Slang Editorial :: Never Underestimate The Value Of A Holla'

Sunday, January 03, 2010
HIGHPOINTS OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC: "LP5"

For as long as I've loved experimental electronic music over the course of my life, I've always managed to let the triumph of melodicism stand tall as king over the dominion of Beaumont-pleasing sonicality. To break it down empirically at the feet of arguably the two most significant EEM artists of the past 20 years: when put to a test, I would always take the mischievous neo-romanticism of Aphex Twin over the formal deconstructivism of Autechre.

This is not to say that I love all of Aphex Twin (or none of Autechre), but that when it came down to his best work, Aphex Twin was a man who used electronic futurism to sail his melodic explorations, whereas Autechre were men whose labors uncovered the occasional melody locked away within the cold structures of binary programming.

Over the many records released throughout these two giants' respective careers, this distillation has with few exceptions held true for each, and for the most part has kept my interests aligned significantly more with the AFX camp than the other--except once, with the release in 1998 of Autechre's fifth full length unofficially titled LP5, which is the one Autechre release in their entire discography to step outside of their devotion to sonic brakhage and let the wind of melodicism take away the tunes.

You have likely guessed therefore that LP5 is my favorite release by Autechre*** (though I won't necessarily argue that it's their best, as I know my opinion on them is quite different than the small handful of nerds who give a shit about them), and choosing a favorite cut from it is not an
easy task, as there are a number of standouts. Key among them are schizophrenic album opener "Acroyear2", intellectual "Corc", the soft-but-pounding "Rae", and "Fold4, Wrap5", the warmest and most accessible Autechre tracks ever. But perhaps tops among them all is penultimate number "Arch Carrier", which is a return to the skittery iso-melodicism of "Acroyear2" but overcast by a dark, nagging sense of dread. Every single time I hear "Arch Carrier" it slays me, partially because of the impact it carries in usually having followed a relatively exhausting hour of electronic experimentation, but also because its melody and beat are strong enough to grab me by the throat even on their own.

Below are mp3s for "Arch Carrier", "Acroyear2" and "Rae", plus "Leterel", a precursor of sorts from the '95 record Tri Repetae. And then finally I've thrown in Aphex's "IZ-US", from the Come to Daddy EP released the same year as LP5. If you want to know what the highpoints of experimental electronic music in the late 90s were, the next five tracks are pretty good place to start.

NOTES:
*** - I've also written previously about the excellence of 95's Garbage EP

LISTEN:

Autechre - "Arch Carrier", from LP5 (1998)

Autechre - "Acroyear2", from LP5 (1998)

Autechre - "Rae", from LP5 (1998)

Also:

Autechre - "Leterel", from Tri Repetae (1998)

Aphex Twin - "IZ-US", from I Care Because You Do (1998)

Labels: loved sounds, Maple Syrup Delights, mp3, music

posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 1/03/2010 03:38:00 AM 0 comments

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