Draft 7.30

The fertile sonic imagination of Autechre wanders through the digital wilderness on Draft 7.30, burying understated melodies with dense noise from the avant-garde fringe. Since their more mainstream dance beginnings, Autechre€s Rob Brown and Sean Booth have operated in the same non-rhythmic, wired turf occupied by Oval, Plaid, and other experimental techno artists. But they€ve always retained an echo of their earlier accessibility, using recurring themes that give their music a Boards of Canada-like elegance. On the other hand, recent work like 2001€s Confield has involved a more cerebral mix of order and chaos that lacks such carbon-based ballast. Draft 7.30 goes even further off into the land of 1s and 0s, manipulating theories and formulas with a fascination usually reserved for higher math classes. Your ability to listen and enjoy will depend on your tolerance for difficult concepts and willingness to embrace chaos. --Matthew Cooke