Exit through the library
Some notes after the concert of the great jam band: Autechre
Whatever comes to your mind when you hear the phrase ‘sweaty club’ is too far away from this Wednesday in Berlin’s Astra Kulturhaus at Autechre’s live set. The packed venue was too tight and stuffy, which wasn’t very helpful for an almost ninety-minute concert. People were talking, yo-yoing for the beer, using flash to take a photo—and that reminded me of my previous Ae performance in Torino at Club2Club festival. The difference between 2016 and 2025 is drastic: a lot of people (not even a half of a crowd, to be fair, but enough to notice) can't concentrate on the music anymore. Torino's performance was deep at night, so, I guess, that was for the die-hard fans only—but the evening in Berlin was more chaotic, and not in a good way.
Could the same be applied to the performance as well? In a way, yes: while the set took off mostly from their Lyon’s 24’ set, beloved by fans (I prefer Paris), it felt less structural, the beat was stumbling, and reminiscent of ‘Lost’ from Anti EP, while being improved a lot. Or maybe this stammering rhythm was just more noticeable in a live environment? Anyway, it was great to hear occasional beauty in this well-organized chaos and see more of the duo's influences.
As for the former, there was an outstanding moment at the beginning of the second hour, where the synth was doing the close thing to the guitar solo that you would hear in the Autechre set. And a lot of melodies were the carcass that were holding it all together. As for the latter, you could hear a lot of sounds echoing hip-hop and sometimes even new wave in the set, and one of the synths was very similar to the lo-fi-house hi-hat, while not being hi-hat at all. These eerie moments, while being unquestionably Autechre, were what was making the set unique and captivating. It wasn’t working all the time, but when it was, it was impressive.
And another mental return to Torino. What was great for me in this set? This moment (captured on the same tour in Helsinki). The rest was already really good and interesting, but this unexpected turn was sublime. Maybe I was expecting some transcendence this time as well (and that would be my problem), but there was nothing sudden this time (that could be my other personal problem, mainly because I’ve listened to all 19 records from ‘AE 2022 — ‘ collection). Speaking of collection…
I know that it was coined almost ten years ago in a review for ‘elseq 1–5’ but I’ve thought a bit before that of Autechre as a jam band, and I don’t think we talk enough about this. Like Grateful Dead and Phish before their decision to pivot to the duo who mostly releases live sessions, they have hardcore fan community, who are willing to listen to bootlegs before the official release (and yes, Berlin concert already has one). They’re working on their own archive, as tireless librarians, also telling about their influences and influence along the way. When I’m listening to the Autechre live (on the record or in presence), I, more often than usual, think about electronic music in general. It’s not about some continuum, no; their music just contains multitudes, and it’s always interesting to hear something new in it.
And they have their own myth, or, more importantly, mystery: yeah, that thing about total darkness of their performance. I had noticed it in 2016, and couldn’t stop thinking about it now, but it’s not that dark at all. The reason is very simple: the main visual of Autechre’s gigs is green shining exit signs. For the safety reasons they couldn’t be turned out, and they serve as a metaphor for those who are unfamiliar: take it or leave it. Most of us are taking it.
Surely, their concerts would work even without the whole ‘darkness’ schtick, but I guess the main reason for putting the lights off is not the usual ‘focus on the music’ point: it’s about the comfort of the performers. It’s not like they prefer to be total enigmas, they just share anything on their own terms, be it six-hours long Twitch AMA or their mixes with influences at Mixlr (sadly, most of that was taken down, but you could check the tracklist for some of it here). And we’re coming to their concert on their terms, too.
We know that it would be without lights, that the music itself would be experimental and demanding, that sometimes it would be better in headphones instead of club ambience. But we’re getting an experience out of it — surely, that’s why we’re going to the concerts in general, but I tend to think that something could be expected only at Autechre shows. Maybe that’s just a fan in me, but I surely prefer this ninety-minute long journey, albeit all the flaws, to their latest ‘proper’ releases, SIGN and PLUS; but that’s the eternal feature of all the jam bands, right?
Latest chills: 5 tracks that gave me, ahem, the chills lately.
studio version of Natural World Beauty Concept ‘Wicked Game’ cover that I’ve first heard at this year Rewire festival;
Kae Tempest single ‘Know Yourself’, where he’s featuring younger self in a most seamless and touching way;
mesmerizing Alva Noto remix of Galya Bisengalieva tracks ’Sary-Uzen’ and ‘Degelen’, from upcoming reworks’ album;
soothing B-Side ‘Chintamani’ by Céline Dessberg, where French artist reconnects with her Mongolian roots;
‘Your New Place’, great opener to Racing Mount Pleasant self-titled album: I love the closer ‘Your Old Place’ even more, but it hasn’t got the video (yet?)