Customer Reviews
2007-03-09
Interesting...
A lot of people are saying its their best disc, and im going to assume thats becasue its the easiest to listen to. Though at first listen I thought, whos the guy on the synth, get him some alcohol.. I did after some time begin to really appreciate the album. Its an interesting look at the beginning of Autechre, very inspiring for someone pursuing music to see that yes indeed.. you will improve... :)
2007-03-04
Stretched...
Autechre's debut "Incunabula", by comparison to later work, is a slow moving, liquid and flat out beautiful soundscape, composed mostly of understated, looping percussion and flowing synth lines. The rhythms are not yet the focus, the mix is dominated by melancholic melodies.
This is the only Autechre album that you could call "minimalist". All the ingredients to these songs are wonderful, but essentially, what prevents "Incunabula" from being a great album in my eyes is how the songs are stretched to ridiculous lengths without cause- the simplistic nature of the music makes a 9 minute plus song like "Windwind" or "Eggshell" good for setting a tone while doing something else, but too slow and redundant for focused listening. It's almost sad in a way, because "Windwind" in particular is one of the most effectively paranoid, alienated pieces of music I've ever heard. Every other track has its own unique, powerful emotion as well. Autechre eliminated this problem on albums like "LP5" by introducing endless variations and subtle complexities.
The first 3 tracks do not drag and are all Autechre classics. The mostly beatless "Kalpol Introl" is an icy, short piece. "Bike" is great chill out music... beautiful percolating synth blips. "Autriche" is one of the best songs they ever did. The vulnerable solitude of it is overwhelming. The 4th track, "Bronchus 2" is an interesting, short ambient piece but not a standout. "Basscadet" is a good, hip hop inspired, mostly percussion driven piece that has little melody. It has a different tone than the rest of the album, being more urban... kind of like something would be in Fight Club. Every other track unfortunately suffers from being "stretched" in length, introducing new riffs only every couple minutes.
The production is still great, as always with this band, even this early in their career. Every sound they choose has a depth that's not possible to achieve with simple presets. Everything is fine tuned with incredible attention to detail. Ae's albums are worth hearing for the sounds alone.
In conclusion, this album is great for the first few listens, but is easy to get bored of. I find myself listening only to certain tracks at this point. It's a wonderful backdrop to anything you might be doing, but fails to rise above that status like "Tri Repetae++" or the similar but more consistent "Amber". 3.5 stars.
2006-07-20
It's only right that you start with this album...
Autechre has become something more to me than just an alternative to listening to music. Listening to Autechre, especially alone, has become an addictive way of life for me. It has changed me over the years.
When I'm working the mail at my post office in the evenings, I like to work it while I'm listening to Autechre. The sounds of Autechre (in all its varying effects) truly compells me to just keep throwing that mail. It motivates me to work very fast as well as keeping my memory sharp (correctly throwing the right letters to the right carriers cubby-holes), and I can go on for hours without even acknowledging the time.
Since Autechre has become a part of my life, I have become healthier, more physically toned, keener with my wits, and even more long-term physically sexual. Yes, I have increased and enhanced my sexual longevity performance as a result of improved health by my addiction to listening to Autechre over the years.
What I have done to make this IDM sound drug more potent is that I have put all my Autechre CD's on a CDR burned by a program called Sonic Stage. It comes with Sony CD players that play the ATRAC3plus CDR's that you make through the computer. You can put more than 30 hours of music on a single CDR. So, having about 15 hours of Autechre playing in a continuous shuffle for hours on end while I'm at work has caused me to work a projected 3 and a half hours work in just under 2 hours. I actually hate it when I run out of work to do because I am still on an Autechre high.
So, in a nutshell, the music of Autechre turned me into a healthier, better physical shape, faster mental processor, higher self-esteemed, workaholic. And yet, this music drives my boss crazy. My fellow workers don't seem to mind it, because they all benefit from my work performance as a result of this audio drug.
If anyone else has experienced this same kind of Autechre euphoria, please write me at kzq7@yahoo.com I'd like to hear other stories of how Autechre has affected their lives.
2005-10-23
Darn near perfect...
I don't have much complaints about this album. It Autechre's humble beginnings... but even being their beginnings, the still made a masterful album. 11 tracks of gloomy ambience await you here. Sure some tracks stand above others, but as a whole this is a really impressive album that will grow on you the more you listen. Autechre only went on to make bigger and better production from here.
2005-10-04
Incunabula...
An Autechre classic. First international release, the follow-up to the hard to find EP, "Cavity Job". A must have for fan's of any of Autechre's stages. Enough said.
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