Search - :: Anvil Vapre

Austere Mechanica

Derivative Contrivance | Outer, Space | 01/20/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This ep is "a companion of sorts" to Autechre's fantastic "Tri Repetae". For those of us here in the states, we know it as the first four songs on the second disk of "Tri Repetae++". Thus, the separate release of this ep is obsolete. I'm reviewing it anyway, because this page looked so lonely without some lovin'!

Whereas "Tri Repetae" is more melody than machinery, "Anvil Vapre" is their first effort to be primarily concerned with the machinery. The album essentially kicks of with rhythmic blasts of cacophony. As the song ("Second Bad Vilbel") progresses, it sounds increasingly like a typical workday at a dystopian automaton factory. There are no soothing melodies to be found though, so for those of you who prefer a little humanity to mollify you in the midst of Autechre's archetypal discord, just skip to the next tract. "Second Scepe", with its synthetic vocal samples warped and multiplied throughout the song, sounds like the automatons have just been booted up. The effect is quite eerie, but, thanks to an organic melody, is gorgeous nonetheless. To protract my metaphor, "Second Scout" would be the automatons taking their first steps and discovering the mechanics of motion. Again, an indisputably engaging melody salvages this song from the scrap heap of glitch-wankery. "Second Peng", the coda, is an astonishing achievement; it somehow manages to be both the most terrifying yet most emotional song on the record. Upon first listen, it may just sound like stoic alien spaceship "music". But if you actually LISTEN to it, you realize that it's more akin to a mortified human captive's reaction to waking up inside a stoic alien spaceship. The effect is chilling, but strangely compelling. Or maybe I'm just a very disturbed child to find it so marvelous...

In conclusion, this album is certainly not for everyone, but it certainly doesn't strive to alienate anyone who just can't see the music in austere Mechanica like Autechre's subsequent efforts."