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What can I say. I am a fool for Autechre. I love the way they intersperse lush, enwraping melodies with beats I can only describe as cruel. I love the feeling of controlled chaos they harness. I love the undertones that permeate each and every track i have ever heard of theirs. I love the clarity and the complexity, the dirtyness and the precision. I think you probably get the idea.

Cichlisuite is no exception. as with every Autechre release I have ever listened to, it took me some time to fall in love with it. The subtleties do not emerge for a few listenings, and even then one really needs to center their attention on it to do it justice. Autechre have always more than held up to repeated listenings, they mature and grow, favourite passages develop into deeper pathways, apparenty arythmic sections manifest their inherent order.

All the trademark Autechre elements are there, beats within beats, washes upon washes, more and more with every listen.

mmmn. autechre.

Cichlisuite is on whole drier, faster and less dense than Chiastic Slide yet just as complex upon further examination. The EP is supposedly reconstructions of the track ‘Cichli’ from that album, yet I hear almost no evidence to contest the fact that these are completely new tracks. The familiar building blocks are all there, the incongruous rhythms, percussive belches and farts, melancholy strings and mentality of structured chaos. The second track ‘Pencha’ being a startling example of almost totally random elements weaving around each other quite seamlessly. ‘Krib’ is a quieter track, with deep, ruminative synth pads, echoed, perky, toytown melody and a percussion track built out of what sounds to me like those Chinese medicine balls that you spin around in your hand bouncing off one another. No particular sound in an Autechre track ever really overbalances the mix. The bass sounds are often quite mellow and set back. These tracks don’t really pump but who really cares, for ‘Electronic Listening Music’, IDM or whatever crap name they’ll come up with next, this stuff is top dog.

British electronic duo Autechre forged a name for itself by crafting serene, glistening waterfalls of sound, thick peels of aural experimentation that seemed at once static and full of below-the-surface activity. With their fourth album, Chiastic Slide, released earlier this year in England, the pair made a huge leap, adding layers of carefully molded sonic bumps and blips, instilling their cool minimalism with a source of endless intrigue. As if not quite finished with that album's rich cache of sounds, Autechers Sean Booth and Rob Brown revisit the song "Cichli" for this half hour-long EP, turning out five distinct versions of it with similarly nonsensical names, such as "Yeesland" and "Tilapia." Although melodies are barely present, the songs are tightly structured, with even-toned backing tracks acting as a backdrop for a strong peppering of blips and bleeps. Less overtly melodic than the Aphex Twin's recent material, but equally playful and complex, Autechre's latest work reaffirms the group's place at the forefront of electronica's innovators.

Autechre never ceases to impress me with their energetic IDM. Cichlisuite is yet another example of their excellence. Consisting of five tracks which are manipulated versions of "Cichli," off of the album "Chiastic Slide," each track sounds nothing alike other than the fact that they have a beat. "Yeesland" begins the EP, and is one of the most impressive tracks on it. Beginning as a endlessly complex techno track, it gains many experimental characteristics towards the end as sounds explode into chaos. "Pencha" is very primitive and blippy. It consists of layers of very simple electronics done somewhat randomly, however in synch. As this track progresses, like "Yeesland," more experimental elements are drawn in.
"Krib" is the high point of the CD. Electronics span octaves in the introduction to the song. Then, one of the most incredible noises I have ever heard is brought into the music. The sound of the vibration of two glass bottles when they are tapped together is sampled and used to create a beat. A soft melody is drawn in after a while in the background. The result is a very pleasant, relaxing track.
I have always viewed Autechre as being like Nurse With Wound, only with a beat. Too many people hear that beat right off and tend to discount Autechre as "experimental." I, too, was one of those people for a long time until I really took the time to listen to Autechre. If you haven't heard much Autechre, this EP is a good place to start. It isn't too expensive ($9.99) and it represents their style very well. I think one day Autechre will be viewed as highly as bands like Nurse With Wound and will be equally as influential, if they aren't already.