveforeverandtha1880]

Giant Alien Force CD MAXI 3" - fifteen minutes that changed lives. For better or for worse, it's impossible to say. But I will never forget the slam bang on the brizod, if you get my craggy gypsy slang, and if you do, you know that it still sheds little spreadable butter baby.

[@fleaship6134]

Venetian Snares is like Squarepusher on speed, too intense for me.

[@sen-te8oq]

@@fleaship6134 you might like his newer stuff. its a tad more tame, but def not boring

[@rikardschumacher178]

The guy uses the Amen break to the point of tedium. One reason I don't have more of his stuff. Gets a bit dull..

[@Scape452]

Like a few tracks of his but gets old very quickly. Aphex, square pusher and autechre are a lot more interesting IMO. Also love Amon robins projects.

[@coffeecheetoschicken8569]

I just want to let you know Mr.Deepcuts, because of this video I have started listening to Autechre. I’ve been wanting to getting into them but when I tried to, I didn’t know where to start. The final ten mins of “Ska001 Part 3” hit me hard. Got very emotional. I also listened to “Confield” and it was three in the morning and I came home from a long night at work and day at school. That album put me in a head space where I felt free. I was in a different world. That album really makes you feel like you weigh nothing. Absolutely a masterpiece. Thank you for this.

[@wardka]

I first came to Autechre through Amber. Although a little quirky I thought Amber was really just cool downtempo truly old school electronica like Larry Fast or even Tangerine Dream. I had no idea the duo was going to blossom into the mind boggling experimental artists that they soon became. I only have six of their full length albums, Incunabula, Amber, Chiastic Slide, LP5, Cornfield and Oversteps, but I'm an enthusiastic collector and will eventually get them all. My favorite piece is probably Gantz Graf even though I don't have that EP. I love the video. By the way I am 63 years old. I hope that doesn't make AE uncool for anyone. Thank you for this in depth guide. You are very articulate.

[@fleaship6134]

Cornfield 😂

[@1chienandalou]

@@fleaship6134 maybe have some room in your mind for autocorrect? OP, your age doesn’t matter Music connects so many different people - but if if did it’d make cooler

[@1chienandalou]

@Alienart if you see this, for sure get I’d suggest Tri Repetae if you haven’t already and their two 2020 albums :)

[@HAL_NlNETH0USAND]

I can't believe that they didn't want to do Amber. This album is masterpiece after masterpiece.

[@halfalligator6518]

I'm big on BoC, Aphex Twin and a host of other electronic wizards. Strange then that i never really dived into Autechre. Your enthusiasm inspired me... gonna do a deep dive.

[@mayabartolabac]

how was it? my dive into autechre was.. let's just say i don't know how to appreciate any of their music

[@Broformist]

@@mayabartolabac What, not even first few albums? Not even Amber?

[@mayabartolabac]

@@Broformist Throwback to when I didn't get Autechre's music. A month has passed and I do now. My fav albums from them are Untilted, Amber, and Exai. Only Autechre albums I haven't listened to yet are Chiastic Slide, Quaristice, the NTS Sessions, and Sign and Plus. Still trying to process Oversteps and elseq. It's been an awesome musical journey.

[@Broformist]

@@mayabartolabac Right on man, I myself only managed to get into their post Confield phase only about half a year ago thanks to Exai. I've been listening to their 90s stuff for about 20 years though, Amber was my first album of theirs. It's funny how fast the rest of their stuff got unlocked for me after giving Exai few good spins and learning to like most tracks on it. Amber, Exai, Untilted are also in my top favorites of theirs at the moment, along with LP5 , Confield and Elseq. I would like to have Tri Repetae on there as good tracks on it are sooo good, but unfortunately I find some other stuff on there just kind of boring. And in case you didn't check out their EPs - don't miss them. Lots of great stuff there.

[@MichaelJimenez416]

These videos are a fucking event, Oliver! I don't know how you do it.

[@deepcuts]

Thanks mate! They take a long time to make but its worth it

[@AudioPervert1]

it's not really clear why such content (verbiage) is made - but it's clear words fail to encapsulate, least explain electronic music. Not just here, across the dominant culture. This is at best idol worship or call it celebrity cult worship.

