Exai
Studio album by
Autechre
Released7 February 2013 (download)
5 March 2013 (CD/LP)
Recorded2012
Length120:32
LabelWarp Records
WARP234
ProducerAutechre
Autechre chronology
Move of Ten
(2010)		 Exai
(2013)		 L-event
(2013)

Exai is the eleventh album by 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]

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

Exai (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

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic80/100[9]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
Clash8/10[11]
Drowned in Sound7/10[12]
Mixmag[13]
musicOMH[14]
Pitchfork5.9/10[3]
PopMatters9/10[15]
Record Collector[16]
Resident Advisor3.5/5[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

All tracks are written by Sean Booth and Rob Brown

No.TitleLength
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

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

  1. ↑ "Download 'Exai' now. Pre-orders of 2XCD + 4XLP receive instant digital". Warp Records. 7 February 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  2. ↑ McGovern, Kyle (13 December 2012). "Autechre Ready Two-Hour, Double-Disc Album 'Exai'". Spin. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 Currin, Grayson (19 February 2013). "Autechre: Exai". Pitchfork. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  4. ↑ Booth, Sean. "AAA – Ask Autechre Anything – Sean and Rob on WATMM! – Page 12". Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  5. ↑ "Autechre Exai Cover Art – Life Pattern". Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  6. ↑ "Hidden Message in Autechre Cover Art?". Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  7. ↑ Booth, Sean. "AAA – Ask Autechre Anything – Sean and Rob on WATMM! – Page 21". Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  8. ↑ Booth, Sean. "AAA – Ask Autechre Anything – Sean and Rob on WATMM! – Page 72". Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  9. 1 2 "Critic Reviews for Exai". Metacritic. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  10. ↑ "AllMusic review". AllMusic.
  11. ↑ Matthew Bennett (4 March 2013). "Autechre – Exai". Clash. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  12. ↑ "Autechre – Exai". Drowned in Sound. 4 March 2013. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  13. ↑ Muggs, Joe (8 March 2013). "AUTECHRE". Mixmag. Archived from the original on 11 March 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  14. ↑ Steven Johnson (1 March 2013). "Autechre – Exai". musicOMH. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  15. ↑ Tom Fenwick (6 March 2013). "Autechre – Exai". Pop Matters. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  16. ↑ Atkins, Jamie (25 February 2013). "Exai - Autechre". Record Collector. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  17. ↑ Andrew Ryce (7 March 2013). "Autechre – Exai". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  18. ↑ "Slant review". Slant Magazine.
  19. ↑ Power, Chris (15 February 2013). "Autechre Exai Review". Retrieved 21 February 2013.
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