Aphex Twin Whats so great about Selected Ambient Works 85-92?

Tha and Xtal are one of the most played aphex twin tracks on last.fm. Other tracks from Selected Ambient Works 85-92 are also well represented. I don't like the LP much I even deleted it from my mp3 collection some time ago. Why are these tracks even more popular than for example tracks from Drukqs or the Richard D. James Album?

  On 11/23/2010 at 12:30 PM, o00o said:

Tha and Xtal are one of the most played aphex twin tracks on last.fm. Other tracks from Selected Ambient Works 85-92 are also well represented. I don't like the LP much I even deleted it from my mp3 collection some time ago. Why are these tracks even more popular than for example tracks from Drukqs or the Richard D. James Album?

Everybody's taste is different. I sold Drukqs and ...I Care Because You Do as there were too many tracks I skipped on those albums, even years after first getting them. I think with Selected Ambient Works 85-92 it's simply a case that it's his most accessible work, sounding very similar in terms of instruments used to a lot of dance music of that era, and with the exception of Green Calx, not at all harsh sounding. You could pretty much compare it to Microgravity and probably even Electro-Soma and Incunabula.

  On 11/23/2010 at 12:30 PM, o00o said:

Tha and Xtal are one of the most played aphex twin tracks on last.fm. Other tracks from Selected Ambient Works 85-92 are also well represented. I don't like the LP much I even deleted it from my mp3 collection some time ago. Why are these tracks even more popular than for example tracks from Drukqs or the Richard D. James Album?

Listen again. Jesus christ.

It's obviously a very important album in the development of the genre. Probably has the best reviews too? I was recommended this album back in the day and that's how I started listening to his music. I'd also recommend anyone new to him start with this album. I've always thought that the general consensus is that this is his magnum opus, anyway.

oxygene of the 90's

You just must not have a soul. Thats ok, your excused souless one.

It's his most accessible work by a few thousand miles, it's also very dance-able, pleasing to listen to, one of (if not the) most important albums hes ever made. You can see a lot of people liking this album that don't generally listen to IDM, but you wouldn't expect even half of these people to listen to the crazy shit on drukqs or RDJ album and enjoy it as much. Just the way she goes.

I hate the mid 90's drums he always used and drukqs got old even faster but I can always count on SAW 1 and 2, aged miles better.

the answer to your questions is a no brainer. Al5x said it best.

i like it not for it's accessibility. i like it for how it sounds. they are really, really nice tracks and i don't get how people can't understand that. it's beautiful. but maybe some are more inclined to like something from a technical standpoint, like Drukqs or the RDJA

  On 11/23/2010 at 1:48 PM, soundwave said:

oxygene of the 90's

nice comparison

Because it's his best by far (SAW2 comes close but not quite).

PLEASE listen to it again

  On 11/23/2010 at 12:30 PM, o00o said:

Tha and Xtal are one of the most played aphex twin tracks on last.fm. Other tracks from Selected Ambient Works 85-92 are also well represented. I don't like the LP much I even deleted it from my mp3 collection some time ago. Why are these tracks even more popular than for example tracks from Drukqs or the Richard D. James Album?

People who are interested in hearing some aphex music look up his most well-known album, download it and only listen to first and second track which are Xtal and Tha.

It is an answer that can't be answered because everyone likes or dislikes different things about it.

  On 11/23/2010 at 6:18 PM, Calx Sherbet said:

i like it not for it's accessibility. i like it for how it sounds. they are really, really nice tracks and i don't get how people can't understand that. it's beautiful. but maybe some are more inclined to like something from a technical standpoint, like Drukqs or the RDJA

 

  On 11/23/2010 at 1:48 PM, soundwave said:

oxygene of the 90's

 

nice comparison

I first came to that conclusion when I saw both albums next to each other in the bargain bucket section of Musiczone

i.e. both timeless, both big sellers, both accessible musically and both are early albums done on fuck all equipment with one being downtempo disco and the other downtempo acid/electro.

  On 11/23/2010 at 6:23 PM, AcrossCanyons said:

Because it's his best by far (SAW2 comes close but not quite).

Really? As far as his ambient stuff goes I rate them:

1. SAW vol 2

2. SOSW

3. SAW 85-92

I put 85-92 on when I want to relax within a warm blanket of familiarity. I don't see how anyone can be unmoved by the melodies of Ageispolis or Heliosphan. Continuity is another big thing about this album. Each track seems to augment the atmosphere of the one before it, whereas DrukQs takes an opposite approach and juxtaposes wildly different styles from track to track.

It's pretty.

  On 11/23/2010 at 9:50 PM, xxx said:

He owned the entire decade. Plenty of rave/electronic/techno was being squidged out but there was not a "Heliosphan" or "Xtal" in sight. This minimal craze of late would have literally been impossible without "Tha", "Delphium" and "Actium"--respect to Robert Hood/UR first and foremost though in the case of minimal because RDJ couldn't have done it without them.

 

this is so far from my time, from my generation, but i can't understand it so well!

SAW I won't age for me, ever.

those melodies never fail to lift one's soul up and touch the heart. it's probably the one and only album i can't live without.

  On 11/23/2010 at 8:51 PM, Bubba69 said:

  On 11/23/2010 at 6:23 PM, AcrossCanyons said:

Because it's his best by far (SAW2 comes close but not quite).

 

Really? As far as his ambient stuff goes I rate them:

1. SAW vol 2

2. SOSW

3. SAW 85-92

that is a strong, ass-kicking list

  On 11/23/2010 at 12:30 PM, o00o said:

Tha and Xtal are one of the most played aphex twin tracks on last.fm. Other tracks from Selected Ambient Works 85-92 are also well represented. I don't like the LP much I even deleted it from my mp3 collection some time ago. Why are these tracks even more popular than for example tracks from Drukqs or the Richard D. James Album?

I was going to make a thread completely identical in every way to this.

-Also noticed it was most popular on last.fm

-I also deleted it out of my library.

-Never cared for the album

-Drukqs and Richard D. James should be more popular than it.

You're not alone.

I can say personally it is my least favorite full length aphex twin lp , i don't hate i just find it his most Uziqish and boring

but i will say out of all my friends who i've introduced to Aphex twin, SAW 85-92 is among their favorites

edit: sorry just realized the thread title is 'whats so great about..'

XXX pretty much sums it up well.

The fact this site is the namesake of the track on SAW85-92 surely must have made you have a wee think about why it's

an important loved album. It's pretty timeless, warm, beautiful, full of idea's, very re-listenable and no doubt inspired a generation of bedroom programmers, yeah its popularity isn't that hard to understand.

I agree with XXX too, It's easy to understand also that fans who's first exposure to Aphex was Windowlicker or Come to Daddy

might see this album as a bit alien or somehow not as outrageous. At the time Saw was like very little else.

I think it's a simple case of accepting that he's not an artist to pigeonhole and just listening to his work as a whole.

He's not tailoring for the fanbase.

it was the first 'idm' album i heard, i just had a thought one day "hey i should listen to aphex twin" and bought the album with the most prominent cover artwork. glad i started with that rather than say, rdj album or classics.

  On 11/23/2010 at 11:34 PM, Dissolvedpaul said:

The fact this site is the namesake of the track on SAW85-92 surely must have made you have a wee think about why it's

an important loved album.

Eh, I always thought of the Caustic Window remix as the namesake for this website.

It's very easy to digest those tracks. They are also amazing and memorable.

Being tracks 1 and 2 on his highest regarded release probably has a lot to do with it too.