[@FregoniFOSK]

@@AudioPervert1 I think you´re absolutely right and do not see any issues with that. Why not idolize the music that shattered peoples view on what music could or should be. 🤷‍♂️

[@yossmister]

This channel is just a constant source of fantastic videos. Great analysis, great artists. Thank you so much for all the content and for expanding my music taste!

[@threedividers]

EP7 was my first experience. I'd never heard anything like it and was immediately fascinated, given that I could barely process the sounds. Of course, it's downright minimal compared to what they're doing now! Maphive 6.1 and Zeiss Contarex are favorites, the former reminding me of a more otherworldly version of Aphex's Nannou (Windowlicker B-side), and the latter sounding like a mysterious broadcast caught between stations, right on the edge of the range of transmission. Its downtempo, sampled, staticky feel fit right into my Portishead-loving ears at the time. Confield was an immediate favorite. It sounded like the mind of an awakening infant AI. The long, bizarre outro of Lentic Catachresis (best Autechre title ever?!?) felt like its first words. There was a frightening, forbidding feel to Parhelic Triangle and Bine, like this newborn entity might not be so friendly. Like EP7, I'd never heard anything like it before and it blew my brain wide open. Draft 7.30 was initially baffling and even frustrating, but now I find it the richer of the two and it was a favorite of mine for a long time. I'm partial to its minute, intricate construction, with every single detail having a conscious, deliberate purpose in the larger composition. Elements that I initially found counter-intuitive and wrong-sounding now carry tremendous emotional weight. For instance, Xylin Room's muffled, almost anechoic feel and oddly disturbing drop-outs felt like mistakes to me at first, but now they seem like an intentional challenge, setting the stage for the sometimes claustrophobic, sometimes expansive weirdness to follow. Surripere promises a semi-ambient chillout, and then zigs into an absurdly tortured alien bassline that refuses to obey expectations of identifiable hook or melody (until the end, at least). As the track becomes more aggressive, it flirts with some powerful grooves but refuses to settle into any of them, finally winding up with a very strange and fractured repeated motif. Its non sequitur transitions took me awhile to digest but now they carry an intense, visceral and hypnotic tension. Even V-Proc didn't immediately grab me! I actually thought of it as an odd concession to the dance floor at the time, flirting with recognizable genre tropes, albeit in a typically distorted and mutated way. My first reaction was that I wished they would just go for it and make a totally unrestrained banger rather than, again, flirting with the idea only to dart away in unexpected directions. But then I noticed something incredible: the heavily compressed bell-roll that comes in before the beat starts to go wonky with seemingly random shifts to the swing setting ... it's actually there much earlier, hiding out, slowly revealing itself measure by measure until it is unveiled in all its aggressive glory. What I thought was gone all too soon was there all along, leading beautifully into the drunken stumbling jerk of the final bars. Generally speaking, Autechre's music has always felt fractal to me in a literal sense, with every time scale from full albums to the intricacies of the sound design of each instrument carrying equal parts structural and textural meaning. That is, there's no filler anywhere, and nothing is done purely for the sake of form. Whether you're playing it in the background and only noticing the large, obvious changes, or you're tuned in and picking up every nuance, each element informs every other and integrates into a complete whole. The distinctions between foreground and background, rhythm and melody, motif and ornament, theme and variation, beat and fill, and instrument and effect are blurred, often to the point where it's impossible to say where one ends and the next begins. Side-chain compression and abruptly changing reverb become rhythmic elements in their own right, repeating in intricate patterns that one can begin to anticipate upon repeated listens, only to hear them break from those patterns moments later. Motifs slowly emerge from the depths, becoming prominent over several minutes, only capturing our attention once they emerge from the swirling frenzy that surrounds them. But once again, upon repeated listens one can pick them out of the mix earlier and earlier in the track, until they become interwoven with the entire composition rather than being a stand-out element designed to punctuate the climax of the piece. But at the moment I'm most taken with their recent works. AE_LIVE and elseq 1-5 are gargantuan epics, worlds unto themselves. It has been utterly fascinating to hear nine distinct versions of the same album (and more, if you track down fan recordings of their other live shows), as though you had simultaneous access to nine alternate realities. (Yes, I used to fantasize about doing this: hearing unreleased or alternate versions of albums that don't exist in this timeline.) Each one has elements recognizable across all the sets, presented in the same order and with similar motifs, but each is a variation, often mutating in unexpected directions. Although all the sets have similar lengths, the sections get shorter and more compressed in later shows, with new elements appearing at the end. This continues further with the American shows-c7b2 from elseq 2 shows up in their Chicago set. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qWqmlWVnadKDgas Even though the motifs are recognizable between different nights, I find it basically impossible to tell what's being generated in the moment and what was decided in advance. The variations seem purposeful enough that I find it difficult to believe they're being created on the fly or at random. But as I said, all the elements blend together so seamlessly that I can't point to anything that seems obviously generative or obviously programmed. Even the familiar, well-conserved elements vary subtly between sets, and sometimes the larger changes make the motifs nearly unrecognizable. I was impressed with them since '99, but I am astounded by how their craft continues to advance year after year. Their sound design is unparalleled. The intricacy and variety in their compositions is staggering. It seems they can take an idea and confine it to a short five minute segment and make it sound totally polished and complete, and then extend the same idea across nearly a half hour and reveal depths and variety that would never have been apparent in the shorter version. It could even be said that they invent whole genres with each album-or even each track-only to abandon them, so eager are they to expand their musical territory. In other words, they're okay, I guess. Just a couple of friends making tunes, messing around with computers. Nothing special, really. It's not as though I listen to them WAY, WAY more than I listen to anyone else, obsessively trying to pick out and memorize every detail. Who would do that? A crazy person, that's who!

