Autechre ‎– EP7

The fractured, industrial sound evident throughout the whole of this 'EP' is a sound that epitomises Autechre - a sound that was deemed unclassifiable has now become classifiable in itself. EP7, like other Autechre releases seems to draw inspiration from science and technology and the tracks here wouldn't be out of place used in TV commercials of the same thing. By coincidence, the track title 'Zeiss Contarex' is uncannily similar to Zeiss Contax - a german brand of camera originating from Dresden in East Germany. The sleeve design by Designers Republic echoes Autechre's work and the line fractals beneath the frosted jewel case suggest precision engineering and repetition. This repetition is evident throughout EP7 as with the 8-minute 'Maphive 6.1'. Certainly enough to make the early avant garde musique concrete composer's heads spin. I wonder if the late Pierre Schaeffer, the so-called inventor of musique concrete would have made of Autechre's work?

Six years on and EP7 is still a strong contender as any of today's electronica, one wonders what direction Autechre will go next. Their releases up to now follow are consistent, it remains to be seen (or heard rather), if they come up with something less predictable.

Maphive 6.1 sounds like a lost track from the Super Metroid soundtrack. Spooky, alien, maddening, almost as if it was sent backwards in time from an archaeological dig site on Mars. Sometimes these guys miss the mark, but sometimes you're sure they're channeling something greater than us all.

Although this release is labeled an EP, there is about 60 minutes of new music on here. A companion album really, to LP5. However I find LP5 much more enjoyable then this one. The beats, sounds and style are similar on both releases but this one seems to lack the bite that LP5 provided. If you are a fan of LP5 though, you'll most likely wanna pick this one up too.

Autechre has been on a path of increasing abstraction since 1995, but particularly, to my mind, from ep7 on and especially Confield and Gantz Graf. To me, it is Autechre's mastery of abstract rhythm/arrhythmia that makes Booth and Brown geniuses.

Almost all critics hate this album/ep. It walks a fine line between being absolute genius and being a couple of once imaginative musicians who have writer's block. However, they do stumble onto some really great ideas, but I find myself listening to only certain parts of certain songs. For example, the last two minutes of "Left Blank," "Zeiss Contarex" gets really good at the 4:19 mark and the opening few chords of "Outpt" are really good before the track becomes monotonous and boring. It's really just very strange and twisted, and along with "LP5" and "Confield" makes for one third of their descent into absolute madness. You may have noticed Autechre doesn't really sound like "music" anymore. This ep has the right idea, but it could have been better put together i think.