New Aphex Twin Record

Laptop fuck-up? First it was a MP3 player. I suspect that story is another AFX-legend. ;)

http://sh55k01.jvb.tudelft.nl/logo/emperor1.gif

I think it is a failure as a total album though. The piano songs are good and deftly programmed, but the track sequence does not seem to be put together in any seemingly cogent manner. Also, the jungly bits sound more as though they are actually the fake aphex tracks that show up from time time on the internet, rather than his music. It just seems as though he threw a bunch of stuff together and called it drukqs.

It does not seem like an album so much as a collection of tracks that were randomly thrown together. It does not seem like there is a particular thread or flow that runs through the album. With that being said, there are still tracks on their that are absolutely brilliant.

Now, slightly off-topic: but it should be taught in rock-critic 101 that in these days of programable cd-players you.don't.need.to.edit.an.album.as.an.artist. Is this a secret law in rock-crit land? Paragraph 6.2 Whenever an artist releases a double album, state in smug tone that it could have been edited into one decent album. -end rant-

No, seriously, I like it. "Gwarek 2" is a stand-out, as is one of the piano jobs on CD2: Stockhausen and Delius (respectively) on one album! I also don't get the comments about "thrown together", programmable CD players, etc. Half the fun, at least on first listen, was wondering what's coming next - another piano bit? another jungly bit? or what?

Real question for me is whether this album has any staying power, or will it just soon get filed away in the "admired, but unplayed" pile, like all my other AFX save for Windowlicker.

http://www.boomkat.com/item.cfm?id=35999

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(7\)

> particularly with the apparent use of the Yamaha GX1 synthesiser
> (a piece of kit so dear it cost over £30k back in the 1970's and
> there are only a handful in the country

looks like a beast.

http://www.electone.com/museum/?i=61

features 3 keyboards, a pedal keyboard and a switch you activate with your knees.

slick

needs wheels and an engine and a granny

Garu GX1 synthesizer

I've heard the track "Alspacka" (I think) off this. It's wonderful.

Maybe Vangelis made the record?

i keep searching craigslist and ebay for analogue synths and all i keep finding is this analog shit

Alspacka is a track off of the Confederation Trough EP. The others are "Fredugolon 6" and "GX1 Solo". The vinyl version subtracts "GX1 Solo" and adds "Akunk"

The tracklist of the full length "Rushup Edge" is:

1 Synthacon 9
2 Last Rushup 10
3 Shiz Ko E
4 Rushup I Bank 12
5 Death Fuck
6 Goodbye Rute

I'm giving both a first listen right now.

That's the full tracklisting? I was kind of hoping the 9, 10, 12 indicated another 6-8 tracks were missing from the leaked version.

It's... all right. Some nice sounds but I'm not too excited by it yet. Then again it took a while for Analord to grow on me and this is somewhat similar in style.

Been listening to this for a while. I like it okay, but I'm starting to wish he would do a SAW volume 3. The spazzy drums remind me of the dot-com era or something.

Alspacka is a track off of the Confederation Trough EP. The others are "Fredugolon 6" and "GX1 Solo". The vinyl version subtracts "GX1 Solo" and adds "Akunk"

The tracklist of the full length "Rushup Edge" is:

1 Synthacon 9
2 Last Rushup 10
3 Shiz Ko E
4 Rushup I Bank 12
5 Death Fuck
6 Goodbye Rute

I'm giving both a first listen right now.

wtf what label where did u get it send t0 me now

OMG THIS IS AMAZING!!! I am loving this sound.

wtf what label

-- am0n, Friday, June 22, 2007 3:53 PM (4 hours ago)

wtf me stupid

finally an afx/steely dan collaboration

It's too bad the vinyl version of the Confederation Trough EP doesn't include "GX1 Solo", because it's probably the best song he's released as The Tuss.

I'm finding these new songs to be kind of bleh. They're above average compared to most of RJD's peers, but they seem uninspired compared to his previous output. On Rushup Edge, there isn't the variety of tempos and sounds and textures that I was expecting. It's not until the closer "Goodbye Rute" that things change up noticeably.