[@air9music]

There was this time I had a fever and I was watching the movie Pi. I'd just taken a Calpol for the fever and I had no idea Kalpol Introl was in the movie. I thought I was having an auditory hallucination thanks to my hyperassociative mind. Good times.

[@tongxammo]

Oliver your guides are incredible, I can't tell you how much they have helped me in getting into artists. Thank you so much, keep up the good work.

[@billypilgrim1]

I'm going to put on my North Face parka for this

[@Frightex555]

hahhaa made my day! :)

[@a.nobodys.nobody]

I'm gonna slide into my Canadian Goose 💅

[@Dethmaster64]

Wow you actually reviewed elseq 1-5 unlike a certain melon I know

[@deepcuts]

Wish I could have spent more time talking about it

[@dopplereffeckt675]

Anthony is Ok, but I guess he has a broad audiance to cater too. and lets be honest most people struggle, I mean it took me 5 years to 'get' Confeld. However he was so so so wrong about Tommorow's Harvest.......

[@joko49perez]

Keith Thomas he reviewed Rainbow Mirror anyway, there's no real excuse here.

[@Adrianovaz2007]

He reviewed fucking The Epic which is a pleb overlong jazz for people who don't like jazz record so he has no excuses

[@eac-ox2ly]

The Epic, pleb? Jesus...

[@zacharycoffee6203]

Love the video! The Microphones/ Mount eerie next?

[@_jamieknowles_]

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes

[@ThatOneGuy7550]

And then Boards of Canada and Converge

[@nameswillliveforeverandtha1880]

The Glow Pt. 2 - seminal (ovular?)

[@sunsetman22]

I discovered Autechre's music through Darren Aronofsky's debut feature, Pi (1998), and my life has never been the same again

[@Solifuga]

Oh my god same here found Autechre and Aphex Twin through that movie's soundtrack, in fact it might be responsible for turning me onto music and changing my whole life

[@maximosmagyar9653]

That movie is awesome

[@rikardschumacher178]

@@maximosmagyar9653 Mother was gruesome and lamentably bad.

[@maxis4343]

@@rikardschumacher178 i like the wrestler a lot. i havent gone back to requiem for a dream since the first time i saw it cause it is fuccckkkked.

[@kratzwerk]

I'm a big Ae fan but I'm incredibly impressed how much and detailed you can talk about every single track. Great job

[@mumbojumboderunter501]

Autechre is actually the type of band or music that has opened doors or been to places no one has ever been. I've never heard more complex rhythms, melodies, voices, sounds and a great detail in perfection other than AE. It's almost like their fascination in music lies in trying to make the impossible possible... and every album that gets released goes up a gear.

