Customer Reviews

Peel Sessions

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

people seem to be agreeing here that this is nonessential, not one of their best. I'm not a dyed-in-the-wool authechre fan - most of their stuff seems to me to almost get somewhere interesting, but not quite. Felt that way about Amber, Tri Repetae++. Chiastic Slide's a little better, EP7 I'm not sure is worth the effort. but on this one, to me, they nail something they don't quite get right on other releases. it's complicated, it's crunchy, the sounds are appealingly analogy and trippy; they set up differing overlayered tracks that sometimes compete and sometimes harmonize in a way hooks my head while making my butt move in the car while I'm driving. The psychedelic and slowly building last track totally sweeps me up and spits me out. maybe autechre sometimes seems too complicated to me, as in unfocused, unlike Pan Sonic for example, but on this one for some reason the focus seems momentarily perfectly sharp.

The first Peel Session album made by Autechre isn't anything that is absolutely essential by Autechre fans, but it's something interesting from the days of Tri Repetae++. This album is only 3 tracks long, but is still over 25 minutes long. "Milk DX" starts it off in a rather confusing manner. This song is more reminiscent of Amber, which was an excellent album, but was rather inconsistent. Things pick up with "Inhake 2," which is actually one of my favorite songs from Autechre, which has direct similarities to Tri Repetae. It is a simple beat that slowely progresses into an orchestra of mechanic sounds that transformes itself from being souless to emotive and beautiful. I would buy this album for this song alone. "Drane" ends the album with a sense of ambience, which can be found on the Garbage and Anvil Vapre, which can also be found on the 2nd disk of the American version of Tri Repetae++. Overall Peel Session is a quick fix of Autechre goodness. It isn't essential in that the same sounds can be found on Amber and Tri Repetae++, but the songs here are definately worth your time.
Overall- 8/10

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. 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 recording 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.

It seems that everybody has their own favorite track off this disc, some like one track, while others like another. The overall feel of this album is most similar to the Garbage EP: the tracks may feel simple, especially to those familiar with new autechre, but the beauty is in their simplicity. Also like the Garbage ep, the tracks are quite ambient and minimalistic, making for some relaxing listening.

Remember... this is Autechre playing live back in 1995. Its easy to scoff now, but imagine hearing this aired live on the radio a few years ago... True, since it's live, the amount of production that went into their other studio works is not there, but in exchange, Peel Sessions seems to have that "live" vibe to it of raw, unbridled creativity, which is nice for a change. The only reason this album was even released is becuase of the fans who wanted to hear the show again.. and they had to wait 4 long years for its release. I for one didn't wait that long, as I discovered Autechre more recently. Even though I have all their albums (and have heard their rarer gescom releases) I still enjoy throwing this album into the CD player (or on the turntable) now and then as it makes for a very enjoyable listen. Definitely worth getting, there's sure to be something on it that will jump out at you.

This Single-CD includes three pieces from a John- Peel-Session late 1995. These tracks match with those on Autechre's "Tri Repetae"-album, which was released nearly the same time this session was done. "Milk DX" and "Inhake 2", the first two tracks, are alright, but "Drane" lingers too long without interesting sounds. If you are a completist, you can buy it, otherwise this Single-CD is not essential.

Although this cd does not show all the sides of Autechre it does profile what I think are the more accesible songs. I absolutely love the first and last tracks. It's not their best but it is very very good.

The songs on this three track EP, originally broadcast on radio quite a few years back, but not released until 1999, are for those of us who are nostalgic for what I personally like to refer to as the "classic" era of Autechre, the era of Garbage, Tri Repetae, and Anvil Vapre. And these tracks, consistent with the time in which they were recordded, are very much in the style of those three great releases. According to a date given on the sleeve, whose tastefully minimal artwork was created by the always enjoyable Designers Republic, these tracks were first broadcast in October 13, 1995.

But all trivialities involving dates aside, here's what I think about the music. The first track, "Milk DX", begins its first few minutes by adding layer upon layer of many different percussive sounds, after which a haunting melody a la "bronchusevenmx24" is added followed by what sounds like some muffled vocal samples. The track is interesting, but it somehow sounds hollow or incomplete, it never develops into anything climactic, and the typical Autechre formula for song building at the time is really obvious, something which may be attributed to the fact that these songs were, to some extent, improvised while on the air. However, it's still a decent track, if not a good one. The highlight track on here has to be the second, "Inhake 2", which would not have sounded out of place on Anvil Vapre. Its plodding beats, truncated vocal samples, and warm bassline are very remniscent of the second track from that EP, "Second Scepe". I can't think of anything negative to say about this track; it's excellent, among Autechre's best in my opinion. The final track here, "Drone", which has a relaxed feel, basically has the duo working with many of their trademark undescribable sounds for about ten minutes. It's at best interesting, but it doesn't sound like there were enough ideas to accomodate the track's long length, and the repeated bassy boom followed by insectoid whispering that forms the backbone of the track is a bit irritating, possibly because to me it lacks flow and sounds so unseamless.

Overall, I'd recommend this to anybody who's more than a casual Autechre listener. It's a good release, but, then again, Autechre have set some pretty high standards for themselves, especially with the release of Tri Repetae, a mind boggling album against which I will probably always judge every new Autechre release and whose quality I could never imagine being duplicated again by them. (Their 1998 untitled "black" album, nicknamed "LP5" came considerably close however.) Booth and Brown would return in 1999 for another Peel Session which would surpass this one.

Not AE at their best, but its nice, and if you're an AE fan its good eating. Fits in between Tri Rep and Incunabula, kinda like Anti but more ambientish.

this is another excellent record by autechre. if you liked lp5, their latest album, you'll love the complexity and darkness of these three tracks. I agree that the third track is the most impressing (like the tenth track of lp5) on this ep, but the first two are stunning too. a good introduction for people who don't know autechre (there are some i guess). (excuse my english).

peel sessions was only my third autechre purchase, after incunabula and amber. but it certainly prepared me for albums like lp5 and ep7, which i totally love. tracks 1&2 don't interest me too much. milk dx seems to go nowhere with some boring rythm patterns, while inhake 2 starts off pretending to be a depeche mode song (which is promising, if not surprising) but it turns out to be a seemingly simple techno-y song. however, drane is magnificent. more than 10 mins. long, it explores outer space as well as inner mind. creepy atmospheres featuring alien drum beats create pure psychedelica. this is one of their very best tracks, indeed. for me, this cd was a perfect bridge between the more ambient-styled incunabula & amber and the more recent albums. definately worth buying.