Nothing will ever approach "...I Care Because You Do" I think.

phelan is on the case

BTW am finally hearing this and def liking.

xpost. Uh, wha?

Why do people get paid to write this stuff?!

it's not that bad. kinda makes me want to explore this guy's stuff a bit more.

RWJ

This reminds me that I still have to purchase Analords 5-11.

Richard Wood Johnson... as in like Robert Wood Johnson, the hospital that's near my house?

i stopped reading here:

After his 1993 debut, Selected Ambient Works 85-92, defined "ambient" (the first of several genres James was to invent...

That Village Voice article is absurd fanboy drooling. Wow, RDJ is a good marketer who jumped on the viral marketing on the internets bandwagon.

I like this album a lot though.

I've been laying off electronic music for a few years, so I just got the Chosen Lords collection a couple of days ago. I like it quite a bit. It is like RDJ finally said fxxk it with all of that hyperactive mumbo jumbo and made a follow up to Selected Ambient Works 85-92 with a bit of the rush from Surfing on Sine Waves.

If The Tuss stuff is just as good, I will check that out next. I never got the 26 Mixes for Cash, so that is one I also want to check out.

It is like RDJ finally said fxxk it with all of that hyperactive mumbo jumbo and made a follow up to Selected Ambient Works 85-92 with a bit of the rush from Surfing on Sine Waves.

That's what many of us have been waiting for. So - worth checking out?

26 Mixes is a pretty good cross section of dude's talents. Little bit of everything.

(from the article) And for another, James was really more like Jesus Christ—a redeemer of the lowly, because, really, is there any form of music lower than house?

OK, I stopped reading there. I hope the new material is not as crap as sections of this article unintentionally imply.

"So - worth checking out?"

I think so. Chosen Lords has a consistent and flowing sound across the collection and doesn't get broken up by out of place totally drilling tunes like Richard D. James and even I Care Because You Do. AFX uses some breaks and there is some really complex drum programming on this newer stuff, but it is more in vein of his earlier more ambient techno/acid sounding recordings.

I like it. Warm and fun.

it is more in vein of his earlier more ambient techno/acid sounding recordings.

Definitely. Sounds like he's integrating the successes of the Richard D. James-style stuff into the SAW stuff.

http://bleep.com/media/images/r/g/56481.jpg

Aphex Twin Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2 EP Warp

http://consequenceofsound.net/2015/01/aphex-twin-announces-computer-controlled-acoustic-instruments-pt-2/

sounds interesting... will it really be computer controlled acoustic instruments? i feel a bit like this could go the way of that squarepusher project from about a year or two back though...

glad he's not resting on his laurels though. i'd be chuffed if he starts releasing stuff on a regular basis again.

he said in an interview that he'd been fiddling with computer-controlled acoustic stuff, yeah. every time i try to imagine it i get a hideous animatronic monkey beating a snare. dunno what to expect.

doesnt have to be a zip, I got the whole dump so if you just post a list I can make a playlist

ICBYD was such an amazing album to get on board with (etc)

^^

xp frogs here's some of my compiled playlists - ignore my 3-digit track id #s at the beginning

"Ambient"
061 11 early morning clissold.mp3
107 4 red calx slo.mp3
111 4 Red Calx.mp3
140 th1 slo.mp3
163 33 SAW II un stabbing interview.mp3
164 9 un chopped f beginning SAWII un.mp3
173 5 just fall asleep.mp3
179 35 SAW II un road shimmer f.mp3

"Dance"
011 SomewhereOTTGTBAG.mp3
085 (vocoderdisco).mp3
133 d15-8 ny groove2.mp3

"Pretty"
041 19 ssnb.mp3
051 11 donkey rhubarb remix.mp3
052 18 with my family _.mp3
053 1 nocares.mp3
093 26 5 (demo).mp3
096 7 cutting.mp3
099 28 organ epic.mp3
112 5 Girl Boy Dark Version.mp3
131 37 last clissold maybe.mp3
132 15 sekonda.mp3
137 (watery big ez).mp3
139 th1.mp3
142 blue carpet.mp3
156 cottage4 af 1.mp3
157 4 acid organ.mp3
158 18 mello punchy.mp3
167 23 pianox.mp3
183 1 Lmt.mp3

