Aphex Twin Live: How does it sound like?

aphex twin live

i've never been to an aphex twin dj/live-set, but i'm curious how it feels/sounds like...

i've heard both negative (him being lazy etc...) and positive things about him playing/dj'ing live.

i've seen a lot of live footage on youtube, and i've noticed many differences over the years, in the early '90, he played a mixture of rave/hardcore/techno/acid/own stuff etc..., round 2003, he played a lot of breakcore/jungle/acid/own stuff etc... but what does he play nowadays? (when he's dj'ing, because in 2012, he's was busy doing that remote control orchestra-thing).

has anybody some pleasant memories of an aphex live gig?

and last, does aphex play LIVE sometimes? messing around with MIDI's, synths, drumcomputers etc...? or does he only dj?

with pleasant greatings,

little lord faultleroy :)

A bit like Goldie.

Live, he's the same as he is on record, unpredictable and eccentric.

And that's why you should go see him.

As for your question on wether he 'plays' live I believe he did at his last gig (in London) where he did. First half was dreadful, second half was genius.

I saw him a couple of years ago in belgium with the hecker, from what i remember it was amazing!

they had speakers in the back so the music and sounds came from all sides. the visuals were also stunning including some poopsex and butchering of pigs with a saw piercing every skull on all sides of the festival

he played some of his own tracks and a lot i never heard before, at the end he played come to daddy and trashed it, that was the end

conclusion: super awesome and i'll never forget it

  On 8/8/2013 at 9:50 PM, beerwolf said:

Live, he's the same as he is on record, unpredictable and eccentric.

 

And that's why you should go see him.

I dunno, I saw him 4 times and the last 3 times were pretty much the same: the stage props, tv-screens, set build-up:

First part: ambient, experimental stuff.

Second part: rave classics, alot of acid and electro.

Third part: The drum 'n bass / jungle part, going mental, mostly a Current Value track.

Fourth part: Mescalinum United / Hellfish style gabba resulting in harsh noise, the end.

The first time stood out from the 4 times; no Hecker (saw him 2 times with him), only a red light bulb on stage as props (no TV-screens or any imagery whatsoever) and although it was pretty much the same set buildup as the other 3 times, it was by far the most original and diverse. Only thing that is unexpected is if he will play any of his own tracks (first time: almost none, fourth time: more then 10 tracks of himself).

Oh, and the two times with Hecker he displayed bestiality, autopsies and other nasty shit. Good times. Still, it's always worth it seeing the man, but I have to admit the routine in his shows since 2010 or so has gotten a little bit boring. Let's hope he does something new again next tour time (if ever).

Yeah, saw him there too :) I guess they had to leave some of the bestiality scenes out of that gig, I remember seeing more nasty shit at STRP 2009.

his gigs are usually a mixture between playing other people's music straight and mashing his own live, presumably with his homemade software

have you checked the downloads section? there are loads of live and dj sets

to herr jan: we'll have a beer next year on Dour, hope the lineup will be tits again

is there a tracklist of what he played at the Dour festival? i remember a song with some bleeps speeding up the whole time, i'd like to know what that was

One thing is for sure: most of his sets are built for dancing, not standing around and chin-stroking. I've seen him in Australia twice and both times were a mega dance party. Last time though there were a lot of people just standing there. I understand not everyone likes to dance but I'm not sure what they were getting out of it..?

  On 8/8/2013 at 10:02 PM, Herr Jan said:

 

Oh, and the two times with Hecker he displayed bestiality, autopsies and other nasty shit. Good times. Still, it's always worth it seeing the man, but I have to admit the routine in his shows since 2010 or so has gotten a little bit boring. Let's hope he does something new again next tour time (if ever).

 

what.the.fuck

is that legal? i can't imagine someone doing that to a crowd of music fans without someone getting hospitalized or sent to prison

  On 8/9/2013 at 4:57 AM, RadarJammer said:

 

  On 8/8/2013 at 10:02 PM, Herr Jan said:

 

Oh, and the two times with Hecker he displayed bestiality, autopsies and other nasty shit. Good times. Still, it's always worth it seeing the man, but I have to admit the routine in his shows since 2010 or so has gotten a little bit boring. Let's hope he does something new again next tour time (if ever).

