Music review: Autechre - Quaristice

Fans of Autechre will be aware that when scrutinising a new release first impressions count for little as the music is packed with so much detail. There are layers upon layers of concealed sounds that do not become apparent until the umpteenth listen.

So during the time that Quaristice landed on my hard drive and this review was posted, my count of thorough listens was hefty. Sadly, in hindsight I realised that it needn’t have been, as Quaristice seems to lack the gradually revealing nature of previous releases, and even fails to conjure up the usually over-whelming and hard-hitting clout of the first few listens. That is not to say this is a bad album, as that is clearly not the case.

Quaristice clocks in at a bulky 73 minutes, and with an unorthodox 20 tracks making up the length there is a lot for a reviewer to get his or her teeth into.

Altibzz is a suitable opener, with crisp and (dare I say) Eno-esque melodies leading into the second track The Plc, which is a solid track but regrettably nothing more, as the morphing process of the catchy beat and bass line sounds like Autechre functioning rather than excelling.

plyPhon and Perlence are deliciously dark tracks with gloomy melodies and bass reverb used to monstrous effect, yet the listener is not truly convinced this is an Autechre record until the splendid Simmm reveals the more luminous side of the duo. The track begins with a saccharine melody and beat work reminiscent of Untilted. The track degrades towards the middle, but the delicate final minute and a half is a highlight.

From paralel Suns through to Fol3 the album takes a turn for the worse. The five tracks in this bracket all seem to lack the inventiveness and edge Autechre usually accomplish with ease. However, from the schizophrenic fwzE through to the delectable closing ambient tracks Notwo and Outh9X, the listener is treated to an incredible range of sounds. 90101-5l-l, bnc Castl and chenc9 are fantastically playful and thoroughly enjoyable listens, while the melodies in WNSN and Theswere are also highlights.

In terms of Quaristice’s suitability for shooter gaming, the mechanical and buoyant tracks work well with fast-paced multiplayer games like the recent Unreal Tournament 3, while the darker tracks lend themselves nicely to a moody shooter like Bioshock.

Quaristice is out now on Bleep, however for those who would rather wait to get their hands on a physical copy it will be released worldwide on March 3. A limited edition of the album was made available for pre-order in conjunction with the Bleep release; however the 1000 copies sold out within 12 hours. The main draw is an extra CD of 11 tracks (68 minutes), which are reportedly different versions of selected tracks from Quaristice.

Returning to the here and now, the vanilla release should not only keep you bewildered and astounded until the bonus tracks arrive, but for the foreseeable future.

8/10