Autechre’s music has often been demanding. On Wednesday night last week, that demand seemed to extend beyond listening.
Despite its austere image and avant-garde approach to electronic music, Autechre has never existed outside context. The project is not genre-agnostic mysticism but a central force in experimental electronica, inseparable from Warp Records — the Sheffield label that also gave us Aphex Twin, Squarepusher and Boards of Canada, and which has enjoyed an iconic status in Japan for decades. Warp artists sell out shows here with near-ritual consistency.
In 2013, Boards of Canada announced its album “Tomorrow’s Harvest” via a cryptic video broadcast on screens overlooking Shibuya Crossing, which filled with fans awaiting the reveal. In 2020, Squarepusher released the video for “Terminal Slam,” unfolding against Shibuya’s neon circuitry. Tokyo has long been one of Warp’s most faithful listening cities — which made it all the more striking that Autechre’s sold-out show at Zepp DiverCity last week felt, at moments, actively hostile to its audience.
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