Huh, I feel like it was almost the opposite for me; I dug how he was moving from esoteric early stuff to releases with progressively more "popular" appeal... culminating in "Come to Daddy" on TRL (and winning!), and the elaborate music video for "Windowlicker," etc.
Then he went away and resurfaced with a series of (dull) vinyl-only releases, and it was like... ok, I guess you're done with that trajectory.
― Bittern Storm Over My Hammy (morrisp), Thursday, 29 June 2023 20:06 (eleven months ago) link
Though I like Autechre, even at his most glitchy/experimental/esoteric there is an air of melodic, otherworldly melancholy with RDJ that I just don’t quite get with those guys.
― Davey D, Thursday, 29 June 2023 20:12 (eleven months ago) link
gotta love people accusing RDJ of using AI to create new music and then hyping up autechre as the more exciting alternative. isn't their whole deal using "algorithms" to automate their music-making?
― na (NA), Thursday, 29 June 2023 20:15 (eleven months ago) link
e.g. Their studio set-up or system varies from album to album but is a labyrinth of possibilities relying on self-written mathematical algorithms that induce their sounds and rhythms to behave in specific yet experimental ways after Autechre manipulate a massive range of parameters.
that's AI, baby
― na (NA), Thursday, 29 June 2023 20:17 (eleven months ago) link
I wasn't accusing him of it upthread but rather speculating he might be a guy to generate a ton of it and release the best stuff and then have a good laugh about it, which I think is very different from what Autechre do
― frogbs, Thursday, 29 June 2023 20:25 (eleven months ago) link
Definitely that feeling, Melomane. It's not dissimilar to Plaid - I like it when a new Plaid album comes out because it's like buying a fresh pair of my favourite brand of underpants. I know what I'm going to get and it feels good nevertheless
I'd argue that even Autechre are starting to sound kinda similar from album to album, or at least you know what an Autechre album sounds like by now, but somehow they manage to keep me on my toes
― Stomp Jomperson (dog latin), Thursday, 29 June 2023 21:51 (eleven months ago) link
if argue that that's not AI, baby. generative, perhaps, but not AI.
― koogs, Friday, 30 June 2023 00:05 (eleven months ago) link
i'd argue...
just like AI, aphex, autechre and plaid were all better in the 90s
― the late great, Friday, 30 June 2023 00:25 (eleven months ago) link
what's better than all of their music combined is reading the same opinions about them for 20+ years
― ꙮ (map), Friday, 30 June 2023 00:34 (eleven months ago) link
mine is that anyone who didn't like / wasn't impressed by syro has a screw loose.
― ꙮ (map), Friday, 30 June 2023 00:37 (eleven months ago) link
pfft that’s nothing imagine posting the same opinions about them for 20+ years :-P
― the late great, Friday, 30 June 2023 00:41 (eleven months ago) link
― assert (matttkkkk), Friday, 30 June 2023 01:03 (eleven months ago) link
lol cmon Oversteps -> Exai -> elseq -> NTS is like the greatest run of albums in this genre ever. and if not, it's at least the longest.
― frogbs, Friday, 30 June 2023 01:35 (eleven months ago) link
tl;dl
― the late great, Friday, 30 June 2023 01:38 (eleven months ago) link
matttkkkk otm
― the late great, Friday, 30 June 2023 01:40 (eleven months ago) link
personally I think it's all been downhill since the first AI comp for all of them and most music in general.
― dan selzer, Friday, 30 June 2023 02:51 (eleven months ago) link
actually I agree with frogbs more, I just couldn't resist the quick grab
― assert (matttkkkk), Friday, 30 June 2023 02:58 (eleven months ago) link
matttkkkk offfftm
― the late great, Friday, 30 June 2023 03:39 (eleven months ago) link
dang
― assert (matttkkkk), Friday, 30 June 2023 04:48 (eleven months ago) link
TBF, you could pick almost any four albums from Ae's catalogue and call it the greatest run in history.
Chiastic Slide - LP5 - EP7* - Confield is another one
*Yeah it's an album idgaf
― Stomp Jomperson (dog latin), Friday, 30 June 2023 07:12 (eleven months ago) link
Sign and Plus are the kinds of left turns and changeups I'd love to see from Richard. I feel he's got some wild and beautiful stuff packed away (can I fantasize about SAW III for a sec?) But I feel something is holding him back...
― octobeard, Friday, 30 June 2023 08:41 (eleven months ago) link
OTM.
