New Aphex Twin Record

I think it’s strange that it’s a single rather than an EP or album. It doesn’t say much as a single.

it is an EP with four tracks, WAP480

I'm not sure I want to know Richard D James's opinion on cryptocurrency, mixed reality, artificial intelligence, etc.

― silverfish, Wednesday, June 21, 2023 1:31 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Maybe on mixed martial arts though

did folks cop the ambient version, I didn't do all the QR code nonsense so I would have missed it if not for Phil Sherburne's newsletter

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/19fcYuy4BlUXzZqxkeSDP-zd_7F55wdbC

https://aphextwin.bandcamp.com/album/blackbox-life-recorder-21f-in-a-room7-f760

Yeah I just don't know what I expect from Aphex any more, as opposed to "what to expect", that is.

I guess I really want to be blown away in the same way I was when I first heard Bouncing Bucephalus Ball when I was 17.

For me RDJ’s career was interesting in how it was getting progressively more avant-garde, from those rather sedate and melodic early works to the drill-n-bass and atonality of the latter ’90s. But then RDJ retired while Autechre kept producing music that surprised from one album to the next. So now Autechre has basically replaced Aphex Twin for me. Anyone else have the same experience?

*raises hand*

Huh, I feel like it was almost the opposite for me; I dug how he was moving from esoteric early stuff to releases with progressively more "popular" appeal... culminating in "Come to Daddy" on TRL (and winning!), and the elaborate music video for "Windowlicker," etc.

Then he went away and resurfaced with a series of (dull) vinyl-only releases, and it was like... ok, I guess you're done with that trajectory.

Though I like Autechre, even at his most glitchy/experimental/esoteric there is an air of melodic, otherworldly melancholy with RDJ that I just don’t quite get with those guys.

gotta love people accusing RDJ of using AI to create new music and then hyping up autechre as the more exciting alternative. isn't their whole deal using "algorithms" to automate their music-making?

e.g. Their studio set-up or system varies from album to album but is a labyrinth of possibilities relying on self-written mathematical algorithms that induce their sounds and rhythms to behave in specific yet experimental ways after Autechre manipulate a massive range of parameters.

that's AI, baby

I wasn't accusing him of it upthread but rather speculating he might be a guy to generate a ton of it and release the best stuff and then have a good laugh about it, which I think is very different from what Autechre do

Definitely that feeling, Melomane.
It's not dissimilar to Plaid - I like it when a new Plaid album comes out because it's like buying a fresh pair of my favourite brand of underpants. I know what I'm going to get and it feels good nevertheless

I'd argue that even Autechre are starting to sound kinda similar from album to album, or at least you know what an Autechre album sounds like by now, but somehow they manage to keep me on my toes

if argue that that's not AI, baby. generative, perhaps, but not AI.

i'd argue...

just like AI, aphex, autechre and plaid were all better in the 90s

what's better than all of their music combined is reading the same opinions about them for 20+ years

mine is that anyone who didn't like / wasn't impressed by syro has a screw loose.

pfft that’s nothing imagine posting the same opinions about them for 20+ years :-P

just like AI, aphex, autechre and plaid were all better in the 90s

lol cmon Oversteps -> Exai -> elseq -> NTS is like the greatest run of albums in this genre ever. and if not, it's at least the longest.

tl;dl

matttkkkk otm

personally I think it's all been downhill since the first AI comp for all of them and most music in general.

actually I agree with frogbs more, I just couldn't resist the quick grab

matttkkkk offfftm

dang

TBF, you could pick almost any four albums from Ae's catalogue and call it the greatest run in history.

Chiastic Slide - LP5 - EP7* - Confield is another one

*Yeah it's an album idgaf

Sign and Plus are the kinds of left turns and changeups I'd love to see from Richard. I feel he's got some wild and beautiful stuff packed away (can I fantasize about SAW III for a sec?) But I feel something is holding him back...

OTM.

What drew me to his work all those years ago was the handbrake tunrs. You just didn't know what to expect from release to release, or even track to track. And Windowlicker did feel like the peak of his empirical phase, just hinting at going full-on pop but with B-sides representing his most experimental and most melodic sides.

