Incunabula (album)

Incunabula
Studio album by Autechre
Released	29 November 1993 (1993-11-29)
Genre	Techno ambient techno[1] IDM[2]
Length	77:50
Label	Warp WARP17
Producer	Sean Booth Rob Brown
Autechre chronology
Cavity Job (1991) Incunabula (1993) Basscadet Mixes (1994)
Artificial Intelligence series chronology
Ginger (1993) Incunabula (1993) Artificial Intelligence II (1994)

Incunabula is the debut studio album by English electronic music duo Autechre, released by UK label Warp on 29 November 1993,^[3] and again by Wax Trax! on 25 January 1994 in the United States.^[4][2]

Incunabula became a surprise success, reaching the top of the UK Indie Chart.^[5] In 2012, UK magazine Fact named it the 11th best album of the 1990s.^[6] It was re-released on vinyl by Warp on 11 November 2016.^[7]

Production

Autechre member Rob Brown stated that Incunabula was "more of a compilation of old material" and that he believed follow-up album Amber was the "first album we put out on Warp."^[8]

Music critics David Stubbs and Ned Raggett noted that Incunabula would differ from Autechre's later releases. Raggett found that the album "doesn't totally display the full experimentation which would dominate their future albums and singles" while Stubbs stated that following both Incunabula and Amber, Autechre "took an increasingly remote turn, moving away from both the blissful pastures of the chillout zone and the wildfire, staplegun rhythms characteristic of the 'Intelligent Dance Music' brigade."^[9][10]

Raggett continued that the first track "Kalpol Introl" "sets the overall mood for the rest of the record" with the track's combination of minimal beats and bass with various keyboard textures and understated melodies. He concluded that Incunabula "follows the same general tone; tracks often experiment with ghostly keyboard backing and mostly clinical beats combined with odd, individual touches."^[4]

Release

Incunabula was released by Warp on 29 November 1993.^[3] It was released again by Wax Trax! on 25 January 1994 in the United States.^[4][2] Incunabula was re-released on vinyl by Warp on 11 November 2016.^[7]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[11]
Pitchfork	8.2/10[12]
Record Collector	[13]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[14]
Select	4/5[15]

In a contemporaneous review, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch stated that the repetition of most techno would be repellent to audiences but that this was not the case with the genre's "ambient strain", lumping Autechre with groups like The Orb and Ultramarine and artists such as Aphex Twin.^[16] The review found little relevance in citing individual tracks as highlights as they ebbed and flowed into each other, but stated that "the music is never boring and does inspire fits of introspection."^[16]

From retrospective reviews, David Stubbs of The Wire discussed both Incunabula and Amber stating the two were "terrific adventures in homebrewed Techno but not radically dissimilar in method from the work of their Warp contemporaries."^[10] Raggett (AllMusic) stated that "despite the relative sameness in the basic arrangements of tracks covering the better portion of the album -- a few song subtractions wouldn't have hurt the 75-minute length any -- Incunabula still stands out as a better effort than many other U.K. techno albums of the early '90s."^[4] The New Rolling Stone Album Guide gave the both Incunabula and Amber two and half stars out of five, describing them as "smart if unexciting ambient watercolors" that "give no indication of the innovations to follow".^[14] Pitchfork gave a positive review of the album, praising tracks such as "Bike" and "Basscadet", described as a "fan-favorite hit of sorts", while criticizing the album's "unwarranted" length.^[12]

Fact would place the album at 11th place on their list of best albums of the 1990s, stating that it was a "symphony of whirrs, cranks and rattling spokes; its formal ingenuity and sheer, brute intensity have sealed its status as a set text for the ages."^[6]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Sean Booth and Rob Brown^[17]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Kalpol Introl"	3:18
2.	"Bike"	7:57
3.	"Autriche"	6:53
4.	"Bronchus 2"	3:33
5.	"Basscadet"	5:23
6.	"Eggshell"	9:01
7.	"Doctrine"	7:48
8.	"Maetl"	6:32
9.	"Windwind"	11:15
10.	"Lowride"	7:15
11.	"444"	8:55
Total length:		77:50

Personnel

Credits adapted from Incunabula's record sleeve.^[17]

• Sean Booth – writer, producer
• Rob Brown – writer, producer
• Adrian Harrow – assistance
• Richard Brown – assistance
• Darrell Fitton – assistance
• Geoff Pesche – mastering
• The Designers Republic – design
• Daniel 72 – original images

See also

• 1993 in music
• Music of the United Kingdom (1990s)

References

1. Cook, James (December 2010). "My Life with the Tape Hiss Cult". PopMatters.
2. Cooper, Sean. "Autechre". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
3. "Autechre – Incunabula". Warp. Archived from the original on 19 March 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
4. Raggett, Ned. "Incunabula – Autechre". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
5. Mike Barnes (29 April 2001). "Autechre: Mathematics is the new rock'n'roll". The Independent. Archived from the original on 31 March 2009. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
6. "The 100 Best Albums of the 1990s". Fact. 3 September 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
7. Bowe, Miles (22 September 2016). "Autechre reissue classic early albums, embark on massive European tour". Fact. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
8. "Autechre Q&A". Collective. 15 April 2005. Archived from the original on 20 February 2006. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
9. Raggett, Ned. "Incunabula (CD – Wax Trax! #7210) – Autechre". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
10. Stubbs, David (April 2003). "The Futurologists: Autechre". The Wire. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
11. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
12. Beta, Andy (21 November 2016). "Autechre: Incunabula / Amber / Tri Repetae". Pitchfork. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
13. d foist (Christmas 2016). "Autechre – Incunabula, Amber, Tri Repetae". Record Collector (461). Retrieved 28 December 2018.
14. Sisario, Ben (2004). "Autechre". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 29. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
15. Howe, Rupert (January 1994). "Autechre: Incunabala". Select (43). Archived from the original on 19 May 2000. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
16. Durchholz, Daniel (10 February 1994). "Recordings". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 04G.
17. Incunabula (back cover). Autechre. Warp. 1993. Warp lp17r.

External links

• Incunabula at the official Warp website