NTS Sessions 1-4
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NTS Sessions 1-4 is the thirteenth studio album by Autechre released on Warp Records. The 4 sessions were first individually broadcasted on the London-based online radio station NTS throughout April 2018, with physical versions of the album later becoming available for purchase on August 13th, 2018.
History
Having done a DJ Mix for NTS Radio on January 22nd, 2016[1], NTS Radio were invited to be one of the residents. They initially were hesitant to construct an 8-hour DJ mix, until they realised that they had enough original material to span that time.[2][3] They mentioned that NTS Sessions was always conceived as a radio show first, while the release was the archival version - similar to their previous Peel Sessions.[3][4] They also referenced their early IBC pirate radio shows during their Lego Feet days[3] as well as their Kiss FM Disengage shows as influences for the style of radio performance.[5]
Much of the material was taken from old material between Exai and elseq 1-5, alongside new jams on old patches, with the oldest material dateing back to 2011 with a "bladelores" jam.[3] Some of the material could also be heard on AE_LIVE and AE_LIVE 2016/2018, with Sean noting that "most of NTS Sessions was like cells from live sets" from the time or jams record earlier with it.[6] Similar to other adjacents records, the material were long live sessions that were edited down.[5][7] Autechre explictly noted the aesthetic was this idea of "developed alternate versions of existing Autechre material."[5] Another part of the aesthetic was the idea of "deep mixing" - elements which are not upfront or noticable on first listen.[3]
Each show, 2-hours each, was played every week on Thursday throughout April 2018: the 5th, 12th, 19th and 26th respectively for each session.[8] The first session was made available for download on April 9th, with the rest being made available hours after being aired. After the initial debut of the first session, NTS Radio kept it looping for the week between each sessions. After all four sessions were aired, the entire 8 hours were then looped constantly in a permanent residency, which is still ongoing as of writing.[9]
Initially, the plan was to just keep it as a digital-only release similar to elseq 1-5, however with the wider audience that NTS Sessions would reach, physicals for CD and vinyl were arranged which would later be released on August 13th, 2018.[10] The initial 12xLP box set however, was laden with warping issues and had replacement copies sent to buyers.[11] Due to the restraints of physical copies, edits were made to fit tracks on each CD/disc, mostly in regards to their transitions.
Tracks
t1a1
- The percussion was previously used at the start of the 2014/2015 live sets. (example)
bqbqbq
debris_funk
- On the vinyl version, the outro ends solely with the note decay rather than the immediate transition into "l3 ctrl".
l3 ctrl
carefree counter dronal
north spiral
- On the CD version, the intro has been altered to just start with the clicks, rather than the transition from "carefree counter dronal" to it.
- "north spiral" appears in the 14/15 live sets. (example)
gonk steady one
four of seven
32a_reflected
- The synths used in "32a_reflected" appear at the end of the 2016 live sets. (example)
- The "reflected" in the title most likely refers to the composition of track, whereby the original recording was duplicated, has its channels flipped, and then played in reversed against the original track, creating a musical palindrome by reflecting it.
elyc9 7hres
- The title shares its name with "elyc6 0nset", which "elyc9 7hres" reuses certain elements from.
six of eight (midst)
xflood
gonk tuf hi
dummy casual pt2
violvoic
- "violvoic" appears partially on the 2014/2015 live sets. (example)
sinistrailAB air
wetgelis casual interval
- The synths from "wetgelis casual interval" appeared a few times in their 14/15 live shows. (example)
- "wetgelis" likely references the composer Vangelis.
e0
peal MA
- On the vinyl version, "peal MA" has a much longer intro that got separated from "e0"
9 chr0
turbile epic casual, stpl idle
- "turbile epic casual, stpl idle" shares a few commonality with "oneum".
- Elements of "turbile epic casual, stpl idle" appear in the 2016/2018 live sets. (example)
clustro casual
splesh
- "all end" briefly appears at the end of "splesh".
tt1pd
acid mwan idle
- On the vinyl version, "acid mwan idle" fades in rather than transitioning straight from "tt1pd".
fLh
glos ceramic
g 1 e 1
- In the early 2014 live shows, "g 1 e 1" could be heard near the end of the sets. (example)
- "g 1 e 1" is constructued mostly from tuned delay lines. [12]
nineFly
- An early version of "nineFly" appears on the 2015 US live sets (example).
- The studio version of this track uses "basic threshold fft" noise reduction. [13]
shimripl air
- "shimripl" may be a shortened version of "shimmer, ripple"
icari
frane casual
- "frane casual" shares a lot of similarities with "pendulu casual".
mirrage
column thirteen
- An altered version of "column thirteen" appeared in the middle of the 2018 live sets. (example) [14]
- On the vinyl version, the transition element from "mirrage" is removed.
shimripl casual
- "shimripl casual" appears in the 2016/2018 live sets. (example)
- On both the CD and vinyl version, the track ends with a fadeout.
- On the vinyl version, the track is split into 2 parts, with a few minutes on the side with "column thirteen" and the rest on a different side.
all end
- The particular drone sound at the end of "bladelores" is what became "all end". In an interview, they confirmed that the name is in fact because the track uses the end of "bladelores" for all of the track, alongside feeling right because "It was the end, and it was long and all."[5] It also appears at the end of "splesh".
