Autechre

Categories: Electronic music groups | English musical groups

Autechre are an English electronic music group consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both natives of Rochdale. The group are one of the most prominent acts signed with Warp Records, a label known for its pioneering electronic music artists. Some journalists and fans consider Autechre to be a paragon of IDM, though Brown and Booth themselves do not consider their sound to belong to any genre.

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History

The two members formed the group in 1987 when they both lived in Rochdale. They began their career making and trading mixtapes between each other, but gradually moved on to their own compositions while collecting a handful of cheap equipment; most notably a Casio SK-1 Sampler. Booth and Brown have explained that the name Autechre can be pronounced in any way anyone sees fit. They pronounce it "Awe-TEK-er." They are also often referred to by the moniker "Ae." It has been claimed by several, but not confirmed, that the name Autechre comes from Audio architecture or Aural technology research.

Autechre have also recorded under various pseudonyms, possibly as a way of escaping from the attentions of the media and the obsessive Autechre fanbase. Likely contenders are Lego Feet and Velocity Kendall, Two 12" released in 1991 and 1995 on Skam Records. They are also strongly involved in the Gescom project. Autechre helped initiate the music festival All Tomorrow's Parties in 2000 and were responsible for curating the 2003 festival.

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Music

Some describe Autechre's music as cold and austere, whereas others perceive a warmth and sentimentality that informs even the most cerebral pieces. Much of Autechre's music has a strong focus on complex rhythm and driving percussion, and more recently, on meticulous sequencing. Later work has been notably experimental and abstract, in contrast to the more club-friendly and conventional early 1990's releases. Due to the inaccessability of their sound, reactions to their music have varied. Many of their tracks contain complex or chaotic rhythmic figures and close harmonies which some have criticized as random and noisy. Fans of their recent work tend to find the value of their music to lie in its unique fusion of rhythmic and melodic elements, percussive noises being tweaked to sound like they have pitches, and clustered, often inharmonic synthesizer patches implying numerous melodic lines and chord structures simultaneously. A signature of the Autechre sound is the use of extremely short snippets of sound to create a buzzing, percolating, grainy effect.

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Methods

True to their early techno roots, Autechre utilize a wide array of analog synths in their production [1]. They also make extensive use of Max/MSP as a means of controlling those synths and processing the synthesized sounds. There have been claims that Autechre employ algorithmic pattern generation techniques, which could partially be responisble for the chaotic rhythms in many of their works. In response to comments about their unique sound, Autechre argue that given the incredible range of tools available to modern composers, especially in the electronic genres, it is incomprehensible that any band should "sound like" any other band.

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Discography

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Albums

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EPs/Singles

Also responsible for upwards of 40 remixes, from Tortoise to Merzbow to Saint Etienne.

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See also

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External links


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