Autechre - "Incunabula" - One of my all-time favorites and what it means to me.

I talk about perhaps my favorite entry in Warp Records' Artificial Intelligence series: Autechre's "Incunabula".
• Autechre - Bike
• Autechre - 444

[@Horizontedesucesos_]

I heard about Autechre many years ago, but never could enter into their world until 2020 when Sign came up. That was like discovering a new universe. I still have a bunch of albums in between LP5 and Quaristice to listen to for the first time (probably their more difficult albums from what I've read). I love NTS, Elseq and their recent live sets. Truly otherwordly music. But those first three albums are pure joy and despite listening to them for the first time only a couple of years ago, I can feel the spirit of those years in the music. As if false memories of me at 13 years old listening to Incunabula mixes with real memories from those years. Never happened that to me before with other music.

[@ChristopherLeeRiley]

I didn't discover them until 96 via MTVs AMP late night electronic video show. They played the video for Second Bad Vilbel. When I went out to purchase it I had no idea what album it was from but I saw that it was on the 2nd CD of the US release of Tri Repetae++ so I bought that. To my surprise the main album CD was a treasure of sound. Clipper, Eutow...etc. Anyways I started seeking out more Autechre on CDs because I did not have a turn table at the time. Over the next few years I found Amber, Garbage EP and the best... Incunabula. It was a great time for music and hearing stuff I had never heard before. I was 20-21 when I was finding this stuff and was starting college soon for graphic design when it was switching from hand made to computers and this music was just perfect for that time period. It seemed like the future was here and everything was possible. I also loved the inclusion of Kalpol Introl on the Pi Soundtrack. Another great album from that time. Great review of this warm fuzzy album that brings all kinds of nostalgia for me.

[@RasMix1]

Autechre has always done a good job redefining what music can be, and on their own terms.

[@pietrods4819]

Totally agree! Being there when it came out, mind blowing sound and musicality like no other....

[@djdustie]

A lush album. My entry point to this was via the original (Artificial Intelligence) album where I loved "Crystel" + "The Egg". "Eggshell" was an amazing re-working and I still play the album regularly. I love "Amber" more though.

[@onixm6365]

I say Autechre the same way as you. Sounds the best and natural for me. I myself am a huge classic Warp fan. For me, it was Amber. That was my first Autechre album purchase. I bought it after reading a review of the album on Rolling Stone magazine. Black Dog Spanner, Aphex Twin Selected Ambient Works 2, and The Orb's Orbus Terrarum were reviewed on that same magazine. Bought all those albums on the strength of those reviews. Autechre and Black Dog were the only artists I didn't know at the time.

[@Freddie_Dunning-Kruger_Jr.]

Have not listened to 'Cavity Job' in like 20 years 🤯

[@shmackatrotsky5394]

Tri Repetae was my introduction to Autechre, in about 1997, I think. It was a transcendent moment in my life, and I quickly went out and bought Incunabula, and popped it in my car CD player, and that friggin CD never left that player for like an entire year (I drove around a lot at that time). I still listen to Incunabula regularly to this day, and still hear new things in it, after hundreds of listens. DEFINITELY a desert island album!!! As an aside--this ae live show from Vienna in 1996 is legendary stuff: kzbin.info/www/bejne/poTRnHinl9N7nqc

[@occasionalfeelgood23]

Nice, thanks for sharing this!

[@Horizontedesucesos_]

that version of Eutow is killer

[@ianfermor6682]

My favourite of their albums. although I can’t really say that because I kind of gave up on Ae after Amber. Like later RDJ it was just noise to me.That era of Warp is special to me too. The Bass Cadet box set is great! I saw Ae play live in London, along with Locust (epic!) and some others (it was too long ago!) it was a great show. I never actually bought AI 1, but got the second comp, which is not quite as seminal, but still great.

[@acidhouse3308]

Hi , I agree completely with everything you said about Incunabula. I have all of Autechres albums and a lot of their singles but my favourite release by them is definitely Incunabula. Their first three albums are all classics but Incunabula is the desert island disc. That album is both cold and metallic and yet warm and melodic. I know this will sound really cheesy but Incunabula has real soul. It never dates and even today sounds more imaginative and forward thinking than the majority of electronic music being produced. When i got the album i always thought is Incunabula a made up word or does it mean anything. Turns out it means all books written before the year 1501. Autechre are the only artist that inspired me too open a dictionary. Thanks from England.

[@occasionalfeelgood23]

Agreed, it's their soul album. I feel that way about their first three albums and all of their singles from that period, but definitely "incunabula". I like their recent stuff, but it does grate on my nerves -- the whole "machines taking over" type of sound.

[@eelponna3145]

I feel EXACTLY the same way about Ae’s music - those first three albums in particular are my fave listens. And the various ep’s surrounding them (the eps were almost full length listens in themselves). Why did they stop releasing eps? Anyway, great sounds. Would love to see your Ae collection someday (even though I know you hate showing records). Not to say that I don’t like or respect their mid and later period abstract stuff btw. It’s just that, for me, those 90’s melodic sounds are more sentimental in terms of relationships and experiences I received at that time. Listening to this stuff for the first time and pre-internet blew my mind back then. It’s hard to explain it but I felt like I was the only person on earth listening to this stuff at that time. It was also a challenge to get on a bus or a train to the big cities in 92-95 and hunt out indie record shops for this music. It was a real achievement to discover and purchase something this great and get it home to listen to it. All my friends were into other types of music. I had indie and metal head mates - but this period Ae even reached out to them and they would say the music had beauty and was unlike anything they’d heard before. Some of them still listen to early Warp to this day so I think I did my part spreading the knowledge! I felt like I’d discovered the future when listening to Ae but it wasn’t necessarily cold or robotic sounds. Some of the tracks speak to you and contain loads of emotion - Amber in particular is very organic and even sad sounding at times. It makes you reflect a lot - but it can also make you dance and energise you. A rollercoaster ride of emotions. You mention an unspoken hero of that time - Beumont Hannant. What happened to him? His Texturology albums (the one with the extra tracks) was very similar in structure to this early Autechre. Like the Philosophy of Sound and Machine compilation album - which was like another AI album but released on the ART label. The early Black Dog still blows me away 30yrs later. When is the Polygon Window album getting reissued? I’m going to listen to incunabula today now - did you know that Booth and Brown feature their faces on their record artwork only once - and it’s the cover of incunabula (if you look close)?

[@occasionalfeelgood23]

Couldn’t agree more about Hannant, those Texturology albums are fantastic. And I agree, I felt like this music was made exactly for me, I totally get that feeling. I still have vivid memories and lying on my bedroom floor with the records spinning on the turntable thinking this was the music I had been waiting for my whole life. Still kinda feel that way.

[@davesworld7688]

My apologies that this comment is unrelated to Autechre. Have you ever heard the Bill Leeb/ Rhys Fulber project called “Intermix”? And if so what do you think of it? I really enjoyed Intermix, and sadly most people I meet have never heard of them. Being that you’re a very seasoned music fan I figured I’d ask.

[@radwaelmaghraby4463]

My favorite Autechre albums are Tri Repetae and LP5

[@occasionalfeelgood23]

Those albums are so brilliant, especially "Tri Repetae". I feel like "Tri Repetae" could easily be my favorite Autechre album, it really depends on the day.