Search - Autechre :: Envane

Among the best of Autechre's fantastic EPs.

C. Burkhalter | 09/27/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Autechre have put out a number of EPs over the years, and honestly they've all been great. They've often been previews of changes in the Autechre sound to come (take, for example, "Grantz Graf," "Cichli Suite," or "Anti"). And they've been a nice offering to hard-core fans endlessly chomping at the bit for the prolific duo's next album. And though they're obviously much shorter than the albums, they almost always comprise some of Ae's best material. "Envane" is one of the cooler Autechre EPs, and at least is a vital Ae recording. Its also kind of an unusual Ae recording. The first track, "Goz Quarter" starts out with a beat that sounds like a sprinkler head (almost identical to the sound at the beginning of "Cichli Suite"). This sound soon drops out of the mix, as the music thoroughly evolves so that by the end of the track there are no remaining elements from the track's beginning. Low keyboards and lush synthesized strings carry a generally simple melody over the industrial blips, clicks, and "electric cricket" chirps familiar to Ae fans. A truly odd twist is the highly atypical addition of actual turntable scratching(!), as well as some hip-hop vocal snippets (which we don't hear again from Ae until EP7, if I'm not mistaken). Next is "Latent Quarter," which could fit nicely next to material from "Chiastic Slide." Over a static-obscured mess of beats ("dirty beats," one reviewer called them), a nebulous but lilting keyboard melody holds court here. I suppose its a fairly typical Ae track, which is to say its excellent."Laughing Quarter" is a major step and an outstanding track of the same level of quality as classics like "Cipater" from "Chiastic Slide." Both this track and "Envane"'s fourth track seem to me to be very early previews of "LP5" even. Dense, multi-layered beats with interesting things happening on every level of sound - perfect headphone music. This track doesn't pursue a melody or pattern so much as just push the listener forward all the way to the end of the track. Listening to tracks like "Laughing Quarter," I'm shocked that no one has put Ae to use in a film score. Finally, "Draun Quarter" pairs a fairly cheery beat with some truly somber, melancholy, and outright dour synths. This is one of Ae's better "down" numbers, and another essential Ae track. Again, this sounds to me like a hint at the Ae sound that would dominate from about 1998-2000. This is a fabulous Autechre collection. It works as a whole cohesive album (though a short one), rather than a collection of disparate works-in-progress. Do note that the EPs regularly fall out of print, so grab `em while you can. But if you've already missed out, fear not. Warp re-presses each of them every year or so it seems."

Autechre's best!

C. Burkhalter | 07/08/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is likely my favourite Autechre release. Contrary to Amazon's track listing it is four tracks long:1. Goz Quarter 2. Latent Quarter 3. Laughing Quarter 4. Draun Quarter"Goz Quarter" is very interesting. It contains some recording scratching, actually which really adds to the skewed hip-hop style of the track. The second piece is quite obscure sounding, full of really dirty samples and weird dusty beats. "Laughing Quarter" is mildy reminscent of some of Richard D. James' work. It's fairly lively for an Autechre track and it's quite aggressive. "Draun Quarter" has a pleasant melody a top quite repetitive rhythms. This is one of Autechre's strongest releases. It ties with "EP7" which is a great "album" (it claims to be an EP). Though "Envane" was pretty experimental at the time, "EP7" is further withdrawn from mainstream techno. In fact, Autechre is beyond "IDM" in my opinion. They are on the same plateau as a lot of classical electro-acoustic musicians/ composers. They come from a far less academic perspective, which gives them an interesting and unique sound."

Surreal, emotional, and very very Autechre.

C. Burkhalter | 01/09/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"With _Envane_ Ae have released likely their most direct and gripping tunes ever. It's a perfect mesh of the wierdness they've been exploring lately with their latest full lengths and the emotional bonds they created with their previous albums. The opener, Goz Quarter is a serene, plesantly stoned hip-hop eipc that seems to take place inside an ant hill, with warm wikka-wikka scratching throughout that envelops you like a favorite blanket. On the tail end of the disc, Draun Quarter manages to invoke images of giddy kids playing with jacks and grotesque battlefields littered with bodies at the same time. Ten minutes of the most comforting pensiveness you're likely to experience. Autechre prove yet again that they can rattle the listener's mind like no one else...but we already knew that, didn't we?"