TS: Aphex Twin: Selected ambient works 85-92 VS SAW Volume 2

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Possibly because the track is called the "Original Mix"?

Oh, okay, whoops.

It would be quite something if all the tracks on that album really had started out like that, and then had the beats removed on a whim.

― Sam J. (samjeff), Wednesday, 16 July 2003 21:32 (twenty-two years ago)

Vol. 2 affects me like no other record I've ever heard. Each track is its own distinct sound universe, not so much composed as seemingly unearthed or discovered. The album is basically egoless, by which I mean you are never aware of the presence of the composer. The beauty of the tracks is not so much in the underlying musical ideas (in a "wow, how did he ever think to do that!" way) as in their sheer near-physical presence. They give the uncanny and very disturbing impression that they are emanating from within your own mind. I realize that my description makes it sound not so different from other zone-out drone type stuff, but SAWII lacks that sensed underlying intention of being created in order to lull you to sleep or trance you out. The melodies are actually quite beguiling; they rarely if ever tense up and resolve, which gives the impression that they could go on forever -- and further reinforces the sense the listener gets of having uncovered them, of aurally witnessing some natural phenomena rather than being subjected to the ego-driven expression of a fellow human. More later; I could talk for hours about this record.

Just read this and I agree with everything Clarke B said. I like the long silences in the middle - they get very interesting in the wee hours, especially if you're half awake because it's the silences that make you wake up!

Um, Ben Williams is very VERY wrong btw. SAW1 was on R&S, not Warp. Polygon Window was RDJ's first album on Warp. And the Twin's beats rule. Obviously people are forgetting "I Care Because You Do", probably the most consistent (and best) beat-driven Aphex album. The RDJ Album and Come To Daddy are great as well.

― dog latin (dog latin), Wednesday, 16 July 2003 23:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Ageispolis and Heliosphan are both tons better than Xtal.

...and Green Calx is better than all three of them.

I don't have SAWII, so I'm going to hold off on rating it until I get a copy.

― Christine 'Green Leafy Dragon' Indigo (cindigo), Wednesday, 16 July 2003 23:37 (twenty-two years ago)

I like the long silences in the middle - they get very interesting in the wee hours, especially if you're half awake because it's the silences that make you wake up!

don't you just hate posting something you already said months ago on the same thread?

― dog latin (dog latin), Wednesday, 16 July 2003 23:45 (twenty-two years ago)

i read this as Aphex vs StockAitkinWaterman and was delighted by Marcello's championing of the trios second greatest hits comp.
-- gaz (gary.lo...), January 21st, 2003.

Me too Gaz. What a disappointment.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Thursday, 17 July 2003 00:14 (twenty-two years ago)

bull vs. shit.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 17 July 2003 00:47 (twenty-two years ago)

One of the coolest moments I've experienced while listening to this album is having my dad come in my room to say good-night right at the beginning of disc 1 track 3 and asking "what is *this*?" He proceeded to lay on my floor and listen to the entire track, and at the end summed up the emotional tone of the piece perfectly: "That's one of the loneliest things I've ever heard."

― Clarke B., Thursday, 17 July 2003 02:54 (twenty-two years ago)

are you saying he gets ''beats'' out of a piano?

er, piano is a percussion instrument?

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Thursday, 17 July 2003 03:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes, it is. You strike it. Actually, all sound is percussive. Also, all tones have beats. Plus, I'm a wanker.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Thursday, 17 July 2003 03:20 (twenty-two years ago)

but we love you anyway

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Thursday, 17 July 2003 03:22 (twenty-two years ago)

"you should read the customer reviews on amazon
1/3 of them never really got into it
1/3 of them find it the most peaceful,relaxing music ever
1/3 of them find that it terrifies them to the very core of their being"

Okay, does anyone here actually find nothing at all remotely disturbing about these tracks? Yes the record is in some sense quite beautiful, but god how some of those sound worlds get under my skin! Maybe it's good I've never done acid...

― Clarke B., Thursday, 17 July 2003 03:32 (twenty-two years ago)

Okay, does anyone here actually find nothing at all remotely disturbing about these tracks?

Yes. I listened to SAWII while shrooming one time. Everyone went to some godawful bar to celebrate someone's birthday so I was all alone. I eventually had to turn it off because it was 'giving me bad vibes, maaan.'
I do wish there were more hauntingly beautiful tracks on there, such as the one Clarke just mentioned (Disc 1, Track 3--which to me isn't lonesome, but instead evokes the feeling of lying in bed in the arms of a lover)(but it does have that 'all is right w/the world, too bad I'll eventually die' mood too)

― oops (Oops), Thursday, 17 July 2003 03:46 (twenty-two years ago)

sigh... I feel like I'm missing something, but I've given SAWII a chance, and RDJ's ambient stuff does absolutely nothing for me. All of those two discs sound like individual parts of Brian Eno or Robert Rich outtakes. (Basically, I'm feel the opposite of Ben)

― donut bitch (donut), Thursday, 17 July 2003 04:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Donut Bitch has ears of cloth and hates music. Oh wait.

