If nothing else, the English electronic duo Autechre is a prolific one. And, unlike most prolific artists, Autechre doesn't just produce piece after piece of similar-sounding work. Everything they release -- from three-track EPs to double albums -- seems radically different from the previous release... if not from all other music altogether. Everything seems a tangential exploration of sound with no anchor to the past. The reason it seems that way is because it is. Autechre (Sean Booth and Rob Brown) make music that is post-classicist without the pretense, contextual electronica without the house music baggage.

Although the tenuous link between their records has been an unabashed attraction to machine-generated sounds, Autechre have gone from minimalist bleeps and whines to full-sweep sonics with stops everywhere in between. EP7 continues their mapless voyage with 11 tracks in an hour (hardly an EP by anyone's definition) that harvest the warmth and context from their analog sources to create a fidgety swoon. To be sure, you'll find little here to dance to or sing along with, but that was never really the point, now was it? However, EP7 is -- despite your initial impression -- highly musical. Melodies (that sound more melodic from the next room) waft over tracks like ""Zeiss Contarex"" and rhythms (that sound more rhythmic from next door) actually propel ""Left Blank"" into near-funky territory. Nonetheless, EP7 (like the rest of Autechre's work) takes a little acclimation to handle. However, once adjusted, the reward is rich.