Chiastic Slide is the fourth studio album by the British electronic music group Autechre, released 17 February 1997 by Warp Records. The album saw the duo continue to move further away from the ambient techno sound of their early releases, employing harsher, glitchier beats. Though not initially met with the same critical acclaim as Tri Repetae or LP5, Chiastic Slide was eventually recognized by critics as an innovative and "enormously influential" album.[1]

Chiastic Slide
Studio album by
Released17 February 1997
GenreIDM, ambient, experimental
Length69:48
LabelWarp
WARP49
ProducerAutechre
Autechre chronology
Envane
(1997)
Chiastic Slide
(1997)
Cichlisuite
(1997)

Release

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Chiastic Slide was released on 17 February 1997. It did not receive a release in the United States until Warp Records began distributing its own releases there in 2001. Autechre referenced the fourth track, "Cichli", in the name of their subsequent EP Cichlisuite (1997). The sleeve was designed by Sheffield-based design agency The Designers Republic. On 19 November 2021, Chiastic Slide was re-released by Warp on vinyl,[2] along side their next album LP5.

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [3]
Muzik5/10[4]
Rolling Stone     [5]

Allmusic critic John Bush panned Chiastic Slide as being an underwhelming follow-up to 1995's Tri Repetae, saying it was too repetitive and lacked ideas.[3] Tim Barr in Techno: the Rough Guide called Chiastic Slide "The aural equivalent of being at the bottom of the sea."[6] He went on to say the album was "Dark, claustrophobic... yet full of strange beauty".[6]

A 2017 FACT Magazine retrospective described Chiastic Slide as "an enduring classic" that marks "the axis point around which all of Autechre's work revolves," representing a "break from contemporaneous orthodoxy" in electronic music and sound composition.[1] In an interview with Popular 1 Magazine, guitarist Kavus Torabi of Cardiacs named Chiastic Slide as one of his favourite albums.[7]

Track listing

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No.TitleLength
1."Cipater"8:56
2."Rettic AC"2:08
3."Tewe"6:56
4."Cichli"8:52
5."Hub"7:35
6."Calbruc"3:51
7."Recury"9:44
8."Pule"8:33
9."Nuane"13:13
Total length:69:48

References

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  1. ^ a b Zaldua, Chris (26 February 2017). "Autechre's Chiastic Slide is 20 years old and still sounds like the future". FACT Magazine. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  2. ^ Beeby, Sean. "Autechre to reissue classic albums LP5 and Chiastic Slide on vinyl". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  3. ^ a b Bush, John. "Chiastic Slide Review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  4. ^ Crysell, Andy (March 1997). "Autechre: Chiastic Slide" (PDF). Muzik. No. 22. p. 107. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  5. ^ "The new Rolling Stone album guide (pg. 28)". Internet Archive. 13 August 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  6. ^ a b Barr, Tim (2000). Techno: the Rough Guide. Rough Guides. p. 27.
  7. ^ Diaz, Alberto (10 January 2005). "Interview: Tim Smith and Kavus Torabi". Popular 1 Magazine. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
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