Aphex Twin classic or Dud?

"Acrid Avid Jam Shred" is seriously one of the greatest opening traxx of any album

yes

vahid, granny, what did you think of cheetah

i felt that cheetah was relatively fresh

*furrows brow, moves left foot a quarter turn while holding hands in ready position*

Oh shit!! I've always wanted to find this (and here it is) --

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiXoIZ7pf9g

having a party still not my idea of a fantasy in 2018

maybe if people listened to better music they wouldn't constantly need to seek out new music

actually now that i have typed that, i realize it is not really true, maybe the thing is people need to listen better to the good music that already exists?

so should I listen to this y/n

ok to clarify a bit RDJ has made a career out of innovation and overhaul and discovery and creating new types of sounds, like even when the Analord stuff was hella retro throwback, it didn't sound identical to anything he'd done before

this sounds identical to lots of stuff he'd done before, like this literally sounds like outtakes from druqks or RDJ album

when I say "I just question why we need more music like this in 2018" I mean I'm kind of underwhelmed when someone who for so long presented new ideas presents old ideas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrWTZk0sMS4

one example from the new ep

constantly trying to present new ideas is what leads to shitty "difficult" music. obv I have no idea what he was thinking about back then, but maybe he just was making sounds that he liked? and they happened to be "new ideas"? and he's still producing sounds that he likes, whether they're new to listeners or not.

haven't heard cheetah!

when I say "I just question why we need more music like this in 2018" I mean I'm kind of underwhelmed when someone who for so long presented new ideas presents old ideas

Nobody makes music like this, as good as this--that might be part of why some find it enjoyable. Who is overrating it, Pitchfork!?

well i daresay you're overrating it

when you say "nobody makes music as good as this"

it sorta helps when you're not anticipating / expecting anything. I suppose it also helps if you hold Drukqs, Analord, and the Tuss in high esteem.

you keep contradicting yourself!

see also upthread when you said it was simultaneously hurried and unhurried!

see also when p sherburne said in his pfork review that it was both random like a demolition derby and precise like a laser guided missile

i mean this is part of what i'm reacting to - the praise i'm hearing seems ... incoherent

describing music.. generalizing descriptions, so as to try to relate it coherently... you're bound to fail, fuck up, miss the mark, etc.

This is the bewildering line for me in Sherburne's review:

There have been times in James’ career when his knowing smirk threatened to eclipse the music.

Ok, so we are overrating current Aphex Twin music. I find these tunes stimulating and enjoyable in unique ways.. it scratches a particular itch. I honestly wasn't expecting much after Cheetah.

granny listen to cheetah! it's my favorite new Aphex stuff since a while. and it's slow.

finally listening to this ... wow clear Jlin vibes, on 1st 44 at least

it's easier for me to enjoy this when I forget his "stature" and imagine I'm with a bunch of high people putting out cigarettes in soda bottles in a room with dirty couches

boy howdy everyone sometimes it's good to be a casual fan

ok I listened to Cheetah. It's...ok. Def more in the vein that I enjoy, but I can't see myself returning to it much. Kinda bedroom techno by numbers. All the tracks sound similar and lack intrigue. Whereas ICBYD and his other stuff I liked, each track had its own personality. Variety of moods, emotions textures, melodies/harmonies, diff sounds on the drums/rhythms. Maybe I'm just older and JADED but I just hear "here's some shit I made on vintage equipment, I'm gonna go poop out another 200 of these tracks tomorrow". Sorry I hate to hate on stuff, I really do.
I'll give it another shot in a few days or so tho.

^^this nails it better I than I did/could

guys this EP is great

I get all that stuff upthread as it applies to Syro or Cheetah or that collection of orphaned AFX tracks but the stuff on here is so much bouncier and fun

CHEETAH IS A GROWER *runs out of room sobbing*

The only Aphex Twin which ever did anything zo me was Didgeridoo. I guess the reason is that it sounds organic and is hypnotic at the same time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAkFBQ6sIcc

lol

i like cheetah, it has some nice bit-crushed esque thin synths that sound really crystalline

but yeah i see what dainger is saying about the vintage equipment angle which kind of is the whole deal if you like it or not, the record is very understated and the beats are super rudimentary - i like that, but mostly as a reaction to the overly cerebral stuff he does like music for machines or whatever that one was called.

Is there any indication or claim that this stuff is new, as in, even recorded recently?

track 2 has an obvious jlin influence

Yeah and he’s been playing jlin in dj sets

alex in manhattan, what abt this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQXMvX1HRA8

not sure about the rest but "MT1 t29r2" rules

I love that, Steve. Especially before the computer beats arrive ;-) To be honest, I find this kind of thing, spinning an acoustic theme further with electronic sounds quite interesting and in this case even successful.

He might not be breaking new ground but unlike this more than a lot of his other stuff since his reemergence.

track 2 has an obvious jlin influence

I don't know about Jlin (not enough triplets), but the half-time breakdown w/claps is a giveaway that he's heard some music in the last decade.

I could definitely see him loving Jlin as as contemporary template for super dense/busy beats though.

yeah people are guessing that cuz, like Ross said, he plays her stuff out

eg he played 4 Jlin tracks in his set in Houston

not sure about the rest but "MT1 t29r2" rules

― reggae mike love (polyphonic)

attaboy

What you mean I don't know good music, I have Disco Duck on 45

a disco duck 45? sounds like you are a connoisseur of novelty / comedy music, therefore an ideal listener for late-period aphex

I listened to this and it sounds great. I can get why some people think he's going through the motions of they only listened to the title track.

I really like this ep

Abundance is dope

*if not of

Dunno that first track bangs. Those distorted low snares that come in near the end remind me why I started producing to begin with - pure frequency, texture - bangs hard

Late great I would totally take you for a beer man. But those drums around 2 40 on the 2nd track start to mirror the melody and this is definitely the most overt aphex has been in sometime. Aphex encourages new ways of listening
I think

tbh I understand the criticism in this thread and for the most part this is exactly what the good people of ILM made one thousand posts about when Syro was released. 90s Aphex was cool in that his tunes were more conceptual and memorable and you could write about them in a way that was intriguing and fun. it had the prankster and outsider element to it. whereas his new music is knotty and technical and quite frankly a lot of it sounds the same as itself. it's no fun to write about. hence why so many Syro reviews made an entire paragraph describing the last track.

this EP definitely feels distinct though - it has that aural rollercoaster feel to it that a lot of the good Aphex stuff does. sounds awesome too. suddenly I'm interested in this guy again.

Abundance feels like tornado Wallace on speed.

One thing I can get behind with this ep is the merger of frenetic percussion with ambient synths or vocal melodies. Abundance borders on r n b with those vocal loops but does not deploy them enough to make that concrete

Often the drums are pitched to the music which is fucking solid