8 out of 10"Oversteps" is Autechre's 10th full length album. Autechere, for those of you unaware, are one of the pioneering artists from the golden era of avant garde/cutting edge electronic music. They are one of the bands that shaped Warp Recrods into the label that it is today. Chances are if you ever watched MTV back in the mid to late 90's (when they still played music videos) and happened to catch a show called Amp TV you saw an Autchere video or two. Chris Cunningham did a few of their videos, which if you haven't seen the Director Works that's a whole other deal you need to get into.. Anyway, back to Autechre, they can be a "hard" band to listen to/focus on at times, some people may think the band's "sound sculptures" are just too sporadic and make no sense at times, but really their time structures are more precise, brilliant, and a hell of a lot more confusing (which is a good thing here) than even the best of Jazz albums out there. Autechre's form of electronic music is definitely an acquired taste, but once your ears discover "that sound" you wont be able to pull your headphones off.
The great thing about Autechre is although they evolve and (somewhat) change up up their style with each new release they remain true to what their hardcore fans ask for. On "Oversteps" the drones are pushed forward a little more, darkness is over saturating each glitchy note, and the beats are "bob your head terrific" (some of their most user friendly if you ask me). I liked the last two Autechre albums, but I think this may be their best work since "EP 7". This is the type of electronic album people will be talking about for years to come. Every sound, note, beat, click, twitch and impulsive din serve the purpose of spoiling you with one of the smartest IDM albums you will hear in 2010. I don't think there's much more I could say about this band that hasn't already been said, you're either into them or your not. If you are, you will be very pleased with this release. If you still "don't get it" I might recommend giving up on IDM, because it doesn't get much more absolute than Autechre.
When you look up IDM Autechre should be in the definition somewhere, the amount of intelligence this band continues to show in their music would've been enough to inspire Einstein to dabble in electronic music. Now that's something I'd like to hear, sure he can split an atom, but can he split soundscapes and splice em' back together? RECOMMENDED.
Standout Tracks: Known (1) (reminds me of the EP 7 days), See On See, Treale (nice chill track), D-Sho Qub, St Epreo, Krylon (also nice and chill), Yuop (couldn't have ended it better)
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