Anticipating SYRO the new (2014) album by Aphex Twin

serious RDJ is usually my favorite RDJ

yeah, same. it's a hare-brained theory with minimal supporting evidence and as soon as anyone challenges me i'll distance myself from the assertion and probably just not respond at all, but it seems like serious ages better than playful, across mediums

https://soundcloud.com/richarddjames/simple-slamming-b-2-ten-eight-seven-masteredwav

now we know what's "simple slamming," and what's not. kick/hi hat pattern recalls Backdoor.Netshadow -- https://youtu.be/llSB9kDAFis

i agree with octobeard, personally.
as an album, if Syro had been made by anyone else my reaction would be 'yes, this is fine electronic music in the tradition of aphex'.
but as an aphex album proper i find it's missing some of that skeltering 'woah' factor which was present even on druqks. yeah the sound design is excellent but if i wanted to listen to music on an intensely technical level like that, i'd turn to something like autechre's exai.
aphex for me is all about wild ideas executed without restraint. whether it's on SAWII or ICBYD or Windowlicker, he's like a magician pulling trick after trick out of his hat without ever repeating the same trick twice. i like aphex for his gimmickry, often because he makes the gimmick transcend itself and come into its own.
Syro is straight-up C21 IDM in its purest form and I get why it's good, but sadly i find myself getting a bit exhausted and disengaged after just a short while.
i like the opening track and a couple of others, but for me there just doesn't seem to be enough variety or dynamism to discern between the tunes on offer - they generally meld into one noise, and i'm just not used to that kind of consistency from the guy.

I like it, but I prefer the ILX pre-version

otm

Where can one listen to that?

and i'm just not used to that kind of consistency from the guy.

let's not pretend that drukqs never happened

but as an aphex album proper i find it's missing some of that skeltering 'woah' factor which was present even on druqks. yeah the sound design is excellent but if i wanted to listen to music on an intensely technical level like that, i'd turn to something like autechre's exai.
aphex for me is all about wild ideas executed without restraint. whether it's on SAWII or ICBYD or Windowlicker, he's like a magician pulling trick after trick out of his hat without ever repeating the same trick twice. i like aphex for his gimmickry, often because he makes the gimmick transcend itself and come into its own.

by gimmicky do you mean like the videos or something? or his sillier music like "come to daddy"? that's definitely my least favorite aspect of him. i like the melodies/tunings/synth sounds. thank fuck he didn't go the autechre route and make a bunch of "wild" magic jerkoff DSP flexing garbage.

i really don't understand this whole thing where people want musicians to produce music ~in a certain way~ (playful, gimmicky) rather than describing the kind of music they want to hear. schpongle are quite playful, but i doubt any people critiquing latter day afx care for schpongle at all.

I'm also in it for the melodies, synths, atmosphere and soundscapes

Drukqs was one of my favourite records of the last decade and the most annoying thing about SYRO is that it makes DRUKQS sound a bit dull - I'm sure I'll get back into it.

― Keith, Tuesday, August 11, 2015 3:42 PM (3 days ago)

there's not much on Syro that approaches the level of detail, intricacy, and FLOW of tracks like Vordhosbn, Omgyjya-Switch7, Cock/Ver10, Mt Saint Michel + Saint Michaels Mount, 54 Cymru Beats, Meltphace 6, Taking Control, and friggin Ziggomatic 17.. Drukqs is so densely packed with information, and it flows so effortlessly, relentlessly, at parts.. it's a fucking marvel. the CIRCLONT tracks are kinda reminiscent of those examples, but maybe don't feel so laboured over.. they're chunky, sluggish-feeling in comparison. Syro feels like a compilation of stuff that he had been working on for a decade, material not necessarily intended to be sequenced together, whereas Drukqs, with all of its inconsistency, leaves me with an impression of a well-cohesive, epic double album.

Not often I read a view that I can agree with so much but also disagree with so much at the same time. And it pains me to disagree, because it's so uncommon I meet anyone who shares my views on Drukqs, so agree with all of that and it's a great summing up of an album that most people's view of is that it was a bunch of random tracks shoved out quickly because he lost a DAT on a plane*. It's a remarkable piece of work that takes a lot of effort to really discover, but that's very rewarding.

The other side of it is that I think Syro is the same. Detail, intricacy and flow are three words I would absolutely associate with Syro. To me it just sounds more technicolour than the dark sound of a lot of Drukqs. That's not a criticism of Drukqs; they're just two different things.

One thing I do notice is that normal mortals appear to be able to like Syro a good deal more easily than Drukqs, despite my attempts to ram Drukqs down friends' throats for over a decade.

* The funny thing about this is that stuff that came out recently suggests that this was true. Also the bits about him having millions of unreleased tracks was also obviously true. Maybe he isn't a lying ginger kid after all. Despite that, like you, to me, Drukqs is meticulous; certainly not random

i agree that there's a "technicolor" quality to Syro, for sure.. super-vibrant colors, contours, timbres. i get a sense of luminescent/neon imagery from several tracks, particularly in the various bass syntheses, shapes, fluidity. there probably is a comparable level of detail/intricacy going on, Syro just feels more relaxed and fun, where those Drukqs tracks are teeming (insanely) with detail, and possess some very aggressive tones/tempos. Drukqs is definitely 'darker', more dense, less accessible. don't know much about his working process, but Syro possibly has a more live feel to it.. maybe not so much with Minipops, which feels very boutique-y and refined.