What drew me to his work all those years ago was the handbrake tunrs. You just didn't know what to expect from release to release, or even track to track. And Windowlicker did feel like the peak of his empirical phase, just hinting at going full-on pop but with B-sides representing his most experimental and most melodic sides.
― Stomp Jomperson (dog latin), Friday, 30 June 2023 09:09 (eleven months ago) link
And Windowlicker did feel like the peak of his empirical phase
that's just your experience, man
― ledge, Friday, 30 June 2023 09:12 (eleven months ago) link
icwydt
― assert (matttkkkk), Friday, 30 June 2023 10:41 (eleven months ago) link
yeah I don’t really buy into this whole innovation narrative, I think he has still continued to produce excellent funky electronic music, analords and syro both rule
― brimstead, Friday, 30 June 2023 14:31 (eleven months ago) link
TBF, you could pick almost any four albums from Ae's catalogue and call it the greatest run in history.Chiastic Slide - LP5 - EP7* - Confield is another one*Yeah it's an album idgaf
I mean, starting with Tri Repetae it's a continuous run of just one of the greatest albums of the genre after another, at least according to autechre fans like me.
― silverfish, Friday, 30 June 2023 14:32 (eleven months ago) link
e.g. Their studio set-up or system varies from album to album but is a labyrinth of possibilities relying on self-written mathematical algorithms that induce their sounds and rhythms to behave in specific yet experimental ways after Autechre manipulate a massive range of parameters.that's AI, baby
I'd argue this is more jam band than AI
― silverfish, Friday, 30 June 2023 14:33 (eleven months ago) link
funny enough I kinda think Tri Rep is one of their weakest which I think speaks to what an incredibly strong catalogue they have overall (though for me it's less the tunes and more just the way it sounds)
― frogbs, Friday, 30 June 2023 14:34 (eleven months ago) link
anyway I think the thing with 90s Aphex is it had this real world connection that other groups (besides maybe BOC) didn't have. what really hooked me into his work was the use of actual recorded sounds, like he's just some bored middle schooler tapping on a coke can and thinking "you could make a dope track out of this". also his tunes generally had one main melody/idea so it was easy to remember what was what. and sometimes that main idea was something completely outside the world of electronic music which was really neat. like to me all 12 tracks on ICBYD are distinct, as are all 10 on RDJ. some are clearly better than others, some you wanna loop forever and others you wanna skip, whereas Syro to me is just 60 minutes of music
having said that I do really like the new stuff, think Syro is probably his best album overall, and Collapse is maybe the best sounding vinyl I own, so I'm cool with it. at the same time I think he could be doing a lot more, also think he doesn't really care so much and is cool just being a weird conspiracy dad who pops his head out once in a while
― frogbs, Friday, 30 June 2023 14:56 (eleven months ago) link
^OTM re: distinction btw his '90s & new stuff generally
― Bittern Storm Over My Hammy (morrisp), Friday, 30 June 2023 15:17 (eleven months ago) link
As someone with very little background in electronic music, I heard ICBYD and was immediately hooked, drawn into his world & aesthetic. There’s no way that would’ve happened if I had first heard, say, Analord or Syro (an album I gave numerous chances and finally sold back because it was just so boring to me, a formerly massive fan)
― Bittern Storm Over My Hammy (morrisp), Friday, 30 June 2023 15:20 (eleven months ago) link
One thing to keep in mind with RDJ is that he has much more of a connection with dance music. He plays tracks by lots of underground producers in his live sets (which seem to be a mix of originals/live PA/djing new club music and classic jungle/breakcore), and it's become a bit of a thing to get included. Autechre have only become further distanced from dance music (which is fine).
I've spent a lot more time over the years with AE records and they mean more to me, RDJ is more about specific mind-blowing tracks for the most part. I do like that he's settled into a late-period thing of further exploring and refining his various things (ie breakbeats, old hardware synths with weird tunings, melodic electroacoustic shit, etc). I guess you could say the same thing about AE, but their algorithmic MAX/MSP world has always felt much more mysterious.
― Random Restaurateur (Jordan), Friday, 30 June 2023 15:36 (eleven months ago) link
Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt. 2 is a sick record btw (i love drukqs).
― Random Restaurateur (Jordan), Friday, 30 June 2023 15:40 (eleven months ago) link
^^^
yes, by far my favourite of his late period (Syro-onward)
― silverfish, Friday, 30 June 2023 17:22 (eleven months ago) link
wishing he'd gone more down the ventolin b-sides route but hey ho i love me a burbling fusion teutonic orientalism as much as the next guy
― massaman gai (front tea for two), Friday, 30 June 2023 20:27 (eleven months ago) link
Flow Coma remix was I think the last holy shit moment for me.
