Autechre - Amber

As if Incunabula wasn't biggest enough of a masterpiece, Autechre returned the following year in 1994 to release their opus - Amber. This album is almost difficult to describe. There certainly are IDM traits running throughout it but really this album transcends beyond anything a mere label can classify it as. Foil is like trying to start up an engine on some alien planet. Silverside is like being stuck in a nightmare. Nine is like being stranded on some desert island. And Nil... Nil is perfection contained within 1 single track. The solo drum-beat at the end leaves me breathless everytime. A timeless album that you only hurt yourself by not owning.

Amber is my favourite Autechre record, I first heard in someones flat a good ten years ago and stole it, *cough*. While Autechres modern works can hardly be called ambient this record can. And it's all the way up there with best of the genre, peaking on Further which is a tour de force of their distinct drum sounds layered with vast soundscapes. It's hard to compare this record with contemporary works, it was years ahead of its time. To me it still stands out, sounding as fresh now as it did back in the day.

My favorite Autechre album.. And probably their most accessible work to date. The album starts out with the track Foil, which uses strange faded beats to get a desert type atmosphere working. Next up is Montreal which is a personal fav of mine. The beat and rattle effect in the song make me tap my foot everytime. The next few songs play off and on with similar patterns, while track 7, Nine, is a nice little interlude that reminds me of being stranded alone somewhere. The rest of the album follows the first half except for the unique Nil.. which has the most memorable moment in the entire album towards the end when it focuses soley on a drum beat. Awesome stuff.

If you're new to Autechre, you've probably heard that Amber is a good place to start.. I agree with that suggestion.

This is definately one of my favourite albums ever.. it just never gets tiresome. I think it is wonderfully crafted electronic music that I'm proud to play to anyone. Slip is my personal favourite here - such a beautifully hopeful melody that haunts me everytime. A masterpiece.

Man oh man... hard to even describe this one. Whenever someone asks where a good place is to start their Autechre collection... I tell them Amber. Amber is probably the best ambient electronic album i own. To me this was the perfect style for them. It perfect what they did the album before, and it preluded their change with after albums. Its hard to pick favorites on here but i think i enjoy Montreal, Further and Nil the best. Even though the CD is so simple, the production is done extremely well. A must have for anyone who likes Autechre

Many songs are minimalistic with calm dreamlike rhythms. But you will also find wonderful melodies, the best Ae have created so far(Track 3, 7, 10). Other tracks will haunt you(Track 5, 6, 11). I always listen to subtle "Amber" before I sleep. A great ambient record.

An amazing album, a tender heart wrapped with hostile, unrecognisable electronics.
The cover is as a landscape as alien as the music, yet like Autechre's early work, still recognisably organic. For those wondering, the photo is not a digital image - it is a formation of salt hills in Turkey.

This is easily my favorite Autechre release, and I have heard and studied them all for years. The eerily beautiful picture on the cover is a very good choice, as it gives you a near perfect idea of what the music is like. "Amber" is simultaneously beautiful and terrifying. I like to think of the slow, throbbing sound effect at the beginning of "Foil" as that of a teleporter beaming me down to a vast, deserted alien landscape like the one in the picture. The moon has just risen, and the dunes are bathed in an eerie pink glow. Small, neon creatures scurry across the sandy slopes in search of shelter from the coming night. A patch of bioluminescent weeds lights up a small depression at the base of the mountainous dune in front of me. Slowly, my sense of fear is overwhelmed by my sense of beauty and I creep out to meet the lifeforms that I now realize are all around me.

For me is the best album I have ever heard. It changed my conception of music. Before listen "Amber" I had listen thousands of records. This one opened my mind to a new way of understand the musical experience.

Doesn't mind how much time have passed since they did it, and how many times I have listened it, it still shoking me as if it were the first time that I listen those sounds.

Everyone can have his opinion. Many people considers "Tri Repetae" their best album (and I understand why), but (in my opinion) "Amber" is the best one.

A master pice which will always have a place in my memorie.

My favourite Autechre release. I think that all of the tracks here is perfect made and stands out on their own.

It opens with the silent and ambient Foil, which I think works great as an intro of what to come. Other highlights here are Sliverside (which have some incredible use of strange vocal sampling and synths), Piezo, Yulquen (a wonderful, abmient track!) and Nil.

There's no doubt: 5 out of 5!