this display name is increasingly feeling like a millstone
― idm@hyperreal.org (lukas), Wednesday, 26 May 2010 16:23 (thirteen years ago) link
Actually, no, as much as I love On, Girl/Boy Song is just too amazing. The drums on that song are like a living creature they're so intense.
I think it shall be:
-Polynomial C-Girl/Boy Song-Ageispolis
― Using an Aural Exciter in an Orgone Accumulator (Masonic Boom), Wednesday, 26 May 2010 16:39 (thirteen years ago) link
- xtal- girl/boy song- tha
― Fer Jessie the Drunk Dutch Mountain Ark (Mobbed Up Ping Pong Psychos), Wednesday, 26 May 2010 18:33 (thirteen years ago) link
-rhubarb-flim-xtal
hate to leave out alberto balsalm, though
― karl...arlk...rlka...lkar..., Wednesday, 26 May 2010 18:37 (thirteen years ago) link
"On""Phloam""Ventolin"
― Marni and Louboutin: coming to Tuesdays this fall on FOX (HI DERE), Wednesday, 26 May 2010 18:41 (thirteen years ago) link
xtalacrid avid jam4
― hobbes, Wednesday, 26 May 2010 18:42 (thirteen years ago) link
I'm going to cheat:...I Care Because You DoWindowlcikerOn + On RemixesAnalogue Bubblebath ISurfing On Sine Waves
― limp bizkotti (Stevie D), Wednesday, 26 May 2010 18:51 (thirteen years ago) link
now i wanna change my 3 to:
Bucephalus BBFlow Coma rmxOn
and remind everyone to check the mu-ziq remix of On if you've never heard it
come on Stevie! you just picked like 30 tracks!
― idm@hyperreal.org (lukas), Wednesday, 26 May 2010 18:54 (thirteen years ago) link
XTALCOME TO DADDYGREEN CALX
― _▂▅▇█▓▒░◕‿‿◕░▒▓█▇▅▂_ (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 26 May 2010 18:54 (thirteen years ago) link
Hey I don't mind so much that Stevie picked like 30 songs as that he picked a Polygon Window album when we excluded the pseudonyms!
No Polygon Window no Caustic Window no Bradley Strider no Power Pill no Tuss no Madame Curies Cabinet nothing but Aphex releases.
― Using an Aural Exciter in an Orgone Accumulator (Masonic Boom), Wednesday, 26 May 2010 19:00 (thirteen years ago) link
Wait when did we exclude pseudonyms??? So no Analogue Bubblebath either?
― limp bizkotti (Stevie D), Wednesday, 26 May 2010 19:02 (thirteen years ago) link
i haven't revisited most of the albums so here's the list for now:vordhosbn4come to daddy
― ma/y/aoi (Future_Perfect), Wednesday, 26 May 2010 19:03 (thirteen years ago) link
Wait when did we exclude pseudonyms??? So no Analogue Bubblebath either?― limp bizkotti (Stevie D), Wednesday, May 26, 2010 7:02 PM (21 minutes ago
― limp bizkotti (Stevie D), Wednesday, May 26, 2010 7:02 PM (21 minutes ago
In the fifth post!
But the first Analogue Bubblebath is on Classics so you're OK with that.
― Using an Aural Exciter in an Orgone Accumulator (Masonic Boom), Wednesday, 26 May 2010 19:28 (thirteen years ago) link
XtalInkey$Phloam
― ears are wounds, Wednesday, 26 May 2010 20:04 (thirteen years ago) link
XtalGirl Boy SongRhubarb
― Tonight I Dine on Turtle Soup (EDB), Wednesday, 26 May 2010 20:09 (thirteen years ago) link
"Cliffs"Logan Rock WitchVentolin
― every time i pull a j/k off the shelf (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 26 May 2010 22:30 (thirteen years ago) link
dude needs to drop one big "calx" album. the blue, yellow, and green varieties are all so nice
― hobbes, Wednesday, 26 May 2010 23:21 (thirteen years ago) link
FingerbibAcrid Avid Jam ShredRhubarb
― ( `ハ´)☞ ☜(´∀`☜) (am0n), Wednesday, 26 May 2010 23:53 (thirteen years ago) link
those were actually the first three i came up with! rhubarb will stay but weighing fingerbib and acrid
― like a guttenberg, strong with your mane (another al3x), Thursday, 27 May 2010 03:24 (thirteen years ago) link
Girl/Boy SongAlberto BalsamAnalogue Bubblebath
― The Men Who Stare At Goatse (Matt DC), Thursday, 27 May 2010 08:31 (thirteen years ago) link
Starting to reaquaint myself with loads of Aphex at the moment, he seems to make so much more sense now, in the context of the current music scene, than he did five years ago.
