Of the four sessions Autechre recorded for their 2018 residency of online station NTS Radio, the first is perhaps the most beat-heavy. That isn't to say that it's more danceable or accessible than the others, however. As with the other sessions, the tracks here are each typically around 10 or 20 minutes long, and the beats constantly mutate, sometimes stripping down to a miniscule click, other times having more of a disorienting slap to them. "l3 ctrl" gradually becomes so frantic that the rhythm ends up collapsing into a sort of soapy, buzzy clatter, yet the piece is so transfixing that it might take the listener a while to realize that the rhythm has completely swallowed itself. Some tracks supply a concentrated jolt of adrenaline, such as the rapid, splintered beats of "north spiral," or the constant, ever-changing glitch-buggery of "gonk steady one." If you're excited by fast, cut-up noises and shifting, high-pitched frequencies, these tracks can be quite fun, and remarkably manage to remain exciting throughout their long durations. Other tracks are slower and a bit more of a grind, but as the title of "debris_funk" suggests, they still manage to have their own sort of fragmented groove. If one track has enough of a consistent beat and melodic sequence to fit into a techno DJ's set, it's "four of seven," but it'll still sound squishy and somewhat deformed compared to every other track. The session ends with "32a reflected," a lovely, shimmering ripple-scape which acts as a sort of preview of the subsequent volumes, particularly Session 4.