elseq 1-5

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elseq 1-5

elseq 1-5.jpg

Artist Autechre
Released 19 May 2016
Label Warp Records (WARP512)
AE_LIVE
(2015)
elseq 1-5 JNSN CODE GL16 / spl47
(2017)

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.

History

elseq was all recorded directly to stereo within Max/MSP[1]. The tracks are all solo tracks, split evenly between Sean and Rob.[2]

In Autechre: elseq et al, June 2016, Autechre explained much of the background for the record. The store-front was initially set up in collaboration with Warp to just release live shows, before Autechre realised they could also use it for putting out long tracks that were otherwise ill-suited for any proper release, similar to Quaristice.Quadrange.ep.ae. The initial plan was that for any track, they would do a session on Friday, get it approved by Warp, have designs made by The Designers Republic and then put them out by Monday morning. However, Warp instead wanted to package the material into something promotable, which coalesced the tracks into groupings. Sean noted that due to the bizarre format, they didn't know if "it's an album, or a collection of EPs or albums or just... things. We have no idea what this actually is."[3]

elseq 1-5 was released on May 19th, 2016 as a digital-only release, with no plans for a physical release.[4] Initially Autechre planned to just throw it onto the store, but Warp wanted to first give a promotional cycle before releasing it.[3] This included debuting "feed1" and "c16 deep tread" as singles before release.

Tracks

elseq 1

elseq 1

feed1

  • BPM: 112
  • In a leadup to the release of elseq, "feed1" was debuted on May 13th, 2016 on BBC Radio 6 at 9PM.[5][6][7]
  • 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. [8]
|1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . |
|B . . B . . B . |. B . . B . . . | 

c16 deep tread

  • BPM: 157, 160
  • "c16 deep tread" was debutted as the second single on KSUA, a small Alaskan college radio channel on May 18th, 2016, at 12PM Alaskan time.[9] A now-deleted SoundCloud upload of it was also linked by Warp.[7]
  • The track appeared on the 2014/2015 live sets in a mostly final, albeit abridged form. (example)
  • The main snare sound on "c16 deep tread" was made using subtractive synthesis of oscillator and noise plus frequency shifting with feedback, among other things. [10]

13x0 step

  • BPM: 130

pendulu hv moda

  • BPM: ?, 74
  • "pendulu" is one letter short of "pendulum". A possible theory for "hv' is that it stands for "heavy", as Rob mentioned that amongst their archives they had a few tracks categorised as "heavies".[11]
  • An early version of the track appeared at the end of most of the 2015 US live sets. (example)

curvcaten

  • BPM: 162 (?)

elseq 2

elseq 2

elyc6 0nset

  • BPM: 160
  • The elyc sounds were only made around 2014/2015.[12]
  • Sean confirmed that he recorded "elyc6 0nset" in a day. [13]
  • Certain elements of this track were later reused on "elyc9 7hres"

chimer 1-5-1

  • BPM: 151

c7b2

  • BPM: 120
  • "c7b2" appears on the 2015 US live sets. (example)
  • Sean was unable to explain what exactly was going on behind the scenes for "c7b2", however notes that "a lot of the sort of screamy stuff is sort of delays and something that's a bit like a phaser, but it's getting webbed around quite a lot." [14]

elseq 3

elseq 3

eastre

TBM2

  • BPM: 85.91

mesh cinereaL

  • BPM: 83 (?)

elseq 4

elseq 4

acdwn2

foldfree casual

latentcall

  • BPM: 148
  • Elements of "latentcall" appeared in the 2015 live sets. (example)

artov chain

  • BPM: 148
  • "artov chain" is a play on Markov Chains.
  • Early versions of "artov chain" appeared in the 2015 US live sets. (example)
  • The main "ah" sample in the track is from the Fairlight CMI sound library,[16] specifically HUMANS1/AAHHL2.wav being stacked harmonically.

7th slip

elseq 5

elseq 5

pendulu casual

spTh

  • BPM: 186

spaces how V

freulaeux

  • BPM: 137

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.
  • One theory argue that “elseq” is an abbreviation of “edited live sequences”, meaning it would be pronounced "ell seek". During interviews Sean did pronounce it as "ell seek", lending credence to that theory.
  • The CAT number, WARP512, was likely specifically requested by Autechre. 512 is a power of 2, as are WARP128 (ConfieldConfield) and WAP256 (Gantz Graf). Another theory is that the “5” represents the 5 parts of elseq, whereas the 12 represents it being the twelfth Autechre album.

Gallery

Links

Credits

References

  1. https://web.archive.org/web/20241107183922/https://post.lurk.org/@sean_ae/113442509470527990
  2. Hanalgig AMA, July 2022"Phoenix: can you tell us one track that was yours from elseq? XH HX: we try not to do that so i'm not gonna. just pick one at random and there's about a 50% chance"
  3. 3.0 3.1 Autechre: elseq et al, June 2016
  4. https://x.com/WarpRecords/status/733707079404421120
  5. https://www.factmag.com/2016/05/14/hear-a-new-autechre-track-feed-1/
  6. https://twitter.com/WarpRecords/status/731183045575905284
  7. 7.0 7.1 https://cdm.link/2016/05/hours-and-hours-and-hours-of-autechre/
  8. https://forum.watmm.com/topic/93475-feed1s-kicks/?do=findComment&comment=2557279
  9. https://www.factmag.com/2016/05/18/autechre-alaskan-radio-appearance/
  10. https://web.archive.org/web/20230726161856/https://post.lurk.org/@sean_ae/110771366258863281#:~:text=that%20snare%20is%20a%20combination%20of%20things%20but%20mainly%20subtractive%20(oscillator%2Bnoise)%20and%20frequency%20shifting%20w/feedback
  11. Autechre on Their Epic NTS Sessions, David Lynch, and Where Code Meets Music, August 2018"There’s a few “idles,” a few “casuals,” a few “heavies.”"
  12. Hanalgig AMA, July 2022"the elyc stuff was 2014/15 iirc"
  13. Sean Twitch AMA, June 2022"How did you make elyc6 0nset, and is it true you made it in one day? Yeah, but I don't know where, I don't think I ever said that to anyone. But yeah, it's true that I made it in a day, yeah."
  14. Sean Twitch AMA, June 2022"Anything you say about c7b2 sequencing sound engineering? It seems to have a lot of interesting reoccurring themes like the rumbling low end? Yeah, I mean, I don't know what to tell you about it. It's quite, it was quite a few different patches working together, that track. So, a lot of the sort of screamy stuff is sort of delays and something that's a bit like a phaser, but it's getting webbed around quite a lot. So there's a lot of, kind of, I don't know. I don't even know what it was doing to be honest. I'd have to open it all up again and have a look because, you know, once it's set up and saved, I don't really look at it so. But I know roughly which modules were getting used and I know roughly what they would have been doing, so yeah. “I don't know” is the short answer."
  15. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1g52y2e2rnqVhQJdkw0Qk1YYJoen1uhVvn2Fd-tABywA/edit#gid=1580406988&range=E16
  16. https://web.archive.org/web/20240119174137/https://post.lurk.org/@sean_ae/111783830699925880
  17. Sean Twitch AMA, July 2022"spaces how V was Rob, so I can't talk about how he did it. You're gonna have to ask him. Rob knows some mean tricks for stereo manipulation, and he doesn't even share him with me, so."
  18. Hanalgig AMA, July 2022"Anuel: thoughts on Franz Reuleaux? XH HX: that was rob's reference so i guess ask him"
  19. https://www.discogs.com/master/1003066-Autechre-elseq-15