- It was confirmed that "all end" was made solely by Rob. [15]
- On the vinyl and CD versions of NTS Sessions, "all end" only has a fade in rather than the short transition from "shimripl casual" at the start. Due to the length of "all end", it was split up into 3 parts to fit on the vinyl edition.
sinistrail sentinel
- Exclusive bonus track for people who brought NTS Sessions on AE_STORE and Bleep. Part of the Adult Swim Single Program.
- "sinistrail sentinel" appeared on the 14/15 live sets. (example)
Tracklist
| # | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| NTS Session 1 | ||
| 1 | t1a1 | 18:40 |
| 2 | bqbqbq | 11:16 |
| 3 | debris_funk | 10:25 |
| 4 | l3 ctrl | 16:52 |
| 5 | carefree counter dronal | 5:14 |
| 6 | north spiral | 15:01 |
| 7 | gonk steady one | 22:25 |
| 8 | four of seven | 13:06 |
| 9 | 32a_reflected | 7:02 |
| 2:00:00 | ||
| NTS Session 2 | ||
| 10 | elyc9 7hres | 10:21 |
| 11 | six of eight (midst) | 8:42 |
| 12 | xflood | 9:25 |
| 13 | gonk tuf hi | 7:53 |
| 14 | dummy casual pt2 | 5:16 |
| 15 | violvoic | 15:01 |
| 16 | sinistrailAB air | 2:41 |
| 17 | wetgelis casual interval | 2:39 |
| 18 | e0 | 15:45 |
| 19 | peal MA | 5:04 |
| 20 | 9 chr0 | 15:45 |
| 21 | turbile epic casual, stpl idle | 21:30 |
| 2:00:00 | ||
| NTS Session 3 | ||
| 22 | clustro casual | 11:03 |
| 23 | splesh | 8:56 |
| 24 | tt1pd | 22:12 |
| 25 | acid mwan idle | 11:57 |
| 26 | fLh | 8:18 |
| 27 | glos ceramic | 13:26 |
| 28 | g 1 e 1 | 7:00 |
| 29 | nineFly | 10:04 |
| 30 | shimripl air | 7:06 |
| 31 | icari | 19:58 |
| 2:00:00 | ||
| NTS Session 4 | ||
| 32 | frane casual | 13:43 |
| 33 | mirrage | 6:22 |
| 34 | column thirteen | 17:02 |
| 35 | shimripl casual | 24:32 |
| 36 | all end | 58:22 |
| 2:00:00 | ||
| 37 | sinistrail sentinel (AE_Store & Bleep exclusive bonus track) | 11:42 |
| Total | 8:11:42 | |
Trivia
- NTS Sessions 1-4 is by far the longest Autechre album, with a runtime of exactly 8 hours. The vinyl release of NTS Sessions 1-4 spans twelve discs, making it the largest album Warp Records has ever released.
Links
Credits
- Autechre (production)
- Rob Brown (writer, producer)
- Sean Booth (writer, producer)
- Noel Summerville (mastering engineer)
- The Designers Republic (design) [16]
References
- ↑ https://www.nts.live/shows/guests/episodes/autechre-22nd-january-2016
- ↑ Autechre: ‘Something happens when you listen to music in the dark’, July 2018
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Autechre on Their Epic NTS Sessions, David Lynch, and Where Code Meets Music, August 2018
- ↑ https://www.rollingstone.it/musica/interviste-musica/autechre-niente-di-piu-umano-dei-computer/424382/
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 https://www.ele-king.net/interviews/006477/
- ↑ https://aepages.org/wiki/Sean_Twitch_AMA,_July_2022#:~:text=Most%20of%20NTS%20Sessions%20was%20like%20cells%20from%20live%20sets%2C%20either%20at%20the%20time%20or%20a%20bit%20prior%20to%20that%2C%20that%20we%20already%20had%20jams%20fully%20recorded.
- ↑ https://aepages.org/wiki/Sean_Twitch_AMA,_June_2022#:~:text=%E2%80%9CWhat%27s%20the%20process%20of%20collecting%20or%20creating%20a%20tracklist%20as%20big%20as%20NTS%3F%20How%20do%20you%20decide%20to%20flow%20the%20album%3F%E2%80%9D
- ↑ https://www.factmag.com/2018/04/03/autechre-nts-radio-residency/
- ↑ https://www.nts.live/projects/autechre-nts-residency/
- ↑ https://aepages.org/wiki/Sean_Twitch_AMA,_July_2022#:~:text=So%20yeah%2C%20that%27s%20what%20elseq%20was%2C%20but%20when%20we%20come%20to%20doing%20NTS
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/autechre/comments/lot56k/comment/go85atj/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20230726161856/https://post.lurk.org/@sean_ae/110771366258863281#:~:text=the%20g1e1%20stuff%20is%20just%20tuned%20delay%20lines%20iirc
- ↑ https://aepages.org/wiki/Sean_AMA_Transcript_220605#:~:text=made%3F%20Spectral%20stuff%3F%E2%80%9D-,Noise%20reduction.,-Just%20basic%20threshold
- ↑ https://aepages.org/wiki/Sean_Twitch_AMA,_July_2022#:~:text=column%20thirteen%2C%20I%20think%20it%20was%20a%20live%20set%20cell.
- ↑ Hanalgig AMA, July 2022
- ↑ https://www.discogs.com/master/1395770-Autechre-NTS-Sessions