Amber (Autechre album)

Amber
Studio album by Autechre
Released 7 November 1994
Length 74:27
Label Warp
Producer Autechre[1]
Autechre chronology

Anti EP
(1994)		 Amber
(1994)		 Garbage
(1995)

Amber is a 1994 album by the British electronic music group Autechre released by Warp Records in 1994. Amber was Autechre's first album of new material as their previous work Incunabula was a compilation of older tracks.

Production

Opposed to Autechre's first album Incunabula which was predominantly a compilation of older material and part of Warp Records' Artificial Intelligence series of albums.[2][3] Amber was described by Rob Brown as "genuinely the first album we put out on Warp".[2]

Style

CMJ described the sound of Amber as "entirely electronic and entirely instrumental" outside a few vocal samples.[4] Fact magazine desrcibed Amber as containing "some of Autechre's most ambient moments".[3] Fact compared songs on the album to works Brian Eno ("Nine" and "Yulquen"), describing them as " beatless, but powerful low-end means that they’re contemplative rather than ethereal". Fact also described songs such as "Montreal" and "Piezo" ("Silverside") as different styled pieces with "deep veins of techno and acid house".[3]

Release

Amber was released by Warp Records on 7 November 1994.[5] The album was released on compact disc, double vinyl, cassette and as a digital download.[5] Amber was released on 24 January 1995 by TVT Records.[6]

Reception

Ned Raggett of Allmusic gave the album a four-and-a-half star rating out of five, and compared the album to Incunabula, opining that "a couple of tracks could be removed with no problem, while tracks like "Montreal" and "Slip" continue the basic Incunabula formula without noticeable change."[7] Raggett concluded that "things are clearly starting to gel a little more here than on previous releases; the great leap forward becomes all the more logical in retrospect."[7] CMJ stated that when Autechre stick to more rhythmic music such as "Glitch" and "Piezo" it's "almost hypnotically listenable" but slower tracks were "dangerously close to new age".[4]

In 2008, Booth described listening to Incunabula and Amber again, and commented on "how cheesy they were, and how contrasted our newer ideas are."[8]

Track listing

All tracks are credited to Brown/Booth.[1]

No. Title Length
1. "Foil"   6:04
2. "Montreal"   7:15
3. "Silverside"   5:31
4. "Slip"   6:21
5. "Glitch"   6:15
6. "Piezo"   8:00
7. "Nine"   3:40
8. "Further"   10:07
9. "Yulquen"   6:37
10. "Nil"   7:48
11. "Teartear"   6:45
Total length:
 74:27

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Amber (Liner notes). Autechre. Warp Records. 1994.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "BBC Collective - Autechre Q&A". BBC. 15 April 2005. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Kalev, Maya (2 September 2013). "The Essential... Autechre". Fact. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 MacDonald, Heidi (April 1995). "Reviews". CMJ (CMJ Network, Inc.) (20): 30. ISSN 1074-6978.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Autechre: Amber". Warp Records. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  6. ↑ "Autechre - Amber". Allmusic. All Media Guide. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Raggett, Ned. "Amber - Autechre". Allmusic. All Media Guide. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  8. ↑ Richardson, Mark (18 February 2008). "Autechre". Pitchfork. Retrieved 18 August 2014.