Aphex Twin - POIII (Pick Only Three)

Yeah but I think Squarepusher and mu-Ziq had some pretty great tunage going on amongst their madder stuff.

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.

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.

(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.

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?

I mean to say Squarepusher's contemporary (post 2005) stuff flat out sucks.

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.

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.)

Sorry, I'll always prefer Pop people who go Experimental to Experimental people who go Pop.

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 (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.

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.

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.

Don't worry, he sucks in a small club setting as well (circa 2004).

Sometimes this is my list:

-Polynomial C
-Girl/Boy Song
-Ageispolis
-- Using an Aural Exciter in an Orgone Accumulator (Masonic Boom)

xtal
acrid avid jam
4
-- hobbes

Sorry, I'll always prefer Pop people who go Experimental to Experimental people who go Pop.

not sure anyone is saying the opposite, tbh

aince yr all ignoring Analords

PWSteal.Ldpinch.D
Crying In Your Face
VBS.Redlof.B

Analords are excluded because they were released as AFX not Aphex Twin.

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?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tatccHVfuhA

please don't open that gate

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.

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.

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.

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)

Hey, I'd rather experimenters who go pop than experimenters who go shit. But given a choice between the dichotomy posed, I would usually go the pop --> weird direction. (Which is the opposite of how I felt 20 years ago, mind you.)

My entry into microhouse came straight from my IDM background too, in the mid 00's when minimal was on the cusp of taking over the world. And I still prefer "IDM-house" to whatever else.

And I don't think this all is neccessarily a consequence of dubsteppers with ableton, though. I'd put my money on the fact that it's just time. The unsexiness of the recent past turning into the sexier-ness of the not as recent past, and so on. It's a force bigger than us all, and IDM's is due for its revindication.

kate i normally agree with you on that preference, another reason i find luomo so amazing.

Yo dudes, how hot is (CAT 00897-AA1)/(CAT 00897-A1) on AFX's ABIII? Why have I never paid attention to this song before?

stone in focus
54 cymru beats
fenix funk 5

Polynomial-C
Heliosphan
Windowlicker

Stevie - which track number is that? ABIII is a highly underrated album. I wish Kate hadn't made it Aphex-only.

OK, then. Come on, you slags, pick your top 3 non-Aphex Richard D. James tracks (yes, you can include the Tuss)

I'm thinking...

AFX - Where's Your Girlfriend
Caustic Window - Humanoid Must Not Escape
The Tuss - rushup i bank 12

ARGH but I might substitute Bradley's Beat (Part 2 I think?) for one of those ARGH too difficult this is kind of even harder than just doing Aphex because there's so much variety.

hmmmm..

quoth
laughable butane bob
analogue bubblebath 5 track 1

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.

This exactly.

Been playing loads of Aphex recently and in a particularly geeky moment did start to compile a best of Aphex/AFX but got overwhelmed. Have a sense that a new release would feel right (and apparently there is going to be an onslaught).

oh yeah, onslaught? can you elaborate?

dog latin, it's tracks 8 and 9. I still can't tell the difference between them yet.

Lichen
Rhubarb
Fingerbib

Heliosphan
Heliosphan
Heliosphan

Didgeridoo
Donkey Rhubarb
Cunt

Ptolemy
Acrid Avid Jam Shred
Stone In Focus

B&W Stripes II
Cock/Ver10
Yellow Calx

flim tha windowlicker

That also makes a fairly logically coherent sentence.

(well, it does if you're me)

I saw him live at LED festival at the weekend - my first time! Very different to what I expected. Kinda four-to-the-floor for the most part. Still great!

I feel kinda like poo for not going, but TBH the whole Die Antwoord thing scared me off at the last minute. I was of two minds until that was confirmed and then it was like, NOOOOOOOOOOOO. So I stayed home and listened to the albums and felt smug every time it rained.

Cliff

Ageispolis

and...

...not sure. Definitely those two, but there's loads I could choose for the third one. Tonight I am torn between
White Blur 2
and
Next Heap With

albetto balsom tha windowlicker

It was actually totally fun turning this into a poll!

Rhubarb 6
Xtal 6
Girl/Boy Song 5
Windowlicker 5
Alberto Balsalm 4
Tha 4
Fingerbib 3
Flim 3
On 3
Ptolemy 3
4 2
Acrid Avid Jam Shred 2
Ageispolis 2
Analogue Bubblebath 2
Bucephalus Bouncing Ball 2
Cliffs 2
come to daddy 2
Flow Coma remix 2
Heliosphan 2
Logan Rock Witch 2
Phloam 2
Polynomial-C 2
stone in focus 2
The Waxen Pith 2
Ventolin 2
Yellow Calx 2
54 cymru beats 1
acrid avid jam 1
B&W Stripes II 1
Bouncing Bucephalus Ball 1
Cock/Ver10 1
Cunt 1
Didgeridoo 1
Donkey Rhubarb 1
GREEN CALX 1
Inkey$ 1
Lichen 1
Metapharstic 1
Mt Saint Michel + Saint Michaels Mount 1
Nannou 1
Next Heap With 1
vordhosbn 1
White Blur 2 1

Ptolemy wuz robbed!

What is it about Xtal that's won two polls now? I guess it's his high girly singing that's so appealing.

Come to Daddy (Little Lord Faulteroy Mix)
Vordhosbn
Windowlicker