AeA: "The Name Thread" Posts

10.20.97 - I got this from rec.music.industrial, where people were arguing over whether or not "Autechre" means anything. I'm sure this will be a fun test for our future "How To Say Autechre" page. :-) Anyway, this stuff is all recent so I'm going to try to get the originals from dejanews.com or something to complete it.
This whole thing is kind of silly, isn't it? :-)
11.25.97 More stuff from r.m.a or a.m.t added... it comes up again! New stuff is at the end, starting with the triple-line.
1.14.98 I think we've reached the end of it, with the post tacked on to the end... an explanation.

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From: mack the knife <nm7060@cnsvax.albany.edu>
Newsgroups: rec.music.industrial
Subject: Re: Autechre
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 18:03:14 EDT

On Mon, 13 Oct 1997, Don Muerte wrote:

> On Mon, 13 Oct 1997, mack the knife wrote:
>
> >
> > On Mon, 13 Oct 1997, Don Muerte wrote:
> > > >
> > > > hmmm. like DOg Ni*ple-MUnching, auto-ERotic, TEen?
> > > > fah, anyone can make things up after the fact. now be nice!
> > > > yours,
> > > > niall.
> > >
> > > But would that be fitting towards the said situation? I doubt it very
> > > much so.
> >
> >
> > hey, wittgenstein-
> > would *what* be 'fitting towards the said situation'? fitting? said
> > situation? pls clarify this, i'd hate to write you off as a crack addict
> > unfairly ;)
> > yours,
> > niall.
>
> Fitting is used here in the context that it 'fulfills the requirements of
> this argument'. The requirements:
> 1) Autechre is short for something. It's been revealed earlier in this thread
> by a reliable source.
> 2) It is a musical band (hence Dog-ni*ple munching blah blah blah will
> not be very suiting in this case, unless they're offshoots of Skinny Puppy.)
>
> Therefore: au = Audio; tech = Technical; re = Research. Hopefully,
> further clarification is not needed. I'm getting rather tired of
> infantile questions.
>
> 'God, I wish they could answer this themselves.'
>
> Live long and prosper,
> - 'Coffee'

once again, we have a name-caller. 'DOg Ni*ple Munching.....'
is perfectly relevant in this case, as it is an offshoot of DON MUERTE.
i'm going to go out on a limb and assume that your name is not short
for this, but it is just as easily argued, based on the presence of the
proper letters, as your charming, and might i add eloquent, discourse on
the absolutely pellucid clarity in the source of autechre's name.

it has also been confirmed by more than one 'reliable source' that
'autechre' is the result of randomness. the argument that i brought forth
to you was that anything can be turned into an acronym. regrettably, your
response to this has been less than fitting.
it is not the questions that are juvenile. your answers are juvenile.
i really wouldn't have taken exception to your posts if you hadn't called
someone a dolt without a satisfactory reason. in this last post, you
still have done nothing but dodge questions and fling insults. i suspect
that this is a safe approach, since so many rmi'ers argue in the same
way.
it's been fun, son.
yours,
niall.

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From: kands@no.spam.com (jeremy tolsma)
Newsgroups: rec.music.industrial
Subject: Re: Autechre
Date: 15 Oct 1997 00:52:54 GMT

In article <Pine.PMDF.3.95.971014175248.541171840C-100000@cnsvax.albany.edu>,
nm7060@cnsvax.albany.edu says...
>

>once again, we have a name-caller. 'DOg Ni*ple Munching.....'
>is perfectly relevant in this case, as it is an offshoot of DON MUERTE.
>i'm going to go out on a limb and assume that your name is not short
>for this, but it is just as easily argued, based on the presence of the
>proper letters, as your charming, and might i add eloquent, discourse on
>the absolutely pellucid clarity in the source of autechre's name.
>
>it has also been confirmed by more than one 'reliable source' that
>'autechre' is the result of randomness. the argument that i brought forth
>to you was that anything can be turned into an acronym. regrettably, your
>response to this has been less than fitting.
>it is not the questions that are juvenile. your answers are juvenile.
>i really wouldn't have taken exception to your posts if you hadn't called
>someone a dolt without a satisfactory reason. in this last post, you
>still have done nothing but dodge questions and fling insults. i suspect
>that this is a safe approach, since so many rmi'ers argue in the same
>way.

ya, but the thing is, those of us who have been reading this stupid group
since before Autechre ever pressed a record remember when the buzz on them
started and everyone around then (maybe 2 years ago at the most) knew the name
was short for Audio Technical Research. You could walk into almost any record
store that carried it and ask what it ment and they would tell you, probably
because they got a press package along with their promo copies that explained
it. The rest of you just look like morons because you saw a drunk german try
and form sylablles on a video interview. Now you've probably gone into record
stores asking for AWTEKERRRRRRR so many times that even the record store staff
won't argue with you anymore (since you're the one buying the album, you can
call it whatever you want, they figure!)

