Amber

Amber, released by Warp Records in 1994, is the second full-length album by the electronic music group Autechre. Amber has a more ambient, less percussion-based sound than Autechre’s first release Incunabula.

In small but noticeable ways on this, their sophomore release, Autechre begin to break from the clean, if at times obvious, artistic techno from their debut record, and reach instead toward something far more distinct. Sean Booth and Rob Brown weren’t quite there yet, but their self-production is even more accomplished than before, and their instincts to steer away from overly polite electronic dance music come ever more to the fore at various points throughout Amber. “Foil” begins the album with a distinctly spooky feel to it, with droning keyboards playing out over a series of spare percussion patterns; the heavy echo and crumbling, lo-fi bass feel of the track reduces its straightforward danceability, creating an ominous introduction to the album. “Silverside” at once strips things down to a more minimal approach. A string synth section plays out over first gently thudding then more pounding beats. Then a more off-kilter section with distorted vocal samples and sounds provides part of the melodic accompaniment and rhythm. “Glitch” has a nice roiling rumble to it; it isn’t as fragmented as later releases, but veers a little more closely to the edge in comparison to earlier songs.