Incunabula

Autechre has become something more to me than just an alternative to listening to music. Listening to Autechre, especially alone, has become an addictive way of life for me. It has changed me over the years. When I'm working the mail at my post office in the evenings, I like to work it while I'm listening to Autechre. The sounds of Autechre (in all its varying effects) truly compells me to just keep throwing that mail. It motivates me to work very fast as well as keeping my memory sharp (correctly throwing the right letters to the right carriers cubby-holes), and I can go on for hours without even acknowledging the time. Since Autechre has become a part of my life, I have become healthier, more physically toned, keener with my wits, and even more long-term physically sexual. Yes, I have increased and enhanced my sexual longevity performance as a result of improved health by my addiction to listening to Autechre over the years. What I have done to make this IDM sound drug more potent is that I have put all my Autechre CD's on a CDR burned by a program called Sonic Stage. It comes with Sony CD players that play the ATRAC3plus CDR's that you make through the computer. You can put more than 30 hours of music on a single CDR. So, having about 15 hours of Autechre playing in a continuous shuffle for hours on end while I'm at work has caused me to work a projected 3 and a half hours work in just under 2 hours. I actually hate it when I run out of work to do because I am still on an Autechre high. So, in a nutshell, the music of Autechre turned me into a healthier, better physical shape, faster mental processor, higher self-esteemed, workaholic. And yet, this music drives my boss crazy. My fellow workers don't seem to mind it, because they all benefit from my work performance as a result of this audio drug. If anyone else has experienced this same kind of Autechre euphoria, please write me at [email protected] I'd like to hear other stories of how Autechre has affected their lives.

He's happy with it, likes the music especially on vinyl Amazon automatically downloaded it to my prime music, certainly not my musical taste.

I think if I were given the cruel task of finding a single word that describes this album, the above word would be as good as any. This was my first Autechre album, and I have since collected most of their discography. Yet, upon recent listens, I have realized that this is my favorite. In "Incunabula" Autechre have managed to make a CONSISTENTLY excellent album, something I think they have strayed away from in their more recent experimental excursions. Each of the incredible soundscapes is unique. Collectively, though, they retain a quality that gives the album cohesion. This is the ambient, soulful Autechre at their best.

