Aphex Twin: Revisit 'Selected Ambient Works Volume II', first released in March 1994

Then, as now, the first thing you become aware of with Selected Ambient Works Volume II is its purity, its starkness, its emptiness. There have been quieter records, more minimal records, more difficult records. But few have done so much with so little; few have shown less interest in being any more forthcoming than they are, in meeting the listener anywhere near halfway, in making the slightest attempt at articulating their own ambiguous emotional terrain. SAW II can be warm and it can be chilly; it can be sentimental and it can be forbidding, but it would be hard to call it expressive, exactly.

that's definitely a "take". 

yawn

brian eno tho

yawn³

don't pelt me with rotten fruit but the pitchfork scribe did well on that (imo)

*pelts with rotten vegetables*

my face when I clicked the thread hoping for vinyl reissue of SAW II and found pitchfuck review instead...

is hello spiral saying he doesn't like SAW II or what? That's a paddlin.

It's funny that Pitchfork would mention watmm as this forum has maligned them for over a decade.

Confirmed outtake

https://youtu.be/8jZDW53U8qQ

Rhubarb is my least favourite track on SAWII. SAWII is my favourite AFX album but I don’t care about the film of the same name.

lol

  On 5/5/2019 at 10:26 PM, dr lopez said:

is hello spiral saying he doesn't like SAW II or what? That's a paddlin.

that's not what I said. 

Hey Warp.  How about a reissue, but that 4xLP version alluded to in the Pitchfork article...

I remember reading once, back in the day, that "On (28 Mix)" was called that because it was supposedly the 28th track from SAWII

  On 5/5/2019 at 10:39 AM, bitchroast said:

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Then, as now, the first thing you become aware of with Selected Ambient Works Volume II is its purity, its starkness, its emptiness. There have been quieter records, more minimal records, more difficult records. But few have done so much with so little; few have shown less interest in being any more forthcoming than they are, in meeting the listener anywhere near halfway, in making the slightest attempt at articulating their own ambiguous emotional terrain. SAW II can be warm and it can be chilly; it can be sentimental and it can be forbidding, but it would be hard to call it expressive, exactly.

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still can’t get over how bad this take is. bad article. also can’t believe  someone got paid for this “webster’s dictionary defines Ambient Music as..” trash.

to think saw2 is not reflective of someone’s feelings seems like it couldn’t be further from truth ..... imo .... personally. it’s like the ultimate lsd experience. when you’re tripping and all your emotions and deep down scary feelings have been gutted out and put on display. that’s what saw2 sounds and feels like. ,,,, to me.

I acquired my CD copy of this 20ish years ago from a bookstore along with some books & magazines. when I got to the counter to pay, the check out girl scanned my other items and then stopped and looked at this CD a sec. "this is his best one" is what I remember she said. we then engaged in small talk for a minute or so. (no, I didn't ask for her number and can't remember why). and then it happened... she forgot to scan SAW II before putting it in the bag. I immediately noticed this and paused for a second, waiting to see if she'd catch this error. she didn't and I didn't say a word. I remember walking to the parking lot thinking "did that just happen?" was it intentional she gave it to me for free? should I walk back in and offer to pay? I didn't. I know I am going to hell for this. sorry richard.

  On 9/14/2020 at 9:55 PM, zero said:

I acquired my CD copy of this 20ish years ago from a bookstore along with some books & magazines. when I got to the counter to pay, the check out girl scanned my other items and then stopped and looked at this CD a sec. "this is his best one" is what I remember she said. we then engaged in small talk for a minute or so. (no, I didn't ask for her number and can't remember why). and then it happened... she forgot to scan SAW II before putting it in the bag. I immediately noticed this and paused for a second, waiting to see if she'd catch this error. she didn't and I didn't say a word. I remember walking to the parking lot thinking "did that just happen?" was it intentional she gave it to me for free? should I walk back in and offer to pay? I didn't. I know I am going to hell for this. sorry richard.

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Years ago, I lent my only copy of the SAW2 double CD to this little hippy I sometimes encountered in the local park. When I had the audacity to ask for it back weeks later, he just shrugged and said in the most nonchalant way that he didn't have it anymore, in exchange offering me a CD-R with Lounge Sounds 37 or whatever on it that he produced from his crusty ol' bag. I told him -- no, not to shove it, but to keep it, and went to procure a new copy for myself, viewing the whole thing as a sort of cultural donation to global hippydom.

What I want to say is that in the grand scheme of things, I compensated for your sin by buying two copies. No one needs to go to hell. Except that dirty lil' hippy, of course. Nah, just kidding, he was alright. His parents named him Evol, because that's "love" spelled backwards. True story.

I guess ambient is kind of trendy right now, but I still haven't heard anything quite like SAW2. I'm no Aphex fanboy, at least by WATMM standards, but I think it's pretty special. There's a particular quality to it; it's alive and real like sunshine, grass, and puddles. I don't know how to express it without sounding pretentious. And I'm sure it's all been said.

I think that "take" bitchroast quoted is actually pretty accurate - I think it does miss the mark somewhat, but it hints decently at this kind of detachment (in the Buddhist/Taoist sense) I've always felt from it. Like... I trust SAW2 because it just is.

  On 9/18/2020 at 2:34 AM, sweepstakes said:

I guess ambient is kind of trendy right now, but I still haven't heard anything quite like SAW2.

That's because there really isn't anything else like it, at least not that I've ever heard.

I've always been rather bemused by those titles, SAW85-92 and SAWII.  SAW85-92 has perhaps a toenail in ambience and surely the title speaks more to RDJ's sense of humor than the music contained.  SAWII, has a bit more, a leg or so in ambience, but it really is so much more and even a little less.  It's brilliant, minimalist electronica which is virtually unique to itself; sometimes flitting on the edge of periphery and other times thumping and bumping.  It is amazing the album hasn't spawned more imitations; perhaps others have tried and fallen flat, never to be noticed for the effort?  Whatever, it's a cracking good and timeless album.

Blue Calx FTW.

A curious side note:  I own the CD version of SAWII, which does not include track #4(Hankie), from the vinyl version.  I'm listening to that track again now, and once again I'm struck at how jarring it feels compared to the rest of the album.  If one track was to be removed for the CD version, James certainly chose the correct one.

  On 9/24/2020 at 10:21 PM, tailings said:

A curious side note:  I own the CD version of SAWII, which does not include track #4(Hankie), from the vinyl version.  I'm listening to that track again now, and once again I'm struck at how jarring it feels compared to the rest of the album.  If one track was to be removed for the CD version, James certainly chose the correct one.

thats a great track imo (among an album full of great tracks..).  i like how the album oscillates between tranquil and paranoid moods, and some tracks being ambiguously in-between.  #4 is on the anxious side of the spectrum, but it adds to the early part of the album by pulling you deeper into the dreamlike vibe

SAW II brown vinyl is one of my favorite purchases. It’s kinda ghetto copy, doesn’t have the ltd edition number sticker on it and the record labels are marked with the previous owner’s rubber stamp but I got it cheap in the early 2000’s before the Discogs mark up effect took rares into the stratosphere. SAW II is a perfect album to me.