Anticipating SYRO the new (2014) album by Aphex Twin

Braindance / Brainfeeder overlap not surprising at all.

(I mean, Skrillex would have been a LOL, but FlyLo to be expected, TBH)

I guess I've just been out of the Flying Lotus loop for a while.

Nice to see him acknowledging other artists in interviews, especially Holly Herndon who is obv brilliant. I've read things where he's said he doesn't listen to anyone else's music, others where he says he only listens to Gorecki, and another where he said he'd chucked out all his old four-to-the-floor techno, but I don't remember him namechecking other artists much other than friends like Squarepusher.

flying lotus is wack

the dave monolith album that came out a couple years ago wipes the floor with all that nu-tricky bullshit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Khys4UYrOwQ

do we have a nu-IDM thread?

^see, that sounds super corny to me

xp

Last interview I read, he was raving about Zavoloka, who is great.

we were talking about nu-IDM in the hipster/outsider house thread. At least I was.

idm in 2014

I do really dig the analytics component of this album's promotion; are there any other artists who have been this transparent with the data they are able to collect about their audience?

Last interview I read, he was raving about Zavoloka, who is great.

thanks for bringing this up - I'd never heard her music till now, and it is great.

I'll put there here as well then. Supposedly the last track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJHsT8kEyzs

that's incredible

Oh, is that the piano pendulum? I saw that live. (Doubt it'd be part of the album, though. Mostly because it was a specifically commissioned piece of work.)

I'm starting to get caught up in this a little more, having been amused but unbothered by this campaign so far. This guy is obviously a good thing and I was sort of surprised by how much I was into caustic window the few times I listened to it, like it was quenching a thirst I was unaware of having. I guess I just feel like there's quite a lot of Richard James music already, or something. And I wouldn't have recognised the aphex logo before last week.

Quite a lot of my mates are real megafans, which always makes me feel like I'm less of a fan than I actually am. All that said, I'd go to another of his live shows tomorrow.

There is no music at all recorded by Richard James. In fact, it would be not just unlikely, but alarming, considering he died in 1968. Richard D. James may have recorded rather a lot of music. Not the same person, though.

/pedant

plenty of Rick James music however

the dave monolith album that came out a couple years ago wipes the floor with all that nu-tricky bullshit

― clouds

that album is a pale imitation of Tuss music. Production is one-dimensional in comparison to those two Tuss eps

http://thequietus.com/articles/16166-aphex-twin-syro-review/
http://www.wonderingsound.com/feature/aphex-twins-syro-review/
http://www.factmag.com/2014/09/05/well-done-the-aphex-twin-joe-muggs-shares-his-first-thoughts-on-syro/
http://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/aphex-twins-syro-first-impressions-60-minutes-of-banging-tune-packed-braindance

several track-by-track commentaries

Supposedly the last track.

:C

. The Tuss and Analord series, rather than Drukqs or either of the SAW albums, are the key reference points for the majority of Syro.

Called it.

This is Aisatsana (Anastasia) then:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJHsT8kEyzs

Oh shit sorry I just realized it's the same vid brotherlovesdub posted.

all i really want from Aphex Twin is more pretty prepared piano pieces and instruments played by robots, so this makes me happy

Oh, darn. I really love Drukqs.

I'm kind of interested what the 'new' RDJ thinks of Stockhausen now.

wow. that is astonishing. i would've love to have seen that live.

RDJ has always liked Stockhausen's music afaik, his infamous retort aside

I realise that this probably sounds as if it is in direct contradiction of what I said in the "why does ILM hate new music" thread, but...

Looking at whole list of "first listens" and "track by tracks" I realised that I have absolutely 0 interest in reading any track by track or review of this album at all.

(I mean, it's not really in opposition, because what I wanted was a brief recap/why I should care about a piece of *unknown* music, while this is a piece of work I have already made up my mind to buy and investigate, no matter what.)

And I'm wondering if this is a reaction in terms of not wanting "spoilers"; of not wanting my enjoyment pre-dictated or even influenced by someone else's words or impressions. (Or if it's symptomatic of some greater disenchantment with music writing in general.) Or maybe I just hate the way, in general, journalists write about Aphex Twin.

But I'm half, like "OMG, want to discuss this, anticipate this, speculate about it!" but at the same time want actual "track by tracks" to kinda go away.

(Though by no means saying they shouldn't be posted in this thread or discussed or whatever; any and all appropriate links are good. I'm just feeling very "no spoilers" about this record.)

I think Drukqs if anything has become underrated now but honestly another album in that vein would be the most underwhelming possible outcome.

I suppose I should download the Analord series now. Weird that he's been releasing a reasonably steady stream of music for years to almost total indifference but now there's an album out everyone's getting excited. Maybe it's just the right time for him again.