― The Men Who Stare At Goatse (Matt DC), Thursday, 27 May 2010 08:32 (thirteen years ago) link
The whole IDM bubble burst, it became nauseating, but what with Four Tet, Zomby, Caribou and a few other biggish players revisiting some of the ideas he had, it's def time for a comeback. I'm hoping for something good, if not great - let's just hope he hasn't lost it nor become stuck in a creative rut.
― village idiot (dog latin), Thursday, 27 May 2010 08:56 (thirteen years ago) link
not sure how that works xp, how do you see afx in the context of current music? i guess ~2005 was at the tail end of the idm backlash
― nakhchivan, Thursday, 27 May 2010 09:00 (thirteen years ago) link
I have discovered that, with nearly 10 years perspective, I actually freaking love the Drill N Bass stuff. It manages to be aggressive and yet so fluid. I've been listening to Cock/Ver 10 on the tube and it's just perfect for that morning rush hour on the Victoria line adrenaline rush.
It's funny, though, the way that this music an be at the same time, very fast, very aggressive, very over the top - and yet still retain a delicacy that only really shines through upon long-term exposure. There's this moment, right at the beginning of the track where it should be a pause, but he's left the long decay of the hi-hat just spinning with this really extreme reverb so it just kind of shudders and buzzes and it's the most beautiful sound, but to have that for a split second in the midst of the howling buzz before diving back into the cacophony of the song. It's just spine-tingling.
It does make more sense to me now than it did a decade ago. I think that yeah, artists are starting to catch up with the idea that this technology can be used for great beauty and delicacy as well as just showing off how hard and fast that nosebleed techno can go.
― Using an Aural Exciter in an Orgone Accumulator (Masonic Boom), Thursday, 27 May 2010 09:24 (thirteen years ago) link
I've said before that Aphex got caught up in this demand to "show us a new trick" - not that I think RDJ specifically pandered to this but it became near impossible for him to release stuff or to work within a genre because a lot of the media and the fans were demanding that each new record was THE MOST INNOVATIVE RECORD EVER and it's a dumb way to approach music. I think RDJ has managed his career pretty well tbh, when that expectation got too much he just stepped away from it and carried on making the music that he wanted to.
― every time i pull a j/k off the shelf (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 27 May 2010 09:39 (thirteen years ago) link
Agree that it's easier and more fun to listen to him away from this clamour of expectation too, and I feel the way about some of the other notable IDM big dogs from that era.
― every time i pull a j/k off the shelf (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 27 May 2010 09:40 (thirteen years ago) link
not sure how that works xp, how do you see afx in the context of current music?
He seems to sit well with people like Flying Lotus, Subeena, Darkstar, maybe even Ikonika at a stretch. They all seem to have his sense of shimmering synth melodies that are bashed about a bit, and that end of post-dubstep has a ton of Warp/IDM in it.
― The Men Who Stare At Goatse (Matt DC), Thursday, 27 May 2010 09:51 (thirteen years ago) link
(Should probably revive a different thread and ask what of the IDM big dogs is still worth listening to. I have such limited exposure... well it's not so much limited exposure as just ignorance of what I was hearing because I wasn't interested in its origin so much as its function. My experience of that music was dancing in Hoxton basements during my "lost year" 02-03 completely blitzed out of my mind and very very angry, and it was *perfect* for that state of mind, but I've no idea what any of it was. Just vague memories of going to Warp parties with Ed and coming home with my army jacket remixed from green to purple. It's probably better I don't remember that period of my life actually.)
But, erm yeah. Agreed. So much of Aphex's work is music that is better accepted on its own terms than being crushed under the weight of expectation. It must be so hard on the cute little pointy nosed ginger being a genius and all and having to reinvent music every 2 or 3 years. ;-)
Yeah, agreed.
― Using an Aural Exciter in an Orgone Accumulator (Masonic Boom), Thursday, 27 May 2010 09:53 (thirteen years ago) link
The thing people always overlook about Aphex is that at his peak he was fucking incredible at crafting melodies, for all the "ZOMG innovator pioneer ambient Windowlicker drill and bass" I don't think anyone would have been quite as excited about him without his ability to write a gorgeous tune. It's what lifted him above everyone else in his scene.
― The Men Who Stare At Goatse (Matt DC), Thursday, 27 May 2010 09:53 (thirteen years ago) link
Yeah but I think Squarepusher and mu-Ziq had some pretty great tunage going on amongst their madder stuff.
― every time i pull a j/k off the shelf (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 27 May 2010 09:55 (thirteen years ago) link
Yeah, see this is the thing about Aphex - no matter how insane and strange his beats were going and how abstract his editing, ultimately, you *could* still sing his tunes. In a way that's very recognisable and catchy. He has an ear for an earworm.
