Autechre: EP7

The secret to Autechre's continued success lies with Sean Booth and Rob Brown's refusal to believe that music must occupy set, standard dimensions. The way their compositions spill out of the speakers is clearly organic, yet there's a mathematical precision that lends credence to their claims that computer-run self-composition lies right around the corner. How else to explain the almost unparalleled approximation of depth that Autechre's recordings evince Like the fractals that adorn its cover, the hour-long EP7 continues to change form even as it collapses into itself. This methodical construction through deconstruction is more effective here than on Autechre's frenetic LP5—the group appears to have given up on release titles, though track names like "Ccec" and "Zeiss Contarex" remain impenetrable—with minimal melodies fading in and out of a percussive background that itself is simultaneously fading in and out of the foreground. Rarely has confusion made so much sense. Germany's Funkstörung, also a duo, is clearly enamored of Autechre, though Additional Productions is much more conventional in its chaotic dedication to musical deconstruction. Rather than turn itself inside- out the way Autechre does, Funkstörung instead dissects and reassembles works by Björk, The Wu-Tang Clan, and East Flatbush Project, among others. The efforts of Michel Fakesh and Chris De Luca are also slightly less foreign than those of their English allies in Autechre, if only because the remixes of Additional Productions come from some corporeal source while Autechre's experiments are plucked from the ether. But the end result ultimately matters more than the process, making Funkstörung every bit the worthy competition. Rumor has it that the two plan to collaborate at some point, which can only lead to some welcome mayhem.