Autechre - Quaristice
By Joel • Feb 4th, 2008 • Category: Album Reviews, Music, Reviews
Autechre what a phenomenom. Even their very name raise questions and confusion, but it also give hints about what they sound like. It’s the beginning of 2008 and it is time for the mysterious duo’s ninth album. For me this has always been something special to look forward to. On nearly every album, the group has taken giant strides in sound and direction. 2005’s Untilted was a slight let down for me though, it seems even to this day inpenetrable and alien - I can’t seem to get into it at all. Its aural expressions falling short on my straining ears.
Forget all about that now, because Quaristice is not Untilted and that is quickly evident when the first track starts to play; Altibzz. A gentle introduction, very suitable. With Altibzz’ calm soothing atmosphere my expectations rise and my eagerness for more is awoken. Anterior takes over and while a bit of the texture and feel of this song definetly has traces from Untilted, it is a different beast - walking left and right, a very diverse tune. This is one of the key points that makes Quaristice so strong, it is swaying erratically over vastly different concepts, tempos, constructions and ideas.
Unlike Untilted’s scientific and machine-like compositions, Quaristice is slightly rounder in shape and more human. The new album is contemplative and gives each track space and time to mature into something well rounded and fully developed. Autechre’s ultra experimentalism has seemed to have taken a step back, or atleast sideways instead of into the unknown. It’s like old, tested ideas are remolded into new, rejuvenated and even grander and more advanced entities. Abrasive at times, Quaristice is still no Amber or Incunabula that some people wish the group to rehash. Instead we get more enthusiastic and energetic vibes, listen to Simmm for example; the opening palette is much similar to what Aphex Twin used to utilize to good effect. Silence is another main ingredient of this long player, used with good timing and with varying degrees of intensity - the outcome is sometimes staggering. The latter half of the disc is a true gift for the music lover. Bubbling landscapes and microscopic constellations converges into a superb soup.
All in all, a crucial release from Autechre. Their output continues to mutate and refuses to be stale and to stay put.
With twenty songs as opposed to their usual offering of ten, Sean Booth and Rob Brown’s Quaristice should have a little something for everyone.
Notable tracks:
04. plyPhon
08. paralel Suns
11. rale
14. 90101-5l-l
18. chenc9
20. Outh9X
Available in mp3 and FLAC formats at Bleep.
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Your opinion is almost exactly mine. I also could not get into “Untilted”. In my opinion, “Untilted” is not a good album. Too dancy, too electronic, too cold. With “Untilted” I only saw boring robots and technology, while in other albums Autechre used organic sounds to make it more diverse. That’s totally back in “Quaristice”. Not all tracks are great, but the first half of the album is more than superb. I really like the non-danceable beats.
wtf it anterior - thats not on my version?
where u getting your mixes from?
rB)
anterior isn’t on my copy either. it isnt listed on the discogs entry and it isnt listed on the bleep.com version either. wouldnt be surprised if they just downloaded some bootleg copy from another blog or soulseek and reviewed that. here’s hoping they got their mitts on a faked leak version of this release (like those floating around when untitled was released a few years back). this blog is utter shyte. if it were possible to hold a negative amount of credibility, they would be the poster child.