Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (As it was created?)

  On 10/22/2011 at 1:29 PM, xxx said:

You guys got it all wrong. Don't you know that he had never heard of Brian Eno or techno or anything when he wrote his albums? He birthed it out of the mines of Cornwall in complete isolation

Perhaps in 85, not in 89 (and even less 92)

  On 10/22/2011 at 4:06 PM, Herr Jan said:

Somebody on this forum, don't remember who, came with this track as it resembles Pulsewidth alot, and came out in 1990, so this must have been an influence.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaaIlC_MFL8

Me :)

For this one I reckon Pulsewidth was still done before and none of both were aware of each other

  On 10/22/2011 at 7:25 PM, Cryptowen said:

To me it mostly sounds like cleanish synth sounds run through digital reverbs & lofi recording equipment. It isn't so much new sound concepts as pre-existing ones being put to good use.

You're on it, the myth is rather what the fuck did he use for a damned good (= bad for dubstepers) recorder than how did he built thousand ingeneer devices bringing never heard sounds alone in Cornwall at the age if 15

still, the 80's were the dark ages. He must have really been tapped into underground dance culture cause everyone else was into some cheezy music and we didnt have the internet

  On 10/23/2011 at 3:29 AM, marf said:

still, the 80's were the dark ages. He must have really been tapped into underground dance culture cause everyone else was into some cheezy music and we didnt have the internet

THAT's why it's so groundbreaking - you have to take into consideration that back then, it was all word of mouth, and self-discovery - for Richard to be influenced by such obscure music, take the best bits along with his own musical genius and create these tracks, and THEN not really bother to shop them around but give them to mates and friends on cassette tapes... that's just mind-blowing.

  On 10/22/2011 at 12:01 AM, sergeantk said:

  On 10/21/2011 at 11:54 PM, Joyrex said:

Also, back on the subject of SAW 85-92, there's a lot more to this release than meets the eye. I've been asked to dig through my archives for more info for an upcoming reissue of this classic album, so if I come across anything worth posting, I'll be sure to do so. Almost every track has a story behind it or some alternate meaning, and what's more interesting is the tracks that didn't make the cut - there were more that didn't then there were that did!

why cant those tracks be released T_T

To be fair, I would guess some weren't worthy of release - but, some were repurposed and planned on being released... a few of them are on CAT023, the famed Caustic WIndow album that was never released and only 4 copies exist...

  On 10/22/2011 at 12:02 AM, Superstix said:

  On 10/21/2011 at 11:54 PM, Joyrex said:

Also, back on the subject of SAW 85-92, there's a lot more to this release than meets the eye. I've been asked to dig through my archives for more info for an upcoming reissue of this classic album, so if I come across anything worth posting, I'll be sure to do so. Almost every track has a story behind it or some alternate meaning, and what's more interesting is the tracks that didn't make the cut - there were more that didn't then there were that did!

 

 

Didn't R&S just re-issue this album? Is there another one coming out?

There's a box set that I've been asked to contribute some info and words to... I'm very honoured!

  On 10/22/2011 at 12:17 AM, ZoeB said:

  On 10/21/2011 at 11:54 PM, Joyrex said:

Almost every track has a story behind it or some alternate meaning, and what's more interesting is the tracks that didn't make the cut - there were more that didn't then there were that did!

 

Um, more info please? :D You can't just tease everyone like that!

There were around 11 C-90 cassettes worth of tracks that Richard and his mates would play in their cars (he made multiple copies for his friends). Some of the tracks (most likely) ended up on CAT023 as mentioned above, and others may have evolved into other tracks... it's always interesting to see what musical ideas and experiments an artist has in mind, and then what becomes commercially viable or worthy of pressing.

  On 10/24/2011 at 6:57 PM, Joyrex said:

There's a box set that I've been asked to contribute some info and words to... I'm very honoured!

 

what? aphex boxset or r&s boxset?!

I really wsh I was one of Richard mates (probably not alone in that sentiment)

Some of my mates make music but it's not really the same. Just imagine meeting Rich for a few Saturday afternnon pints at the local and him casually toss you a tape/cd of some mad shit he was coming up with. As you valued his friendship you wouldn't leak the the stuff to the outside world, and anyway who cares about the outside world when you got your own personal Aphex mixtape?

Unbelievable.

  On 10/24/2011 at 7:16 PM, beerwolf said:

I really wsh I was one of Richard mates (probably not alone in that sentiment)

 

Some of my mates make music but it's not really the same. Just imagine meeting Rich for a few Saturday afternnon pints at the local and him casually toss you a tape/cd of some mad shit he was coming up with. As you valued his friendship you wouldn't leak the the stuff to the outside world, and anyway who cares about the outside world when you got your own personal Aphex mixtape?

 

Unbelievable.

You could just befriend Jidomatix on youtube and it's all the same. (Look, I'm not saying he's RDJ, but in principle it's the same. Yes, I mean in principle)

  On 10/24/2011 at 7:24 PM, goDel said:

  On 10/24/2011 at 7:16 PM, beerwolf said:

I really wsh I was one of Richard mates (probably not alone in that sentiment)

 

Some of my mates make music but it's not really the same. Just imagine meeting Rich for a few Saturday afternnon pints at the local and him casually toss you a tape/cd of some mad shit he was coming up with. As you valued his friendship you wouldn't leak the the stuff to the outside world, and anyway who cares about the outside world when you got your own personal Aphex mixtape?

