August 02, 2004 | Posted by blair at 09:35 AM

acid robot music


"Xtal" by Aphex Twin and "Your Head My Voice (Voix Revirement)" by Saint Etienne (remixed by Aphex Twin)

Aphex Twin, Richard D. James, AFX, Polygon Window, blah blah blah, hardcore acid techno, blah blah blah, hepled define "ambient techno" early on, loads of drugs, blah blah, musical genius, etc.
you've heard of this guy and his amazing, totally fucking scary chris cunningham-directed videos - i count myself among his fans, have nearly all his AT-alias albums, and am very curious to see what he will do next. as much as i enjoy his damaged jungle stuff, i also have a soft spot for his gentler stuff, mostly because he has an amazing and beautiful sense when it comes to melody. like these two, which are more along the lines of ambient-but-still-definitely-techno songs - thus, the first comes from his Selected Amient Works 85-92 (buy it), some of which i'd have a hard time defining as ambient, but i still love it - the bass on this track really has to be heard on a good soundsystem because its way the hell down there. the second cut comes from his 26 Mixes for Cash (buy it), which, if you like how he remixes people's work, is totally worth getting, since it collects a big chunk things that only appear on various people's singles - really, i highly reccomend both of these albums because they show a good range of his abilities and the different styles he likes to work in. i'm curious to know what you all think.

Comments

All his early releases are essential... you can't mention AFX without mentioning the insane genius of Didgeridoo! You can handily get this and the Xylem Tube EP on the 'Classics' compilation

And while SAW II isn't as immediately accessible as SAW I, if you give it time it will completely blow you away.

The Polygon Window album is also amazing..shit just buy up any of his old stuff you can find.. you will NOT be dissapointed. (Especially the Analogue Bubblebath releases).

I've not really been feeling his newer stuff too much... but then he chucks out something like Windowlicker!!

Always enjoy your posts Blair.. you have a fine taste in music. Cheers!!!

Posted by: abdoujaparov at August 2, 2004 12:19 PM

IMO it's all about Polygon Window.

That said, the remix he did of "flow coma" as "remixes by AFX" is off the chain. It's actually the only thing I really like on that "26 mixes for cash" and I had heard it previously.

"26 Mixes" really didn't do it for me, actually. None of the remixes (save the one mentioned) really seemed to noticably improve the original.

=darwin

Posted by: Darwin at August 2, 2004 04:21 PM

Gotta agree with all of that, and add that I always found my vinyl copy of 'On' the most versatile, as it sounds great at 33 and 45...

Posted by: Lex at August 5, 2004 08:32 AM

I found the Windowlicker remix on '26...' to be fantastic... but out of all the other tracks, only about 5 are all that great, IMHO. Especialy the Nobukazu Remix...

Posted by: Geoff at August 10, 2004 11:39 PM

aphex rules. he is one of the greatest electronic-music artist nowadays. in fact, everything from the "rephlex" label is just great.

greetings from croatia

Posted by: darius at August 18, 2005 02:09 PM
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