"This is not the best Autechre release I have heard, but I can't deny that it is very good. 5 remixes of Basscadet from Incuabula, that range from suprisingly dancefloor-friendly (BCDTMX) to beautiful ambience (Basscadubmx). What I find most interesting about this album is noticing the progression from Incunabula. Beats have become fuller and more powerful, layers of alien sounds that spiral around the melodies and intertwine between the beats.BCDTMX: As I said, suprisingly dancey, a pounding techno beat and buzzing bass sound, accompany the trademark bleep-bloop from the original song (now drenched in reverb).BeumontHannantTwomx: Excellent. Beumont Hannant layers all the twinkling chatterring rhythms from the original for about two minutes before absolutely beautiful ambient chords play over it. Minimal and very beautiful.Seefeelmx: This one's weird. An ambient drone loops over and over again over Basscadets trademark bleep-bloop motif, held together with a very slow, odd beat. Not much else happens, and it's very haunting.Tazmx: Autechre are known for making remixes that sound nothing like the original. This one starts with what sounds like the little tiny dinosaur babies from Jurrassic Park. The sound plays through the entire song, but can be barely heard over the mechanical screech that takes over the song... it's the first time they did anything like this. The rest of the instrumentation is rather jazzy. It's very interesting to say the least.Basscadubmx: Similar to Beumont Hannant's remix, cept Autechre does it better. Slow and minimal on percussion, it focusses more on the melodies and strange sounds like Tazmx. Excellent stuff.Overall, very good, but I would get Incunabula first."
Worth the small price
D. Lynch | MN United States | 12/31/2002
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This album may be an EP, but it is longer than a lot of albums out there, and this one is cheaper, too. Comprised of 5 of the many, many "Basscadet" remixes, you may think this could get repetitive. Well, think again. While the bassline in each song may be close to the same, each is so different that you wouldn't even know they were remixes of the same song. The standout track is number 2, "BEAUMONTHANNANTTWOMX". A very eery, almost scary track. Listening to this track in the dark may not have the best results.Look, it's an EP, so if you like Autechre, or electronica in general, then you should spend the few bucks to get this. Or do what I did: place a regular order of all the stuff you want, then add this to make yourself feel like you're getting a lot for your money :)"
A good start for the Ae curious
Jack Baur | Eugene, OR United States | 08/12/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Beautiful noise from Autechre, particularly the second and fifth tracks. Other reviewers seem not to think as highly of it, but I imagine it is because this is a more accessible album than most of their others, seeming in most places to favor harmonies and tunes over their usual skittering beats. This was the first Ae album I ever *enjoyed* and since their unique soundscapes have grown on me considerably."
Audio wallpaper - as beautiful as it gets
Jaak Põder | Estonia | 10/11/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"One of the best Autechre's releases, this EP includes 5 remixes of 'Basscadet' track originally featured on 'Incunabula' album (which, in my opinion, is one of the all-time TOP3 ambient albums). The remixers like Seefeel and Beaumont Hannant add extra textures to this already great song and somehow, which is not very common to remix albums, Basscadet gives a feeling that it consists of 5 totally different tracks, not of 5 remixes of 1 track. The music is in 3 cases flowing, in 2 cases clicking (but not annoyingly) and all in all, a bit melancholic. Anyway, to make a long story short, ambient electronic music rarely get's better than on this album -- so go and get it."
Their second EP. I don't know what happened to "Cavity Job"
Rykre | Carson City, Nevada | 08/03/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"
This is just one of the few shorter EP's or similar to CD singles that Autechre has put out over the years. I don't know why they do this but it does feed our quest for more Autechre until they put together a complete album. Are you addicted to Autechre yet? Many of us are. I think there should be a club. Here's a list of the releases so to make sure that you have all that is available:
Now that you have all those, you will probably want to start collecting their various EP's, which are:
Cavity Job (1991), Basscadet (1994), Anti- (1994), We R Are Why/ Are Y Are We? (1995), Garbage (1995), Anvil Vapre (1995), Envane (1997), Cichlisuite (1997), Peel Session 1 (1999), Splitrmx12 (1999), Peel Session 2 (2001), and Gantz Graf (2002).
There may be a few others, but they have become very rare. Very hard to find. I've discovered more tracks by Autechre and various other "remixed by Autechre" releases all over the IDM sound genre. Plus, some artists like Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, Boards of Canada and the such have released similar recording as that of Autechre, but Autechre will always be the leader of this sound.
And here's another little secret for you. Autechre has released recordings under another pseudonym, Gescom. There is nothing on CD available from Gescom, but that doesn't mean you can't find these recordings through various person to person music swap sites.
Look for these Gescom albums (I think they are only available on vinyl, and maybe only in the UK and Europe):
EP1 (1994), EP2 (1995), Motor (1994), The Sounds of Machines our Parents Used (1995), Keynell (1996), MiniDisc (1998), This (1998), That (1998), and Iss:sa (1999)
There are various takes and re-developed versions of Keynell. Just knowing that Gescom is so scarce, especially in America, it only makes it all the more totally cool to be Proudly Unhipp, and to actually have these recordings.
I find a sense of comfort in the lunacy that is Autechre's music. I have to listen to Autechre every day. It's gotten harder to listen to regular music any more and it is certainly difficult to revert back to regular music immediately after switching off Autechre. Autechre is like a drug, a stimulant, a natural high. It's a sound that inspires motivation in what ever you are doing. And yes, I can get mildly depressed if I don't have some Autechre at my immediate avail. If I've got a lot of work to do, then I know I'll get it done (and fast), if I've got Autechre playing in my background.
So, you other Autechre addicts out there, please share your story. Let us all know what Autechre has done for you, too. Has Autechre changed your life, in a positive or negative way? We need to let other people know how Autechre has an indirectly strange way of promoting better psychological health and a more positive vision about life.