Can‘t handle that so fast.
There is too much stuff going on in session2 
1 Like
LOL, yeah I know, it takes longer than a week to digest this stuff.
Some of the tracks on session 2 I really didn’t like but there were a few good ones.
I’m keeping a log of which ones I like and which ones I can do without, then gonna make my own “final” NTS compilation.
Welp, finally made it through everything on disc 3, and not overly impressed with most of it, except:
tt1pd – is pretty epic, even with being so long, really cool sounds
glos ceramic – is cool and changes stuff up halfway through kinda like older-school (Chiastic/Draft era?) AE
splesh – I marked as being decent but I forget what it sounds like
acid mwan – has a cool sound that I really like but it goes on for 12 mins, could have been just 4-5 mins.
Everything else just seemed really lackluster to me… 
Anyone else have opinions? The forum warned me that I’m posting too much in here and dominating the conversation, LOL, I’m just trying to spark discussion!
1 Like
releasing 8 hours of new music into the world in one month is a unique event, i’d be surprised if anyone enjoyed every single one instantly, i never connected with Bine until the other day. i wonder how many hours they had and what they chose to whittle down to 8 hours. from our perspective what we hear as a tune going on for too long might an Aesthetic (eh) choice determined by how their system influenced it, if you’re listening to one of those ones waiting to be engaged and thrilled by a sudden mad change maybe you’re listening to it the wrong way, rather succumb to it and get lost inside it (thats one of the most fucking pretentious things i’ve ever posted here), listening to eastre on a dark wet winter night walk home after being dumped by your long term partner cos you gave them super gonorrhoea whilst knowing you’re six months overdue on your octatrack mkii repayments might be the perfect time to engage with it.
4 Likes
Set 4, the last one, is on the store now for listening preview.
I see a 58 min track on there… that better not be just a kick drum with subtly changing microtiming!
1 Like
1 Like
I’m still on session 3 
Slowly progressing
1 Like
There were a couple on 3 that I REALLY like, but most of it was “meh” for me, although I didn’t mark anything as particularly bad.
4 is WAY more ambient than most of the others, some pretty cool stuff but more of a patient listen
1 Like
I have to say. There is a lot of great stuff on the first 3 sessions, but I’m having a hard time getting really into it.
Actually it was easier for me with most of elseq, don’t know why.
To me, a lot of these don’t sound like tracks. Don’t know, a lot of them are way too long for what is happening imo. Ok that was also the case of a lot of Elseq tunes. But there are not too many moments that stick to my brain like a lot of Ae used to do. Some great moments, but also a lot of time passing by where I loose attention.
But as I said earlier, I should not make my opinion so early, these things take a lot of time
And my taste is ever changing. There are times I’m totally into these digital sounds and I prefer it over everything. But at the moment I listen to Afx once again (yawn) and I’m really into the analog sound of Analord and the tuss. Also enjoying last step a lot (venetian snares)… So this could be the reason. I probably tell a different story in some weeks 
Still think Exai was the last record that got the “out of control but still tracks” really right
1 Like
yep! Agree with all of that!
(INCOMING TANGENT)
I dunno though, the idea that it takes time to sink in and start finding it enjoyable, how long should someone “endure” through something with a hope that something will click, and then they’ll “get it” and then it will be rewarding? Maybe that’s just me getting older and less patient or just not having as much time to devote to “mastering” such a massive chunk of music, but I mean, I feel like there needs to be some balance, there needs to be something on the surface that’s interesting enough to keep you going as you explore the deeper layers.
I joked about that 58 min track being a kick with subtly changing microtiming (ala Quaristice Subrange stuff). Turns out it’s a massive reverb wash with textural changes throughout. I don’t know what to think about that. It’s really pretty, though, might be good for putting on as a relaxing background texture sometime? But realistically that probably won’t ever happen…
Maybe to me, Autechre is starting to feel kind of disjointed in a way. They want to do these super long “sandbox” things where they kind of play around with one idea and dwell on it for a long time without a whole lot actually moving forward and changing, but at the same time they have these more interesting, rhythmic, heavily layered tracks with changeups throughout the duration to keep it interesting. And I think those two approaches are kind of playing to two different audiences or something. Like there isn’t really a strong focus anymore on what they want to do.
