Autechre
‘Oversteps’
(Warp)

It’s now ten albums in for IDM pioneers Autechre – an impressive milestone for anyone, let alone those in the LP-light world of ‘dance music’. And “dance” is the operative word to describe
‘Oversteps’; ok, so it’s a disfigured version of the genre, but on tracks like ‘Ilanders’ and ‘D-Sho Qub’ there’s sense of melody overcoming the streams of glitches and warped beats that we’ve previously become accustomed to. Elsewhere, the gleaming ‘krYlon’ is one of many that twirl and pirouette-sprinkling chiming synths onto almost percussionless structures, whilst ‘Qplay’s’ mathematical thuds and volleys are as challenging as anything on 1995’s ‘Tri Repetae’. ‘Oversteps’ doesn’t offer anything massively new, but when you’re still sounding completely unique, why would you need to?

Simon Jay Catling