Stone in Focus

I guess I've seen this track mentioned here and there but I'd never quite clocked that it's not part of the SAW II CD, was only on the vinyl. So I'd never properly looked it up. Hence its only today, nearly 30 years after I first bought Selected Ambient Works Volume 2 on CD that I actually heard the track. Its really beautiful.

(The youtube comments here are actually worth reading, its like a shrine or place of meditation)

Track officially available for the last few years as digital on the Aphex Twin warp store - track 19

ha! i'm literally listening to this very youtube looping in the background this morning

truly sublime

WAT

I'd give my left testicle to listen to this for the first time again






maybe not that much

but yeh
this was actually one of the first ones I ever heard from him. def takes me to a very different place

>>> THE STONE IN FOCUS SUBFORUM IS HERE <<<

(as per Mellow U's sig)

I play this off YouTube on the regular. It’s a next level track and the vid, strangely, compliments it well. Puts my mind at ease on the most challenging of days. 

Did they not have room for it on the cd?

Great but not as good as rhubarb (yummm…rhubarb)

here's the 2hr version, same cool monke.  Sometimes I'm in a mood and I'll blast this and play along on the drums til I come down.

I’m surprised that there isn’t already a thread about this song. One of my favorites of his, by far. I think I came upon it a bit late, as well, but still probably 15-20 years ago. Such a perfect tune. 
I own one physical release of this, on this bad boy…

  On 12/15/2023 at 8:41 AM, J3FF3R00 said:

I’m surprised that there isn’t already a thread about this song.

wtf! 

  On 12/15/2023 at 4:15 AM, usagi said:

>>> THE STONE IN FOCUS SUBFORUM IS HERE <<<

(as per Mellow U's sig)

  On 12/15/2023 at 9:03 AM, usagi said:

wtf! 

 

Don’t RTR me bro!

I was pretty sure I posted in a thread about SIF in the past AND actually searched “stone in focus” (with and without quotes) before posting but the only result was the thread we are currently posting in. 

The search function is gaslighting me left and right these days.

There's definitely a Stone In Focus thread. Somewhere.

I love how that 'pad' doesn't sound like a synth, very organic

I think and old/former friend of mine mentioned the sort of intelligent look on the monkey's face some time ago, yeah it's there and definitely fits with this track

I understand that it doesn't fit on the CD (although I would have booted something off to make it fit), but I'm bigmad that it's not on the Bandcamp release where there are no size limitations.  I consider that a moral offense.

I would have booted off White Blur 2 to make way for Stone In Focus on the CD. It might risk unbalancing the record, smoothing away its paranoid edges, but the track is just too damn good to be a curio.

  On 12/15/2023 at 8:41 AM, J3FF3R00 said:

I’m surprised that there isn’t already a thread about this song. One of my favorites of his, by far. I think I came upon it a bit late, as well, but still probably 15-20 years ago. Such a perfect tune. 
I own one physical release of this, on this bad boy…

 

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Holy shit!

First time I heard it was early 1995 on that same compilation, having already rinsed the CD version of SAW II.

Richard really needs to release all the SAW II outtakes... I imagine there are quite a few that didn't make the cut but are still amazing tracks from that era.

  On 12/15/2023 at 8:14 PM, Joyrex said:

Richard really needs to release all the SAW II outtakes... I imagine there are quite a few that didn't make the cut but are still amazing tracks from that era.

He put quite a few on his soundcloud; I'm guessing it covered all or at least most of what was left off.

The ones specifically tagged as SAWII Unfinished tracks were Stabbing Interview, Road Shimmer and Chopped F Beginning. Th1 [slo] is up as a bonus outtake on the aphexstore, and we can assume Red Calx is also one.

As for the others I would speculate the likes of Off Key [bicycle wheel], Lush Ambulance, [water], [taut], ssnb, Just Fall Asleep, Slothscrape, funnel, sline were all probably produced around this time and have a similar mood and sound palate to SAWII. Maybe a few others as well.

The old thread is locked and archived (last post October 2017) and titled I Could Listen To Stone In Focus Forever

  On 12/15/2023 at 6:10 PM, atypic said:

I understand that it doesn't fit on the CD (although I would have booted something off to make it fit), but I'm bigmad that it's not on the Bandcamp release where there are no size limitations.  I consider that a moral offense.

It's on the afx store version. (Edit -Just realised the OP already said this )

https://aphextwin.warp.net/release/68148-aphex-twin-selected-ambient-works-volume-ii

But yeah agree it should have been on the cd to start with, one of his best. Though sneaking such an awesome track onto the vinyl only, is very much a classic afx move.

  On 12/16/2023 at 1:57 PM, Key said:

The ones specifically tagged as SAWII Unfinished tracks were Stabbing Interview, Road Shimmer and Chopped F Beginning. Th1 [slo] is up as a bonus outtake on the aphexstore, and we can assume Red Calx is also one.

There was a theory at the time that "On (28 Mix)" was a reference to it being "track 28" from SAWII

see also: "33 Saw II Un Stabbing Interview" and "35 Saw II Un Road Shimmer F"

anyway my personal "digital listening" copy of SAWII is the

full aphexstore 26 tracks, plus:

Analogue Bubblebath 3 (from Trance Europe Express)

On (28 Mix)

Quino-Phec (from Surfing on Sine Waves)

4 Red Calx[slo]

and the three tracks from the soundcloud dump that were designated as SAWII outtakes...

33 Saw II Un Stabbing Interview

9 Un Chopped F Beginning [SawII Un]

35 Saw II Un Road Shimmer F

33 songs. 3 hours and 33 minutes…

  On 12/17/2023 at 8:34 PM, hayhook said:

There was a theory at the time that "On (28 Mix)" was a reference to it being "track 28" from SAWII

see also: "33 Saw II Un Stabbing Interview" and "35 Saw II Un Road Shimmer F"

 

anyway my personal "digital listening" copy of SAWII is the

full aphexstore 26 tracks, plus:

Analogue Bubblebath 3 (from Trance Europe Express)

On (28 Mix)

Quino-Phec (from Surfing on Sine Waves)

4 Red Calx[slo]

and the three tracks from the soundcloud dump that were designated as SAWII outtakes...

33 Saw II Un Stabbing Interview

9 Un Chopped F Beginning [SawII Un]

35 Saw II Un Road Shimmer F

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thanks!