 

Unbelievable.

 

You could just befriend Jidomatix on youtube and it's all the same. (Look, I'm not saying he's RDJ, but in principle it's the same. Yes, I mean in principle)

i just checked this JIDOMATIX profile on yt, and i am confused. also surprised there is no thread about it on watmm. anyone got any info on this?

Check the unreleased Tuss thread. There's been discussion on the subject of jidomatix. Maybe not enough though.

  On 10/24/2011 at 8:04 PM, goDel said:

Check the unreleased Tuss thread. There's been discussion on the subject of jidomatix. Maybe not enough though.

i would swear Porch is a SAW 85 92 outtake!

  On 10/24/2011 at 7:16 PM, beerwolf said:

Some of my mates make music but it's not really the same. Just imagine meeting Rich for a few Saturday afternnon pints at the local and him casually toss you a tape/cd of some mad shit he was coming up with. As you valued his friendship you wouldn't leak the the stuff to the outside world, and anyway who cares about the outside world when you got your own personal Aphex mixtape?

The thing about friends (and, for that matter, significant others) though is they often have different taste to you, so you're not likely to be fans of each other's work. Which is probably for the best, you wouldn't want them badgering you to slip them yet another work in progress. Although the best friends / SOs are the ones who will A/B test your mixes for you. :D

  On 10/24/2011 at 7:24 PM, goDel said:

You could just befriend Jidomatix on youtube and it's all the same. (Look, I'm not saying he's RDJ, but in principle it's the same. Yes, I mean in principle)

Jidomatix' music sounds similar to RDJ's, yes, but the difference is that RDJ is generally a bit more pioneering. His music, for the most part, sounds quite unlike anything previous to it. So the real equivalent is someone who's making music that doesn't sound anything like RDJ's, but that inherently probably disqualifies a lot of us...

  On 10/24/2011 at 7:01 PM, ruiagnelo said:

  On 10/24/2011 at 6:57 PM, Joyrex said:

There's a box set that I've been asked to contribute some info and words to... I'm very honoured!

 

 

what? aphex boxset or r&s boxset?!

An R&S Boxest most likely... I haven't been given too many details.

  On 10/24/2011 at 7:16 PM, beerwolf said:

I really wsh I was one of Richard mates (probably not alone in that sentiment)

 

Some of my mates make music but it's not really the same. Just imagine meeting Rich for a few Saturday afternnon pints at the local and him casually toss you a tape/cd of some mad shit he was coming up with. As you valued his friendship you wouldn't leak the the stuff to the outside world, and anyway who cares about the outside world when you got your own personal Aphex mixtape?

 

Unbelievable.

Yeah, but hindsight's 20/20 - back then, Richard was just one of their friends who made weird music. They (or Richard, for that matter) had any idea of what later significance those tracks would have on the electronic music scene of the early 90's.

  On 10/24/2011 at 8:40 PM, ZoeB said:

  On 10/24/2011 at 7:16 PM, beerwolf said:

Some of my mates make music but it's not really the same. Just imagine meeting Rich for a few Saturday afternnon pints at the local and him casually toss you a tape/cd of some mad shit he was coming up with. As you valued his friendship you wouldn't leak the the stuff to the outside world, and anyway who cares about the outside world when you got your own personal Aphex mixtape?

 

The thing about friends (and, for that matter, significant others) though is they often have different taste to you, so you're not likely to be fans of each other's work. Which is probably for the best, you wouldn't want them badgering you to slip them yet another work in progress. Although the best friends / SOs are the ones who will A/B test your mixes for you. :D

 

  On 10/24/2011 at 7:24 PM, goDel said:

You could just befriend Jidomatix on youtube and it's all the same. (Look, I'm not saying he's RDJ, but in principle it's the same. Yes, I mean in principle)

 

Jidomatix' music sounds similar to RDJ's, yes, but the difference is that RDJ is generally a bit more pioneering. His music, for the most part, sounds quite unlike anything previous to it. So the real equivalent is someone who's making music that doesn't sound anything like RDJ's, but that inherently probably disqualifies a lot of us...

Yeah, except we've been posting similar material that predates SAW 85-92 because of it's similarity to it... Richard took the classic formula of taking the best out there, and improving on it, and adding in his own touch.

I think uniqueness in music is difficult to attain, and personally, if I could make music (been trying), I would strive for taking the established high water mark and seeing if it can be raised any higher rather than create something that's never been done before for that reason alone.

  On 10/24/2011 at 8:59 PM, Joyrex said:

  On 10/24/2011 at 8:40 PM, ZoeB said:

His music, for the most part, sounds quite unlike anything previous to it.

 

Yeah, except we've been posting similar material that predates SAW 85-92 because of it's similarity to it... Richard took the classic formula of taking the best out there, and improving on it, and adding in his own touch.

