Gescom
ISS:SA

Ep completely curated by Sean Booth, this one, which is said to be the more cerebral half of Autechre, at least that's what they say (let's remember that the entity Gestalt Communications/Gescom rarely signs its works), but judging by the sounds used, we feel inclined to confirm these rumors.

"ISS:SA", released in 2003 by Skam, five years after the last effort (the radical "Minidisc"), shows us a project well aware of the hyper-technological evolutions that have involved the Autechre creation with the dawn of the new millennium; four tracks with an IDM heart and a couple of concessions to the most digitaloid hip hop already appearing on the opening track, that "ISS:SA" which takes us straight back to the style of the peer "Draft 7.30", a nervous and dissonant beat with an attached majestic five-minute ambient finale.

"Tangle III," however, foreshadows the cerebral elements of "Quaristice," where extremely advanced rhythms and intricate sequences marry a whole series of amelodic tones and acid-tinged dissonances, while the most unique experimentation is represented by the insane "TR2A," a masturbative hip hop sonata for lobotomized minds very close to what labelmate Freeform used to propose. For "Slow Acid", the name says it all; it is an acid/idm diversion at reduced speeds that has the merit of anticipating the return of acid sounds that will involve a bit of the entire English scene two years later, starting with AFX and Luke Vibert, but typically throwing it on futuristic and technically exaggerated slopes. In the CD version, there is space for a bonus track, "Megamix", a delirious IDM collage that does not mind getting bogged down in odd times, brain-grinding rhythms, and noise puzzles in the manner of "Untilted."

There is a lot of "Draft 7.30" in this ep, but you also begin to sense how much of the disorienting aspect the aforementioned masterpiece will show us.