Clarke B's story about his dad and Disc 1, Track 3, aka One Of the Most Beautiful Songs Ever = genius.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 17 July 2003 04:41 (twenty-two years ago)

from discogs.com:

"Selected Ambient Works 85-92, 2x12" (R&S)
Selected Ambient Works 85-92, CD (Distance)
Selected Ambient Works 85-92, CD (Apollo)
Selected Ambient Works 85-92, CD (Apollo)"

i dont remember it ever being on warp either.
the warp site shows the 'on' ep to be the first aphex record out on warp, 15.11.93

― ambrose (ambrose), Thursday, 17 July 2003 09:46 (twenty-two years ago)

haha was that fucking thing on warp or not (yes i don't remmeber being on warp either).

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Thursday, 17 July 2003 10:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Since the copy I have seems to be R&S, I guess I lose the SAW I trainspotting battle.

Call me old-fashioned, but I like my beats to have at least a minimal sense of rhythm.

― Ben Williams, Thursday, 17 July 2003 12:38 (twenty-two years ago)

But pretty much all the tracks on SAW II are repeated sequencer riffs, just without old-school Warp beats thundering over top of them.

― Clarke B., Thursday, 17 July 2003 16:35 (twenty-two years ago)

But 85-92 is all about the heavenly analog love-fests, whilst SAWII is all about digital dragons being abducted by UFOs (case in point: disc 2 track 4)

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Thursday, 17 July 2003 18:30 (twenty-two years ago)

i've to-ed and fro-ed over which one i prefer, but i'm definitely on SAW2 at the moment. it's the first two tracks on Disc 2 that really do it for me right now - scarcely moving, gorgeous music.

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Thursday, 17 July 2003 22:13 (twenty-two years ago)

eight months pass...

SAW I
Surfing On Sine Wines
Analogue Bubblebath Vol. 3
On EP
SAW II
Windowlicker
Hangable Auto Bulb
Classics
I Care Because You Do
Come to Daddy /Flim
RDJ Album
Expert Knob Twiddlers
Analogue Bubblebath Vol. 4

SAW1 makes me immensely happy and brings make too many good memories of being in London and my conversion from serious student to clubber; SAW2 is rewarding, but not immediate in the same way as SAW1.

I listened to both this week, and SAW1 wins.

― Nik (Nik), Friday, 9 April 2004 20:29 (twenty-two years ago)

yes yes yes! SAW2 is clever whereas SAW1 is just fucking wonderful.

― don, Friday, 9 April 2004 21:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes, SAW 1 succeeds without really trying. SAW II suceeds, but is really trying.

― the music mole (colin s barrow), Friday, 9 April 2004 21:46 (twenty-two years ago)

They're BOTH pretty.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 9 April 2004 23:08 (twenty-two years ago)

music mole OTM.

Strangely that sentiment also neatly describes how I feel about Nirvana's Nevermind and In Utero.

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Saturday, 10 April 2004 02:51 (twenty-two years ago)

But anyway, I love both of them, though SAW 85-92 has a slight edge for me.

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Saturday, 10 April 2004 02:52 (twenty-two years ago)

two years pass...

I'm listening to SAW 85-92 for the first time in a very long time, and loving it more then I ever did. Both Xtal and Tha are phenomenal, an almost unbeatable way to open an album.
I did some searching on a few AFX fansites and was unable to figure out which of these songs was recorded in 1985. Can anyone enlighten me?

― Zachary Scott (Zach S), Sunday, 5 November 2006 20:26 (nineteen years ago)

Xtal kills me, always will do. No one has ever done anything like that ever.

I never found out when the songs were recorded but Xtal gives the impression of being quite old, doesn't it?

I'm going to play this now.

― A Rush of Cold Blood To The Head (Bimble...), Sunday, 5 November 2006 20:31 (nineteen years ago)

Also I used to play Xtal when I DJ'd and people would always ask me what it was.

― A Rush of Cold Blood To The Head (Bimble...), Sunday, 5 November 2006 20:31 (nineteen years ago)

I'm still listening...after it's done, I'm going to try to predict which one is from 1985.

I know, I know ILM. Hold your breath.