 

what.the.fuck

 

is that legal? i can't imagine someone doing that to a crowd of music fans without someone getting hospitalized or sent to prison

 

I've wondered this too. I'm guessing sources like liveleak, orgish, etc. These are often legal, especially if they are from countries where standards on filming such things isn't as well, regulated I suppose (versus leaked or illegally acquired footage from the U.S. or EU countries)

There's a clip here, it's quite grim.

Nonetheless shocking and questionable intentions. I mean, these are aspects of human existence normally not seen but exist nonetheless, and are usually reserved for fictional treatment in shows and film. Now subjecting a crowd to that...I dunno, it's pushing it imo. I mean, Aphex Twin has some harsh tracks but he's not a fucking grindcore musician (or goregrind, pornogrind, deathgrind, whatever) and I wouldn't have expected that at all.

Well, you should know by now that IDM can be extreme.

  On 8/9/2013 at 5:18 AM, joshuatx said:

Now subjecting a crowd to that...I dunno, it's pushing it imo. I mean, Aphex Twin has some harsh tracks but he's not a fucking grindcore musician (or goregrind, pornogrind, deathgrind, whatever) and I wouldn't have expected that at all.

 

You don't have to just do what people expect all the time.

Aphex's recent VJ Weirdcore was interviewed about his time with the aphex tour and he said that RDJ asked him to tone down the violent imagery. He initially said to do what he liked. the facemapping stuff came about then.

whats the next stage? Possibly hologrpahic/3d craziness?

As for the music, well I've seen RDJ about 12 times since the 1990's and have most of these on mp3 now. A couple I didnt enjoy too much at the time but on reflection realise what he does with his sets is extremely clever and full of gorgeous moments....... the way he mixes, drops beats, puts the breaks on, changes a track here and there, plays unexpected things, brings out the old-school, drops unreleased nuggets, creates buildups, creates tension, pushes the limits of noise and generally has a lot of fun.

He rarely interacts with the crowd but when he does its pretty cool.

i would definitely go see him live the next time he goes to Belgium (probably Dour, the only festival brave enough to ask him :D )

i know he played with Hecker a few years back (have seen some weird footage, the autopsy images are new for me though) :)

and i've heard he likes to closes some of his sets with playing pure noise-tracks, like ktpa1 looped over 20 minutes. is that true?

one thing I already know when I go see him live is that it's going to be, in every sense of the word, an experience.

"Live, he's the same as he is on record, unpredictable and eccentric." i think this is a good resume of aphex twin live :D

  On 8/9/2013 at 11:04 AM, phudoshin said:

Aphex's recent VJ Weirdcore was interviewed about his time with the aphex tour and he said that RDJ asked him to tone down the violent imagery. He initially said to do what he liked. the facemapping stuff came about then.

 

whats the next stage? Possibly hologrpahic/3d craziness?

 

As for the music, well I've seen RDJ about 12 times since the 1990's and have most of these on mp3 now. A couple I didnt enjoy too much at the time but on reflection realise what he does with his sets is extremely clever and full of gorgeous moments....... the way he mixes, drops beats, puts the breaks on, changes a track here and there, plays unexpected things, brings out the old-school, drops unreleased nuggets, creates buildups, creates tension, pushes the limits of noise and generally has a lot of fun.

 

He rarely interacts with the crowd but when he does its pretty cool.

nicely said, phudoshin :)

  On 8/8/2013 at 10:02 PM, Herr Jan said:

 

 

Still, it's always worth it seeing the man, but I have to admit the routine in his shows since 2010 or so has gotten a little bit boring. Let's hope he does something new again next tour time (if ever).

Thanks for the post. I think I can largely agree.

One thing, though. It'll take me two words to explain:

Piano

Pendulum

Just saying.

  On 8/8/2013 at 10:14 PM, Ivan Ooze said:

to herr jan: we'll have a beer next year on Dour, hope the lineup will be tits again

is there a tracklist of what he played at the Dour festival? i remember a song with some bleeps speeding up the whole time, i'd like to know what that was

Yeah, let's do that, probably there again next year! This year was f'ing amazing as well! I only have written down the tracks he played on Dour that were his own, I remember some awesome rap track that I would love to hear again though. He played Trojan.Killav.E, Heliospan, Polynomial-C, We Have Arrived, Stone In Focus, Phloam, and Come To Daddy (the Little Lord Fauntleroy mix and the original).

