Possibly, but it was one of the first that struck me with headphones.

what about Devine? oh wait...Lipswitch came out in 2000..or not?

I believe it came out around that time, but his polymorphic EP came out in the mid90's sometime. the first of his spastic chaotic productions was probably his Come to Daddy remix on the Warp remix album back in 99'.

but as far as the stereo panning is concerned am i right about him being an earlier pioneer (if that makes sense) than that of the lp7 "777?"

Autechre's LP5 is by far my favourite. Fold4wrap5 being perhaps my all time favourite tune, a perfect example of timestetching and mood shifting. 777 is my second favourite, most Ae music isn't done justice if not listened to through headphones at least once

Autechre are so good because their music stands the test of time more than any other artist. And in electronica, with so much 'competition', that's a really hard thing to achieve

Didn't LP5 come out in '98? Yet another testament to the pioneering skills of Ae

well, lp5 came out before any of Devine's "panning" type sounds, but I wouldn't even call Autechre a pioneer in that method. I'm sure people had tried in the past, and I just never caught it.

i'd have to agree that Fold4Wrap5 is quite an amazing track. i still remember the first time i listened to it. it seemed so unique and refreshing. its ability to evolve in such an interesting rhythmic fashion is intriguing.