amber

this review originally appeared in issue fifty four of select magazine, december ninteen ninety four

Autechre's Rob Brown and Sean Booth have never exactly played safe. They began as electro-loving graffiti artists before progressing to the equally police-unfriendly world of pirate radio. Now they make anti-Criminal Justice Bill records with non-repetive beats (October's 'Anti'). It's not exactly the hide-in-bedroom built-my-own-synths approach to techno notoriety is it?

Autechre's music takes the unconventional route too. 'Amber' floats thier '90s update of electro's cut-and-paste rhythms into the realm of the odd. It sounds like some kind of alien jazz record, and tracks like 'Foil' make even Aphex or µ-ziq's abstract tones seem almost conventional. That's not to say 'Amber' is goalless experimentation. There's plenty of melody onboard, it just that it creeps up on you from behind, as on 'Montreal'. The boys know how to give you a good fright too. 'Yulquen' and 'Teartear' are object lessons in ominous, otherworldly techno. Which about sums up where Autechre are at- out on the fringes, having a good rummage through the wierd and the beautiful.