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Autechre certainly aren't launching any new styles, and there's no innovative music to be heard here, but Untilted does represent the duo returning to the green fields of their youth after a few years sowing their wild oats.
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Since barreling into parts unknown, the further advances made by Sean Booth and Rob Brown have been subtle at best, and the most intriguing sounding bits of their eighth album, "Untilted," usually arrive in the midst of something more familiar.
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While in recent years the work of Autechre has widened to include bursts of melody alongside their cut-and-paste sonic structures, it’s here on 'Untilted' that Booth and Brown get the mixture right.
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Untilted’s sound is warmer and rounder, but at the expense of sonic and rhythmic scope, initially a disappointment. It’s nice to report, though, that repeated auditions expose a new tightness in composition.
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FilterA more perfectly askew album will be hard to find this year. [#15, p.99]
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Where inexperienced programmers might collapse under the weight of such complexity, Autechre utilize it with precision. As punishing as it is, it never sounds too cluttered.
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Despite their abstraction over the last few years, Autechre aren't an altogether different beast than when they started. In fact, they're smarter, more refined.
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However, despite all the smarty-pants ideas, let's be clear on one thing. You FEEL this on a GUT level, because 'Untilted' packs a punch that rips through your speakers.
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There's not a lot here to grab onto unless you're willing to immerse yourself in a world of totally alien sensation. If you are willing to accept the challenge, there is a chance you will find yourself significantly changed by the experience.
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Untilted lives up to its title, finding Booth and Brown unbowed in their belief that clinical repetition and street-smart hip-hop beats can coexist in the universe. But it’s a big universe, and there are times when locking onto the exact coordinates Autechre’s transmitting from can be a long, cold and lonely chore.
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As mechanised as their rhythmic focus can be, there is flesh, bone, and brain beneath the near industrial barrage of beats.
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The WireIf anything, however, Autechre have pulled back the throttle on their excursions into the unknown. [#254, p.53]
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With Untilted, it's apparent that Autechre are still on top of their game.
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UncutUnlike their many imitators, Autechre's music refuses to relax, ensuring them a longer radioactive half-life. [May 2005, p.106]
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UrbThey still manage to inject their manic bursts of beats with gentle, even sweet melodies immersed deep in the cacophony. [May 2005, p.84]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 23 out of 27
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Mixed: 4 out of 27
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Negative: 0 out of 27
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TerrySSep 27, 2006
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zamiJul 23, 2005
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TodDMay 2, 2005As good as anything else they've done. It sounds good, its exciting, its funny, its sad. Music!