Autechre

Rob Brown and Sean Booth have been making electronic music together since they met in 1987 through Manchester's graffiti and breakdance scene, and their records still resist easy categories. Starting with cassette mixes and cheap hardware such as a Casio SK-1 sampler, the Rochdale duo moved from melodic early techno toward abstract, intricately built compositions with few stylistic conventions. Critics often file them under intelligent dance music, a tag Sean Booth has dismissed as silly.

Their first release as Autechre was the 1991 single "Cavity Job", but a pair of tracks on Warp's 1992 compilation Artificial Intelligence brought them to the label, which has released every one of their albums. The debut Incunabula reached number three on Music Week's Independent Albums chart after its November 1993 release, and Amber followed in 1994 with a more ambient sound. Tri Repetae (1995) leaned towards harsher, more mechanical textures, while Confield (2001) stands among their most abstract and difficult records. Draft 7.30 (2003) was more rhythmically graspable, though listeners remained divided over whether it was a return to form.