While I don't think I could offhand sing you a Squarepusher or a mu-Ziq track. (but then again, that could just be because I don't really like Squarepusher. OK, yeah, Shadow Dancer always shouts at me when I say he's shit, and OK, yeah, there are some tracks that are quite beautiful but he was really really boring when I saw him a month or two ago. You cannot hum Squarepusher in the shower the way that if you sang even To Cure A Weakling Child or Vordhosbn, people would know what you were singing.
― Using an Aural Exciter in an Orgone Accumulator (Masonic Boom), Thursday, 27 May 2010 10:01 (thirteen years ago) link
The thing that made Aphex stand out from pretty much any of the other IDM people is that I always saw him as very much a product of the original rave scene who took it on himself to experiment and diversify. This is opposed to people who began with experimental electronica (or home-listening electronica or IDM or Braindance etc) and worked within it.
― village idiot (dog latin), Thursday, 27 May 2010 10:04 (thirteen years ago) link
(Squarepusher) was really really boring when I saw him a month or two ago
There's your problem. If you can't organize a chorus sized singalong to "Beep Street" then frankly you're not trying hard enough.
― Tonight I Dine on Turtle Soup (EDB), Thursday, 27 May 2010 13:56 (thirteen years ago) link
So what? wrt to the "month or two ago" - at the same gig, Chris Cunningham (showing even more grey in his beard) managed to be supremely NOT boring despite being of a similar vintage?
― Using an Aural Exciter in an Orgone Accumulator (Masonic Boom), Thursday, 27 May 2010 14:00 (thirteen years ago) link
I mean to say Squarepusher's contemporary (post 2005) stuff flat out sucks.
― Tonight I Dine on Turtle Soup (EDB), Thursday, 27 May 2010 14:03 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah, this is one of the more appealing aspects of autechre for me. and lots of the other early warp guys too. (afx included, sure.)
― original bgm, Thursday, 27 May 2010 14:48 (thirteen years ago) link
Sorry, I'll always prefer Pop people who go Experimental to Experimental people who go Pop.
― Using an Aural Exciter in an Orgone Accumulator (Masonic Boom), Thursday, 27 May 2010 14:54 (thirteen years ago) link
― Tonight I Dine on Turtle Soup (EDB), Thursday, 27 May 2010 14:03 (57 minutes ago)
Gurrrwhhhhaaaat?? Hello Everything and Just A Souvenir were bangin! Best albums since Hard Normal Daddy.
Squarepusher sucks live afaik. Then again the two times I saw him were at festivals, and both times the sound guy messed up his equipment and he had a strop.
Funny how suddenly IDM is becoming really hot all over again. Autechre emerge phoenix-like from the ashes of their own sphincters; news of a new Aphex release; all the post-dubstep and chillwave crowd channelling the sounds once more. It's so positive for me as I think if one musical entity shaped my own life and tastes it was Warp.
― village idiot (dog latin), Thursday, 27 May 2010 15:09 (thirteen years ago) link
Alan N - definitely. I like the idea that Autechre are still under the delusion that they're still making breakdance and hiphop music. Same with Aphex - it's not self consciously "bedroom" - you still get the impression that in his head he's making music for ravers.
― village idiot (dog latin), Thursday, 27 May 2010 15:11 (thirteen years ago) link
Don't worry, he sucks in a small club setting as well (circa 2004).
― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Thursday, 27 May 2010 15:14 (thirteen years ago) link
Sometimes this is my list:
-Polynomial C-Girl/Boy Song-Ageispolis-- Using an Aural Exciter in an Orgone Accumulator (Masonic Boom)
xtalacrid avid jam4-- hobbes
― atoms breaking heart (a passing spacecadet), Thursday, 27 May 2010 15:16 (thirteen years ago) link
not sure anyone is saying the opposite, tbh
― original bgm, Thursday, 27 May 2010 15:27 (thirteen years ago) link
aince yr all ignoring Analords
PWSteal.Ldpinch.DCrying In Your FaceVBS.Redlof.B
― zappi, Thursday, 27 May 2010 15:28 (thirteen years ago) link
Analords are excluded because they were released as AFX not Aphex Twin.
― Using an Aural Exciter in an Orgone Accumulator (Masonic Boom), Thursday, 27 May 2010 15:39 (thirteen years ago) link
Can any friendly mod please edit the original post so it includes this: (Also I'm blatantly excluding any stuff not released as Aphex Twin so none of the psuedonymous stuff or the AFXs for the simple reason of, it makes the choice easier.) in it?
