elseq 1-5

WARP512

elseq 1-5, often shortened to just elseq, is the twelfth studio album by Autechre released on Warp Records. It was originally released on May 19th, 2016.

Tracks

elseq 1

feed1

In a leadup to the release of elseq, "feed1" was debuted on the 13th of May, 2016 on BBC Radio 6 at 9PM. [1] [2]
One analysis of "feed1" put forth by IOS from WATMM is that the bass drums are a basic 2 bar loop (shown below), with probability to retrigger any amount of the main kicks again after 3 sixteenths notes. [3]

|1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . |
|B . . B . . B . |. B . . B . . . |

c16 deep tread

After the debut of "feed1", "c16 deep tread" was debutted as the second single on the 18th of May, 2016, at 12PM Alaskan time; on KSUA, a small Alaskan college radio channel. A now-dead SoundCloud upload of it was also provided. [4]
The track appeared on the 2014/2015 live sets in a mostly final, albeit abridged form. (example)

13x0 step

pendulu hv moda

A possible theory is that the hv stands for "heavy", as Rob mentioned that amongst their archives they had a few tracks categorised as "heavies".[5]
"pendulu" is one letter short of "pendulum".
An early version of the track appeared on near the end of the 2015 US live sets. (example)

curvcaten

elseq 2

elyc6 0nset

In the Hanalgig AMA, Sean corrected someone by saying that the elyc sounds were only made around 2014/2015.
In the June Twitch AMA, Sean confirmed that he recorded "elyc6 0nset" in a day. [6]
Certain elements of this track were later reused on "elyc9 7hres" from NTS Sessions 1-4.

chimer 1-5-1

c7b2

"c7b2" appears on the 2015 US live sets. (example)

elseq 3

eastre

In a Mixlr stream on 30 March 2020, Sean dryly remarked that he had a 52 minute long version of "eastre" as he was skimming through jam folder snippets. [7]

TBM2

mesh cinereaL

elseq 4

acdwn2

Elements of "acdwn2" first appeared on the 2014 live sets. (example) They were also later reused on "xflood" from NTS Sessions 1-4.

foldfree casual

latentcall

artov chain

"artov chain" is likely a play on Markov Chains.
An early version of "artov chain" appeared in the 2015 US live sets. (example)

7th slip

The synths were previously used in the 2014/2015 live sets. (example)

elseq 5

pendulu casual

spTh

spaces how V

In the July 2022 Twitch AMA, Sean confirmed that "spaces how V" was made by Rob. [8]

freulaeux

In the Hanalgig AMA, Sean confirmed that the track title is a reference to Franz Realeaux that was chosen by Rob. [9]

oneum

Tracklist


#	Title	Length
elseq 1
1	feed1	11:38
2	c16 deep tread	12:31
3	13x0 step	8:57
4	pendulu hv moda	12:15
5	curvcaten	6:59
		52:21

elseq 2
6	elyc6 0nset	27:09
7	chimer 1-5-1	5:03
8	c7b2	13:22
		45:35

elseq 3
9	eastre	22:15
10	TBM2	6:44
11	mesh cinereaL	24:28
		53:29

elseq 4
12	acdwn2	11:52
13	foldfree casual	9:49
14	latentcall	14:31
15	artov chain	4:04
16	7th slip	6:36
		46:54

elseq 5
17	pendulu casual	9:01
18	spTh	8:21
19	spaces how V	9:57
20	freulaeux	11:06
21	oneum	11:01
		49:28

Total		4:07:49

Trivia

elseq 1-5 is the only Autechre album to have a title stylized in lowercase.
elseq 1-5 is the only Autechre album to not have a physical release. Although, in interviews, Autechre have mentioned that Quaristice is technically a digital-only release, and that the physical versions were extra.
A popular theory is that “elseq” is an abbreviation of “edited live sequences”, meaning it would be pronounced "ell seek"
The CAT number, WARP512, was likely specifically requested by Autechre. A popular theory is that the “5” represents the 5 parts of elseq, whereas the 12 represents it being the twelfth Autechre album.
With a runtime of over 4 hours, elseq 1-5 was by far the longest Autechre album at the time of release. It was quickly beaten by their next album, NTS Sessions 1-4, which was almost double the length of elseq 1-5.