the aphex twin destroyed my brain

[bruno]

and my brother's too.

the head fucking drone of digeridoo, the wide-eyed utopia of selected ambient works I, the vast inner planes of selected ambient works II. a soundtrack to a life of intense love, thought, exploration, escapism, the glimpse of possibilities that in hindsight were a mirage. an aural william blake or rimbaud inflicted on impressionable young minds, utter madness!

today this music means nothing but at the time it blew our heads wide open.

 

[Guybrush]

Since you started this thread I'm sure it means something to you, which is all that matters. Universal meaning is a chimera anyway.

 

[swears]

I was a bit disapointed by Druqks though, didn't really blow me away in the same way as The Richard D James Album or Windowlicker.

 

[Landfill Elektronikz]

Yes, RDJ has been letting himself down a lot in recent years (some decent tunes in the Analord series admittedly) and his back catalogue suffers a little because of that. it's like he's trashed his own legacy. but still, i think those earlier recordings are still important because of all the other artists that they inspired. as example, would we have BoC today without SAW 1&2, I wonder? Pretty much everything he released in the '90s still holds up as an historically important body of work, imho.

 

[enneff]

Let's not forget some of the brilliant stuff released as part of his Analogue Bubblebath series.

'Everyday' from Hangable Auto Bulb is a wicked tune also.

Listening to him coincided with my first forays into writing my own electronic music, and I believe he left an indelible mark on my style that continues to evidence itself to this day.

 

[Gabba Flamenco Crossover]

but still, i think those earlier recordings are still important because of all the other artists that they inspired. as example, would we have BoC today without SAW 1&2, I wonder? Pretty much everything he released in the '90s still holds up as an historically important body of work, imho.

I played SAW1 for the first time in about 5 years last week, and it's just unbelieveably good - so creative and so strong melodically. I heard someone play 'Polygon Windows' at a party recently and that was the same experience.

SAW1 is maybe the most important record I ever bought - it's possible I would never have got into producing music if i hadnt have bought that record when I did, and that would definitely have changed the course of my life to date. For a record to have that kind of an impact on you, and then to revisit it years later and there not to be even a ghost of anticlimax... it has to be really, really special.

I can still remember buying it in Piccadilly Records in Manchester

*drifts off into a nostalgic reverie*

 

[michael]

I kinda think he hasn't gone downhill, that he's always put out a fair dose of rubbish...

I'm sure the fact that a whole bunch of freaks have assembled an entire genre of music around the blueprint of artists like Aphex and Tri Repetae-era Autechre probably takes a lot of the freshness and excitement out of his more recent releases.

There are amazing moments on SAW I, I was always confused as to why SAW II was more widely celebrated. I remember a friend suggesting at the time the first one should be Selected Electro Works I though.

I dutifully bought SAW II when it came out, but sold it off after 6 months or so cos I never listened to it. For my money Eno's Ambient 4 On Land did all I needed in this kind of vein.

Basically the only other Aphex I like are some single tracks... On and Windowlicker, and Polygon Window's Quoth. The absolutely awful production of Surfing On Sine Waves is fucken great, but I don't particularly like any of the tracks.

 

[swears]

Some of his pre-94 "straight ahead" techno and house stuff on SOSW and SAW1 is really good, taking that American blueprint and putting neat little twists on it.

 

[the undisputed truth]

Chris Cunningham destroys my brain. Come to daddy, windowlicker, flex, rubber johnny, mind reeling stuff and all up on you tube too. Where would the twin be without him ?

 

[hamarplazt]

I'm sure the fact that a whole bunch of freaks have assembled an entire genre of music around the blueprint of artists like Aphex and Tri Repetae-era Autechre probably takes a lot of the freshness and excitement out of his more recent releases.

There are amazing moments on SAW I, I was always confused as to why SAW II was more widely celebrated. I remember a friend suggesting at the time the first one should be Selected Electro Works I though.

I dutifully bought SAW II when it came out, but sold it off after 6 months or so cos I never listened to it. For my money Eno's Ambient 4 On Land did all I needed in this kind of vein.

We got into a lot of this in an old thread:

http://www.dissensus.com/showthread.php?t=3044

 

[bruno]

ooh what was i thinking. well it meant something to me last night, or rather when i was 18-22. today the cds are back in the shelf.

