Autechre
Basscadet EP
(Wax Trax!/Warp)
Now this is the kind of single that is what singles are all about. Not only are their 5 tracks and almost 40 minutes of music on this EP/single, but not one of the tracks on this release appear as an album release. Basically, it's a cheap, solid release of music that you can't get anywhere else. Released right on the heels of Autechre's debut album Incunabula, it's a great companion piece to the album because it not only extends themes that they were exploring with the disc, but goes some new places as well.
Like a good remix EP, all the songs have some element of the original, yet aren't repetitive enough next to one another that things get boring or repetitive. Although Sean Booth and Rob Brown did three of the remixes themselves, they also handed off the track to two other solid artists for remixes that incorporate the individual artists sound into the track as well. On the first mix (the stripped-of-vowels "Bcdtmx"), Autechre mainly just jacks up certain elements of the original until it's a much more harsh and banging number. The beat is more punchy and it's a little faster and just feels a whole lot more aggressive than the low-riding original.
The second mix is an epic mix by Beaumont Hannant that starts out in almost the same way as the original, but soon layers on repeating elements of the track until it's thick with chiming sounds and pulsing echoes. Most of the low-end is stripped out of the track (in a somewhat strange twist on the "Basscadet" name) until the end and it gives the track more of a haunting edge. In probably the most drastically altered version of the track, Mark Clifford of Seefeel gives the track an almost dub beat while laying down a signature drone over some hiccupping clangs.
The duo again takes the reigns over again on the last two mixes and the result of the first track is a wheezing track that sounds like the friendly cousin to Aphex Twins "Ventolin" on the "Tazmx" while the 10-minute "Basscadubmx" stretches the original into a gurgling, spacy trip-out. Overall, if you like the group, and especially their early work, this is a no-brainer buy. It's cheap and like some of the singles by Future Sound of London, it works a theme without overdoing things.
Rating: 8
