The
title to Autechre’s eighth album could be the
band’s most obvious and bold statement yet. In
the fourteen years that separate the release of their
very first single, Cavity Job, to their latest
opus, Sean Booth and Rob Brown have remained totally
impermeable to fashions and gimmicks, influences and
distractions. Their complex and impeccable sonic world
has remained totally unchallenged, untilted. Except
that statements of that sort are not Autechre’s
style. Sean Booth and Rob Brown are too busy constantly
pushing the boundaries of their body of work to brag,
or even simply point out the obvious. Their exploration
of sound is their statement, abstraction their mode
of expression.
Formed in the late eighties by Booth and Brown while
the pair lived in Rochdale, a suburb of Manchester and
brought together by a passion for hip-hop, street graffiti
and skate-boarding, they soon began experimenting, first
with tapes and turntables, then with computers and various
electronic devices before eventually creating their
own machines. Followed a first single, Cavity Job,
for the short-lived Hardcore Records in 1991, before
they signed with then burgeoning Warp Records. Fourteen
years, eight albums and numerous EPs later, Booth and
Brown have become the epitome of the Warp sound of the
last fifteen years, and are more than ever one of the
most uncompromising acts around.
With Untilted, Autechre continue to push the
boundaries of their sonic experimentations forward as
they assemble forever more intricate and unusual beat
structures and sonic constructions, relentlessly pushing
their audience into darker, more remote corners. As
on their previous two records, Booth and Brown destructure
melodic sequences and beat patterns to the point where
they appear totally disassociated, pushing sombre waves
in the background while unpredictable percussive noises
roll ahead. Yet, this album features some of the more
playful moments Autechre have recorded in years. Whereas
Confield
and Draft 7.30
appeared to some too hermetic and distant, as lost in
clouds of abstraction, Untilted unveils a series
of varied soundscapes draped around often prominent
melodic structures. More direct and upfront than its
predecessors, this album is built around a far wider
sonic scope and varied sequences, ranging from gritty
moments (Augmatic Disport, The Trees)
to busy metallic structures (Ipacial Section)
and electro-magnetic interferences (Pro Radii,
Fermium). Human voices can be perceived in
many places, be it twisted and treated, as on the final
segment of Ipacial Section, as the beat slowly
winds down, or on Pro Radii, where distinct
chopped up crowd noises can be heard amidst other sonic
shards.
With beats and melodies constantly mutating around various
themes and sometimes found echoing from one track to
another, Autechre create a particularly dense sonic
mesh, which contrasts greatly with the arid soil of
Confield
and, to a lesser extent, Draft
7.30. This doesn’t however mark a return
to more commonly accepted forms of music for Autechre;
they have long since left these to less inspired or
adventurous musicians. Untilted is mysterious
and complex, yet sociable and playful. Untilted
is, above all, one of Autechre’s most perfect
records to date.
4.9/5
FURTHER READINGS
BBC Collective: interview
Kultureflash: interview
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