SAW1 is maybe the most important record I ever bought - it's possible I would never have got into producing music if i hadnt have bought that record when I did, and that would definitely have changed the course of my life to date. For a record to have that kind of an impact on you, and then to revisit it years later and there not to be even a ghost of anticlimax... it has to be really, really special.

I can still remember buying it in Piccadilly Records in Manchester

*drifts off into a nostalgic reverie*

for me it was 1993 (fucking ages ago!), in the midst of wasting ourselves with friends i happened upon my guest's overweight, dreadlocked, suntanned brother just flown in from ibiza (!), cds strewn all over the place. the one with the aphex logo caught my eye and when he played xtal it was a revelation. then i heard digeridoo on a friend's recording of a radio set but it was some time before i found out it was by the same person. my infatuation ended with i care.. which i thought was a pisstake, from then on i couldn't be bothered.

 

[mms]

he's wicked, can't understand why people think he's taking the piss, it's called fun which about 90% of austere techno etc seems to forget to be, which is weird as every other fucking genre has fun. try listening to i care or rdj and the fun is what makes it fresh, the sense of nostalgia, the radiophonicness and the bits of casual concrete, the imperfect learning curve going crazy, twisted aggression and dadaness, then try listening to b12, or something like that and by fuckery it sounds dated...
and druqks is wicked just too long and in a weird order.

 

[gek-opel]

Nah, Druqks is just doodles... there's about three good tracks, the rest horribly inconsequential and dull within whatever set of rules they operate (be that musique concrete/noise, kiddie electro, splattercore drill'n'bass etc etc)... each track mainly feels like a tiresome genre exercise, which from a man who used to, as you say, put the fun in art-techno, is a bit of a shame.

 

[bruno]

to be fair he was in his teens/early twenties then and must be what, 35 now? you can't be expected to sustain youthful brilliance into adulthood. we're all a shadow of our former selves, aren't we!

anyway i missed the other thread, next time i'll use the search button.

 

[gek-opel]

Oh for sure, Bruno, its very difficult to maintain brilliance especially in pop music, and Aphex was great for a good 8 years or so, which is better than most. I don't begrudge him Drukqs, just want to make it clear that its a lazy album which he probably didn't even want to release...

 

[DJ PIMP]

90% of austere techno etc

aka wake me up when you're finished being clever.

he should remix the entire SAW1 LP. it would be so Now.

 

[the undisputed truth]

you can't be expected to sustain youthful brilliance into adulthood. we're all a shadow of our former selves, aren't we!

I fully expect to and as the sun sets so will the shadow grow longer until you can't even distinguish me in the distance from the shadow and the darkness enveloping it.

Some of us have just been waiting for technology to catchup, become simpler and widely available for next to nowt

 

[gek-opel]

And to be fair even Autechre who I used to love back in the day (in their most obscure/unapproachable period, roughly Chiastic slide to Confield) have completely and utterly lost it now, their last two albums being confused dreck of the worst order.

 

[enneff]

Nah, Druqks is just doodles... there's about three good tracks, the rest horribly inconsequential and dull within whatever set of rules they operate (be that musique concrete/noise, kiddie electro, splattercore drill'n'bass etc etc)... each track mainly feels like a tiresome genre exercise, which from a man who used to, as you say, put the fun in art-techno, is a bit of a shame.

Dunno about that, there are at least 8 solid tunes imo:

Jynweythek (opening prepared piano tune)
Vordhosbn (truly eerie/hard/meancing drill'n'bass tune)
Mt Saint Michel... etc (sprawling dnb mayhem)
54 Cymru Beats (classic dancefloor business descends into chaos)
Meltphace 6 (lovely poignant tune, also good dancefloor stuff)
Taking Control (probably the most danceable and endearing tune of the lot)
afx237 v7 (one of those tunes where you're not quite sure how it's possible to enjoy listening to it, but you do anyway)
Ziggomatic v17 (another sprawling concept-album of a tune)

 

[swears]

From a technical point of view, Druqks is brilliant. I don't think it's a bad album, just not the genius we'd come to expect from Aphex. Squarepusher's Go Plastic, released the same year at least made some attempt to keep up with innovations in things like garage and hip hop. Druqks just seemed like more complex variations of the "acid/jungle" theme.