[@ricjenner1120]

Thank you for all of the effort that went into this- Autechre has such a unique palette of music in their discography but I have always had a difficult time introducing new listeners to their prolific output i.e. where to start, what singles to check out first, etc ... this will be quite helpful.

[@ivanooze8500]

young man, wow you did it and it is a great guide! My first album was untilted and my first reaction was what in the hell is this? but i couldn't stop replaying it and now i have every release they put out there. truely some of the best and craziest music i ever heard and i just can't wait for a new album! probably will pop a bottle of champagne when it happens. sean, rob...pls fantastic channel m8, thumbs up!

[@octopusmime]

Yes! I was so excited to see you've done this guide. Perfect. Thank you!

[@ShivaTheScamDestroyer]

This breakdown of Autechre's music is simply amazing. Subbed. I'll be sharing this.

[@Tiaxi]

I've always wanted to get into Autechre, this video will be a treat. Please consider doing Boards of Canada at some point!

[@HarumashimaLT]

the have loads of unreleased stuff

[@hcaz5818]

I Care Because You Don't! There's plenty by them he could talk about...

[@fleaship6134]

But he won't do it cause he's a lazy prick.

[@richardroberson2564]

@@fleaship6134 bruh

[@archibald-yc5le]

Love the channel! This is so great that there are people on youtube who can talk about Autechre for almost an hour on camera. Thank you so much for that, deep cuts! My way of entering Autechre was purely chronological, so my first studio album was Incunabula. Before Autechre I was quite familiar with Aphex, Orb, FSOL and Boards of Canada and other major and obscure artists, I would listen to loads of ambient techno at the time so I loved the album. Yet this ambient techno was so different from anything I'd heard before. It was layered and really 'clever', I found myself loving everything about the tracks - from rhythms to bass and melody - as you said, 'idiosyncratic beats'. You could hear that AE struggled in that club techno format. Early ae had what rappers might call 'flow' - a nifty and stylish yet very robust articulation and form, every track was like a heavy train moving forward. Then I heard Amber and it was phenomenal. Everything I liked about Incunabula was given so much more depth and imagery, every track evoked a different scenery in my poor head. That 'Foil' opener hit me really hard. I was blown to shreds. A techno that you can study, revisit, rediscover with each new listen, a true 90s recording. After listening most of AE I would say this is my favourite album to date. Then I would greedily listen to any EP they had at the time. I loved Garbage and its crisp and crunchy sound and Anti with its fast sonic repetitionless journeys. After enjoying the sounds of Tri Repetae I came across Chiastic Slide which introduced me to a very new kind of music. At first this 'dance of the machines' repulsed me but then I started hearing so much in it I couldn't stop listening to this album. I never thought I would like something like this in my life. Confield and Draft 7.30 were tough nuts, I made it through and it was worth the effort. Even after listening to EP7 it was hard to instantly like these recordings. It turnet to be one of the finest noise music I've ever heard. Untilted was like a distilled version of Confield for me, loved it as well. I love the dark aura on those recordings. Often times dark ambient(-like) albums are edgy and hard to listen to, they make me go paranoic, make me expect to hear some cheap jumpscare. Autechre's darkness is much more sober, calculated and scientific, makes you want to study it, all its vertices and sides as you submerge in it. I used to think most of the tracks from this period are hysterical and schizophrenic, but now relistening to them I realize I was wrong. I can't agree on your rant about Gantz Graf EP. Well yes, I've listened to it quite a few times but it totally paid off. After a while you can hear a neat melody through these noises in Gantz Graf, it's quite a hysteric and dramatic track actually. And for my money, Cap.IV I think is one of the best pieces of music ae has ever created. Keep up, deep cuts, so glad I found this channel! Love from Russia :)

[@willo7734]

I came to your channel when you did the guide on Swans, one of my favorite bands of all time. That guide was great and your subsequent guides have all been superb. Thanks for turning me on to Autechre, now I love them.

[@louissterlingmusic]

God damn man really appreciate you putting in the work for this

[@MostlyLoveOfMusic]

Cheers for introducing me to Autechre -- I'm gonna listen to that mega playlist tomorrow at work!

[@iTomAnks]

Brilliant video, really enjoying your channel!