  On 8/9/2013 at 4:57 AM, RadarJammer said:

 

  On 8/8/2013 at 10:02 PM, Herr Jan said:

 

Oh, and the two times with Hecker he displayed bestiality, autopsies and other nasty shit. Good times. Still, it's always worth it seeing the man, but I have to admit the routine in his shows since 2010 or so has gotten a little bit boring. Let's hope he does something new again next tour time (if ever).

 

what.the.fuck

 

is that legal? i can't imagine someone doing that to a crowd of music fans without someone getting hospitalized or sent to prison

 

I can remember some article writing about the legal situation about that, can't find it now though... The reaction of the crowd (mine included) was the best thing of it though, so many people with their backs to the stage or walking away very disgusted.

  On 8/9/2013 at 5:18 AM, joshuatx said:

Aphex Twin has some harsh tracks but he's not a fucking grindcore musician (or goregrind, pornogrind, deathgrind, whatever) and I wouldn't have expected that at all.

 

it would be my wettest dream if aphex twin released a album called "50 sublime cadaveric goregrind musicks for swag"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXyWEF2gyRE&feature=player_detailpage

TBH, I would be surprised if he hasn't released a XXX-core album/ep already. Under a different name obviously.

Those visuals pretty much scream to me 'HAVE A TERRIBLE TRIP, MATE'

Weird stuff.

  On 8/9/2013 at 10:11 AM, DerWaschbar said:

 

  On 8/9/2013 at 5:18 AM, joshuatx said:

Now subjecting a crowd to that...I dunno, it's pushing it imo. I mean, Aphex Twin has some harsh tracks but he's not a fucking grindcore musician (or goregrind, pornogrind, deathgrind, whatever) and I wouldn't have expected that at all.

 

You don't have to just do what people expect all the time.

 

  On 8/9/2013 at 8:13 AM, Friendly Foil said:

Well, you should know by now that IDM can be extreme.

Nah man I want like fractals, vague anime references, and artful slow-motion shit. :P

I'm not saying it wasn't bold or ballsy. I know the Butthole Surfers showed such footage at their shows back in the 80s, but with their music and persona it was expected.

  On 8/9/2013 at 7:59 PM, Audioblysk said:

Those visuals pretty much scream to me 'HAVE A TERRIBLE TRIP, MATE'

yeah, even before it got to the autopsy. the stuff with the fexfaces woulda tripped me out bad

  On 8/9/2013 at 4:57 AM, RadarJammer said:

 

  On 8/8/2013 at 10:02 PM, Herr Jan said:

 

Oh, and the two times with Hecker he displayed bestiality, autopsies and other nasty shit. Good times. Still, it's always worth it seeing the man, but I have to admit the routine in his shows since 2010 or so has gotten a little bit boring. Let's hope he does something new again next tour time (if ever).

 

what.the.fuck

 

is that legal? i can't imagine someone doing that to a crowd of music fans without someone getting hospitalized or sent to prison

Some people simply passed out, I saw people being dragged away by medical personnel.

But then again it was hot, crowded and noisy too.

i'm glad that they turned their backs, and also to hear that he wasn't putting togeather those visuals. Perhaps thought it would be pushing boundaries or something. Be like serving turds in a restaurant imO. /kinda like the gabba and noise sets .. heh.

no one really clearly answered the original posters question about does Aphex actually ever truly play 'live' instead of just Djing other people's tracks. The answer is yes, he used to more frequently than simple DJ sets. The last era of him doing continuous 'live' shows was during Come to Daddy and the RDJ album live show period. After that he seems almost entirely devoted to a more casual DJ type performance. I could be totally off base but it's a shame that there aren't a bunch of live alternate Druqks tracks floating around out there. I am not aware of a single fully 'live' show besides the remote orchestra performances he did in over a decade.

would be so bad ass to see him pull of Analord tracks live, Ceephax style hardware groovebox rig. He doesn't have to bring his 10 grand modulars or his GX-1.

saw him one time and in the section where it goes from acid techno to more breakbeat stuff the guys from Die antwood jump on stage in orange jumpsuits and bang out a rhyme, crowdsurf and then disappear backstage. All i saw of afx was a little wave from behind the big desk, was blazed as fuck and enjoyed the gig. Mark pritchard tore the place up opening, he played moving 808's from Optical and some other old techstep that got the place vibing.

I recorded the first 15 mins of afxs set, was pretty cool. hes a smartass. Got a few tracks ive never heard before, sounded similar to something off i care... nice bassy hiphop kinda vibes..

i can imagine seeing him again would be similar, would like to think he changes his sets up every year or so but who knows