Exai
by Autechre
  • Record Label: Warp
  • Release Date: Mar 5, 2013
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 26 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 26
  3. Negative: 0 out of 26
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  1. Q Magazine
    Mar 11, 2013
    60
    Clocking in at a shade over tow hours, there's room for fans of all vintages to find something of value. [Apr 2013, p.94]
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  2. NOW Magazine
    Feb 28, 2013
    60
    This much material is exhausting to make your way through, the stretches between moments of genius way too long.
  3. Dusted Magazine
    Feb 28, 2013
    60
    Maybe a bit more editing could have given it more coherence. At the same time, there are no duff tracks, and a lot of fascinating moments.
  5. Pitchfork
    Feb 27, 2013
    59
    Some of its songs deserve to be cut into halves, while others should have been chopped wholesale. With those snips, Exai would be a really good Autechre album that summarizes the various successes of their career in an hour or so. As is, it's as much a frustrating obstacle course as it is a grueling marathon.

Awards & Rankings

96
#96 Most Shared Album of 2013

User Reviews

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User Score
8.1

Universal acclaim- based on 36 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 32 out of 36
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 36
  3. Negative: 2 out of 36
  1. exmatproton
    Sep 27, 2013
    9
    Review? No, just some words about this highly detailed, heavy and amazing album by Ae.

    When i first listened to this album, i wasn't able    Review? No, just some words about this highly detailed, heavy and amazing album by Ae.

    When i first listened to this album, i wasn't able to hear some kind of coherent object or concept. But after a couple of runs, i found this "red thread" in the core of the sounds and the feel they bring. The design is just amazing. Brilliantly taking the listener to another world. I was always a big Confield fan. And still are, but this album is already taking over that place...it took Confield 1 year to get at that place.

    Exai is not only great to listen from beginning to end, but also, because it contains 2 CD's, as a 2 part album. The 2 parts have their own feel and drive.

    Some, IMHO, stand-out tracks are Irlite (Get 0), Prac-F, Bladelores, Nodezsh, Spl9 and Cloudline. My fav Ae track is still Lentic Catachresis though.    … Full Review »
  2. saamsuun
    Oct 18, 2016
    10
    Why a 10? Without apology, but understanding that beauty is in the eye of the beholder;
    Completely ahead if it's time, this 2013 release came    Why a 10? Without apology, but understanding that beauty is in the eye of the beholder;
    Completely ahead if it's time, this 2013 release came at a defunct dry spell in music. At the time, it was the only release that shouted freedom from norms - and still does - loudly, quietly, and tastefully.
    Verging on some of the weirdest and most experimental Autechre albums, it does so in a highly digestible way. It has a strange feature that the more one attempts to decipher the music, the more elusive and enigmatic it becomes. A beat goes on for a while, one's brain accepts it, and then one realizes that it has been brought down into the newest of places, all the while bobbing their head. Impossibly combined sounds are made possible, beats are morphed without one realizing until minutes later, and arrangements pull one around in ways only few musicians can pull off - needledrop any song on this album and it will be apparent. Also a deeply soulful and yes emotional album, this one is for the years to come. Probably the best Autechre to date. Of course, it may be intolerably challenging for some sensibilities, but so is top 40 to most of us.
    Comparable albums, oddly enough, other than all the other obvious ones; Hello Nasty by the Beastie Boys and Songs in the Key of Life by Stevie Wonder. They both have that hidden incredible ingenuity, that manner of luring the listener into some incredible headspaces.
    Thanks Rob and Sean - you guys killed it.    … Full Review »
  3. mookid
    Jul 16, 2013
    7
    An enjoyable album for most IDM or experimental fans. I'm not the biggest Autechre fan but I can appreciate them for their textured andAn enjoyable album for most IDM or experimental fans. I'm not the biggest Autechre fan but I can appreciate them for their textured and complex rhythms, mixed with some of the craziest patterns I've ever heard. If you're not heavily into IDM or Autechre I suggest you start else where, it can be a bit overwhelming for those new.… Full Review »
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