About Autechre
Autechre are an English electronic music duo consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both from Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1987, they are among the best known acts signed to UK electronic label Warp Records, through which all of Autechre's full-length albums have been released beginning with their 1993 debut Incunabula. They gained initial recognition when they were featured on Warp's 1992 compilation Artificial Intelligence.
Influenced by styles such as 1980s electro and hip hop, the music of Autechre has evolved throughout their career from early, melodic techno recordings to later works often considered abstract and experimental, featuring complex composition and few stylistic conventions. Their work has been associated with the 1990s electronic genre known as intelligent dance music , though Booth has dismissed the label as "silly."
Brown and Booth met through Manchester's graffiti scene in 1987 when they both lived in Rochdale. Heavily influenced by electro-funk, hip hop and acid house, they began trading mixtapes and then creating their own compositions while collecting a handful of cheap equipment, most notably a Casio SK-1 sampler and a Roland TR-606 drum machine. Their first release was Lego Feet, a 12" recorded under an alias of the same name brought out by Manchester's Skam Records.
Their first release as Autechre was the single "Cavity Job" in 1991, released on Hardcore Records. Booth and Brown pronounce the name Autechre with a Rochdale accent . However, they have explained that the name can be pronounced in any way one sees fit. Booth said: "The first two letters were intentional, because there was an 'au' sound in the track, and the rest of the letters were bashed randomly on the keyboard. We had this track title for ages, and we had written it on a cassette, with some graphics. It looked good, and we began using it as our name."
Two more tracks appeared in 1992 under the now finalised Autechre name, on the Warp Records compilation Artificial Intelligence, part of the series of the same name. The compilation contained "The Egg", later reworked for their first full-length release under the title "Eggshell".
Two hours of early material was broadcast live on NTS Radio during Warp's 30th-anniversary weekend, called Warp Tapes 89-93. It is distributed for free on Autechre's Bleep Store in digital audio format.
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