I feel he's got some wild and beautiful stuff packed away (can I fantasize about SAW III for a sec?) But I feel something is holding him back...
I dunno if it's holding him back or just ... how long can your soul stay on fire?
― official representative of Roku's Basketshit in at least one alternate u (lukas), Friday, 30 June 2023 20:45 (eleven months ago) link
there was lots of beautiful stuff in the soundcloud dump, if you compiled the best stuff 12 tracks from that it would be the best afx album ever
― brimstead, Friday, 30 June 2023 22:36 (eleven months ago) link
the word stuff should not be therealso, changed my mind, prob still 2nd best compares to saw85-92
― brimstead, Friday, 30 June 2023 22:37 (eleven months ago) link
flow coma remix but the other side (dj pierre i think?) is even better. also the windowlicker acid house cowbell remix, that was good stuff
syro and collapse ep are nice, cheetah was cool, but ultimately they leave me cold compared to, say, icbyd, hangable auto bulb, or rdj
― the late great, Friday, 30 June 2023 23:11 (eleven months ago) link
nvm i got the sides mixed up! flow coma yeah
― the late great, Friday, 30 June 2023 23:24 (eleven months ago) link
RDJ is underrated at this point. especially odd given that Aphex is more popular than I ever thought he'd be.
ICBYD was my introduction to him and to electronic music, so I can't see it clearly. The first three tracks will be played at my funeral.
― official representative of Roku's Basketshit in at least one alternate u (lukas), Friday, 30 June 2023 23:30 (eleven months ago) link
― brimstead
cosign
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Saturday, 1 July 2023 00:06 (eleven months ago) link
really hope that stuff shows up as FLAC quality files on Bandcamp someday
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Saturday, 1 July 2023 00:07 (eleven months ago) link
some of them were released digitally as bonus tracks, not sure if they were mastered or anything tho:https://aphextwin.warp.net/release/71105-aphex-twin-i-care-because-you-do
― brimstead, Saturday, 1 July 2023 00:09 (eleven months ago) link
Yeah Flow Coma remix was all time. Part of me feels like the rest of Analord and a lot of the work after was Richard trying to hit that mark again but failing.
RDJ + Come to Daddy + Windowlicker is the AFX "apex" imho. The variety, creativity, and beauty in those three releases is staggering compared to what came before and after. This period feels like a kaleidoscope of kaleidoscopes. On RDJ alone you have shit like 4, Fingerbib, Goon Gumpas, Girl/Boy and Beetles on the same record! Good lord (or should I say good analord)? The fact that Flim and Bucephalus Bouncing Ball are on the same release is incredible! I wish his work had this energy, excitement and enthusiasm. It's still great in spots but yeah.
There's tracks on Plus, Elseq, Oversteps and especially Exai that had my attention and immediately felt like all timers and creative statements in ways I haven't felt that about Richard since literally the Flow Coma track.
― octobeard, Saturday, 1 July 2023 00:14 (eleven months ago) link
Also don't sleep on the Caustic Window LP, the one never properly released but leaked about a decade ago after a test pressing went up on discogs. 101 Rainbows is all time
― octobeard, Saturday, 1 July 2023 00:19 (eleven months ago) link
idk if i’d call any aphex release “underrated”, seems like there’s lots of acclaim for his most minor works. this discussion seems related to a very brief discussion on on another thread about how most techno projects are really only vital for the first few releases (that’s obv at least equally related to a particular way of listening to techno type music)
i think of “underrated” idm as being like, early alec empire on mille plateux or something. does anybody still think about alec empire? no matter what afx does, he’s always on the radar for some reason
― the late great, Saturday, 1 July 2023 00:48 (eleven months ago) link
Okay yeah underrated is the wrong word. I just feel like its relative prominence is out of whack. This isn't just another old man hating on Drukqs (it is.)
― official representative of Roku's Basketshit in at least one alternate u (lukas), Saturday, 1 July 2023 01:44 (eleven months ago) link
ICBYD was such an amazing album to get on board with – it was at this perfect "midpoint" where you could dip back and discover all his early stuff, while at the same time experiencing in "real time" that incredible ramp-up which followed... that ideal scenario of being a big new fan of an artist right when they happen to be "in the pocket" and upping their game with each release.
― Bittern Storm Over My Hammy (morrisp), Saturday, 1 July 2023 01:53 (eleven months ago) link