Released with virtually no fanfare or hype in 1993, Autechre's full length debut *Incunabla* is now considered the watershed pinpoint of early experimental electronica, `pure' IDM ambient at its finest. Sheffield natives Rob Brown and Sean Booth, childhood hip-hop aficionados and graffiti artists, began with this album a career trajectory in sonic manipulation that, in reflection, is as baffling as it is monumentus, the scope of which must be calculated in non-verbal experience, rather than the usual superlative expressionism (though we try, we really do...). *Incunabula*, Latin for `cradle' or `origin', is a fitting title for this sublime gem; when directly compared to Autchre's more recent releases like *Confield*, very little similarity can be discerned, at least superficially. But when taken in context, record to record, a journey of mind-boggling proportions unfolds, and the seeds of Autechre's eventual exploration of chaos-within-order sound structure can be found on this, the `birth' record, by far the most accessible and least-demanding work of Ae's oeuvre...and, consequently, considered by many as their best. Whichever Autechre you prefer - order or chaos - *Incunabula* stands as one of the catchiest `cold' albums in existence. The gray tones of the cover visually distinguish the overall color-scheme of the entire album: in the mind's eye, I am constantly reminded of overcast skies, windswept mountains clad in ice; dull chrome and greasy steel; the pall of industrial fumigation and the necroshine of a neon-drenched cityscape. Fans of Autechre often describe this music as the closest aural equivalent to the Song of Machines, all clicks and bleeps and grinding gears, mathematical equations hardwired into sonic representation. There is very little ~human~ element to Ae's music, and yet, therein lies the source of its beguiling mystique: music like this could never find an adequate genesis with organic instruments. *Incunabula*, and especially *Tri Repatae++* and *Confield*, is the soundtrack of our 21st century tekgnosis: a cybernetic evolution of communication: the future, now. In hindsight, *Incunabula* is perhaps Autechre's most shallow album; but `shallow' is a deceptive term, for the depths of even this birth-record cannot be fully grasped in the first, or even tenth, listen. Tiny, pivotal details surface with constant re-examination, and it blows my mind that this was made by two guys in their early twenties. I also find *Incunabula* to be Ae's most ~fluid~ record: each song flows into the next, there is virtually no filler, and the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts. The sonic palate is consistent throughout - chattering breakbeat percussion, supplemented by deep bass currents, are gradually overlaid with Eno-ish synth tones and garnished with precise effects; hooks appear, anchoring the ear, then either attain climatic denouement (as in `Eggshell') or else morph/contort/ and/or drift away in the stormfront haze. Most effectively, the overall soothing consistency of the album is punctured at strategic points, giving a whiplash snap to the ambient flow, such as the opening snarl of `Doctrine' after the aforementioned glide of `Eggshell', or the smarmy hip-hop parody of `Lowride' on the whispering tail of `Windwind's' devastating death-fugue. Other highlights include the almost-giddy `Bike', its shimmering melodies augmented by melancholic growls; the meticulous drive of `Basscadet', its harsh effects-rhythms and moody ambience giving us a brief taste of Autechre's future releases; and finally `444', the closing epic, wherein the evanescence and subtle brutality that has preceded find culmination - truly, a paean to the lonely, disconnected nature of cyberspace and its plugged-in denizens. Or, to use an organic metaphor, *Incunabula* is the soundscape of winter, of earth subsumed by a cold, crystalline surface of snow, nature buried under Melville's terrifying whiteness - the abyss codified and, at least in this record, made palatable. Initiates into IDM should start here, then progress with the warmer *Amber* (autumn) and *Tri Repatae++*, Autechre's indisputable mechanistic magna opus. I personally like both of those albums more than *Incunabula* - concepts introduced here are simultaneously built upon and deconstructed - but neither are as accessible or as wistfully poignant - in an innocent sort of way - as this birth-record, the first step of a long and perilous journey from order into chaos. Highly recommended for adventurous ears

Exelent

J'ai la réédition Warp Records en vinyle de 2016 et c'est juste impeccable, simplement au top Warp Records, ca ne se fout pas du tout de la gueule des amateurs de galettes noires, la classe. Sinon groupe culte avec ses trois premiers albums qui sont des grands classiques, mon groupe favori. Incunabula, premier album et premier chef-d'oeuvre pose les bases d'une légende, de la musique électronique à son sommet.

Came in great shape, no crackles or skips, and the music sounds awesome! Sleeves are in good condition as well as the vinyl records! Totally recommend!

Well Sean and Rob themselves are known to have called this one 'cheesy'. I really can't agree with that it's marvellous. I used to have this one around '94, liked it a lot, got nicked by burglars, and I've been remembering this lil band. I recently bought Confield, Untitled and Chiastic Slide as well - and sure those are very different but terrific as well. I really want all of their albums, I already asked some people 4 some more 4 my birthday soon and I'm waiting for amazon to dispatch Amber. No really these guys are exceptional no matter what they do. This first one is maybe warmer and a bit more lush than their later ones - and i can imagine themselves they're disappointed about their early stuff but I find that a shame, it's all good. Opinions vary a hell of a lot about Autechre, across their different albums, but myself I consider them a golden combination of friendliness with inquisitiveness that always leads to calm, patient music that never gets out of line and won't never shock anybody - but it sure isnt boring or well i dont think its cheesy at all. I cant wait to see them develop a true sense of sexyness in the future and they will blow us away even more!

Disco imprescindible de la nueva electrónica que empezó a fraguarse a finales de los 80's y principios de los 90's en el sello Warp. Más asequible que algunas de sus posteriores creaciones y con auténticos clásicos como Eggshell o Basscadet.