Many electronica fans will welcome the news that Autechre have released a box set of their EPs. Much of this output is no longer available, and no doubt for some the box set will be like getting a glimpse of the holy grail. But for serious Ae fans, there is not really very much to get excited about. The collection of 47 tracks features everything from Basscad, Anti, Garbage, Anvil Vapre, the two Peel Sessions, Envane, the Cichli Suite, EP7 and Gantz Graf. Yet the only inclusion that will truly surprise Autechre afficionados is the very rare Cavity Job EP - their first, and indisputably least interesting, release.
So, for Autechre fans who have followed the band closely since they came on the scene in the early 90s, the only thing to do now is let a vague feeling of smugness wash over you. You already have these records. You do not need this box set. You are a true fan.
The question then, perhaps, is whether there was any point in searching out - and spending large sums on - hard-to-find EPs that are now being made available for a pittance.
And, for fans of label-mate Aphex Twin who have spent similar amounts of time and money searching out his even harder to complete back catalogue, there must now be an inevitable sense that his own hard-to-get releases will one day hit the market.
The only thing left to do is re-run private conversations about which EP was the best. And that's a question I would really struggle to answer.
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