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Confield
Universal acclaim
Based on 10 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 13 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Warp
Release Date: 15 May 2001
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Electronic
Summary
One of the preeminent practitioners of the style of electronica labeled "Intelligent Dance Music," Autechre (consisting of Sean Booth and Rob Brown) returns with its first album in three years.
Also By This Artist: Draft 7.30 Quaristice Untilted
Also On The Web: Warp Records
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Mojo
The mind-boggling intricacies and moody, broody sound-sculpting on tracks like Pen Expers find Autechre zooming off, leaving their followers eating cosmic dust. [May 2001, p.110]
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Confield, Autechre's sixth full-length and its best release since 1997's Chiastic Slide, may also be its most ambitious.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
Confield promises elegant production, accessibility in moderation, and one of the most enveloping, thought-provoking listening experiences to come forth from leftfield this year.
Read Full Review >Neumu.net
Confield presents one of the purest approximations of "machine music" we've heard yet. It's profoundly unsettling, but that's half its beauty; it's a sonic Frankenstein that refuses to let its plug be pulled.
Read Full Review >New Musical Express
Essentially more surgical sonic detritus, it is Autechre nuanced, minutely reprocessed and at the top of their game.
Read Full Review >Alternative Press
Confield not only documents the future of IDM; it also cements Autechre's name in the pantheon of sonic visionaries. [Jul 2001, p.63]
Urb
Autechre are mulching electronic music, letting their code sweat and rot in the heat. In doing so, they set off a complex ecological process that is interesting to watch, if not always pretty to listen to. [#84, p.105]
Spin
A series of six-minute tracks that set some sort of richly (or ripely?) spastic texture-beats against ethereal drone-shimmers. [Aug 2001, p.136]
Blender
They've all but abandoned 4/4 grooves, discarded bass as an inefficient distraction and fractured their beats into splintery beatlets that detonate in flurries. [Jun/Jul 2001, p.105]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 13 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Vodkajihad gave it a10:
Incredible. Pen Expers is the culmination of a promise made by electronic music at its inception.
Andrew D. gave it a10:
The absence of music to create illusions of sounds not there is what Confield (note the field i.e. the music and the con which is the deception) tries to and so magnificently succeeds in doing as an album. This is probably one of the greatest albums of all time, definitely listen. 10/10.
DemonicAngel gave it a 9:
Labeling Confield as a mere dance album would be an injustice. It's more accurately described as an extended and sometimes rather unsettling study in sonic texture, rhythm and ambience that happens to have been produced on electronic devices. It's so far removed from most other music that it's scary. The only reason it doesn't get a 10 is the overly messy final track. Otherwise, an innovative, compelling, and frequently confounding album - and one which, in a society obsessed with instant gratification, will never really get the attention it deserves.
istvan gave it a 10:
No-Fear-Music. As such, a very efficient (though not instant) treatment for inner fears. Leaves no room for complacency, but pays back the listener's effort in unexpected ways. Vital.
Benjamin Bunny gave it a 10:
"Confield"'s massive accompishment takes time to reveal itself, but once it does it makes most other electronic music sound childish--including Autechre's earlier albums. A most challenging, ecstatic, terrifying, thrilling, inditimidating, mind-altering experience...the best electronic record of this new century.
Nick P gave it a 9:
One of Autechre's and modern music's most ambitious and foward looking album. This stuff is ahead of it's time, alright. Just you wait.
Tobi M gave it a 10:
The best Album yet, its full scale will only be recognized in 10 years. Fantastic
