NTS Sessions 1–4
| Untitled | |
|---|---|
NTS Sessions 1–4 (also known as NTS Sessions) is the thirteenth studio album by British electronic music duo Autechre, released by Warp Records on 26 April 2018.[1][2] The album was announced on April 9. It contains original music from Autechre's April 2018 residency of online radio station NTS Radio, which was announced a week before on 3 April 2018. The original broadcasting of each Session occurred on the 5th, 12th, 19th and 26th of that month at 4:00 PM GMT +1.[3] Each 2-hour installment was released as a digital download immediately after broadcast, with physical releases to be made available later that year.[4] The album was met with critical acclaim upon release.
Release and promotion
On 3 April 2018, the band announced a four-week residency of online radio station NTS Radio, the broadcasts of which would occur on the 5th, 12th, 19th and 26th of that month at 4:00 PM GMT +1.[3] A few days later, the band announced that the material from each of the two-hour sessions would be released as a digital download immediately after broadcast, with a 12 LP or 8 CD boxed set of all four sessions available, as well as 3 LP pressings of each individual session, to be released in July.[4]
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
| Pitchfork | 8.2/10[6] |
| Resident Advisor | 4.6/5[7] |
NTS Sessions 1–4 has been met with critical acclaim. Mark Smith of Resident Advisor said that, although "NTS Sessions 1-4 will elicit the same critiques as any Autechre album in the last decade... it's their best record in many years," calling the album a "pinnacle, as if the preceding decades of work were acts of research leading to this point."[7] Andrew Nosnitsky of Pitchfork said that the album "adds another level of the British duo’s legacy. Though it’s created by a computer, it will bring you to another plane of human existence if you let it."[6]
Reviewing the album for AllMusic upon its physical release, Paul Simpson concluded that "By nature, the daunting NTS Sessions is Autechre's most challenging work, but for those who are dedicated, it's also one of their most rewarding."[5]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "t1a1" | 18:39 |
| 2. | "bqbqbq" | 11:15 |
| 3. | "debris_funk" | 10:25 |
| 4. | "l3 ctrl" | 16:51 |
| 5. | "carefree counter dronal" | 5:14 |
| 6. | "north spiral" | 15:00 |
| 7. | "gonk steady one" | 22:25 |
| 8. | "four of seven" | 13:05 |
| 9. | "32a_reflected" | 7:01 |
| Total length: | 119:55 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "elyc9 7hres" | 10:21 |
| 2. | "six of eight (midst)" | 8:41 |
| 3. | "xflood" | 9:24 |
| 4. | "gonk tuf hi" | 7:52 |
| 5. | "dummy casual pt2" | 5:15 |
| 6. | "violvoic" | 15:00 |
| 7. | "sinistrailAB air" | 2:40 |
| 8. | "wetgelis casual interval" | 2:39 |
| 9. | "e0" | 15:44 |
| 10. | "peal MA" | 5:03 |
| 11. | "9 chr0" | 15:44 |
| 12. | "turbile epic casual, stpl idle" | 21:30 |
| Total length: | 119:53 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "clustro casual" | 11:03 |
| 2. | "splesh" | 8:56 |
| 3. | "tt1pd" | 22:11 |
| 4. | "acid mwan idle" | 11:56 |
| 5. | "fLh" | 8:18 |
| 6. | "glos ceramic" | 13:26 |
| 7. | "g 1 e 1" | 6:59 |
| 8. | "nineFly" | 10:04 |
| 9. | "shimripl air" | 7:05 |
| 10. | "icari" | 19:57 |
| Total length: | 119:55 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "frane casual" | 13:42 |
| 2. | "mirrage" | 6:21 |
| 3. | "column thirteen" | 17:02 |
| 4. | "shimripl casual" | 24:32 |
| 5. | "all end" | 58:21 |
| Total length: | 119:58 | |
All versions of the album present the same material, in the same order. However, due to the limitations of physical media, the album's CD and vinyl versions spread the material across multiple discs, or records:
- Digitally, all songs segue into the next.
- On CD, each Session is split between two discs, with eight total discs averaging an hour in length each. "carefree counter dronal", "wetgelis casual interval", "fLh" and "shimripl casual" are all slightly longer to accommodate for the disc breaks present, with "shimripl casual" gaining nearly a full minute of runtime.
- On vinyl, each Session is split into three LPs, with 12 total records averaging 20 minutes per side of vinyl. Many songs feature light extensions in running time to accommodate for the side breaks present. Furthermore, "shimripl casual" is divided between two sides of vinyl, with the first few minutes on NTS Session 4's second side and the rest on the third side; and album finale "all end" is split across the fourth through sixth sides.
Charts
| Chart (2018) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[8] | 176 |
References
- ^ "Autechre: 'NTS SESSIONS' 01–04". WARP. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
- ^ "Autechre to release eight-hour NTS Sessions 1-4 on Warp Records". Resident Advisor. 9 April 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
- ^ a b Twells, John (3 April 2018). "Autechre announce four day NTS Radio residency". FACT. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ a b Smith, Mark (9 April 2018). "Autechre to release eight-hour NTS Sessions 1-4 on Warp Records". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ a b Simpson, Paul (24 August 2018). "NTS Sessions - Autechre | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
- ^ a b Nosnitsky, Andrew (15 May 2018). "Autechre: NTS Sessions 1-4 Album Review | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
- ^ a b Smith, Mark (27 April 2018). "Review: Autechre - NTS Sessions 1-4". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Autechre – NTS Sessions" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
External links
- NTS Sessions on Autechre Store