Anyway, rambling again, it probably sounds like I’m being overly critical of them, not really trying to be, I guess maybe I just feel a little bit disappointed by some of the direction they’ve been going in. I’m not expecting pop music or instant gratification or anything like that though 
EDIT: More thoughts, LOL:
My impression is that they’re making all of this as a kind of “choose your own adventure” setup, where maybe all of it isn’t meant to be listened to in sequence or as one unit, but rather just “available” to pick & choose which ones you like and make your own compilation.
3 Likes
In trying to find this, I found this instead. Haven’t been able to listen yet. Also found the Last Step on there you’re talking about, gonna give both a listen tonight
1 Like
I think the Last step stuff has a lot in common with Afx Analords sonically
3 Likes
Where for me, I quite like the direction they’ve been heading. But I got into them because of the Autechre / Hafler Trio stuff. My background is long and unusual tracks. Later era Hafler Trio, including the Æ/H30 collabs, often sounds not unlike that final hour. (But it’s also not something I listen to all the time, but it’s something I do appreciate).
That said, my favorite among favorite albums of theirs is Oversteps. It’s just so damn pretty and melodic and countermelodic and whatnot. But they can’t all be Oversteps.
NTS Sessions => terrific workout music. Good high energy stuff for jogging that can last you a whole session, but also has equally great ambient stuff for warmup and cooldown periods. Also great to just let it run on the home system and let it occupy the space. Because you can let it run for HOURS now. I’ve already had good success letting it be the house music last weekend, playing about 4 of the 6 available hours over Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. The NTS Sessions seem to play better for this than Elseq.
And NTS 4 is going up there with Alva Noto’s “Xerrox Vol 2” as perfect “calm my burning brain” music.
1 Like
the last two releases have changed my listening habits. sure ill dip into all kinds of music.
but nothing really holds my attention like Ae. i guess since UnTILTed…really.
i find that other music just seems simple. like my brain welcomes…craves the werkout Ae music gives it.
2 Likes
That’s cool about the longer track background! Yeah, I can totally appreciate that. I don’t know what the AE/H30 stuff sounds like, never heard of it actually. Have you ever heard William Basinski? I was into him for a little while, long tape loop stuff.
And man, Oversteps definitely my fave too. Beautiful album. Actually in that Resident Advisor review the guy lumped Oversteps in with “nonmelodic” stuff, I was like what the hell, is he listening to the same album?
Also even though it might come across like I’m complaining about longer drawn out tracks, NTS4 is actually pretty nice stuff, but I guess the difference is it’s more focused on that as a theme, it seems, so it’s like you can go into it with that mindset and know that’s what you’re getting.
EDIT: Thinking about it a little more, it’s actually kind of ironic… I have been on the fence about buying any of these full sets because they seem so mix-matched to me, but NTS 4 is probably the one I’m most likely to get and feel content to listen “all the way through”, I guess because of the consistency. Also “column thirteen” really sounds like it came from Oversteps/Move of Ten origins!
1 Like
heard snippet of session 4 really enjoying it…somber and self involved interplay…machine and man…sound for sound sake …its different than the late 90s and 2000 I was familiar with …this reminds me of terrain formerly explored by Alto Nova and that whole Austrian/German- sound.
1 Like
Not sure if that’s just a typo, but if not, you ready to have your mind blown all over again?
It’s actually “Untilted” (T, I, L, T)… yeah, took me years to notice that 
Haha, gotcha. I believe you. Really, I do
(Just kidding, I do, for real…)
see to get it to werk THAT time i only had to retype it like 4 times before my phone accepted it as…
U N T I L T E D.
fuck cell phones.
2 Likes
I miss landlines