Incunabula - Autechre > Reviews > Autechre's astonishing debut album

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Not applicable
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it rate alongside the competition	Outstanding
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Unique, elegant, dreamlike
Disadvantages:	Tracks 2 and 10 are flawed

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Incunabula was the first album released by Autechre in 1993.
As an interesting side note, Incunabula means "swaddling clothes" in Latin.

Sean Booth and Robert Brown, a.k.a Autechre, are true masters of electronica. Much like Richard Devine, Mira Calix, Datach'i, Venetian Snares and Squarepusher, these guys expand the clichéd genres of I.D.M (Intelligent Dance Music) and electronica in general.

Incunabula is the first of 15 others works by Autechre.
It is a tremendously influential piece of work and most importantly, is the root and core to all other Autechre releases; as well as a key to unlocking their frame of mind.

Usually, you will find 3 kinds of Autechre fans:
- Those who prefer their first 7 works; Incunabula, Basscadet, Anti, Amber, Tri Repetae, Garbage and Anvil Vapre.
- Those who are mystified by Envane and Peel Session vol. 1.
- Those who prefer their latter technical works; Chiastic Slide, Chichlisuite, Lp5, Ep7, Peel Session vol. 2, Confield, Draft 7.30 and Untitled.

Fortunately, you will also find people that truly appreciate Autechre and can piece all of these works together. As different as they may seem, these Lps and Eps all share the same musical vision.

Incunabula is like a swaying drum in a Jazz suite; it is vital.

This album is composed of 11 tracks, which amount to a staggering 78 minutes. The cover art was put together by the Designers Republic.

Kalpol Introl is a 3-minute dreamlike foreword to Autechre's creative concept. It is typically progressive; big steamy piston-like sounds hissing in the background with thickset drones humming throughout; unadorned... but effective.
Kalpol Introl would latter be used in Darren Aronofsky's film Pi (1998).

Bike isn't Autechre at their best.
It could almost be described as pure I.D.M, if that wasn't for the great use of whirring drones and the sheer warmth of the track. Listening to this track is like covering yourself with a blanket in winter; very upbeat and comforting. Despite this, the track isn't really a good example of Autechre's work.

Autriche is a 7-minute stunner. Little sections of stick-n-snare give way to well orchestrated patterns of melody. Spurts of voice fade in and out, sounding very much like some distant recording of a mathematics lesson, in French. Well, at least that's what I think it is... "avec la tête... depuis la longueur de..." (hard to say - it is very deformed). Although, the piece is simple, it is none the less elegant.

Bronchus is an atmospheric piece. It is a bit like listening to a far-flung technoid ensemble from the top of a 2-kilometre staircase. A very interesting track.
Basscadet was Autechre's most respected track, back in 1993. It is an intelligent take on traditional electronica (in a way). Here, the duo meld cascading chirpy sounds, gothic bell-like intonations, I.D.M purism, repetitive but intricate sequences and thundering bass-lines. This is quite a unique track. Extremely upbeat.

Eggshell has a strong hip-hop influence. It's a straight-forward and catchy piece with some beautiful glass-bell loops falling over it all, like confetti.
Doctrine and Mafti are effervescent beat-infused tracks, tap-dancing their way into your speakers with some seriously noble bass work. These are the vibrating core to Incunabula; one of buoyancy on Doctrine and of a more seductive nature on Mafti.

Windwind is an evocative 11-minute beauty. You can hear Autechre's hip-hop influence as far as the rhythm goes. The main body of this track sounds like it was played with a synthesizer and then processed through digital heaven. Very lush, magical.

Lowride is the intruder in my opinion.
This track stops the album from being a masterwork. It is basically a pseudo electro-jazz groove. It does not do anything else than duplicate a clichéd genre. It does however get better after 3 minutes.

The last track, 444, is very similar to Windwind. Large waves of digits, snappy snares, electronic reverie, chirpy bleeps... It is magical to hear it all come together.

I shall wrap up by saying that Incunabula is not one of Autechre's best albums but it is a matchless debut and an elegiac musical vision. This is where it all started.
Tracks Bike and Lowride are a bit of a let-down but even so... the album as a whole is unique and compelling.

This should not be missed out.

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(Written by myself - no violation, no lifting, no breach of copyright)