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From: Don Muerte <donmuert@ix.netcom.com>
Newsgroups: rec.music.industrial
Subject: Re: Autechre
Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 00:58:18 -0400
On 15 Oct 1997, jeremy tolsma wrote:

> In article <Pine.PMDF.3.95.971014175248.541171840C-100000@cnsvax.albany.edu>,
> nm7060@cnsvax.albany.edu says...
> >
>
> >once again, we have a name-caller. 'DOg Nip[le Munching'
> >is perfectly relevant in this case, as it is an offshoot of DON MUERTE.
> >i'm going to go out on a limb and assume that your name is not short
> >for this, but it is just as easily argued, based on the presence of the
> >proper letters, as your charming, and might i add eloquent, discourse on
> >the absolutely pellucid clarity in the source of autechre's name.
> >
> >it has also been confirmed by more than one 'reliable source' that
> >'autechre' is the result of randomness. the argument that i brought forth
> >to you was that anything can be turned into an acronym. regrettably, your
> >response to this has been less than fitting.
> >it is not the questions that are juvenile. your answers are juvenile.
> >i really wouldn't have taken exception to your posts if you hadn't called
> >someone a dolt without a satisfactory reason. in this last post, you
> >still have done nothing but dodge questions and fling insults. i suspect
> >that this is a safe approach, since so many rmi'ers argue in the same
> >way.
>
> ya, but the thing is, those of us who have been reading this stupid group
> since before Autechre ever pressed a record remember when the buzz on them
> started and everyone around then (maybe 2 years ago at the most) knew the name
> was short for Audio Technical Research. You could walk into almost any record
> store that carried it and ask what it ment and they would tell you, probably
> because they got a press package along with their promo copies that explained
> it. The rest of you just look like morons because you saw a drunk german try
> and form sylablles on a video interview. Now you've probably gone into record
> stores asking for AWTEKERRRRRRR so many times that even the record store staff
> won't argue with you anymore (since you're the one buying the album, you can
> call it whatever you want, they figure!)
>

thank you....

Live long and prosper,
- 'Coffee' -no longer a dolt- Don Muerte

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From: Creaig Dunton <pdaddy@sprynet.com>
Newsgroups: rec.music.industrial
Subject: Re: Autechre

Don Muerte wrote:

> Hrm...I wasted all my energy on that single, previous post and I don't
> have the patience to fight back. I hope someday the truth will be known.
> Until then I've been defeated (in order to satisfy those who singled me
> out for the killing).
>

I hate to get into this thread (what is this, the new "What does KMFDM stand
for?" thread?), but I'm sure I read in an interview once that it was chosen
originally as a track title, the computer (?) they were using had a maximum
of 8 letters for a file name, and they would just ramdomly pick letters, and
Autechre came out as a track title, and they liked it so much that they
named the band the same thing. They still use that method for naming tracks
today...

--
Creaig D
The best things in life are free,
but boy are they ugly
RED TEAM
http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/pdaddy/

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From: kands@no.spam.com (jeremy tolsma)
Newsgroups: rec.music.industrial
Subject: Re: Autechre
Date: 15 Oct 1997 00:44:38 GMT

In article <Pine.SOL.3.91.971013114712.747C-100000@ux7.cso.uiuc.edu>,
kiliman@uiuc.edu says...
>
>
>> Look at it you dolt! Autechre is an abbreviated version of "Audio
>> Technical Research". I hope you're no too blind to see that.
>
> I originally wasn't going to jump in, but after the "dolt" comment...
>
> You are wrong, sorry.
>
> Just because it makes sense doesn't make it correct.
>

Actually, things that make sense are usually correct, but we're not talking
about things that make sense here we're talking about facts, and facts are
always correct.

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From: jack <jacko11@telegram.infi.net>
Newsgroups: rec.music.industrial
Subject: Re: Autechre
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 18:32:02 -0400

vX gAs aTTack wrote:

