Autechre - Tri Repetae 2xLP

Label: Warp

Our Review:

Each of Autechre's records express a progressive advance from the previous outings through technology and conceptual frameworks. While this does eventually lead Autechre down the rabbit hole of radical deconstructions that eschews all the rave culture norms of rhythm and melody, Autechre's early hybrid-works of rhythmic complexity and formal experimentation remain pinnacles of electronic music. Tri Repetae from 1995 is one of these brilliant chimeras in their catalogue. True to form, Autechre engage a notable aesthetic shift from the previous two albums. If memory serves this reviewer, Autechre had once claimed they built their sample banks from scratch upon the completion of each record to insure they wouldn’t repeat themselves and keep them pursuing their own increasingly insular adventures in sound. Both the drum programming and the basslines for this album have moved well beyond the electronica standards for 808 and 303 demonstrations. Tri Repetae is brimming with a punchy immediacy, sculpted from a highly articulated set of abbreviated hisses, sparks and crackle. Autechre shapes all of these into jittery, jagged breakbeats through the manipulation of bit rate samples, the re-engineering of mainframe hardware and the early strategies of computer coding. The impressive aspect to Autechre's engineering prowess is not merely the technical reconfiguration of ones and zeros, but it is through the graceful melodies and organic fluidity that they are able to impart through inhospitable material.