[@pandarosamusic5751]

Elseq 1-5 is one of the greatest achievements in music. There is so much beauty all over it. 'Spaces How V' is like a slice of heaven in my ears. I feel like i'm travelling through worlds every moment of it. Another STUNNING video.

[@threedividers]

Had an amazing experience on the highway one night with that playing and no other cars on the road, just me and the streetlamps zooming past. It was transcendent.

[@pandarosamusic5751]

Had the SAME EXPERIENCE!! except I was playing Euro Truck Simulator. 'Spaces How V' can make any experience special.

[@americker]

I have to thank you so much for this video. I'd always been slightly intimidated by Autechre... A band that I knew I *should* like but had no idea where to start and how to ease in. Thanks to this video I've discovered so much mind blowing music this past year and I'm still finding more. As you say, an absolute treasure trove. Thank you.

[@iamtommyok]

really amazing work here. Great analysis and great job trying articulate the emotions of Autechre's music

[@mola55e5]

So awesome to find such an in depth look at Autechre. Been a fan since tri repetae came out. Always loved the way they make sounds you can almost feel physically. Their music has shapes and form.

[@Brettzcassette]

I know I’m late but I want to say how much I appreciate this video. Very good stuff!

[@detectivecox]

Wow I have been actually listening to their whole discography over the last couple of weeks. This is awesome!

[@whatsthisfor519]

Just wanna say, thank you for this guide & all your other ones, they're absolutely amazing. The level of insight you provide into the artists and their records is highly informative and in-depth. A few years ago, I binged on Autechre's whole discography in about a couple of months. While it was amazing and I enjoyed the heck out of it, hearing you talk about these records, I realise there's quite a bit of stuff I missed the first time around. I'd say Confield is my favourite too. Going into it, the only track I'd heard previously was Bine and I was worried the whole album would sound like that, but from the first moment I started listening, something about it just clicked. I find it hard to describe just what makes it so special, but the sounds are so enveloping, it's a very cold but entrancing world in itself. And going back to it recently, I was even more excited that it sounded just as good as, if not better than, the first time I heard it. Sadly, the following Draft 7:30 and Untilted always left me cold, but I'm going back to them too, so hopefully I'll get into them more. That said, I'd have to disagree about EP7, that's always been one of my favourites of theirs, and an important stepping point between LP5 and Confield. Some of the tracks on it sound like nothing else they ever did, especially Maphive 6.1, which is almost a little jazzy with those timpanis, double bass and that piano being gradually manipulated. I also love Zeiss Contarex, a very unsettling piece that seems to exist in a grey, staticky space; I guess it sounds like the camera of its title possessed by an evil spirit. Pir is also one of the most beautiful and poignant pieces they ever did. You're right though, Netlon Sentinel rules. As a little curiosity (at least to me), I noticed that Lowride from their first album actually features a sample from a Gang Starr song (which in itself is a sample of two Ahmad Jamal pieces, I think). And I find it curious because as far as I can think, it's the only time they've directly referenced their influence from hip-hop, and maybe the only time they've referenced another artist directly in their work? Not certain about those, but still. Anyway, I know this is really long-winded and it's unlikely you'll read this, but either way, amazing guide and keep up the fantastic work!

[@BeansBeansBeans]

Back at it again with the stellar videos, Oliver. You're some legend

[@faust3530]

Man I love these videos, your channel is fantastic man. It's sad you don't get more views, but I'm so glad there's someone making videos like this. Thanks for the great work

[@Xyrofen]

Absolutely fantastic video. Can't imagine the amount of work that went into creating this.

[@TheAndrew1987]

i'm listening to the playlist with you speaking over it, it's perfect

[@ESCfromCTRL]

subscribed & thanks for making this. gosh i love autechre so much. i appreciate them in a way i appreciate no other music (not one-dimensionally "more" necessarily, just differently). Confield's probably my favorite release of theirs too (and Uviol is one of their most emotionally evocative tracks to me), but it's all so wonderful and vast and endlessly explorable... aaaaaaaa if anyone that reads this wants someone to talk about autechre with as much as i do, hmu! anyways great video; it's super cool how interpretations of them can be so different (and different on a lot of different levels, not just in terms of the immediate sound). i mean, that goes for everything in some sense, but there's definitely a special kind of ambiguity to autechre, i think. (you said this pretty much too, in a better way probably, but whatever.) what they do, again on a lot of different levels, is just so abstract; i think that may be what i love the most. anyways (again), i'll stop gushing and go back to never commenting on things, but... autechre...

