Is Aphex Twin's Recent Music Less Ambitious Than His Earlier Work?

  On 8/30/2023 at 1:54 PM, Freak of the week said:

drill pop innovation peak

 

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Always gives me goosebumps.

Gotta say, I found this poll a bit harsh. 
I know Richard likely doesn’t give a shit but still, if I popped on a forum about me and saw something like this it would make me uncomfortable. 

  On 8/30/2023 at 5:49 PM, Alcofribas said:

the craftsmanship is still there and it's still at a really fucking high level that most of us can hardly dream of

I gave you a like for this sentence alone!

I think mostly about his new Aphex Twin "persona" goes more hand I hand with Weirdcore's art.. 

It is like Weirdcore is the Twin.. At least a big % of the main show! Not the music itself of course but it seems more of music + art technology now. 
This is great!
I don't know how big Weirdcore Is in this Computer Art scene, maybe there are thousands of people with way better skills. 
What is sure is that we fans and all other people who enjoys the music enjoys the visuals as well! It is a hell of a ride! 

TBH I'm happy that he's still releasing music, He's the main reason I listen to electronic music in the first place.

Still a legend in my book.

I do miss being surprised by his new music. I think sometimes friends' take on a track is quite a good honest barometer on how you're really feeling about stuff, and where it stands in relation to earlier tracks. Like, I want to like his new music obviously. But I was playing the new E.P to a friend open to a lot of music, and had convinced myself I liked it, but they were kind of "it's ok."

And then I put Mt Saint michel mix+St. michaels mount on and it was instantly obvious this was on another level. It's not just about extremity or "ambition", because other friendlier tracks also elicited the same response. What I really value is imagination, and to me his earlier stuff is just way more imaginative. 

Collapse E.P is the exception here, though. That was super special to me, very beautiful and intricate and imaginative. Maybe they'll be more like that coming - but it's his music and I respect he does what he wants.

Dude's getting old. It's a tale repeating itself ever since Ughnub's stick banging 50,000 years ago eventually became percieved in later years as less innovative and passionate. 

He might have made these tracks years ago. You don't know what he has sitting on the shelf. 

He might have years of experimental stuff he did ages ago. and live off that for the next decade. Who knows. 

I do think this release is his worst tho. I don't get it. But appreciate everything he does release. 

He can do anything he wants. I just hope he's having fun. 

  On 8/30/2023 at 8:18 PM, marf said:

I do think this release is his worst tho. I don't get it. But appreciate everything he does release. 

He can do anything he wants. I just hope he's having fun. 

Yeah, I feel I get it less and less every time I listen. But in a room7 F760 remains pretty intriguing and I can enjoy that one. Some lovely imaginative twists and turns, in a kind of cool laid back way too. 

What you said in the rest of your message may be true; these seem to be a step back from Collapse E.P, so maybe come from a different era. But then Cheetah seemed a step back from pretty much anything after 1995, so maybe it's just the way he makes things during some periods these days. 

blackbox life recorder is so fine, idk what you guys are thinking, it's groovy, it has more feelings to it, a bit more serious, and maybe disillusioned, but we have grown up too, right?

  On 8/30/2023 at 6:58 PM, d-a-m-o said:

TBH I'm happy that he's still releasing music, He's the main reason I listen to electronic music in the first place.

 

Still a legend in my book.

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Absolutely!!

The ayes have it

the AYES have it

unlock

Yes, he could be more ambitious about releasing his music! ;D

  On 8/30/2023 at 6:32 PM, J3FF3R00 said:

Gotta say, I found this poll a bit harsh. 
I know Richard likely doesn’t give a shit but still, if I popped on a forum about me and saw something like this it would make me uncomfortable. 

Yeah this is kind of a downer to think about. Maybe harshness is the way of the world, but I think it would be cool to foster an environment of encouragement and appreciation, because I do believe that creativity and fun comes more from that. Like if we adopt this critical mindset to Aphex, maybe we’ll apply it to ourselves in a way that will stunt our growth. It’s still possible to be critical in the sense of being objective with ourselves about whether the music is being what we intend or feel though.

Ye i'm not doing this.

I'm happy afx still releases awesome music, that's all that counts 

In some ways I think it's more ambitious than it ever was. Imagine trying to make collapse EP with a cirklon and a huge hardware collection and making it all talk together and mix together correctly and all that. Man is doing some crazy shit that nobody else is doing in that way right now.

  On 8/31/2023 at 12:13 AM, Bubba69 said:

In some ways I think it's more ambitious than it ever was. Imagine trying to make collapse EP with a cirklon and a huge hardware collection and making it all talk together and mix together correctly and all that. Man is doing some crazy shit that nobody else is doing in that way right now.

yes

  On 8/31/2023 at 12:45 AM, Alcofribas said:

  On 8/31/2023 at 12:13 AM, Bubba69 said:

In some ways I think it's more ambitious than it ever was. Imagine trying to make collapse EP with a cirklon and a huge hardware collection and making it all talk together and mix together correctly and all that. Man is doing some crazy shit that nobody else is doing in that way right now.

yes

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all live as well i'd imagine

I’d guess he’s simply mellowed with age, but the end of his sets are still a cacophony of noise and light.

Every release he drops people cry over how he’s lost his edge or whatever. All I know is the dude is a damn genius and he keeps dropping genius bangers.
If you don’t like the new release just wait until he puts out something else you do like. It will happen. 

What the fuck is this focus group survey bullshit?

  On 8/30/2023 at 10:47 AM, hoggy said:

this is gonna end up like the Snares thread isn't it

And the Ceephax one..

We need a flexible copypasta where we only have to fill in the name of the artist in question.

C'mon, we're talking about a guy who would DJ with sandpaper without a second thought. I'm pretty confident he takes little offense from bantz and divided opinions on his output. 

The whole composing with a cirklon and dinosaur hardware, while no doubt skillful (and tedious), is a very luxurious and deliberate problem. It's also been the M.O for over a decade by now. I think he's just comfortable where he's at and has nothing to prove. 

I don't give a fuck, holmes!