I thought Collapse was good on release, it has grown on me since then.
― Uhura Mazda (lukas), Wednesday, 21 November 2018 00:21 (five years ago) link
RETAIL OPPORTUNITY. PARTLY TRANSFER WEALTH FROM 24 NOVEMBER.https://t.co/MQ6R56NOPU pic.twitter.com/OyGgg2nSgv— Aphex Twin (@AphexTwin) November 22, 2018
― groovypanda, Thursday, 22 November 2018 15:05 (five years ago) link
I live in California so the mask in a convenient little case is appealing for next year's fire season.
― Uhura Mazda (lukas), Thursday, 22 November 2018 19:03 (five years ago) link
I remember pretending to like Aphex Twin when I was younger, because it was the hip thing to do, and actually genuinely liking individual tracks, but feeling that his run of classic albums was too inconsistent to love. SAW Volume One has two great songs at the start but the rest of it sounds half-baked. The Come to Daddy EP is consistently-good-from-start-to-finish but the actual albums are a mixed bag.
After broadening my tastes a bit I concluded that Squarepusher was a more accomplished musician, Autechre were sonically more inventive, Venetian Snares were more extreme etc. Part of the Aphex Twin's legend is that he achieved maximal results early in his career with terrible equipment - a DJ mixer, a four-track, a reverb unit, the cheapest Yamaha SY etc - but by the late 1990s he had the same resources as everybody else. On the other hand the "legend" wasn't his fault. He went out of his way to avoid publicity, so I never disliked him on a personal level.
But after listening to SAW Volume Two a couple of times I've concluded he really is or was a genius. That album is diverse and consistently interesting. It has an emotional dimension that a lot of glitchy late-1990s/early-2000s Warp / Rephlex music lacks. Autechre et al most went for sublime sheer sonic power but Aphex Twin's best music has a melancholic quality. I always wondered what he'd be like as an old man.
― Ashley Pomeroy, Wednesday, 28 November 2018 20:21 (five years ago) link
rest of that early warp stuff sounds dated, afx stands up better than any squarepusher or autechre records of the time.
― meaulnes, Wednesday, 28 November 2018 20:27 (five years ago) link
you know i always wondered, if you listen to something and it doesn't sound dated to you, but it sounds dated to other people, does that mean you're dated? or exceptionally fresh, and ahead of the revival curve?
― the late great, Wednesday, 28 November 2018 20:36 (five years ago) link
needs an Einsteinian thought experiment
― Bound 4 da Remoan (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 28 November 2018 20:38 (five years ago) link
Squarepusher definitely feels dated; even Hard Normal Daddy which I'd once thought of as a timeless classic sounds very mired in 90s sound design which hasn't held up so well. Autechre less so, depending on what you're talking about exactly - Incunabula still sounds quite good to my ears though it's obviously easy to place when that record was made
and I do agree that Aphex's most unique/successful trait was his ability to pull together something brilliant out of very little - he's one of the most shining examples of the "restrictions breed creativity" creed. I think that's sort of the "magic" ingredient a lot of people hint at when they talk about how early Aphex was just that much better - he used a lot of gimmicky concepts to limit himself and wound out spinning gold out of them. even though the stuff on ICBYD and the RDJ Album was aped all over the place I don't think anyone really could replicate what he did there. I don't know how many people have the patience or aptitude to create a banging track out of a pencil and a Coke can. conversely maybe that's why his latest stuff is all kinda samey...he's opened up his sound a lot more and all that really occurs for him to do is this super-technical acid funk.
― frogbs, Wednesday, 28 November 2018 20:47 (five years ago) link
^Nice post
― plant a twee or die (morrisp), Wednesday, 28 November 2018 20:54 (five years ago) link
http://testpressing.org/2018/12/aphex-twin-gives-away-two-beautiful-versions-of-avril14th-and-more/
― groovypanda, Tuesday, 11 December 2018 18:21 (five years ago) link
so weird, 'popcorn' is gone already and 'avril altdelay' says it was uploaded three years ago when you go to the soundcloud page itself
― sleeve, Wednesday, 12 December 2018 01:13 (five years ago) link
anyway the other version of 'avril 14th' is still available for DL
https://soundcloud.com/user18081971
― sleeve, Wednesday, 12 December 2018 01:14 (five years ago) link
these are all on Discogs now, even
https://www.discogs.com/artist/4399640-user18081971
― sleeve, Wednesday, 12 December 2018 01:17 (five years ago) link
Hmm:
https://akns-images.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/20181111/rs_634x951-181211112234-GettyImages-1071749024.jpg?fit=inside|900:auto&output-quality=90
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 12 December 2018 01:36 (five years ago) link
RDJ playing NY in April but tix are $85 LOLOLOL
― calstars, Wednesday, 16 January 2019 20:30 (five years ago) link
and presale tix sold out instantly
― dan selzer, Wednesday, 16 January 2019 20:33 (five years ago) link
Brooklyn vegan has another one tomorrow morning I think?