> On 13 Oct 1997 17:33:04 GMT, lucian X <worsley@user1.teleport.com>
> wrote:
>
> >Don Muerte <donmuert@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> >>On Mon, 13 Oct 1997, LOgre2'3 wrote:
> >>>I certainly hope that was a joke.
> >>>If not, I certainly hope you go get your facts straightened out.
> >>Look at it you dolt! Autechre is an abbreviated version of "Audio
> >>Technical Research". I hope you're no too blind to see that.
> >
> >i don't know the first thing about how the name "autechre" came to be, but
> >if you're just going on what you think it stands for by looking at it, it
> >could just as easily be any of the following:
> >
> >aurally temperate chromatic essence.
> >automated technology's revenge.
> >australian techno reversed.
> >automatic echo resonance.
> >
> >(i hope you're not too blind to see that.)
> >
> >
> >
> >.lx
> >--
> >[ lucian X is TM and (c) 1978 God all rights reserved patent pending ]
> >[ http://www.madison-web.com/lxl/index.html . electronic soundscapes ]
> >[ http://www.madison-web.com/lxl/lucian/index.html . a personal site ]
>
> I alway thought it stood for aural or audio texture and the band just
> sort of put them together and made them phonetic (sp?). Any way
> autechre puts out good music and has a creative name which is nice
> since many bands today have the same or similar name.
> vX

This whole debate is a little strange. Haven't there been all these magazine
articles and interviews stating, often in the band's own words, the following
facts:
Autechre means nothing.
It was actually a random-scrambled letter sequence generated by their
programs. They said that they were using it to come up with track names, and
they liked one in particular and decided to make the band's name out of it.
This would seem to be supported by the fact that one of their tracks (I forget
the album) is called "Autriche"
That if the 'tech' stood for technology, it would go against what they said
in another article, that they didn't want people to have pre-concieved imagery
or expectations about what their music would be. They don't like the label
'techno' because it tends to conjure up, they claim, images of machines and
robots and space and such. Maybe not but the word techno has definite and
strong connotations.
Check out any autechre page's article links, you will probably find the
articles I am talking about, because I only read them recently.

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From: apparratus@aol.com (Apparratus)
Newsgroups: rec.music.industrial
Subject: Re: Autechre
Date: 18 Oct 1997 23:23:14 GMT
>I think that the stupidest acronym is Forma Tadre. Which is from FORce
>MAjor, the guy's favourite TAngerine DREam album. That is just dumb.
>
>

Well It's nice to know how you feel, but *I* along with many others happen to
like the name. He is very influenced by TD, and if force major is what we can
thank for FT's existence, more power to him. I see you have been reading your
industrial nation, *Blackie*

np:remyl "aaahhhmm"

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From: cyberclay <cclay@shell.fastlane.net>
Newsgroups: alt.music.techno
Subject: autechre pronunciation
Date: 24 Nov 1997 02:06:33 GMT
Hey,
How do you say "Autechre"? What does this name mean? I've always
pronounced it "aauu-tek-re".

Regards,
cyberclay

From: db <kiliman@uiuc.edu>
Newsgroups: alt.music.techno
Subject: Re: autechre pronunciation
Date: Sun, 23 Nov 1997 23:53:36 -0600

> Hey,
> How do you say "Autechre"? What does this name mean? I've always
> pronounced it "aauu-tek-re".

I heard the two-man Ae crew pronounce the name on a video downloaded
last year. It was very distinctly 'awe-tek-err' with emphasis on the
'tek'. I usually tone down the 'tek' so I can spit it out quicker.
Ignore all "Audio Technology Research" type arguments.

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From: Pope Emperor FrogMaN <uncle_toade@hotmail.com>
Newsgroups: alt.music.techno
Subject: Re: autechre pronunciation
Date: Sun, 23 Nov 1997 22:45:20 -0800
cyberclay wrote:
>
> Hey,
> How do you say "Autechre"? What does this name mean? I've always
> pronounced it "aauu-tek-re".
>
> Regards,
> cyberclay
>

I was taught that it's "Oh-Teck-rr." About its meaning, though, I have
no idea.

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From: sturm@dds.nl (Alex Cavaye)
Newsgroups: alt.music.techno
Subject: Re: autechre pronunciation
Date: Mon, 24 Nov 1997 13:50:07 GMT
In article <65anf9$7rm@news.cybernews.net>, cyberclay <cclay@shell.fastlane.net> wrote:
>Hey,
> How do you say "Autechre"? What does this name mean? I've always
>pronounced it "aauu-tek-re".
>
or-tek-ruh

or if you're american

or-dek-ruh

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From: soul beat runner <myee@po-box.nospam.mcgill.ca>
Newsgroups: alt.music.techno
Subject: Re: autechre pronunciation
Date: Mon, 24 Nov 1997 19:21:20 -0500
cyberclay wrote:
>
> Hey,
> How do you say "Autechre"? What does this name mean? I've always
> pronounced it "aauu-tek-re".
>
> Regards,
> cyberclay
>
> ---
> Perl/C/UNIX/Linux Hacker
> http://www.hacked-inhabitants.com

Awww tee cher

--
I don't care what's in your CD changer.

