Autechre

On their latest release Autechre seems to have gone in a more abstract and less catchier direction then their earlier work - pushing their limits further, yet remaining more challenging and brash than ever. Casual listening to Autechre seems like noise, albeit interesting noise, but repeated listens reveal cleverly constructed melodies hidden like a word search puzzle, only in this case it's a melody search. This is part of their allure, not to mention the offbeat, sometimes abrasive sound sources and constructions used to compose these melodies. One can tell that Autechre put a lot of time and effort to compose the sounds on Confield, since the timbres and textures are mind boggling. Autechre is generally a decade ahead of their time and I suspect other artists are struggling to catch up with their sound, along with the fact that it would be an immense feat to nail down the complex melodies. Confield is Autechre in top form, no sell-out.