"Slow"
005 suzanne.mp3
007 20 pink floyd.mp3
008 parking lot.mp3
022 sams car.mp3
024 10 bcr78.mp3
045 14 07 b.mp3
047 20 vtnm.mp3
048 21 vtnm2.mp3
054 7 ∂ƒ∆ rough mix.mp3
055 2 ∂ƒx 126b.mp3
060 71 1st bank trac.mp3
062 12 space beat.mp3
063 13 barbarella on microdots.mp3
066 11 slo bird whistle peel sesh.mp3
084 8 lush ambulance 2.mp3
097 5 sline (jap flute energy rave).mp3
098 35 japan.mp3
108 7 lush slow blips.mp3
109 19 slow early morning.mp3
134 d15-10 dulcimer dub.mp3
143 dsb.mp3
144 hilo.mp3
165 5 scorrier.mp3
169 23 band pass beat slo.mp3
174 7 dub cliker + 0hz.mp3
188 3 Slothscrape.mp3

saw the current single, blackbox life recorder, in hmv, was £12 on cd and in my mind eps are still £4 so it's probably the first thing of his that i have deliberately not bought

but clicking around last night, his own website is selling digital copies £3 for AND they come with 5 additional tracks (4 remasters done by him and a new track)

https://aphextwin.warp.net/release/399837-aphex-twin-blackbox-life-recorder-21f-in-a-room7-f760

(god, that website is annoying)

Oh what? I can't even work out what I'm buying

Yeah, I feel like for the full CD album price its a bit short. I was psyched to buy an Aphex Twin CD on release day though, haven't done that since.... Windowlicker? In all the complaints about the vinyl being the dominant physical format rn I have yet to hear anyone mention that both Come To Daddy and RDJ records are definitely truncated compared to the "accepted" CD/streaming versions (possibly a USA thing...)

Yeah it’s a real bummer since the vinyl often has more than enough room for them. Syro for instance is a 3xLP for an album that’s only an hour long and it doesn’t even include the bonus track. Ditto with the last 2 tracks on Collapse. I like this stuff but cmon I ain’t paying $29 for 14 minutes of music

Kind of ironic considering SAWII was truncated for CD

“Come to daddy” missing half of the songs (specially IZ-US which is my favorite song in there) is a bummer. RDJ vinyl album does seem to have the same 10 songs tho?

when rdj album was released in the us, sire added the girl/boy song bsides to the end, it’s supposed to end with logon rock witch

yeah that's understandable, those tracks always felt like B-sides to me. but yea Come to Daddy really works well in its 8-track version

having listened to the blackbox life recorder thing a couple of times now i find it very slight. the only but that jumped out at me was the little acid squelch sequence on the extra track

there's all sorts of extra stuff tracked onto the downloads on his store. come to daddy has 11 tracks, for instance. i think you can buy them individually but i don't really know where to start.

New compilation of stuff he sold at merch tables coming out on Warp tomorrow

https://ra.co/news/81813

awesome

listening to this now, this is all new to me and enjoying it immensely

Some nice stuff so far. Some of it is a bit Aphex-by-numbers, some of it is Aphex-by-numbers in a good way though. I'm of the perhaps unpopular opinion that I kind of miss well-curated double-sided albums by the like of Aphex and Autechre rather than huge haystacks of music. It's the nature of the beast I guess, but it all becomes a big bland pile for me after a while

gahhh is this only on Spotify? waiting for Warp's Bandcamp over here.

It’s on Apple Music too.

Hopefully Bandcamp will have it soon

On Tidal too.

This is better than most of the post Syro EPs to me, even if it is very much mining the same territory as Syro rather than going in new directions

I kind of miss well-curated double-sided albums by the like of Aphex and Autechre rather than huge haystacks of music. It's the nature of the beast I guess, but it all becomes a big bland pile for me after a while

big same

Oh sleeve

https://aphextwin.bandcamp.com/album/music-from-the-merch-desk-2016-2023

Its a great cover

Oh you meant sleeve the poster. But yes, great cover all the same

ty Raymond!

