Autechre: Tri Repetae CD review (Alternative Press)

AUTECHRE
Tri Repetae
It’s no wonder the British government is terrified of music like Autechre’s. Putting aside the impertinent notion that certain types of music are conducive to drug intake, the recordings of Autechre should have governments everywhere alarmed in that they represent the end of the world as they (and we) know it. No, Autechre’s mind-blowing minimalist techno hasn’t mutated into some hackneyed, preapocalyptic industrial meltdown; rather, it’s continued on the course laid out by their other genre-bending (and groundbreaking) releases. The sprawling, vaguely danceable MIDI burnout is, on Tri Repetae, at once the scariest (check “clipper”) and most deceptively beautiful (“gnit” may seem nice and trancey, but it’s actually quite a sinister piece of music) stuff around, and that’s why it’s got The Man running scared. You see, when musical subversion (“stud” contains some of the most noxious sounds ever recorded…) is couched amongst resplendent serenity ( … while “overand” contains some of the most pleasant), you’re left with a blueprint for cultural destruction. (Warp/TVT)

First appeared in the June 1996 issue of Alternative Press.