Autechre
LP5

The fifth album by Autechre, "LP5" (Warp, 1998), builds on the concepts undertaken in the masterpiece "Chiastic Slide" (of the previous year) by further amplifying rhythmic experimentation—which will increasingly occur in subsequent releases—while at the same time displaying a sonic-digital cleanliness that is simply incredible when we consider how vast, distorted, and intricate the overall sound spectrum is, yet it is "masked" by providing ample space for the presence of melodic parts, often sweet, soft, and in stark contrast to the tangled rhythmic patterns, but which will rarely return so clearly and uniformly. Imagine an eccentric collaboration between Eno and Merzbow: the result would be something akin to "LP5".

Just think of the pseudo-music box and the timid oriental melodies that accompany the frenetic percussive dissonances of "Acroyear2", the infantile synthesized dulcimer of "Melve" or the digital-ambient triumph of "Drane2", a rare case within the duo's production, where for once it is the melody that triumphs, leaving rhythm as an ornamental surplus, or rather, allowing the 'melody' itself—through mathematical modulations—to move as if it were the "rhythm" (something that already happened, for example, on "Rsdio" in "Tri Repetae" or later on "VI Scose Poise" in "Confield", where it constituted the main idea).

The inclination towards melody is found in the tender chords of "Corc", which cites the ambient-techno beginnings (except for the updated setup), and "Fold4,Wrap5", where one of the most used and suggestive techniques by the current Autechre can be glimpsed, that is to say, the tempo that slows down, then accelerates again, cyclically within the same beat—exactly as if it were a solo hallucinated on the bhayan of an Indian tabla—with the difference that the role of the sitar here is played by the synthesizer, delivering delicate and crystalline riffs reminiscent of those that made the debut "Incunabula" great).

Therefore, it is in the more restless episodes that the best insights are found: this is the case with the irregular tempos (particularly the 7/4 to which we are dearly accustomed) of "777", "Rae", "Vose In", and the astounding "Caliper Remote", sick rhythmic tangles of unprecedented intensity on which the jagged robotic-mechanical puzzles that were just "discovered" on the previous record stand tall, but with melodic phrases, although interesting and at times close to the futuristic electro of Detroit, now to the watercolors of the Orb, almost always buried by the pounding and mechanical aseptic tam tam.

"Arch Carrier" and "Under BOAC" instead stand as a summation of these two distinct traits: the former delivering unusual electro riffs that once again hark back to Motor City, not sparing thick and more 'regular' beats as happened in the "Tri Repetae" period; the latter—a true masterpiece of the album—instead recalling the sick alien whispers of "Silverside" (from "Amber") by adding synthesized choirs and deep bass pulses excellently assisted by the ingenious, convulsive, digital yet apathetic break.

A successful work, innovation of high level, undeniably five stars, but slightly "inferior" both to what was done on the monumental predecessor and to the subsequent, insane "EP7", which in reality—even though it's not officially—can well be considered an album, given the substantial length (approximately sixty minutes of unreleased tracks). This latter work will definitively open the doors to the abstraction of Autechre 2.0.