Autechre Overview

If you want a part-time lover, listen to Stevie Wonder. If you want a private dancer, groove to Tina Turner. If you want "music without a whole lot of stylistic baggage," you better check out Autechre. As mischievous lads in Manchester,... [more]

If you want a part-time lover, listen to Stevie Wonder. If you want a private dancer, groove to Tina Turner. If you want "music without a whole lot of stylistic baggage," you better check out Autechre. As mischievous lads in Manchester, England, Sean Booth and Rob Brown bonded over a cheap synthesizer. Their partnership could only get better, and it did when they sent a tape off to that hallowed bastion of intelligent techno, Warp Records. As Autechre, Booth and Brown would soon become a crucial flavor in the U.K. techno recipe. After their inclusion on Warp's lauded compilation album, "Artificial Intelligence" (1992), Autechre's success was in the bag. "Incunabula", their debut album, entered the British indie charts at number one. Informed by mid-'80s hip-hop and American electro, Autechre's sound is the result of intricate, technological feats. Nonetheless, the boys hate to give all the credit to their toys. In fact, they berate critics who scream and shout about all electronica sounding the same and then blame technology for this homogeneity. Autechre's music speaks for itself -- someone is definitely manipulating those machines. The music, filled with grumbles and echoes from electronic voids, exhibits a thoughtful moodiness that's far from monotonous. Autechre's recent releases, including the well-respected "Amber," have reached a wider audience as a result of American issue through Wax Trax!/TVT and Nothing Records. And the duo's abstract take on traditional dance music lends itself well to remixes. Autechre has remixed the work of Palmskin Productions, Slowly, and Mick Harris's ambient side project Scorn. Both boys agree: it's fun screwing with other people's work. [show less]