That Joe Muggs preview really does make it sound exciting though.

but the Quietus and FACT previews seem to confirm my worst fears

(ie that it'll only be really good)

Looking at whole list of "first listens" and "track by tracks" I realised that I have absolutely 0 interest in reading any track by track or review of this album at all.

i don't know why anyone should want to read a track-by-track review of anything when they haven't yet heard the album

and even if you have heard it, this format lends itself to the shittiest music criticism

agreed, for example, i don't care to read a review of a movie that i'm going to see. however, in this case, a few of these tracks are several years old. versions of the new single have circulated on youtube for the last four years (at least), with very superficial/minor variations. was curios whether or not the "metz" track would be on the new one, because it's fucking excellent, and it's also been around for years. these review/impression/accounts feel slight anyhow, not too worried that they're gonna 'color' your listening experience unless you've no mind of your own.

i don't know why anyone should want to read a track-by-track review of anything when they haven't yet heard the album

and even if you have heard it, this format lends itself to the shittiest music criticism

― I dunno. (amateurist)

Also Aphex Twin and "IDM" music in general is sort of pointless to try to review.

why is it more pointless to review than other kinds of music?

less words about moons, balloons, june

june angels

Well, what I meant is not that it's pointless but that it's hard to describe without referencing previous work by the artist. Let's take a look at pitchfork's review for the track:

This is analog maximalism, made possible by the plinky, translucent synths of Selected Ambient Works, AFX's restless 303 sequences, Caustic Window's brawny drum machines, vocal abstractions à la Richard D. James Album, and an excitable dissonance owing as much to Drukqs as it does Polygon Window's Surfing on Sine Waves. Not one frequency in the spectrum is unaccounted for on "minipops 67 [120.2][source field mix]", and yet James doesn't sound like he's overcompensating for his extended absence as he crams so much of himself into the limber, rigorous production work. The music world at large has spent the past 13 years trying to translate Aphex Twin's unscalable discography into a language it can speak, so now the teacher has simply returned to give us all a whole new lesson in vocabulary.

It's been 13 years... many people have never heard of him before and this review, per example, is pretty much pointless.

I just think it's a genre which is much harder to describe than others. The references are there but IDM tends to be willfully obscure and shifty.

and also less words about the moon and june.

i actually think people writing about electronic music often do a better job describing what's going on, musically, than do people writing about guitar rock etc.

and this stuff in its formalist inclinations lends itself to description better than a lot of stuff, honestly

disagree that talking about past work is necessary or desirable. yes writing about sound design is hard, but you can do it without falling into "it's like a barrel full of ball bearings falling down stairs ... but funky!"

xposts

also the more 'conceptual' aspects of aphex twin make him a little easier to write about, i think

idk what that means but I'm curious

I don't actually know a ton about Aphex Twin, because my interest in dance and electronic stuff came a little after his 90s heyday -- but beyond an intro paragraph or two about his return, or some setting up of his impact on IDM (and perhaps even EDM) in general, curious as to why this record wouldn't be written about in terms of how it relates to new electronic dance music. For example, why not just talk about its merits alongside recent stuff by Actress, Lone, DJ Rashad, new Planet Mu releases, new Hyperdub, etc? Following that, what kind of impact it has just as a stand alone release? I am interested in this record, but am wondering how many reviews will actually contain as much "criticism" as backstory, or pining for old days.

idk what that means but I'm curious

― ugh (lukas), Friday, September 5, 2014 3:57 PM (23 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

sometimes his songs/albums are driven in part by high-concept ideas, which provide a way "in" to them

see video above, no?

...well, clearly he had a massive impact on, erm, Skrillex!

(I kid, I kid.)

ugh, x-post to Dominique

I like the Skrillex tidbit because the Come To Daddy EP totally blew my mind open too and he's 1 month younger than me. There but for the grace of God.

?

http://forum.watmm.com

hey, http://user18081971.watmm.com/ is pretty neat

the middle of the album (Syro) loses a bit of its power with the abundance of those farty, wet, gurgly sorts of synth sounds that characterise parts of the CIRCOLONT tracks, as well as the title track (#9, ...Piezoluminescence_Mix). i think it was dog latin who remarked that the middle of the album feels kind of samey.. those tracks do sort of blur/blend together (texture/palette-wise) because of this. those gurgly synths remind me of parts of Exai (irlite, spl9, recks on), they've got that wet, farty quality about them. though with spl9 and recks on, the synths have a drier, more gauzy, static electricity-like quality. ilanders and Treale are also good examples of tracks having similarly pronounced, 'wet' synth sounds. there's a neat effect on ilanders where that wet, tearing quality infects the percussion as well, makes it feel like the track is deteriorating. getting carried away though

https://soundcloud.com/user18081971/9-leeds-orbit

just went to catch up with the recentish uploads (i'm a month behind) and noticed there's a new one...

