Autechre ‎– EPS 1991 - 2002

For a band with 10 LPs out it's pretty easy to get lost in them and forget about the EPs. This stops that from happening and is thus a worth while release. End of.

Wow, I don't understand the hate for this collection. I am a huge fan of Autechre and have been for years. I have a bunch of their full lengths on CD, but never got into their EPs besides Anvil/Garbage with Tri Repetae (I tend not to check out EPs in general). Anyway, this set is fucking amazing for someone like me, where I can quickly and easily get most of their EPs in one fell swoop (in typical AE minimal as hell packaging). This set goes for 25-30 USD on amazon which is a pretty damn good deal if you ask me. I understand that some people already have these EPs, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest the insane notion that not every single fan of Autechre has the groups entire discog. Though now they can be much closer with this.

Aside all critique, this Box is a very good addition to the Autechre's discography. All Eps in one place. And design is minimal and cold, which mirrors the music perfectly. I wish the BoC would do the same thing with their Eps and old material.

hear, hear, armidge. spot on assessment. insult to injury: ordered my copy directly from Warp, and in the shuffle across the Atlantic the discs managed to split the seams of their cardboard jackets. *very* disappointing. hard to imagine such poor execution on Warp's part, but there it is. other than the packaging, the only real upgrade for existing fans would be the availability of Cavity Job, which really isn't anything to write home about anyway. sorry, Warp, but add it all up and one can't help entertain the thought "cash grab."

After the beautiful and exhaustive box with which Warp celebrated their first 20 years, I expected that this collection would be a stunning and fitting tribute to a group that was instrumental to Warp's early success, as well as a nice release for fans old and new. Instead, I was surprised at the apparent apathy and lack of thought that went into the planning and release of this Autechre box set. The omission of "We R Are Why" is completely shameful; there's simply no excuse for not having included it. "SpltRmx" likewise really should have been here - the argument that it is AE covering someone else's work and therefore not purely AE doesn't work for me. Another glaring error was not to have included the alternate version of Laughing Quarter from the Envane XAE version.

But it's around disc 4 that things get really ridiculous. Having a hidden track before track 1 on the original EP7 was cool, in a way, but to do it again in this set instead of making it its own track relegates it to obscurity instead of really adding the track to Autechre's oeuvre. Add that to the fact that the track is now completely out of context being placed before the Cichlisuite EP and you get a track that is no more than an inside joke.

When it comes to re-issuing previously released material, especially in a box set, more is more among music collectors. Not only was the content lacking, there is not one word of supporting liner notes which could have added an interesting historical perspective to the collection of such ground-breaking electronic music. Here's what would have made this a treasured release, IMO:
- A good set of liner notes, which would have opened the door for some interesting artwork as well.
- Master the hidden EP7 track as its own track and keep it grouped with EP7
- Add a 6th disc to the collection to make room for the CHRONOLOGICAL interspersion of the missing BasscadEP mixes, the rare PIOBmx2, We R Are Why, Laughing Quarter (alternate version), and the Spltrmx EP.

About the only good thing I can say about this set is that it takes up less combined space than all of the original EPs, which is pathetic for a release that had so much potential. Warp and Autechre, you blew it this time.