 

I think uniqueness in music is difficult to attain, and personally, if I could make music (been trying), I would strive for taking the established high water mark and seeing if it can be raised any higher rather than create something that's never been done before for that reason alone.

Yes, hence "for the most part." You can hear various influences he's had, such as those mentioned here, plus Larry Heard, Brian Eno and so on... but he often puts such a strong idiosyncratic twist on things that there's more Aphex quirkiness than influence in his tracks, I think. (Either that or I'm not familiar enough with his other influences, which is quite likely.) I guess my point is it's best to be influenced by either hardly anyone, doing your own thing to a large extent, or by pretty much everyone, blending together disparate things. Really, this is thinly veiled advice to myself to stop ripping off AFX, especially when my best recent track has been more influenced by Xenomania of all people...

And of course you can make music! Just keep practicing until... no, wait, just keep practicing, and improving, always.

  On 10/22/2011 at 4:06 PM, Herr Jan said:

  On 9/22/2011 at 8:18 AM, Garkken said:

How was created this great album? Under the influence of what? (I mean music). What synths were used?

 

In general, any information about this album that could be interesting!

 

Somebody on this forum, don't remember who, came with this track as it resembles Pulsewidth alot, and came out in 1990, so this must have been an influence.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaaIlC_MFL8

One of my favourite tracks Butterfly Holocaust. I once posted a photograph I'd taken onto a photographers website that I had named after this track. Some Jewish guy contacted me and asked me to change the name necause he found it deeply offensive. I explained that I had taken the name from this track. He wasn't buying that & was getting quite upset about my photo name asking me again to change it. In the end I just told him to fuck off!!

joyrex about this box set is it gona be new music or old music cuz heck knows we are all tired of richard re-releasing re-releases of re-releases out the butt hole

i always thought polygon window stuff was kinda SAW outtakes given the time frame. no?

i remember back in the day SAW was just another good ambient techno album

  On 10/24/2011 at 6:57 PM, Joyrex said:

  On 10/23/2011 at 3:29 AM, marf said:

still, the 80's were the dark ages. He must have really been tapped into underground dance culture cause everyone else was into some cheezy music and we didnt have the internet

THAT's why it's so groundbreaking - you have to take into consideration that back then, it was all word of mouth, and self-discovery - for Richard to be influenced by such obscure music, take the best bits along with his own musical genius and create these tracks, and THEN not really bother to shop them around but give them to mates and friends on cassette tapes... that's just mind-blowing.

80's were the dark ages for me at least. I wasn't taking the train to london to buy records in '85. APhex was. not me. I was listening to phil collins and dyeing my under wear purple cause I loved miami vice

I didn't read all of this thread, but I think that he probably made ambient music because it was his first go at making compositions. Most of it is relatively simple, but obviously inspired. My opinion is that it was a load of tracks from his first go at it all. Afterwards he learned how to start making good breakbeats and things of that nature along with more complicated compositions.

oh, and he ripped the fuck off of 808 state...just saying.

i think if you have talent it will find its way through. Most great song writers say the best stuff comes when they arent thinking about it, but when it flows from another place. Sure you can have influences. Everyone does, but if you let go. YOU will come out. Thats why all the aphex fakes are awful. They are just a technical exercise and the real person behind the music isnt there. They didnt let themselves get out of the way to let themselves through I guess. Or something

all electronic music was dubbed ambient back then. There was no jungle. maybe some house, electro, and detroit stuff. we have to think about this from that time period. Not easy when you are under 30 i guess

  On 10/24/2011 at 9:43 PM, MAXIMUS MISCHIEF said:

joyrex about this box set is it gona be new music or old music cuz heck knows we are all tired of richard re-releasing re-releases of re-releases out the butt hole

Let's be clear here - Richard has very little (if anything) to do with reissues, box sets, compilations, etc. Especially in the case of any R&S/WARP stuff.

It's R&S who are reissuing albums they have the rights to (although in some cases, that might be a whole 'nother story), and I am sure Richard gets residuals, so at least he gets paid for what some would view as a cash grab at worst, and an unneeded reissue at best.

Another reason these albums keep getting reissued might be their low production numbers - perhaps the demand is there overall, and R&S is just meeting need.

I wished they would reissue the Didgeridoo and Xylem Tube EPs on CD and vinyl - remastered preferably.

An Aphex Twin R&S boxset would be lovely if it contained all his R&S output (SAW 85-92, Xylem Tube, Didgeridoo, Classics)

Xylem Tube would be nice.

  On 10/25/2011 at 5:06 AM, AdieuErsatzEnnui said:

I didn't read all of this thread, but I think that he probably made ambient music because it was his first go at making compositions. Most of it is relatively simple, but obviously inspired. My opinion is that it was a load of tracks from his first go at it all. Afterwards he learned how to start making good breakbeats and things of that nature along with more complicated compositions.

 

oh, and he ripped the fuck off of 808 state...just saying.

He was a huge fan of Newbuild, remixing Flow Coma and re-issuing the album on Rephlex.

I wish that they would release a complete Aphex boxset so that the whole world would be aware of how much work this guy has actually put out.

hes had too many aliases. might be impossible. im not a lawyer though