whoa... not unlike drukqs

any thoughts on the "orphaned deejay selek" ep? i'm digging the minimal, repetitious vibe of it.. kinda brash, not too showy, but some nice, understated details. general consensus on watmm seems to be that it's similar to both the tuss eps and the analord series, but not as good as either. i can kinda see that, but it stands pretty well on its own. a good contrast to the elaborate extravagance of Syro

https://soundcloud.com/user18081971/boxenergy4remix1

and boxenergy4remix1 is a banger, but it's difficult to write about.

lord that is rather good

is there much else in that hangable auto bulb - drukqs vein in all of the soundcloud tracks ive barely even skimmed the surface of

there are a few that i've noticed but i can never remember the titles

71 1st bank Trac
14 Make A Baby
26 5 [demo]
8 Metal Beat
5 Girl Boy Dark Version
7 Cutting
28 organ
33 jonny hawkes broken guitar[not finished]
carn marth [longerbit]
(big raver strings)
cubdelay
23 lush acid
5 heliosphan live
notting hill bus
179 brk 2
4 acid organ[rough mix]
18 mello punchy
(big fluttery)
medievil rave mk2
2 fogbeak
2 custom break acid
10 inthesky
3 organ velocity
8 glock+onion
nightmail

He's posted a bunch more experimental tracks in the past few days. Katieparty is really nice and lush though.

http://warp.net/news/aphex-twin-syro-nominated-for-mercury-prize/

gone

https://soundcloud.com/user18081971

had to do something with the stats..
tracks will return when I get behind a screen..

https://soundcloud.com/user18081971/harmonicom

this is just track 2 from SAWII. does he not remember which tracks he's already released?

also his profile pic is lionel richie statue lol

it's the remix with drums from 26 mixes, isn't it?
the buck tick "in the glitter" remix was uploaded as well, iirc

think there's an interesting thread running through rdj's deliberate (or at least seeming) transparency around the gear he used on syro and autechre's soundboard releases and oneohtrix putting out his midi files. i know the window into technique these things provide is primarily only of interest to a small audience of the already curious and/or obsessive, but i'm down with any attempts to demystify the process of producing electronic music that operate in less literal ways than watching ableton tutorials, particularly as produced sound has become such a seamless component of the built environment in general.

had this on yesterday. man, papat4 is a joyous track.. that bass, so harmonically rich and rubbery.. and the bit where the snare is chopped, with a stuttered roll. vaporous pads soaring through it, unhinged. love it. maybe it peters out too quickly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u53Jr4LDi5g

lush slow blips

yesterday i excitedly watched a video featuring four custom scales by RDJ so yeah i guess you could say i'm a completist

http://www.nts.live/projects/aphex-twin

(no idea what to enter, but speculation about the countdown and transcript of the voice are here: https://www.reddit.com/r/aphextwin/comments/6cmvsx/nts_live/ )

$('#date-label').text( padWithDots("SATURDAY.3RD.JUNE") );
$('#location-label').text( padWithDots("VIDEO.STREAM.LIVE.FROM.FIELD.DAY") );

Analysing the website source of the countdown timer, we see:
var b = 1499119200000;
Which is:
Mon Jul 03 2017 23:00:00 GMT+0100 (GMT Summer Time)
Interestingly Field Day, which afx is playing at, is set on June 3rd (not July like the site) and ends at 11PM. Maybe just a coincidence though.
EDIT: They just added another date variable. 1496520000000 (Jun 03 2017 @ 9PM) - possibly afx's set time.

Went to the Wellcome place in London, their current exhibition on graphic design, and saw these, prototype designs for plain cigarette packaging from 2011. I wonder if afx saw these?

http://studio.build/archived/icon-magazine-rethink/

Not historically a fan of AFX but I find that I kind of like some of this. The sound design and editing are pretty much peerless.

at the moment this is my go-to afx record

I crack up every time at all of the brilliant misdirection in it. It's like an infinitely more sonically satisfying Perrey and Kingsley record.

Possibly the Afx record I've listened to the most, despite its inexplicably dodgy reputation.

got a copy of this on vinyl now and uhhh it sounds insane. idk why they put it on 3 records when it could've easily fit on two (it doesn't even have the bonus track!) but its so good I guess I can overlook that. this shit reboots your brain

it really is great, a career highlight imho

XMAS_EVE absolutely is

Collapse EP is awesome too. man why'd he have to go away again

the 1st track is like a 3-D version of "Bucephalus Bouncing Ball"

don't forget Cheetah

could do without the electronically controller acoustic instruments one though

A fascinating release in a lot of ways. I’ve been thinking about doing an ILM review of it.

please do!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnF_mMDgZ08

"Collapse EP is awesome too. man why'd he have to go away again"

seems to have cracked totally after his father passed, plus all his statements re covid/quarantine made me worry for his mental health