[@tamaskarolyi2106]

Thank you for this guide to ae's music! My first introduction was Chiastic Slide back in spring 1998, and I immediately fell in love with it. After Confield I turned more onto renaissance and baroque music and now I'm returning to Autechre again. Eleq 1-5 is truly a wonder of piece of art.

[@DominicMaitland]

What an epic that was! Their music can be really hard to attach words to but you really nailed it. I remember reading a review of 'Draft 7.30' in The Wire and they described Autechre's music as one that - evolves more between beats than between LPs. I will also have to check out "Chiastic Slide" again, which a friend once lovingly described to me as the sound of a photocopier having a mental breakdown.

[@tarquinnff3]

Excellent overview. I will definitely be recommending this video to anyone curious about Autechre and wanting to dive deeper.

[@UraniumCoffee]

Fantastic job dude! Really happy with this video, keep it up.

[@fourtreemouths]

my favorite release / tracks are always fluctuating with autechre. there’s so much to dig thru and rediscover. cheers, great guide here.

[@quasiotter]

incredible piece, i really connected to the way you describe how music can make you feel! my local library only has exai, so that was my introduction... it took me a couple years of listening on-and-off to really get what's going on... if one could say that. it was the most abstract music i heard then, and was befuddled that this bizarre group could be so popular? think i'm going to listen to each release chronologically on bandcamp slowly, i'm excited!

[@binauralmindmusic-relaxing1509]

An absolutely awesome guide. Also a good introduction to the spectacular music Autechre for beginners.

[@michaelstoodley1959]

Fantastic video and analysis! Thanks for doing this. I love Autechre.

[@Hrdvsion]

My favourites are LP5, Confield, and Gantz Graf. Thanks for making these, very enjoyable!

[@identifiantidentifie397]

I’m Italian and adore listen to « your » English, précise and soothing; thank you.

[@anthonycourtney882]

I was mid way through learning Autechre, when i decided to give Exai a go... On acid... im glad i was prepared for it, saddened that i can never debut it again in that state of mind, an experience i will never forget. Nice guide btw :)

[@Fatherjohn76]

So I’ve always been fascinated by Autechre on paper, but struggled to find an entry point, daunted by their huge discography of cold cerebral aesthetics. I just didn’t really know where to start engaging with it all. This video has been, therefore, extremely helpful. A really engaging and detailed presentation. Good job

[@montekristo643]

which project did you end up checking out first?

[@troileuk]

Funnily enough, this was the video that introduced me to Skam Records and ended up finding some great artists and musical gems in the catalog, definitely worth a listen as some of the artists in my humble opinion are criminally underrated!

[@MichaelOdomwest16thAve]

Drain is an absolute beast track, their remixes are also stupendous.

[@profssrfunk]

Great channel Oliver. I really respect your take on music in general but I particularly like your appreciation for IDM. Cant wait for more of these guides. Would love to see a guide on BoC or daniel lopatin

[@johnkuehne6454]

Your passion for this music is infectious. I wish we could hang and talk abstract electronic music together. LP5 was my intro to the band. Fold4, Wrap5 blew me away... and still does. Thank you.

[@alwayssomewhattired]

This video is so awesome. Thank you man!

[@superiormusic]

Great video as always. Would love to see "A guide to LUSTMORD"

[@jilk22]

Pen Expers IS incredible. Blew my mind the first time I heard it - I love how the heart breaking melody almost clambers out from the beat programming - like they're fighting.

[@threedividers]

I believe they're using heavy side-chain compression so that the beat actually suppresses the synth-it's like the melody has to peek around the beat, filling in the spaces where it's absent. Also I've read that the beat was composed on a minidisc on random! It was the only format at the time that had zero latency between shuffled tracks so you could make each track the length of a measure and then put them seamlessly into any order without using a DAW.