― calstars, Wednesday, 16 January 2019 21:21 (five years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOIOJ4E1Jz8
― Emperor Tonetta Ketchup (sleeve), Saturday, 13 April 2019 02:55 (five years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Je9LNz7Hv4
Cool. When I saw him years ago he was just chilling on a loveseat with a laptop while people in bear costumes doofed around.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 13 April 2019 03:07 (five years ago) link
I saw him in 2001 or so and it was pretty slammin’
― get your hand outta my pocket universe (morrisp), Saturday, 13 April 2019 03:29 (five years ago) link
This is a pretty sick set
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Saturday, 13 April 2019 03:46 (five years ago) link
it really is
― Emperor Tonetta Ketchup (sleeve), Saturday, 13 April 2019 03:47 (five years ago) link
90s Aphex Twin >>>>>>>> 10s Aphex Twin. You had to be there, I guess
― braunld (Lowell N. Behold'n), Monday, 15 April 2019 05:43 (five years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj9URI2aKgM
the best bang for the buck out of recent sets imo
― lukas, Saturday, 20 April 2019 11:54 (five years ago) link
First 17 minutes or so of this Coachella audience recording is ace - I prefer less-frantic Aphex
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1WCBVDjFu3RBUoNQX8KhDWp6s7RdJE3LK
― equaliser, Sunday, 21 April 2019 11:03 (five years ago) link
The first 2/3 or so of Mexico does get intense, but in a really interesting way I think. It's not just more aggro drill n bass.
― lukas, Sunday, 21 April 2019 14:37 (five years ago) link
I went to the Brooklyn show. It ruled.
― Allen (etaeoe), Sunday, 21 April 2019 16:06 (five years ago) link
When I got into Aphex Twin late, well into the new millennium, I just torrented RDJ’s entire discography at once, so I did not get the same sense of chronology, of RDJ’s gradual artistic development as people following him at the time in the 1990s did. Now, going through Aphex Twin coverage on Wikipedia, it is interesting to see that Polygon Window’s <i>Surfing on Sine Waves</i> came out only a couple of months after <i>Selected Ambient Works 85–92</i>. In fact, the vast majority of listeners would have got a chance to hear Polygon Window before they ever got to hear <i>Selected Ambient Works 85–92</i>.
Why then does <i>Selected Ambient Works 85–92</i> still have a reputation as sort of the album that started it all? Did <i>Surfing on Sine Waves</i> go particularly unnoticed at the time?
― Melomane, Tuesday, 23 April 2019 00:11 (five years ago) link
classic
― cheese canopy (map), Tuesday, 23 April 2019 00:28 (five years ago) link
interesting posts about aphex twin here... lovin it
― cheese canopy (map), Tuesday, 23 April 2019 00:29 (five years ago) link
seriously, donkey rhubarb remix
― brimstead, Tuesday, 23 April 2019 02:17 (five years ago) link
It isn't as good
― kraudive, Tuesday, 23 April 2019 08:40 (five years ago) link
well, like you said, it came out first, it was Aphex's "debut" (and not released under an alias), and it's a better/more significant record
― frogbs, Tuesday, 23 April 2019 15:26 (five years ago) link
Sine Waves was the first one I bought because it was in the shops, iirc SAW was import only?
