HAB

So why are the original EPs so expensive? Did Warp not make many of them or something?

Yes, limited to 2500 and 3000 copies, if I recall...

  On 2/15/2012 at 11:19 PM, Joyrex said:

Yes, limited to 2500 and 3000 copies, if I recall...

Oh, I see. I still say the prices are too high. 2500-3000 is plenty, I'd think. There can't be thousands of people with it on their wantlist... but maybe I'm wrong.

Just because they pressed 2500/3000 copies, doesn't mean they SOLD that many... and it also doesn't mean that many copies still exist in the world. vinyl's much more fragile than other mediums...

What about HAB II? How many copies of that were pressed? I snagged a copy of HAB I for super cheap on ebay. Great shape and everything. HABII seems to be more rare & expensive.

They aren't that expensive... There are a few on discogs right now in the 20 - 35€ range

edit: ok HAB 2 is way rarer + more expensive

  On 2/15/2012 at 11:33 PM, Deepex said:

What about HAB II? How many copies of that were pressed? I snagged a copy of HAB I for super cheap on ebay. Great shape and everything. HABII seems to be more rare & expensive.

3000 copies...

i bought it on CD and it sounds great to me

Children Talking

Hangable Auto Bulb

Everyday

to me those are just timeless afx classics

i really can play these songs forever and it shows the full power of afx

anyone else got song's of these ep's in their heart?

Everyday is a special little track

  On 2/16/2012 at 1:13 AM, Bread said:

Everyday is a special little track

Shit yeah I just started listening to it after reading this thread and being reminded that HAB existed. Amazing emotion.

Wabby Legs, Everyday, Arched Maid.

Yub HAB is really special. released in '95 that's pretty amazing.

If I've got my chronology right, not only is this where James starts to experiment with cutting up breakbeats (after Spotlight, at least), it's also where he starts to experiment with structure, along with Melodies From Mars. Before Hangable Auto Bulb, most of his music seems to consist of a single section with various parts that fade in and out, or otherwise join in then leave again. In contrast, a few of the tracks on Hangable Auto Bulb have two different sections, one for the first half and another for the second. I don't recall seeing that kind of structure used anywhere else. I just like how he doesn't seem to take any collective wisdom for granted and instead prefers to try out everything himself through experimentation from scratch. Pretty much everyone else uses the same old intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, chorus, outro formula, with a few exceptions. (Actually, Trent Reznor subverts the ending of that structure quite nicely throughout The Downward Spiral, but that's another story...)

  On 2/16/2012 at 4:16 PM, ZoeB said:

If I've got my chronology right, not only is this where James starts to experiment with cutting up breakbeats (after Spotlight, at least), it's also where he starts to experiment with structure, along with Melodies From Mars. Before Hangable Auto Bulb, most of his music seems to consist of a single section with various parts that fade in and out, or otherwise join in then leave again.

this is a good observation.

  On 2/16/2012 at 4:16 PM, ZoeB said:

In contrast, a few of the tracks on Hangable Auto Bulb have two different sections, one for the first half and another for the second. I don't recall seeing that kind of structure used anywhere else. I just like how he doesn't seem to take any collective wisdom for granted and instead prefers to try out everything himself through experimentation from scratch. Pretty much everyone else uses the same old intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, chorus, outro formula, with a few exceptions. (Actually, Trent Reznor subverts the ending of that structure quite nicely throughout The Downward Spiral, but that's another story...)

this is not. i have no idea who 'everyone else' is, nor do i find reznor much of a inventive songwriter, but i don't think acid and techno contemporaries of richard used the classic pop song structures. you can't really treat afx like toni braxton. apples and oranges.

  On 2/16/2012 at 5:34 PM, kinski said:

  On 2/16/2012 at 4:16 PM, ZoeB said:

In contrast, a few of the tracks on Hangable Auto Bulb have two different sections, one for the first half and another for the second. I don't recall seeing that kind of structure used anywhere else.

 

i have no idea who 'everyone else' is, nor do i find reznor much of a inventive songwriter, but i don't think acid and techno contemporaries of richard used the classic pop song structures.

Good point. I'm not familiar with that many artists. To take a few examples, Autechre's Incunabula seems to have a single section per track (Lowride possibly has something approximating a bridge). Biosphere's Microgravity appears to do the same (SAW 85-92 and Microgravity strike me as quite similar in general). Mr. Fingers's Amnesia again has pretty much a single section per track. So does Hardfloor's TB Resuscitation. So it seems like most acid and techno music of that era that I've heard of (which admittedly isn't much) consists of a single section per track. So yes, I realise that James didn't invent anything here.

At the same time, and since a long time beforehand, most other popular music had the familiar verse/chorus structure, or rarely AABA structure. So that wouldn't have been very original either, although implementing it in electronic music might have been.

But what James did next was make a few songs that had one section for the first half, and another for the second half. I don't believe many artists had done that before, at least in contemporary popular music. I'm quite likely wrong, and if so, please show me some examples, I'm genuinely interested to learn. My knowledge of other people's music is limited at best. (I even had to look up who Toni Braxton was, to give you some idea of how musically isolated I am...)

my favorite aphex release

  On 2/16/2012 at 8:49 PM, chassis said:

my favorite aphex release

Of course your favourite afx release would have a white background, you racist.

Here, the chinese are just a big bunch of lads.

Leave them out of this.

Honestly, both HABs are some of his weakest, I find. Which is weird, since most everyone else loves them...

The only tracks that really stand out to me are Children Talking and Laughable Butane Bob... maybe I've not listened to the others enough, but I think I have...

  On 2/16/2012 at 11:25 PM, KyonPalm said:

Honestly, both HABs are some of his weakest, I find. Which is weird, since most everyone else loves them...

The only tracks that really stand out to me are Children Talking and Laughable Butane Bob... maybe I've not listened to the others enough, but I think I have...

it's just really confusing and mindbending, the track begin's really relaxed but by the end it's like the devil is in control of the sounds.

Just keep listening to it, it needs time, it's like an untilted track by autechre

  On 2/16/2012 at 4:16 PM, ZoeB said:

If I've got my chronology right, not only is this where James starts to experiment with cutting up breakbeats (after Spotlight, at least), it's also where he starts to experiment with structure, along with Melodies From Mars. Before Hangable Auto Bulb, most of his music seems to consist of a single section with various parts that fade in and out, or otherwise join in then leave again.

Far as I know this is the result of the point at which he changes production methods from just like a live mixing board w/ tracks playing, to computer based editing and effects. At a show Vibert once said much of the stuff before HAB was pretty old.

  On 2/16/2012 at 11:47 PM, Ivan Ooze said:

Hangable autobulb song is also great Kyonpalm, i tell you this cause it's a jewel

it's just really confusing and mindbending, the track begin's really relaxed but by the end it's like the devil is in control of the sounds.

Just keep listening to it, it needs time, it's like an untilted track by autechre

Yes, it is. I almost forgot about it.

And then he encountered Mr.Tom Jenkinson...

Just like his hard acid vibe came from Mike Dred.

  On 2/16/2012 at 11:25 PM, KyonPalm said:

Honestly, both HABs are some of his weakest, I find. Which is weird, since most everyone else loves them...

The only tracks that really stand out to me are Children Talking and Laughable Butane Bob... maybe I've not listened to the others enough, but I think I have...

To each his own I guess...

My favourite is Wabby Legs, even after all those years there's something unique in the ride sound and the voices, maybe it's nostalgia, but it always strikes the right chord for me.

And the final breakdown is near perfect.

Custodian Discount and Wabby Legs. The synth in the background makes those two very special songs.