Since
the release of their first album, Incunabula,
in 1993, Sean Booth and Rob Brown, aka Autechre, have
constantly worked on their sound, to make it mutate from
rather conventional electronica to abstract leftfield
structures. In eight years, they’ve established themselves
as one of the most avant-garde bands of their time.
Confield, Autechre’s sixth album, is yet another
step forward into contemporary electronic music. The
duo leave behind them the metallic atmospheres of LP5
to go back to the more organic forms of Tri Repetae
and Chiastic
Slide. Confield is anything but a
regression though. The gentle underlying melody of VI
Scose Poise, only just fighting off the distorted
metallic marble sound, or the fast moving sonorities
of Cfern, amid the chaotic drum pattern, demonstrate
that Autechre have lost nothing of their ability to
deconstruct any sound that crosses their path. The apparent
simplicity of the beat in Sim Gishel is an
illusion, as are the multi-layered bells of Parhelic
Triangle. Uviol sounds even more basic;
a simple melody, clicks loop, a few drum arrangements.
However, the impression is deceiving, as the duo crafts
their intricate universe between the lines. Bine
is totally deconstructed, and works on many different
levels. It almost sounds like two or more tracks playing
at the same time. Yet, with disconcerting ease, Booth
and Brown position each sound with absolute precision
in their soundscape. All along the album, they work
at microscopic level, to ensure the consistency of their
compositions, each component of each track develops
at its pace, and it is only when considered as a whole
that the piece really takes form. Confield
is the closest Autechre have ever been to the work of
Pierre Henry, with astonishingly complex, abrasive structures
slowly mutating, creating ever-changing, poly-textural
life forms. Each track is independent, and yet is an
essential part of the finished work.
In eight years and nearly as many albums, Autechre have
invented, and continue to invent, a totally new form of
sonic constructions, far beyond the realm of music as
we know it. Sean Booth and Rob Brown have smashed the
boundaries of modern electronic music, leaving their contemporaries
far behind. Forever.
5/5 |
