Autechre Album: “Gantz Graf [Single]”

Gantz Graf is a violent explosion of sound bits. The other two tracks are less violent, but still constructed of bits. I don't think Ae use a single sound element that lasts longer than a few milliseconds. It's like sonic pointillism.

Is it any good? Yeah, of course it's good- tightly constructed, well-mastered, relentlessly pushing the barrier of music. Like all Ae, it's a quality product. However, I can't imagine being in a mood where I would think "Gee, I think Gantz Graf would fit perfectly..."

However, I do find the Gantz Graf single more satisfying than Confield was. Maybe this is just because the dense constructions of late-period Autechre lend themselves better to small chunks (Confield seemed to lend itself well to large headaches).

In any event, Autechre has passed beyond the "event" horizon. They are spiralling toward some center of sonic abstraction, their releases becoming exponentially more exotic and alien. They're never coming back to earth.

Being relatively new to Autechre (well, within the last 4 months) I have quickly come to adore everything they have ever released. Perhaps I am lucky to be able to tap into their conceptualities (their music is very subversive in a way, undermining structures and rhythms, and yet they create the most beautiful melodies I have ever heard; you just have to find them). I've made the journey from Incunabula all the way through to Draft 7.30. And, despite being worried about reviews - Confield being controversial and difficult, for instance - I have found all their output accessible. But Gantz Graf, along with the amazing Confield, I find are most representative of Autechre - this combines, as stated above, their deeply experimental layering of rhythms within rhythms, cut up, edited, twisted beautiful white noise, and their teasing subterranean melodies. This is what Autechre is all about - challenging and beautiful music. And this CD is worth it simply for the superb Cap IV, which starts off with a gorgeous piano melody and becomes utterly, desperately, jaw-droppingly frantic. Listen to this in the dark, with headphones, and you'll think you've taken something. Autechre is almost a spiritual experience!

Don't listen to this 19-minute 'EP' if you don't have 'Throbbing Gristle', 'Coil' or their ilk in your sonic vocabulary. This is deconstructed, driven techno with attitude - industrial-strength IDM.

"Gantz Graf" - the track - is just a four minute throbbing IDM noise-fest. Good fun and a strong hint of what's to come.

"Dial" is a bobbling jaunt with a shifting-chordal-melody accompaniment. "CapIV" seemlessly morphs from "Dial" - so well in fact that I couldn't distinguish between the two the first time I listened to them - even though they are vastly different tracks.

There is no doubt that the beats are the winners here, not that there is ever really a race between beats and themes in the Ae sound - they are an integral part of each other. For a believer in the Buddhadharma like me, this is a aural teaching on the interdependent and ultimately empty nature of sound. Ae make sounds like these just because they can (action is only possible through emptiness). And we are much better for it!

This cd is a delightful little 'teaser/sampler' between two incredible albums - the irrepressible 'Confield' and the exuberant and more spacious 'Draft 7.30'. Brief though it is, it would be worth paying more than its $7 price-tag to sample its 'throbby/happy' ebullient nature.

...well at first it is, anyway.

Anyone who is just getting into Autechre, or interested in getting into them.. DO NOT start here!! You will most likely be turned off. My first listen had me wondering what in the world I was listening to. It seems like nonsense at first. After about 6 or 7 listens I began to notice beats, structures, patterns and sounds I didn't notice before. Now when I listen to this CD, I hear it as music. But that first listen will always be so alien for everybody.

Good stuff if you're up to the challange of listening.

This is just one of the few shorter EP's or similar to CD singles that Autechre has put out over the years. I don't know why they do this but it does feed our quest for more Autechre until they put together a complete album. Plus, this EP of Gantz Graf comes with a DVD or three tracks done with unique visuals.

Are you addicted to Autechre yet? Many of us are. I think there should be a club. Here's a list of the releases so to make sure that you have all that is available:

Incunabula (1993), Amber (1994), Tri Repatae (1995), Chaistic Slide (1997), LP5 (1998), EP7 (1999), Confield (2001), Draft 7.30 (2003), and Untilted (2005).

Now that you have all those, you will probably want to start collecting their various EP's, which are:

Cavity Job (1991), Basscadet (1994), Anti- (1994), We R Are Why/ Are Y Are We? (1995), Garbage (1995), Anvil Vapre (1995), Envane (1997), Cichlisuite (1997), Peel Session 1 (1999), Splitrmx12 (1999), Peel Session 2 (2001), and Gantz Graf (2002).

There may be a few others, but they have become very rare. Very hard to find. I've discovered more tracks by Autechre and various other "remixed by Autechre" releases all over the IDM sound genre. Plus, some artists like Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, Boards of Canada and the such have released similar recordings as that of Autechre, but Autechre will always be the leader of this sound.

And here's another little secret for you. Autechre has released recordings under another pseudonym, Gescom. There is nothing on CD available from Gescom, but that doesn't mean you can't find these recordings through various person to person music swap sites.

Look for these Gescom albums (I think they are only available on vinyl, and maybe only in the UK and Europe):

EP1 (1994), EP2 (1995), Motor (1994), The Sounds of Machines our Parents Used (1995), Keynell (1996), MiniDisc (1998), This (1998), That (1998), and Iss:sa (1999)

There are various takes and re-developed versions of Keynell. Just knowing that Gescom is so scarce, especially in America, it only makes it all the more totally cool to be Proudly Unhipp, and to actually have these recordings.

I find a sense of comfort in the lunacy that is Autechre's music. I have to listen to Autechre every day. It's gotten harder to listen to regular music any more and it is certainly difficult to revert back to regular music immediately after switching off Autechre. Autechre is like a drug, a stimulant, a natural high. It's a sound that inspires motivation in what ever you are doing. And yes, I can get mildly depressed if I don't have some Autechre at my immediate avail. If I've got a lot of work to do, then I know I'll get it done (and fast), if I've got Autechre playing in my background.

So, you other Autechre addicts out there, please share your story. Let us all know what Autechre has done for you, too. Has Autechre changed your life, in a positive or negative way? We need to let other people know how Autechre has an indirectly strange way of promoting better psychological health and a more positive vision about life.