pparently, in Italy, Autechre is still cool. That's just about the only thing I can take away from Illogik Records' compilation, Sanity vs. Insanity. Every track on this Italian label's release seems to be a homage to one or more of the various musical twists and turns concocted by Booth and Brown on such classic 90s releases as Tri Repetae, Amber, ep7, and Chiastic Slide. Of course, there's nothing wrong with copying such an interesting and innovative artist as Autechre—provided you still are living in 1998. But the Autechre of the crunchy, swirling beats and watery, bubbly melodies and all the other weird, noodling tricks that made the band so cool has, in the current century, transformed into the plodding, repetition-fueled monster that, in most IDM circles, produces nothing but disdain. That's not to say Autechre's music today sucks; it doesn't. But it's nowhere near electronic music's creative frontier.


That's not to say there's nothing to listen to here—after all, I still enjoy listening to Tri Repetae (for that matter, I still enjoy listening to Woody Guthrie). Remo Williams' "Love=Boat" is a funky little number with a lot of motorcycle sounds, backwards samples, and other goofball effects. It's an entertaining little number, complete with an Autechre circa Amber fusion of fuzzy beats and lush synth melodies. But, as Patton Oswalt said back in 98, "it's so been done." Any enjoyment I can pull from this happy, simple number is tinged by my realization of the musical clichés that underlie each second of the four minute track.


Then there are songs that simply explode with outdatedness, such as Mkzeros' "Rek Pro," which tries its best to fuse Autechre's glockenspiel-like melodies with the Metalheadz drum 'n bass sound. If there's one thing that is more dated than copying Autechre's glockenspiel melodies then it might be the belief that drum 'n bass is still a vibrant musical idea.


I don't want to harangue this album any further. Frankly, it's not worth it. The artists on this release are, no doubt, following their own musical cues. Perhaps they simply enjoy Autechre or Squarepusher or Richard Devine so much that they cannot help but let that enthusiasm seep into their recordings. I can appreciate that—that, after all, is the entire point behind cover bands. There are whole subcultures out there that are dedicated to recreating certain sounds, certain moments, certain memories, and these things, too, have a place in our culture. But that doesn't mean I should forgive artists for this willingness to copy other's ideas in an endless loop. That's what MTV is for.