Amber (Autechre album)

Amber
Studio album by Autechre
Released 7 November 1994 (1994-11-07)
Genre Intelligent dance music[1][2]
Length 74:27
Label Warp
Producer Autechre[3]
Autechre chronology
Anti EP
(1994)		 Amber
(1994)		 Garbage
(1995)

Amber is the second studio album by the British electronic music duo Autechre, released by Warp Records on 7 November 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,[4][5] Amber was described by Rob Brown as "genuinely the first album we put out on Warp".[4]

Style

CMJ described the sound of Amber as "entirely electronic and entirely instrumental" outside a few vocal samples.[6] Fact magazine described Amber as containing "some of Autechre's most ambient moments".[5] Fact compared songs on the album to works of 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".[5] Select described the album as a "'90s update of electro's cut-'n'-paste rhythmics into the realms of the odd." and that it "made music by μ-Ziq or Aphex Twin seem almost conventional".[7]

Release

Amber was released by Warp Records on 7 November 1994.[8] The album was released on compact disc, double vinyl, cassette and as a digital download.[8] Amber was released on 24 January 1995 by TVT Records.[9] Amber was re-released on vinyl by Warp on 11 November 2016.[1]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide[11]
Pitchfork7.9/10[2]
Select(4/5)[7]

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."[10] 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."[10] Select gave the album four stars out of five, describing the group as "out on the fringes, having a good rummage for the weird and beautiful" and the album was not "goalless experimentation. There's plenty of melody on board, it's just that it creeps up on you from behind"[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".[6]

In 2008, Booth described listening to Incunabula and Amber again, and commented on "how cheesy they were, and how contrasted our newer ideas are."[12] The New Rolling Stone Album Guide gave the both Incunabula and Amber two and half stars out of five, describing them as "smart if unexciting ambient watercolors" that "give no indication of the innovations to follow".[11] Pitchfork's Andy Beta found that the melodies of "Slip" haven't aged well and that parts of "Glitch" and "Piezo" were "dulled and gentle in hindight, knowing just what nasty and brutish sounds they would soon wring out of their gear."[2] The review concluded that "What makes Amber fascinating to revisit decades on is to hear vestigial organs and sonic cul-de-sacs that Autechre would bin almost immediately after."[2]

Track listing

All tracks are credited to Brown/Booth.[3]

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 2 Bowe, Miles (22 September 2016). "Autechre reissue classic early albums, embark on massive European tour". Fact.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Beta, Andy (21 November 2016). "Autechre - Amber". Pitchfork. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  3. 1 2 Amber (Liner notes). Autechre. Warp Records. 1994.
  4. 1 2 "BBC Collective - Autechre Q&A". BBC. 15 April 2005. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 Kalev, Maya (2 September 2013). "The Essential... Autechre". Fact. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  6. 1 2 MacDonald, Heidi (April 1995). "Reviews". CMJ. CMJ Network, Inc. (20): 30. ISSN 1074-6978.
  7. 1 2 3 Grundy, Gareth (December 1994). "New Albums". Select: 89.
  8. 1 2 "Autechre: Amber". Warp Records. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  9. ↑ "Autechre - Amber". Allmusic. All Media Guide. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  10. 1 2 3 Raggett, Ned. "Amber - Autechre". Allmusic. All Media Guide. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  11. 1 2 Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. p. 29. ISBN 0743201698.
  12. ↑ Richardson, Mark (18 February 2008). "Autechre". Pitchfork. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
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