Aphex Twin

[botley]

Radiator (Original Mix) feels both great and terrible to me. On the one hand, Radiator is my fave song off of SAW2 and I can never have enough renditions of it, let alone a beat-driven one. However, I feel the beats are ruining the timelessness from the song, and make it sound like a SAW1 outtake. Was this made before or after the SAW2 version?

Hmmm, I've always dug that there are two different interpretations. I heard the SAW2 version first and then the Peel session soon after it started circulating on Napster circa 2001, ever since they've both seemed complementary for me. Not sure what happened in terms of chronology but I could definitely see James having initially composed it with the beat (kinda sounds like Donkey Rhubarb or ...I Care early 90s pre-SAW2 equipment, to my ears) and then mixing the beat out for the SAW2 album later.

[Jon]

Radiator (Original Mix) feels both great and terrible to me. On the one hand, Radiator is my fave song off of SAW2 and I can never have enough renditions of it, let alone a beat-driven one. However, I feel the beats are ruining the timelessness from the song, and make it sound like a SAW1 outtake. Was this made before or after the SAW2 version?

Hmmm, I've always dug that there are two different interpretations. I heard the SAW2 version first and then the Peel session soon after it started circulating on Napster circa 2001, ever since they've both seemed complementary for me. Not sure what happened in terms of chronology but I could definitely see James having initially composed it with the beat (kinda sounds like Donkey Rhubarb or ...I Care early 90s pre-SAW2 equipment, to my ears) and then mixing the beat out for the SAW2 album later.

Yep, I don't think there's any ambiguity in the "Original Mix" suffix here. Here's the description from the WARP site...

Changing the sacrosanct tradition of recording BBC Maida Vale sessions live at their studio, Aphex Twin sent his session on a DAT through the post. One of only two radio sessions ever recorded by Aphex Twin, this Peel session comprised of all original material at the time.

...and "Pancake Lizard" is originally from this session, which is on Donkey Rhubarb. I'd say botley's estimation is spot-on.

[wizfan]

Thanks for confirming it guys. It's just like The Fragile: imagine how dated it would feel if Trent had kept the drum-and-bass stuff heard in Deviations 1. TPD doesn't count, as it's too brilliant to call "Trent's DnB track" (no, I'm not going to talk about the TPD remix album, noooo).

Anyway, back to RDJ. Re-listened to Collapse EP today. It's so good.

[BRoswell]

Surprised no one posted about this. There's a few new tracks on his Soundcloud account.

[botley]

Surprised no one posted about this. There's a few new tracks on his Soundcloud account.

I think @Leviathant posted about it on Facebook, but yes, been really loving these... particularly the two mixes of Tha2. Dope track and worthy follow-up to the one from SAW85-92!

[Jord]

Surprised & glad to hear that the track I was waiting for after hearing it in one of last years videos from Coachella (I think) is in fact Tha2 - both versions on the SoundCloud page are wonderful.

[Erneuert]

Bumping this to make myself look like an idiot.

After looking closer at the SAW2 cover, I realised for the first time that the Aphex Twin logo is actually a stylised letter 'A'.

While I’m here, what is the bonus track like that was released with the 2017 version of the album? Something something evnslower.

[wight rabbit]

After looking closer at the SAW2 cover, I realised for the first time that the Aphex Twin logo is actually a stylised letter 'A'.

[Exocet]

he is the Mozart of electronica. his music grows on me every year.

[Jon]

Bumping this to make myself look like an idiot.

After looking closer at the SAW2 cover, I realised for the first time that the Aphex Twin logo is actually a stylised letter 'A'.

While I’m here, what is the bonus track like that was released with the 2017 version of the album? Something something evnslower.

[burnmotherfucker!]

Thanks to this thread I stumbled on this, which I hadn't heard before. Recording isn't of the best quality but wow. I need to hear some world class orchestra do an entire album of his ambient stuff.

[botley]

Also his stuff works with just a loop pedal and a, well, a pedal steel:

[burnmotherfucker!]

It's that time again

[Erneuert]

Random bump.

What is your favourite track from SAWII?

I always find myself going back to #20 (“Lichen”). I find it even more soothing than Rhubarb, Blue Calx or Stone In Focus (despite loving them all).

