Shane Parish: Autechre Guitar

"Take a visionary duo inspired by hip-hop and renowned for ceding control to their software and performing in total darkness, who have inspired haywire mutations of electronic music that seek to dissolve any remaining boundaries between our emotions and the machines we use to express them. Boil it down to just one musician and an acoustic guitar to reveal the durability of this cryptic, futuristic sound."

"A self-taught guitarist, Parish compares himself to a "wounded healer," a virtuoso whose authority comes from his openness to failure. And unlike comparable recent album of guitar arrangements-like Jonathan Bockelmann's dazzling Sakamoto on Guitar, which showcased the breadth and mutability of its namesake's imposing ouvre-Parish burrows entirely into his own quiet corners of these songs, crafting something cohesive and distinct within his body of work."

"Selecting entirely from Autechre's melodic work of the 1990s, the Athens, Georgia-based guitarist pulls a common thread from their more beautiful moments, the elements that speak directly to the heart. If all that Parish accomplished with Autechre Guitar was a cerebral exercise, it would still be worthy of attention. But the questions he raises about genre and method and technology dissolve as you listen to the 10 tracks."

Shane Parish's Autechre Guitar project translates the electronic duo's visionary sound into solo acoustic guitar arrangements, drawing exclusively from their melodic 1990s catalog. Parish, a self-taught guitarist based in Athens, Georgia, identifies as a "wounded healer" whose authority derives from embracing failure and openness. Rather than showcasing breadth across Autechre's catalog, Parish creates a cohesive, distinct work by exploring quiet corners of their compositions. His meticulous approach to complex pieces like "Slip" demonstrates technical mastery while maintaining emotional directness. The project transcends cerebral exercise, raising questions about genre, method, and technology while revealing the durability of Autechre's cryptic, futuristic sound through acoustic reinterpretation.

Read at Pitchfork