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 23 April 2019 15:29 (five years ago) link
Back in the early 90s many electronic music producers had multiple aliases, and before internet became widespread they were more anonymous than you can imagine today, especially if you didn't read magazines like Mixmag. So it's perfectly possible a lot of people didn't even know Polygon Window was the same dude as Aphex Twin; I certainly didn't make the connection until a few years later.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 23 April 2019 16:10 (five years ago) link
Continuing my anecdote in a way, I remember thinking at the time how strange it was that I was buying the "side project" rather than the real thing, as if there was a distinction beyond the alias.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 23 April 2019 16:25 (five years ago) link
Also I think the market for incredibly lush club ambient is a little larger than the market for techno.There also wasn't as much downtempo back then. People were listening to simplistic Ninja Tune stuff - just a drum loop, a vocal sample and some flute - because there were no other options.
― but everybody calls me, (lukas), Tuesday, 23 April 2019 18:27 (five years ago) link
You think? It's not like it stretches back years before SAW, but there was stuff by the Orb and Orbital, plus proto Warp stuff, right? And KLF and ambient house stuff, right?
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 23 April 2019 18:34 (five years ago) link
Yeah, Selected Ambient Works definitely fit into the whole ambient house/chill out boom that was hip in 1992. Whereas techno wasn't really an album-oriented genre (yet).
There also wasn't as much downtempo back then. People were listening to simplistic Ninja Tune stuff - just a drum loop, a vocal sample and some flute - because there were no other options.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 23 April 2019 18:42 (five years ago) link
yeah, the entire phenomenon of the "chill-out room" had been going for actual years, and the Orb's ambient phase started in 1989
Ninja Tune's Brakes series were meant to be sample / DJ tools, not really intended for home listening. though obv once you've bought a CD in 1992 you're going to goddamn listen to it over and over to get your money's worth.
SAW 1 was only released in Belgium and Japan until the turn of the century. SAW II came out in the UK, US, Australia etc.
― blokes you can't rust (sic), Tuesday, 23 April 2019 18:45 (five years ago) link
SAW 1 was only released in Belgium and Japan until the turn of the century.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 23 April 2019 18:50 (five years ago) link
Even some of the stuff on Flexistentialism is super tracky. Yes, that was after 92, but I think SAW I had a very functional role throughout the 90s after the party. Home listening pounding techno not so much.
― but everybody calls me, (lukas), Tuesday, 23 April 2019 18:54 (five years ago) link
xp Yep SAW1 was also easily available in the UK at the time of its original release.
― Kim Kimberly, Tuesday, 23 April 2019 20:33 (five years ago) link
to me 85-92 has a mid-fi roughness that’s absent from most “ambient” stuff of that era. and the use of reverb is exquisite.
― brimstead, Tuesday, 23 April 2019 21:35 (five years ago) link
R&S had great distribution! Surfing On Sine Waves got an actual US release on a label in Josh’s city, which is the difference he was ruminating on
― blokes you can't rust (sic), Tuesday, 23 April 2019 21:59 (five years ago) link
On/via ... TVT?
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 23 April 2019 22:54 (five years ago) link
Wax Trax via TVT
― blokes you can't rust (sic), Tuesday, 23 April 2019 23:03 (five years ago) link
Surfing on Sine Waves says very clearly right on the label that it is the work of Richard D. James so there was no mystery about the source at the time.
― everything, Tuesday, 23 April 2019 23:44 (five years ago) link
yes but people who've heard or read something about this "Aphex Twin" making noise from some place in the Englands, without digging deeply into his backstory or buying import 12"s or listening to late-night college radio with informed nerdlord DJs, would not necessarily see a record by "Polygon Window" in their record shop, then pick it up, slide one of the inner sleeves out, put the gatefold back in the rack, carefully remove the record from the inner sleeve, read that the contents were programmed by "richard d james," and ruminate to themselves "Ah! Perhaps this James has issued other records beneath further pseudonyms. As his publishing is unassigned, my best bet for finding out whether he has credits under other names is to use a mechanical pencil to write an aerogramme to the PRS, whose London address I happen to know off by heart."
And then wait months for a reply, and in the meantime say to themselves ".....OH!. Dick James. It's a joke name, referencing the Beatles' publisher of Northern Songs fame. Those wacky English techno japesters, how foolish of me."
Honestly? Probably no more than 30% of Americans browsing in record shops did this at the time, and their local emporia might have been sold out of the Xylem Tube EP 12" by the time they did get an answer.
― blokes you can't rust (sic), Wednesday, 24 April 2019 00:58 (four years ago) link