And Windowlicker did feel like the peak of his empirical phase

that's just your experience, man

icwydt

yeah I don’t really buy into this whole innovation narrative, I think he has still continued to produce excellent funky electronic music, analords and syro both rule

TBF, you could pick almost any four albums from Ae's catalogue and call it the greatest run in history.

Chiastic Slide - LP5 - EP7* - Confield is another one

*Yeah it's an album idgaf

I mean, starting with Tri Repetae it's a continuous run of just one of the greatest albums of the genre after another, at least according to autechre fans like me.

e.g. Their studio set-up or system varies from album to album but is a labyrinth of possibilities relying on self-written mathematical algorithms that induce their sounds and rhythms to behave in specific yet experimental ways after Autechre manipulate a massive range of parameters.

that's AI, baby

I'd argue this is more jam band than AI

funny enough I kinda think Tri Rep is one of their weakest which I think speaks to what an incredibly strong catalogue they have overall (though for me it's less the tunes and more just the way it sounds)

anyway I think the thing with 90s Aphex is it had this real world connection that other groups (besides maybe BOC) didn't have. what really hooked me into his work was the use of actual recorded sounds, like he's just some bored middle schooler tapping on a coke can and thinking "you could make a dope track out of this". also his tunes generally had one main melody/idea so it was easy to remember what was what. and sometimes that main idea was something completely outside the world of electronic music which was really neat. like to me all 12 tracks on ICBYD are distinct, as are all 10 on RDJ. some are clearly better than others, some you wanna loop forever and others you wanna skip, whereas Syro to me is just 60 minutes of music

having said that I do really like the new stuff, think Syro is probably his best album overall, and Collapse is maybe the best sounding vinyl I own, so I'm cool with it. at the same time I think he could be doing a lot more, also think he doesn't really care so much and is cool just being a weird conspiracy dad who pops his head out once in a while

^OTM re: distinction btw his '90s & new stuff generally

As someone with very little background in electronic music, I heard ICBYD and was immediately hooked, drawn into his world & aesthetic. There’s no way that would’ve happened if I had first heard, say, Analord or Syro (an album I gave numerous chances and finally sold back because it was just so boring to me, a formerly massive fan)

One thing to keep in mind with RDJ is that he has much more of a connection with dance music. He plays tracks by lots of underground producers in his live sets (which seem to be a mix of originals/live PA/djing new club music and classic jungle/breakcore), and it's become a bit of a thing to get included. Autechre have only become further distanced from dance music (which is fine).

I've spent a lot more time over the years with AE records and they mean more to me, RDJ is more about specific mind-blowing tracks for the most part. I do like that he's settled into a late-period thing of further exploring and refining his various things (ie breakbeats, old hardware synths with weird tunings, melodic electroacoustic shit, etc). I guess you could say the same thing about AE, but their algorithmic MAX/MSP world has always felt much more mysterious.

Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt. 2 is a sick record btw (i love drukqs).

^^^

yes, by far my favourite of his late period (Syro-onward)

wishing he'd gone more down the ventolin b-sides route but hey ho i love me a burbling fusion teutonic orientalism as much as the next guy

And Windowlicker did feel like the peak of his empirical phase

that's just your experience, man

Flow Coma remix was I think the last holy shit moment for me.

I feel he's got some wild and beautiful stuff packed away (can I fantasize about SAW III for a sec?) But I feel something is holding him back...

I dunno if it's holding him back or just ... how long can your soul stay on fire?

there was lots of beautiful stuff in the soundcloud dump, if you compiled the best stuff 12 tracks from that it would be the best afx album ever

the word stuff should not be there

also, changed my mind, prob still 2nd best compares to saw85-92

flow coma remix but the other side (dj pierre i think?) is even better. also the windowlicker acid house cowbell remix, that was good stuff

syro and collapse ep are nice, cheetah was cool, but ultimately they leave me cold compared to, say, icbyd, hangable auto bulb, or rdj

nvm i got the sides mixed up! flow coma yeah

RDJ is underrated at this point. especially odd given that Aphex is more popular than I ever thought he'd be.

ICBYD was my introduction to him and to electronic music, so I can't see it clearly. The first three tracks will be played at my funeral.

there was lots of beautiful stuff in the soundcloud dump, if you compiled the best stuff 12 tracks from that it would be the best afx album ever

― brimstead

cosign

really hope that stuff shows up as FLAC quality files on Bandcamp someday