Untilted

During the '90s, before Autechre's Sean Booth and Rob Brown became fully enamored of their audio software, they were masters of electronic composition. They built tracks that were epic and slowly unfolding ("Bike") or jarring and tight ("Eutow"), but always original and usually surprisingly infectious. After pursuing their theories of digital noise down a rabbit hole for several years, they returned to what had made their name with an uncharacteristically bright record in 2003 (Draft 7.30) and a continuation of that sound with 2005's Untilted. Booth and Brown work more with discernible drum samples here, compared to their prior focus on metalloid beats, and they have also rediscovered the value of pausing slightly before the digital merry-go-round begins another circuit. The duo haven't lost their refusal to compromise; the kinetic opener "LCC" is halted abruptly just as it gains steam — around the 7:20 mark. Overall, it's clear they're simply spending more time with the construction of their tracks than the processing of their beats. Close to 15 years after their formation, Autechre certainly aren't launching any new styles, and there's no innovative music to be heard here, but Untilted does represent the duo returning to the green fields of their youth after a few years sowing their wild oats.