Aphex Twin classic or Dud?

So far I'm really enjoying this. It has a lot more personality than the other stuff he's put out this decade. Yes, it sounds like an Aphex recording, but it also sounds very much of the moment in terms of production quality and complexity.

I like the middle section on the first track where the drums sound like they are speeding out if control. And I agree that the second track is taking its cues from Jlin.

xp I mean, you can substitute whatever...talk about, think about, be inspired by, etc. etc. for me my entryway into Aphex was the cover to the Richard D. James album + some article talking about how he was making rhythm tracks out of Coke cans + that thing where he hid his face in the spectrogram of a track. having no clue what IDM was I had to know what this kind of music sounded like. of course it wasn't just the gimmicks that made this stuff so classic, using more tangible melodies had something to do with it. like a lot of "outsider" stuff that becomes famous it's some combo of weirdness and accessibility.

again, from a casual fan's perspective, there's a lot more to chew on here compared to Cheetah, Syro, or the Acoustic Computer whatever EP (which I really liked). it's 28 minutes but I feel like I'll get the most mileage out of this record than any other I've heard so far in 2018.

Aphex is good and talented and we should be glad he still does his things. We’re all armchair critics, what’s your contribution to society? Posts on Ilx?

Syro was really, really great. That second track!

Is that Xmas ??

Oh that’s great !

We’re all armchair critics, what’s your contribution to society? Posts on Ilx?

I deliver babies in war zones, and post in ILX in my spare moments.

Hahaha good poster

this thread has accumulated roughly as many new answers since yesterday as the jlin thread has accumulated in three years

i think that is bad, not good

i guess tbf half of those posts are me complaining about how overrated aphex twin is

is the jlin thread full of trolls trying to piss on people's enjoyment of the music

xp lol

Lol

it's not trolling to say you think music (a song, an album, an artist, artist's body of work for the last 10-15 years) isn't that good

eg

people are fucking morons especially people who like this trash band

― crüt

people are fucking morons especially people who like this trash band recent aphex better than jlin

― crüt

fixed

i regret nothing

i'm not sure anyone's arguing that recent aphex is better than jlin

I will

:P

i know, i know

just making a point about trolling vs dissent

people are fucking morons especially people who like this trash band recent aphex better than jlin big & rich

in fact on the jlin thread i believe i made the argument that the only person even operating at her level is afx

Would pay crut to be my editor tbh

I’m cool with jlin if I got migraine pills handy

At least oval had sympathy for my broken discman

aw, i like black origami

recent aphex is better than autechre tho

I like kyanite a lot

Just like having fun cheers

Which way Dave

recent aphex is better than autechre tho

slam the brakes buddy

Feels like a road runner cartoon

lol so many twists and turns on opinions dr

ZANY APHEX = NO THANK U

I like Jlin, and I'm glad Aphex Twin is learning something from her.

at least they are not Sophie.

I liked Cheetah better but this pretty good, especially “1st 44”

Jed - what’s that mean about Sophie??

RDJ supposedly used an Elektron RYTM for parts of these tracks. You can sort of recognize its 'character' in the title track, but it's not so easy to identify. the RYTM is an eight-voice, analog drum synthesizer that also plays samples. There's a Pitchfork interview with James (and his wife?) from around the time Syro came out, and they mention the drum machine a few times (a gift from Elektron?) - it's a mk1 version of the RYTM, where you have to load samples using a computer. The MKII version (with improved functionality, display, size, appearance, etc.) came out just last year, and it's a sampler in the sense that you can just plug something into its input(s) and record (anything, using a 3.5 mm / 1/4" cable) directly. You can combine those samples with the sounds of the drum machine in a variety of ways. If you're at all familiar with Elektron step sequencers you'll know that using them can take a lot of preparation and forethought... volume/filter/envelope/effects parameters, sounds, sound behavior, their frequency of occurrence, logic conditions, etc. - it's all highly programmable / malleable, to a maddening extent. The workflow of the Elektron sequencer is not at all intuitive until you understand how it works. And then there are the pads of the RYTM, which add a whole 'nother level of control. The Texas band xuiqen uses Elektron machines, and their music (on the album moiré is the next best thing to Autechre (similar to Ae). I keep reading that Autechre used Elektron machines on both Untilted and Quaristice.. most likely the Machinedrum and the MonoMachine, both of which are badass / legendary synthesizers already. They're really expensive. Getting carried away with trivia, apologies. Been listening to the Collapse CD on the stereo this evening, and it is indeed FUN :)

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWyVwR_MH1V2Rzo3wisFRgNw9lmVeZi1Z (btw)

Poll: Lets Go Deep vs Stone In Focus

It kinda sounds like two disparate tracks playing simultaneously..

i don't know if it's because Stone in Focus is so well-burned 'in' after all these years, but it doesn't seem to match up very well, as it doesn't 'reset' on same the bar / count, so as to lock in with the other track better.

really like the new EP, I don't see it as him imitating himself (wtf does that mean?) as approaching a sort of classicism of the kind of techno he makes. I'm not a gearhead, I couldn't pretend to fully understand his process but I hear the material being mostly gestated out of the "character" of the gear he uses (and kind of what he's always done). I don't even know what "innovation" would look like for afx because he's always just made the music he wanted to hear himself.

but what if the music he wants to make for himself is boring

It kinda sounds like two disparate tracks playing simultaneously..

― braunld (Lowell N. Behold'n),

It is! Just two records hanging out on the decks

but what if the music he wants to make for himself is boring

― the late great, Sunday, October 7, 2018 1:42 PM (sixteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

holy shit man do you have an axe to grind. boring to you maybe lol

boring to me for sure

this is what we do on i love music, talk about music we don’t like

yeah all good man, tbh i would rather listen to other records but i did like this one (and found most of the last haul of afx pretty dire)

saw two different versions of the LP yesterday at the record store, one with the regular cover and one with a silver cover, "first edition" or something. I didn't buy it, did I fuck up? they were the same price iirc