Autechre

The IDM-pioneering British pair Autechre is never boring. Its eighth full-length, Untilted, is a simultaneously impressive and intimidating study in rhythm. Barely-there melodies season a succession of ominous beats. Frenetic kicks hit lithely like thousands of points of death, and snares snap like bear traps. The epic tracks are more like suites than songs, and listening to their time-signature traversing and unrelenting changes is as unnerving as witnessing a mutation. Autechre's refusal to repeat itself defines it and renders it as fascinating as ever. But that also gives Untilted an autistic quality -- it dodges accessibility with every turn.