Drukqs is probably my first proper (album immersion) foray into aphex twin, so i could be partial to it, favoring it over his earlier material. but it's not necessarily comparable.. i'm always baffled at people dismissing it as 'lesser', somehow, to his 90s output.

a sense of... strong visuals

I think the problem with Aphex circa Druqks is that his "brilliant lunatic" persona had hit an all-time high, and his (mostly new) fanbase either wanted more brilliant prankster tunes like "Come to Daddy" or "Windowlicker" or the gorgeous, funnybone-stroking stuff like "4" and "Flim", and if not either of those then something that would freak them out otherwise. Like, I remember everyone loving the idea of "Ventolin" but not the actual tune itself. Drukqs wasn't any of that and I think the explanation that it really was "a bunch of random tracks shoved out quickly because he lost a DAT on a plane" and not something to be taken seriously was enough to convince people that it didn't warrant more than a couple of listens.

https://youtu.be/z-gSnibV1hQ
CIRCLONT14 [152.97] (shrymoming mix)

bass breakdown @ ~2:12 is p humorous, is it even questionable? the transformation of the track, from mysterious/sinister to sunlight breaking out the clouds/goofin/serious percussion workout/wankout, is great.

I don't know if would say that part is "humorous" in the same vein that Milkman is, for example. Speaking of, the soft percussion hit after he says "tits" kills me every. damn. time.

^ yes

sorry to bring up the lawnmower story again but that song led to many weird moments out there

by gimmicky do you mean like the videos or something? or his sillier music like "come to daddy"? that's definitely my least favorite aspect of him. i like the melodies/tunings/synth sounds. thank fuck he didn't go the autechre route and make a bunch of "wild" magic jerkoff DSP flexing garbage.

― brimstead, Friday, August 14, 2015 1:31 AM (4 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah I guess I just find Syro a bit formalised, and that's simply not what I expect or want from this particular artist. He was always more of a 'what if' kind of guy ('what if i make a track that sounds like a ball bearing?', 'what if i do a double-album of just ambient music?' 'what if i make a track that sounds like tinnitus' etc)... As others have said, Syro is about intricacy and detail but it comes off a bit one-note, and besides I never really listened to Aphex for his amazing sound design. His earlier work, especially, was exceedingly rough and shoddy on an audio level.

With Syro I feel as though the Aphex who made things like Bouncing Bucephalus Ball, Nannou, Logon Rock Witch, Goons Gumpas, that equation track, Ventolin, Alberto Balsam etc doesn't really exist any more.

how many times are you going to rephrase your personal dislike of this record? stop, we get it, quit whining and go listen to something else.

xp yeah that "golden period" of 95-96

xp I'm only answering brimstead

https://youtu.be/uYEhczrEnwc
XMAS_EVET10 [120] (thanaton3 mix)

curious about how people rate this track, thoughts, etc.

the vocoder at the beginning gives me chills every time

With Syro I feel as though the Aphex who made things like Bouncing Bucephalus Ball, Nannou, Logon Rock Witch, Goons Gumpas, that equation track, Ventolin, Alberto Balsam etc doesn't really exist any more.

otm

That said, Syro is still damn awesome, intentionally "catchy", and while he may have lost some of that mischievousness and spontaneity, there's still supposedly so much more in the pipe that I'm not quite ready to give up hope that his "best record" has yet to come out.

Yeah I guess I just find Syro a bit formalised

I do know what you mean by this (I think), in the sense that it appears to perfect something rather than be a bold new exploration. That said, I think when the bold new exploration was done by him in the first place, then perfecting is certainly okay. Especially given the whole vibe has shifted too (dark to technicolor etc.), which helps to make it something quite different. Counter to your point about the early records, I would say the sound design on his early albums is incredible too. No synths sound like that. As he said at the time "like being in a power station on acid". I think his recent sounds are no more or less remarkable. The common theme is always how beautifully artificial they sound.

XMAS_EVET10 [120] (thanaton3 mix)

curious about how people rate this track, thoughts, etc.

absolutely one of his best tracks, if not his very best. it's so densely packed with great moments & movements that i don't know where to begin. might be able to come up with something later.

Is this the thread where we talk ant Orphan Deejay Selek bcz that shit's p cool

Highlights for me are simple slamming, neotekt72, and r8m neotek beat.

I'm very happy that RDJ is still putting out music.

Anticipating more discussion, re: Syro, and regarding Orphan Deejay Seleks.. err, don't get yer hopes up.

https://clyp.it/1qr5z5be

more unreleased miscellanea

http://thequietus.com/articles/18595-afx-aphex-twin-orphaned-deejay-selek-ep-warp-review

xpost: released as a bonus track on bleep

going back to Rushup Edge, reinforced notions of Synthacon 9 and Death Fuck as top notch shit.. apologies for perpetuating the "playful" descriptor, but these tracks are fucking killer. a bit easier on the ears than Syro, too

Soundcloud's alive again, two new tracks at the moment:

https://soundcloud.com/user18081971/tracks

those are WAV files btw

xpost: released as a bonus track on bleep (https://bleep.com/release/63405-afx-umil-25-01)

― linee

excellent timbres here, and some novel editing. didn't fully appreciate it until a headphones listen, kinda wish the ep was more of this caliber.

but then i'm guessing the ep (ODS) is gonna sound great on the stereo, loud.

https://youtu.be/UjfycO1Sy2A
4 bit 9d api+e+6 [126.26]

another sweet track.. what are people hearing here?

I realized happily today that his newish soundcloud stuff is avail for download from the site.

Maybe if I can get it all downloaded I can zip it up. I have a couple days off

not any more you don't

a dozen more Soundcloud tracks are up, only one for DL at the moment

man, these new things are seriously fucked up computer sound experiments, not a "real song" in the lot

oh does he do real songs?

hahaha

Aphex Twin is a PROGRESSIVE BAND

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