„tri repetae“
(Warp,
1995)
Gosh,
is that really so long ago? 1995? I still remember clearly, how everybody
reacted when Autechre released their “tri repetae”-record, which was
to become something like a milestone in electronic music (at least in my
peer-group). Somehow that CD creeped up in everybody’s record-collection
sooner or later. Somehow everybody knew that there was something big
coming onto us (which was yet hidden behind the white noise squalls of
Merzbow and friends). I remember how I reacted, when Richard brought in a
review of it for issue #2 of legendary Noise-Rock-Fanzine GRUBENHUND, and
that I was astonished, flabbergasted and somewhat annoyed as well. No
guitars? No white noise? I mean, that issue featured Love
666, Zeni
Geva,
Ed Hall and Pest, where did the electronic music come in from? Hell, I am
not even sure, we called it electronic music back then and not
“techno” or something. Richard wrote “great soundtrack to an absurd
computergame” and “excellent acoustic interior-architecture” and
that is still true. Anyway, this is one hell of a record, we already felt
that back then, and to be honest, listening back to that record now, I am
afraid not all too much has changed or evolved since then. Sure, current
electronic music includes very interesting stuff, from the funky
minimalism of Akufen through the urban beats of The Streets right to the
laidback remixes by Buscemi, but somehow I feel I have heard most of that
before. And usually I feel, that it is Autechre where I have heard some of
that before.
At
first sight “tri repetae” doesn’t seem so influential or
groundbreaking. The simple cover and the reduced design fits to the
seemingly polished structures of Autechre’s music. Seemingly, I said.
Because this CD will get everybody out of the room, who isn’t willing to
indulge himself into music and to open his ears to something new. They
intricately combine mellow synthie-scapes with weird clicking, even
somewhat noisy beats, that change, rearrange and flow into one another.
Sure, some said they are carrying the inheritance of Kraftwerk and Can,
but there is so much more to this. It is mainly the way, this music
constantly changes while moving along, that fascinates me. What seems to
be a mere syncopation of a small part of music, are actually tiny
variations of the same theme, so unknowingly you end up in a completely
different place that you started from. If you listen closely, you will
hear that. Not always, so there is still a big factor of surprise in there
for everyone. Next, they use every trick in the book, that is possibly
programmed on a computer. So no scratching, no vocals, no samples, but a
lot of fading, mixing, crossing, and so on. And they always use them so
fine and subdued, but very effectively. You won’t hear any harsh beats
on this, or simple 4/4-rhythms or anything usable on a dancefloor. This
one started the whole café-techno-culture, that is big nowadays,
especially in Vienna. (I sometimes have the impression, that there are
more DJs and clubs in this town doing this sort of electronic
soundscape-thing than there are people listening to this. I mean, you can
go out any time of the night and find some
underground-weird-electronic-set done in this city, if you know where to
go, that is, but asking around will finally get you there. But, where is
the audience? These are fine clubs, but they are usually empty. Oh well, I
don’t like crowded places anyway.)