[@timenspacetraveler7964]

OH MY GOD FUCK YES ITS FINALLY HERE love u oliver

[@lodiped]

Thank you. I Remember asking for it a couple years ago. Did not disappoint.

[@Bestevus]

This was great, man. Thanks for making it.

[@KJlegend18]

Listening to some of the artist's music while watching the guide works insanely well. Ya'll should try it. Oh, and thank you for another great video Oliver :D

[@ethanwimsett]

Thanks oliver, been climbing through their discography, jamming oversteps at the mo. Gotta say draft and confeild are my favourites so far.

[@t3hgir]

I'll never forget the first time I listened to Confield. Utterly blown away.

[@IJBiermann]

Really enjoy your videos, in particular these artist guides. Really impressive!! Having been a fan of Autechre's music for more than 20 years (don't know exactly, but probably somewhere around LP5 / Second Bad Vilbel, which has this brilliant Cunningham video) I bought each one of their new CDs instantly (although, sadly enough, I missed the limited edition of Quaristice, so I never heard that apparently excellent CD2, "Versions"), and your comments and thoughts on all of these albums have inspired immensely to listen to dozens of tracks again and with "fresh ears". I am particularly grateful for your comments on "Chiastic Slide", as that was the only one of their albums I don't remember if I actually ever heard it, it was the only Autechre album / EP I didn't own, and so I bought a new copy right away. I guess I simply underestimated it - had thought of it being a rather mediocre album and (mistakenly) as being rather mellow. So thanks a lot for your recommendation, even though it's surely not as "abrasive" and noisy as I did expected it to be - probably because I've been listening to a lot more abrasive and noisy techno and electronic stuff in the last 20 years. I was only a (little) bit sad that you don't like the "EP7", which, tbh, I always considered as a full album, considering it is of the same length as all their (single cd) albums, and I always thought the title was just a joke by Sean and Rob, in regard to the previous album having been titled "LP5" after its release, and to me it always felt like a full album and not at all as another EP (let's keep in mind all their EPs were 3 or 4 tracks - until they started to experiment with the (extended) format starting with the Quaristice and Move of Ten EPs). [They later on titled the 7th (or 8th?) album "Draft 7.30", (after the 5-CD EP collection) which speaks for "EP7" being simply an EP or at least a "small album". But thy might just as well have called it "Draft 7", so I wonder if they felt "EP7" was more than an EP...] Anyway, I think "EP7" is an album, and it has been one of my favourite Ae releases (just think of the otherworldly second track, "ccec", which is a kind of music they've not done anywhere else in their catalogue - and the opening track is almost a pop song within AE parameters, and there's an interesting feeling of minimal music on this whole CD) ... even though most of them are favourites. They're just all so different from each other. Anyway, looking forward to more of your videos, and I join company with the commentators asking for "A Guide To Sonic Youth" (even though I know all their albums, starting with Bad Moon Rising).

[@polygonafx6011]

Do one for Squarepusher next

[@fl260]

Huge fan of your channel already! No choice but to listen to some Autechre afterwards though!

[@magicdave93]

Believe it or not I’ve just got into them and I’m so glad I have, thanks to doing this video! 👍🙂

[@smits98]

This is so wonderful. One of the finest pieces of music criticism on the internet.

[@nikolademitri731]

OH, and congrats on your vid with Fanthony Anthtano, and thanks for the ambient recommendations there. Hope that vid brings you way more exposure, you deserve it! ✌🏼

[@nikolademitri731]

Oliver, you are amazing! I have to admit, of all the discographies you’ve done so far, this is the one I am least familiar with, though I am not unfamiliar with it. It’s mostly the early stuff that I know and love quite well (1993-1999 era), while I’d say I’m somewhat familiar with the most recent (2010-2018) stuff, which I’ve still had yet to completely wrap my head around, and I’m just barely familiar with the 2000s work (I’ve at least listened to every album one time). It’s really those first 3 albums that I love the most, though I quite enjoy the later 90s stuff, and have been slowly warming to the most recent albums as I wrap my head around them. “Amber” is likely my favorite, though only by a hair over “Tri-Repeta”. I guess it’s bc it was the album that started my journey with them, and also my most listened to album. I don’t think it’s cheesy at all, and frankly, I love the 90s sound. I don’t get how this “falls through the cracks” for most Autechre fans, but then I don’t personally know anyone else that likes their music, unfortunately. If what you say it true, that’s pretty ridiculous to me, frankly. I think it’s fucking brilliant, and up there with SAW 85-92 and Music Has The Right To Children. Anyway, I could go on and on about my opinions, but I’ll keep my comments “short” for once. I definitely appreciate your perspective on all of this. This has definitely inspired me to dig back into their albums, especially those albums in the 2000s that you lumped to much praise on, and that I honestly think I’ve only listened to once, maybe twice (not that I didn’t like them, it’s just that I’ve only been listening to these guys for like 3-4 years or so, and haven’t given all of the discography the time it deserves). Thanks as always, mate! ✌🏼