― Using an Aural Exciter in an Orgone Accumulator (Masonic Boom), Thursday, 27 May 2010 15:42 (thirteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tatccHVfuhA
― am0n, Thursday, 27 May 2010 15:45 (thirteen years ago) link
please don't open that gate
― idm@hyperreal.org (lukas), Thursday, 27 May 2010 15:59 (thirteen years ago) link
idm didn't seem to make a lot of sense when minimal was ruling the world. those were lean years - jumping boxcars, avoiding railyard dicks. now that a million dubstep artists with ableton are all trying to invent their own micro-genres, warp's back catalog looks pretty good.
― idm@hyperreal.org (lukas), Thursday, 27 May 2010 16:23 (thirteen years ago) link
And I was listening to the second disc of Plaid's Trainer, and the stuff from 92-94 sounds very much like a lot of UK Funky House coming out today too.
― Tonight I Dine on Turtle Soup (EDB), Thursday, 27 May 2010 16:25 (thirteen years ago) link
idm didn't seem to make a lot of sense when minimal was ruling the world
which is why it's ironic that my entry into microhouse was via arch-experimenter vladislav delay, who, while not part of the idm mainstream, was worshipped on the idm list circa 1999 (Vocalcity is also a good counterexample to kate's dim view of experimenters who go pop)
― idm@hyperreal.org (lukas), Thursday, 27 May 2010 16:27 (thirteen years ago) link
albetto balsom tha windowlicker
― jed_, Wednesday, 1 September 2010 22:39 (thirteen years ago) link
It was actually totally fun turning this into a poll!
Rhubarb 6Xtal 6Girl/Boy Song 5Windowlicker 5Alberto Balsalm 4Tha 4Fingerbib 3Flim 3On 3Ptolemy 34 2Acrid Avid Jam Shred 2Ageispolis 2Analogue Bubblebath 2Bucephalus Bouncing Ball 2Cliffs 2come to daddy 2Flow Coma remix 2Heliosphan 2Logan Rock Witch 2Phloam 2Polynomial-C 2stone in focus 2The Waxen Pith 2Ventolin 2Yellow Calx 254 cymru beats 1acrid avid jam 1B&W Stripes II 1Bouncing Bucephalus Ball 1Cock/Ver10 1Cunt 1Didgeridoo 1Donkey Rhubarb 1GREEN CALX 1Inkey$ 1Lichen 1Metapharstic 1Mt Saint Michel + Saint Michaels Mount 1Nannou 1Next Heap With 1vordhosbn 1White Blur 2 1
― Karen D. Tregaskin, Thursday, 16 June 2011 15:02 (twelve years ago) link
Ptolemy wuz robbed!
― magic punani (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Thursday, 16 June 2011 15:33 (twelve years ago) link
What is it about Xtal that's won two polls now? I guess it's his high girly singing that's so appealing.
― Karen D. Tregaskin, Thursday, 16 June 2011 15:37 (twelve years ago) link
Come to Daddy (Little Lord Faulteroy Mix)VordhosbnWindowlicker
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 25 November 2015 03:15 (eight years ago) link
XtalBlue CalxFingerbib
― brimstead, Wednesday, 25 November 2015 03:38 (eight years ago) link
― Karen D. Tregaskin, Thursday, June 16, 2011 8:37 AM (4 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Beautiful chords, the impossible atmosphere (warm and enveloping but still cold and alien).. and the mournful synth horns towards the end, that's really affecting stuff.
― brimstead, Wednesday, 25 November 2015 03:45 (eight years ago) link
also fabulous: the way the vocal sample rubs up harmonically against the synth chords
― brimstead, Wednesday, 25 November 2015 03:47 (eight years ago) link
by chords i'm referring to the "main" synth part that's there basically from the beginning. oh w/e i'm hi.
― brimstead, Wednesday, 25 November 2015 03:50 (eight years ago) link
I always felt the highlights on SAWI were Ageispolis and Heliosphan.
― canoon fooder (dog latin), Wednesday, 25 November 2015 09:38 (eight years ago) link
Btw the high girly singing on Xtal is a library music sample, not RDJ's voice.
― welltris (crüt), Wednesday, 25 November 2015 13:46 (eight years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB_ClJ9nikY
― welltris (crüt), Wednesday, 25 November 2015 13:50 (eight years ago) link
How impossible would this POIII have been in the nowadays, after the big tracks chuckout?
― Mark G, Wednesday, 25 November 2015 15:13 (eight years ago) link
the same
― canoon fooder (dog latin), Wednesday, 25 November 2015 15:18 (eight years ago) link
the soundcloud rollout was all a bunch of demos & experiments; with a few exceptions none of it came close to the quality of his "official" releases
― welltris (crüt), Wednesday, 25 November 2015 15:21 (eight years ago) link
RONG
― brimstead, Thursday, 26 November 2015 03:42 (eight years ago) link
Yeah, there were a few I would have chosen..
― Mark G, Thursday, 26 November 2015 07:11 (eight years ago) link