Exai is the eleventh studio album by British electronic music duo Autechre, released on Warp Records. The double album was released in digital form on 7 February 2013,[1] with double CD and quadruple vinyl versions released on 5 March 2013.[2] At the time of its release, Exai was Autechre's longest album to date.[3]
| Exai | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 7 February 2013 (download) 5 March 2013 (CD/LP) | |||
| Recorded | 2012 | |||
| Genre | Electronic, IDM, experimental | |||
| Length | 120:32 | |||
| Label | Warp Records WARP234 | |||
| Producer | Autechre | |||
| Autechre chronology | ||||
| ||||
Like many other Autechre albums, Exai was followed a few months later by a companion EP entitled L-event. The tracks, all from the same sessions, were conceived of as a series of 12" vinyl records, during which L-event ultimately "became a separate entity" that the duo sees as "interchangeable" with the 12"'s that comprise Exai.[4]
Artwork and title
editExai (and companion EP L-event) features album artwork by The Designers Republic. Following the album's release, fan speculation included theories that the artwork was based on Conway's Game of Life[5] or binary code.[6] Autechre members Sean Booth and Rob Brown were initially reluctant to discuss the album as they "wanted to see what people could figure out,"[7] but ultimately confirmed that the artwork depicts a heavily pixelated typography exercise.[8] Exai is Autechre's eleventh album, and the title may be derived from a phonetic rendering of the Roman numeral "XI," or eleven, which also appears in the track "T ess xi." This is furthered by the grid of pixels on the cover being 11 squares wide and 11 squares tall.
Reception
edit| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 80/100[9] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [10] |
| Clash | 8/10[11] |
| Drowned in Sound | 7/10[12] |
| Mixmag | [13] |
| musicOMH |  [14] |
| Pitchfork | 5.9/10[3] |
| PopMatters | 9/10[15] |
| Record Collector | [16] |
| Resident Advisor | 3.5/5[17] |
| Slant Magazine | [18] |
Exai has received positive reviews, with a Metacritic average rating of 80 out of 100, based on reviews from 26 critics.[9] Grayson Currin of Pitchfork thought the album had some good moments, but was too long at two hours, and would have been improved by more editing and trimming.[3] Chris Power of BBC Music was more enthusiastic, calling the album Autechre's best in fifteen years.[19]
Track listing
editAll tracks are written by Sean Booth and Rob Brown
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Fleure" | 4:51 |
| 2. | "irlite (get 0)" | 10:01 |
| 3. | "prac-f" | 4:20 |
| 4. | "jatevee C" | 4:14 |
| 5. | "T ess xi" | 6:43 |
| 6. | "vekoS" | 6:42 |
| 7. | "Flep" | 6:43 |
| 8. | "tuinorizn" | 3:40 |
| 9. | "bladelores" | 12:20 |
| 10. | "1 1 is" | 7:18 |
| 11. | "nodezsh" | 8:40 |
| 12. | "runrepik" | 4:35 |
| 13. | "spl9" | 7:06 |
| 14. | "cloudline" | 10:13 |
| 15. | "deco Loc" | 5:27 |
| 16. | "recks on" | 9:22 |
| 17. | "YJY UX" | 8:24 |
| 18. | "18 (keyosc)" (Japanese bonus track) | 8:57 |
| Total length: | 129:29 | |
Release history
edit| Country/Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalogue number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | 27 February 2013 | Beat Records | 2×CD | BRC-365LTD |
| Europe | 5 March 2013 | Warp Records | 2×CD | WARPCD234 |
| 4×LP | WARPLP234 |
References
edit- ^ "Download 'Exai' now. Pre-orders of 2XCD + 4XLP receive instant digital". Warp Records. 7 February 2013. Archived from the original on 11 February 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
- ^ McGovern, Kyle (13 December 2012). "Autechre Ready Two-Hour, Double-Disc Album 'Exai'". Spin. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
- ^ a b c Currin, Grayson (19 February 2013). "Autechre: Exai". Pitchfork. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
- ^ Booth, Sean (2 November 2013). "AAA – Ask Autechre Anything – Sean and Rob on WATMM! – Page 12". Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ^ "Autechre Exai Cover Art – Life Pattern". 12 March 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ^ "Hidden Message in Autechre Cover Art?". 18 September 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ^ Booth, Sean (2 November 2013). "AAA – Ask Autechre Anything – Sean and Rob on WATMM! – Page 21". Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ^ Booth, Sean (2 November 2013). "AAA – Ask Autechre Anything – Sean and Rob on WATMM! – Page 72". Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ^ a b "Critic Reviews for Exai". Metacritic. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
- ^ "AllMusic review". AllMusic.
- ^ Matthew Bennett (4 March 2013). "Autechre – Exai". Clash. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
- ^ "Autechre – Exai". Drowned in Sound. 4 March 2013. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
- ^ Muggs, Joe (8 March 2013). "AUTECHRE". Mixmag. Archived from the original on 11 March 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
- ^ Steven Johnson (1 March 2013). "Autechre – Exai". musicOMH. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
- ^ Tom Fenwick (6 March 2013). "Autechre – Exai". Pop Matters. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
- ^ Atkins, Jamie (25 February 2013). "Exai - Autechre". Record Collector. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
- ^ Andrew Ryce (7 March 2013). "Autechre – Exai". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
- ^ "Slant review". Slant Magazine. 3 March 2013.
- ^ Power, Chris (15 February 2013). "Autechre Exai Review". Retrieved 21 February 2013.