[@gregperez-greene7408]

thats crazy confield, gantz graf, draft 7:30 and untilted is my favorite by far. dont care much for the 90s stuff

[@mattv2099]

Great vid. Theres a few EP im missing that youve convinced me to get. My first album was tri repetae and my fav is draft 7.3

[@robertescher3082]

A group I've been aware of them for some time, but never really gotten a chance to listen to them. Thank you for this, I shall be remedying that mistake presently.

[@RM-lj8bv]

Really enjoyable and informative. Love Autechre.

[@patricklauer4452]

R MCK same

[@maxim-igorpopowycz1548]

Watched this video last night. What a joy to hear another Ae fan talking about their releases. A guide to FSOL would be interesting too!

[@calinpetrescu]

Garbage EP was my entry, and I am hooked ever since. But it all started with your guide. Congratulations and thank you!

[@chrispariseau7139]

Thanks so much for turning me on to this music. I’ve been trying to understand experimental electronic music, but needed a transition from the rave scene of the 90’s (last electronic I was really into, though I like bands who’ve “gone electronic”... since then) and glitchy, experimental stuff. In the middle of Chiastic Slide now. I think I found my bridge. Thanks.

[@primadolce8453]

thank you Olivah hehe. I really like techno rn and this innovative techno from Manchester really peaked my interest. gonna start my journey now. over and out.

[@enneff]

As a longtime Ae fan I really enjoyed this guide. As you say, it's illuminating to hear another fan's take on all the material. Their AE_LIVE release is great for long journeys. Plenty in there to hold your attention.

[@michaelhoskins6579]

I got into Autechre when I saw the LP5 CD in the racks at my local Virgin Megastore in the late 90s. It was the all black plastic edition. I'd heard none of their music at that time, but I bought it on the strength of its case. I remember thinking that any album with a design concept like that had to be worth a listen! I have to agree that Amber has become my favourite Autechre record. It's such a cohesive and satisfying listening experience.

[@jothamjackson4695]

Well done deep cuts this is pretty good

[@mspoetic888]

I've never listened to this band before, but I'm really digging what I've heard from them. Thanks for introducing me to some great music!

[@elenitacampos5414]

mspoetic888 Band

[@songs6155]

yesss thank u wanted to get into them for the longest time but had no idea where to start

[@hellochristhompson]

Damn son. you've outdone yourself here. Already watched this twice to pick up on your favs.

[@forever3797]

Thanks so much for this - I'm 46 and was first introduced to the Garbage E.P when it was first released and for some reason I have not followed up with the rest in the last 25 years - I am now thanks to your vid - much love bro from Brisbane Australia

[@lukec1471]

You should do a hair tutorial...

[@endriu55]

first get a hair cut like this. Then in order to fix your hair like that use a brush to lay them in this direction while you're drying your hair after washing (in his case to the back left side) and add more volume to the front by grabbing your hair with a brush and pointing upwards while drying with very warm air ofcourse. After drying apply your hair product firstly on back and sides you don't want a lot of it in the front because it'll get flat especially if you have fine hair. Comb them (with a comb, not brush) to the back right or left side (whichever side you choosed before). At the end spray it a bit with hair spray. Trust me I have basically the same haircut only on the other side and with widow's peak so I know cause I do it everyday. Oh and the most important, by hair product I mean POMADE, only pomade works for this sort of haircut. Hair gel would only work for like 2 hours and it would pull out your hair because of its stickiness and the fact that it glue your hair together when it dries out.