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Path: news.infi.net!not-for-mail
From: jack <jacko11@telegram.infi.net>
Newsgroups: alt.music.techno
Subject: Re: autechre pronunciation
> How do you say "Autechre"? What does this name mean? I've always
> pronounced it "aauu-tek-re".
>

The band is on record saying that the name doesn't mean anything. Not
totally sure about pronunciation though... I think it's AW-tek-errr,
allowing for some differences in American and British pronunciations of
all words.
This question came up a while ago on R.M.I, and some people were saying
it stood for "Audio Technical Research" but as far as I know this is a
total myth, as interviews with the band explained the random source of
the name. Apparently they were using a random name-generator on a
computer or something like that, and came up with something similar, and
then shortened it to 8 characters (DOS file names.) This would seem to
agree with the fact that very few of their tracks are longer than 8
letters. Actually, are there any?
There was also a track called "Autriche", so I think this might be what
they came up with before Autechre, or around the same time, and then
released it. Someone said that this is the French word for "Austrian". I
don't know french, so I have no clue. Even so it's probably an
unintentional coincidence, or even a deliberate scrambling of the word,
or whatever. In any case, it doesn't really mean much on its own, only
in reference to the music.
My friends who don't listen to techno think it's German when they hear
the name, because it's a bit guttural I bet. Like some people thinking
of blue when they think of ice, because it's drawn that way.
I was thinking of making a little article like this for my Autechre
website. There's a page there of posts from RMI about the saying and
meaning of Autechre. Actually, this whole thread will probably get
posted onto that page as new stuff after it dies out. :-)

Side note: being in the USA, I had to special order my copy of Chiastic
Slide. When the HMV called to let me know it had arrived, the guy said
"Oh-TEK-rah." I shuddered. It sounded like cajun food.

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From: weird things feed me <tactaht@moc.mocnet.xi>
Newsgroups: alt.music.techno
Subject: Re: autechre pronunciation
Date: Mon, 24 Nov 1997 21:19:15 -0800
jack wrote:
> 8 characters (DOS file names.) This would seem to
> agree with the fact that very few of their tracks are longer than 8
> letters. Actually, are there any?

second bad vilbel
(and c/pach wouldn't be a vaild dos file name, even if it is less than 8
letters)
no recent tracks have had longer titles, though.

np: plaid "milh"
--

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From: jack <jacko11@telegram.infi.net>
Newsgroups: alt.music.techno
Subject: Re: autechre pronunciation
Date: Mon, 24 Nov 1997 19:59:34 -0500

By the way, I forgot to put this in my post... here's my rational
opinion for choosing the way to say it. I saw the name in print and
pronounced it with a guess, and later on when I heard it out loud from
others I had been saying it right. I just chose the most common
pronunciations of the letter combinations in it, which is what I think
everybody does when they see a new word that they have no idea how to
say. It's a guess.

Note that I am not reading meanings into the word or creating an
acronym here, just giving justification for why I pronounce it a certain
way:

**"Au" as in "Paul" or "Austria" or "maul" or "caterwaul"... I can't
think of too many english words that have "au" pronounced as "OW" or
plain long O.... there's "gauche" but it's actually taken from french
("left"), and although funny, (esp. on TV show frasier) it's not used
very often. I think most of the words like that are taken from french. I
had it as a vocab word in high school... otherwise I'd have no clue! :-)

**"Tech" as in, well, "technology" (any others?)

**"re" as in a lot of British spellings of english words that end in
"er"... like "centre", "metre", etc.

As for where the accent goes, I don't know why... maybe because
"Au-TECH-re" sounds like "pecker." ??

-dto

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>
>AU-tech-re: "AW" like austria
> "TEK" like 'technology'
> "ER" like british "centRE" or "metRE"
>
>With the accent on the first syllable.. AW-tek-errr. Otherwise it rhymes
>with "pecker."

Actually, this is wrong. They did an interview a LONGass time ago for one
of the British papers (I think it was Melody Maker, whichever one it is that
has the big electronic section in the middle), and they were asked this
question. Their answer:

It's pronounced "aw-TEK-ra". Ever since then (this was about 4 or 5 years
ago when they were first getting started), that's been the accepted
pronunciation among everyone I have ever talked to about them (except for
some people who take it to extremes and say "awtekray", which is just out of
control). If you've been pronouncing it the way you describe all this time,
there are probably a lot of people who have been snivelling behind your
back... It would make sense pronouncing it "awteker", since they're English
and that's how they spell things, but it's not correct.

// Jeff Williams
// jeff-williams@NOSPAMbigfoot.com
// http://www.geocities.com/soho/2024
// To send email remove "NOSPAM" from the address.