[burnmotherfucker!]

Random bump.

What is your favourite track from SAWII?

I always find myself going back to #20 (“Lichen”). I find it even more soothing than Rhubarb, Blue Calx or Stone In Focus (despite loving them all).

I've listened to Lichen and Rhubarb specifically just about every night for the past couple of years before falling asleep so probably those. Rhubarb gets all the love but Lichen is underrated. Soothing is the perfect word to describe it.

[Tom]

They're all so great, of course. Two that really stick in my mind are Curtains and Corrugated Tubing - I love the latter's nod to Polynomial C.

[Erneuert]

They're all so great, of course. Two that really stick in my mind are Curtains and Corrugated Tubing - I love the latter's nod to Polynomial C.

Is Corrugated Tubing “shiny metal rods”?

[Tom]

It seems not - I've always known that one as "metal grating"(!)

This is the one:

[Jon]

Random bump.

What is your favourite track from SAWII?

I always find myself going back to #20 (“Lichen”). I find it even more soothing than Rhubarb, Blue Calx or Stone In Focus (despite loving them all).

May I cheat since all the better ones have been mentioned?

[Erneuert]

^ I have had that second thumbnail as my wallpaper for a while now. haha

[Prettybrokenspiral]

Top ten album of all time, for sure. I love every single track on it and it's one of my favorite records to fall asleep to..

I have the vinyl pressing with all the tracks and that's the tracklisting I adhere to; you can get the whole thing on his digital store now, too. #20 (Hexagon) is a favorite. #14 (Parallel Stripes) is also a standout. There are some tracks I like more than others, but there isn't anything short of spectacular across it's near-three hour running time for me. It's some of the most haunting instrumental work I've ever heard, 25+ years and running now..

It also amazes me how, of all the different things he's done, this is without question my favorite album of his. The RDJ album, I Care Because You Do, Syro..those are career masterworks for any other electronic artist. And I'll still take SAW II over any of them, any day. If you couldn't already tell, on a scale of 1 to 10, this album ranks about a 17 to me..

[Tom]

#20 (Hexagon)

I had to look this up only to find it's an alt for Corrugated Tubing. Hexagon is the better title - think I'll retag my files...

[BRoswell]

Random bump.

What is your favourite track from SAWII?

I always find myself going back to #20 (“Lichen”). I find it even more soothing than Rhubarb, Blue Calx or Stone In Focus (despite loving them all).

Has to be Rhubarb. I've listened to it during a lot of different moments in my life, so there are a lot of emotions and feelings attached to that track now.

[botley]

Recently picked up the 2xLP reissue of ...I Care Because You Do and fell in love with it all over again. The 8 (eight!!) digital bonus tracks it comes with, from SoundCloud dump, are great to have in official FLAC quality too. Hope there is more coming soon...

[Jord]

Recently picked up the 2xLP reissue of ...I Care Because You Do and fell in love with it all over again. The 8 (eight!!) digital bonus tracks it comes with, from SoundCloud dump, are great to have in official FLAC quality too. Hope there is more coming soon...

Oh shit, I didn't know they were doing reissues with the extra stuff on?! Is there anywhere I can buy one online?

[botley]

Oh shit, I didn't know they were doing reissues with the extra stuff on?! Is there anywhere I can buy one online?

Yep: https://aphextwin.warp.net/

To be clear, the LP itself doesn't have extra tracks but the downloads from that site do.

[Jord]

Yep: https://aphextwin.warp.net/

To be clear, the LP itself doesn't have extra tracks but the downloads from that site do.

That's great, thanks for pointing me in the right direction! I'm trying to amass a small vinyl collection of my favourite records for when I move into my own place soon, so I think a few Aphex ones wouldn't go amiss.

[allegate]

Yep: https://aphextwin.warp.net/

To be clear, the LP itself doesn't have extra tracks but the downloads from that site do.

had to get a vinyl copy of my favorite Aphex Twin album, thanks for the heads-up!

[poinoup]

https://pitchfork.com/news/aphex-twi...e-mashing-app/

https://gitlab.com/then-try-this/samplebrain

[BRoswell]

Oh fuck yes. I could have a lot of fun with this.