― Zachary Scott (Zach S), Sunday, 5 November 2006 20:32 (nineteen years ago)

Playing it now...Oh this is lovely. What a blast from the past!

― A Rush of Cold Blood To The Head (Bimble...), Sunday, 5 November 2006 20:32 (nineteen years ago)

Early 1985 prediction: Green Calx. Only because of the excessive use of fake high-pitched roto-toms.

― Zachary Scott (Zach S), Sunday, 5 November 2006 20:38 (nineteen years ago)

You're a braver man than I.

Tha always makes me feel like I'm in my high school gym. Not cause I played it in there either...

― A Rush of Cold Blood To The Head (Bimble...), Sunday, 5 November 2006 20:44 (nineteen years ago)

- And Green Calx remains my predicted 1985 track. The rototom beats were one thing, but it was the repeated 'compacting garbage truck' sample that put the nail in the coffin.

Anyways, Killian Murphy was OTM in his initial remark that the first two tracks were the best thing on the album.

― Zachary Scott (Zach S), Sunday, 5 November 2006 21:31 (nineteen years ago)

you have to love that one track that is a complete rip off of Discreet Music by Brain Eno. I really lived in the record for a while a year or two ago. amazing what you can do with a matrix 6 and ms20 and a sampler.

― Disco Nihilist (mjt), Monday, 6 November 2006 00:51 (nineteen years ago)

I've always suspected that "Green Calx" was the oldest track. That or "Hedphelym."

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Monday, 6 November 2006 03:40 (nineteen years ago)

they were probably all recorded one day in 92

― latebloomer: none of th movies make scence but they r good. (latebloomer), Monday, 6 November 2006 04:37 (nineteen years ago)

HAhahahah! Quite a wizard, that Aphex guy...hard to put anything past him.

― All The Furniture Is In The Garage (Bimble...), Monday, 6 November 2006 11:01 (nineteen years ago)

wikipedia informs me that aphex twin has remixed the new paris hilton single. i presume this is a lie?

― The Lex (The Lex), Monday, 6 November 2006 11:07 (nineteen years ago)

It wouldn't surprise me.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 6 November 2006 12:05 (nineteen years ago)

Heliosphan and (track 4 - an't remember the name?) are the best tracks, sorry.

― wogan lenin (dog latin), Monday, 6 November 2006 12:57 (nineteen years ago)

Ageispolis.

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Wednesday, 8 November 2006 06:05 (nineteen years ago)

SAW 2 has been in my top 10 albums of all time since i got it. lovely, lovely record. its so much more emotional than anything else he's ever done. im not much a fan of the insane nonsense, but i do also like SAW1 and surfing on sine waves. still, SAW2 is so far beyond even those that it's not funny. obviously eno was an influence, but you cant call it a rip off. SAW2 is soul-ambient, nothing eno did (as wonderful as much of it is, im a huge eno fan!) can come close.

― pipecock (pipecock), Thursday, 9 November 2006 02:41 (nineteen years ago)

three years pass...

Finally got 'Ambient Works 85-92'. Absolutely loving it. Need Volume II as soon as possible.

― krakow, Tuesday, 26 January 2010 14:53 (sixteen years ago)

SAW2 is soul-ambient

― pipecock (pipecock), Wednesday, November 8, 2006 9:41 PM

*cringe*

― ♖♕♖ (am0n), Tuesday, 26 January 2010 15:16 (sixteen years ago)

haha

― won't you be my GAPDY / come and make it rain down on NME (Curt1s Stephens), Tuesday, 26 January 2010 17:41 (sixteen years ago)

soulbient

― randomized what nots (latebloomer), Tuesday, 26 January 2010 19:36 (sixteen years ago)

http://www.lastfm.es/music/100dBs/_/Poppa+Large+In+The+US

Loving this mashup of IZ-US against the Ultramagnetic's Poppa Large.

― Moka, Tuesday, 26 January 2010 21:51 (sixteen years ago)

seven years pass...

Selected Ambient Works II > Selected Ambient Works 85-92

Even though Selected Ambient Works II is twice as long, I find it a far more engaging listen than Selected Ambient Works 85-92. I particularly like the track that sounds like snake charmer music, which sounds to me like a track Robert Smith could have come up with in 1984 or something if he had to come up with an ambient B-side for a Cure single.

― The Roger Waters Experience (Turrican), Thursday, 30 March 2017 14:02 (nine years ago)

Richard D. James Album > Selected Ambient Works II > Selected Ambient Works 85-92

― Handsome Bookor, Thursday, 30 March 2017 14:23 (nine years ago)

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