Shuffling through this now and actually enjoying it. Is this what being 53 is going to be like? Listening to Aphex Twin for pleasure?

haha <3

I'm with dog latin on the idea of releases being "well-curated". I realise that might not be financially the best, these days.

same, one consequence of the MP3/streaming era giving everyone access to a effectively infinite amount of music is that everyone who's an obsessive has massive backlogs of things to check out, music like this often takes a while to absorb (how long did it take people to really digest Autechre's NTS stuff?), just dumping out piles and piles of it where a bunch of tracks are variations of each other and the best stuff is buried among various toss-offs is pretty obnoxious, I'll give it a once through and hopefully pick out some highlights but its hard to devote that much time to this. I still have barely heard anything in the Soundcloud dump.

was happy to do this for Underworld, though :)

OK I absolutely LOVE this "sk8 littletune HS-PC202 -London 03.06.17" thing

(not like Syro at all, imo, altho a lot of this def is)

Is it the pressure to listen to it all that turns yall off? Or the feeling that it would be work to sift through to find the good stuff?

it's 2.5 hours long, it's really not that long

otm

wow he put "Nightmail" out on one of these! allegedly his 1st track iirc?

No, peaking more generally about these kinds of releases, I think it's partly the assumption that all of it is gold and worth hearing when a lot of it might have been better on the cutting room floor.
Failing that, it's the idea that I should be treating this music transiently, as an ephemeral experience of having music just "on", like cars going past - I think even dedicated Autechre fans can't have sat through all of NTS more than once or twice. Whereas I still go back to LP5 and listen to the whole thing and hear new things in it after 25 years.

*speaking

according to iTunes I've listened to each of the NTS Sessions 15+ times but yes I was pretty relieved when the next Ae release was only an hour long

the big dumps of RDJ stuff feels a bit more samey, some of this is pretty good but I don't think any particular track is all that memorable, which was def not the case for Autechre

Just checked my last.fm, and it looks like I listened to each of the NTS sessions between 15 and 25 times. I've almost certainly spent more time listening to the NTS Sessions than any other album since it was released. But I think the NTS Sessions work as a cohesive album, it's not just a soundcloud dump.

This Aphex Twin release feels more like a collection of B-Sides, there's some good stuff here, but it doesn't feel like a "real" album.

I've definitely put NTS on many many times, and listened to various tracks a bunch of times, but I don't know how much I've listened to each individual volume as a suite all the way through - I love Ae so much, but that's a lot of music to take in in one go

right, I guess all the way through in one go isn't that common, though I've definitely done it more than once or twice. I have definitely paused it at some point and just continued the next day or whatever a bunch of times, which in my mind counts as listening to the entire thing.

I was gonna say, I totally agree with everything dog latin said except for the fact that I think NTS Sessions are actually an outlier here, and I don't think the "treating this music transiently, as an ephemeral experience" complaint applies. I've listened to that thing dozens of times. Now, if you want to talk about the recent live Ae dumps...

Yeah. Maybe NTS isn't the best example. But I get the impression those live things are more designed to be put on and left to be a soundtrack to your day, or whatever, whereas I feel more rewarded by taking in Ae a track or so at a time, and really focus on the sound until it clicks, not so much as generative audio wallpaper

Gotcha, I hear what yall are saying. I guess for me it’s sorta like being invited into your favorite artist’s attic or something and encouraged to muck around. Which I understand does not appeal to a lot of people!

This comp is really great so far

It bangs.

Its a great cover

― Sade of the Del Amitri (dog latin)

one of my friends decided to try and figure out what aphex twin looks like

she has this weird seizure disorder where certain distorted pictures of faces trigger seizures in her

she's not sure what image she wound up looking at that caused the seizure... my guess would be "i care because you do" but she can't remember, only migraine

anyway that's probably a pretty rare effect

yikes

there are plenty of non-distorted pics of Richard James, though. he plays gigs! occasionally does interviews! the search results definitely have all his distorted album covers/PR bits though

"T20A ede 441" really hitting today. The London 03.06.17 tracks might be the best.

I was listneing to this last night and there's some really good stuff in here. Obvs I am anticipating a proper album-album from the guy, but this is a fun thing to bung on random and just have noodling away