APHEX TWIN - SYRO

Yeah, but guys, the album hasn't come out yet! O_O

  On 9/22/2014 at 12:18 AM, Roksen Creek said:

 

  On 9/22/2014 at 12:14 AM, conjugacy said:

 

  On 9/21/2014 at 11:38 PM, AliceS said:

To those that weren't really in to it, were you listening on headphones or speakers? I've noticed blasting it on speakers makes a huge difference over listening on headphones. I'm glad I listened to it on vinyl first time round, when I went to listen to it in my room with headphones on after, it definitely didn't feel nearly as good. I know this applies to a lot of music, but something like Drukqs is much better on headphones for me. Syro is very different.

 

I've listened on two different sets of high-end heaphones, I'm sure that's only a minor factor.

 

I didn't just say I'm not into it, I also gave a reason: I'm not seeing the clear and focused use of sounds and of structure that I am used to in my favorite aphex tracks. I am definitely getting aphex's interesting sound choices and all that loud and clear, but what I'm missing is how it's all put together. Can someone comment on this?

 

There are specific things I like about all of aphex's music which are missing from this release. that's what kills me.

 

 

Casting my mind back, I'm sure people were saying similar things about Drukqs when it was first released too. What did you think of that when you first listened to it?

 

Some tracks took me a while (ziggomatic). However, all aphex releases have at least a few tracks that just throw me into ecstasy on the first listening. For Drukqs it was vordhosbn, which still blows my mind. For analord, I even remember where I was when bwoon dub came on the first time, I even remember where I was when the secondary melody came on later in the track. the repeat listens cracked other tracks open...

syromania has swept the nations

get on board

  On 9/22/2014 at 12:21 AM, Brisbot said:

Well that one guy with like 14 posts obviously joined just to post that he didn't like it. He's very probably a troll.

 

I was taking the piss, and imo it's ridiculous to suggest that someone expressing their dislike for something is 'probably a troll'. If his post had like a mean spirited tirade about how everybody who loves Syro has shit in their ears you might have a point. Too much thin-skin ruins a good forum like Watmm.

  On 9/22/2014 at 12:14 AM, conjugacy said:

 

  On 9/21/2014 at 11:38 PM, AliceS said:

 

To those that weren't really in to it, were you listening on headphones or speakers? I've noticed blasting it on speakers makes a huge difference over listening on headphones. I'm glad I listened to it on vinyl first time round, when I went to listen to it in my room with headphones on after, it definitely didn't feel nearly as good. I know this applies to a lot of music, but something like Drukqs is much better on headphones for me. Syro is very different.

I've listened on two different sets of high-end heaphones, I'm sure that's only a minor factor.

 

I didn't just say I'm not into it, I also gave a reason: I'm not seeing the clear and focused use of sounds and of structure that I am used to in my favorite aphex tracks. I am definitely getting aphex's interesting sound choices and all that loud and clear, but what I'm missing is how it's all put together. Can someone comment on this?

 

There are specific things I like about all of aphex's music which are missing from this release. that's what kills me.

Take it for what it is.

I never expected anything, in fact I wasn't expecting it to live up to the hype but yeah, take it for what it is, listen to it with fresh ears (whatever that means)....

Of course there'll be stand it tunes. Just take it for what is man.

And yes I am drunk lol

It's decent though.

  On 9/22/2014 at 12:20 AM, John Ehrlichman said:

 

  On 9/21/2014 at 10:25 PM, conjugacy said:

So far, I don't like the album either.

 

To be honest, it sounds like richard noodling around with his hardware, no more no less.

I wouldn't 'say no more' but I do agree in part, tracks 6-9 sound like they were all made around the same time period with a very similar gear chain. These are the ones that come off as somewhat noodly to me but they are still great tracks. You feel this way equally about all the tracks?

 

The main jarring thing I notice is that a track will be going, and I wait to hear it take some interesting turn, but instead I feel like I get thrown some random experiment with his gear. the flow/structure of the tracks does not seem to have the glorious design I love in many aphex tracks. It's this haphazard meandering into gear clusters that led to my comment more than anything....

  On 9/22/2014 at 12:24 AM, John Ehrlichman said:

 

  On 9/22/2014 at 12:21 AM, Brisbot said:

Well that one guy with like 14 posts obviously joined just to post that he didn't like it. He's very probably a troll.

 

I was taking the piss, and imo it's ridiculous to suggest that someone expressing their dislike for something is 'probably a troll'. If his post had like a mean spirited tirade about how everybody who loves Syro has shit in their ears you might have a point. Too much think-skin ruins a good forum like Watmm.

 

Don't bother, he hasn't been able to understand that some people may just not like the album. In his opinion they're either wrong or trolls.

*thin skin , weird typo sorry

  On 9/22/2014 at 12:28 AM, HokusPoker said:

 

  On 9/22/2014 at 12:24 AM, John Ehrlichman said:

 

  On 9/22/2014 at 12:21 AM, Brisbot said:

Well that one guy with like 14 posts obviously joined just to post that he didn't like it. He's very probably a troll.

 

I was taking the piss, and imo it's ridiculous to suggest that someone expressing their dislike for something is 'probably a troll'. If his post had like a mean spirited tirade about how everybody who loves Syro has shit in their ears you might have a point. Too much think-skin ruins a good forum like Watmm.

 

 

Don't bother, he hasn't been able to understand that some people may just not like the album. In his opinion they're either wrong or trolls.

 

He had like 14 posts and every post he's posted so far was negative in some sense. I haven't seen any other kind of post from him. Which is why I think he's just trolling. His posts also sound angry in some way. I see no reason to join to just to post about an album I don't like.

Plus I think we're not talking about the same guy. This other guy was like 10 pages back.

And Hokus you've got me all figured out don't ya.

  On 9/22/2014 at 12:32 AM, Brisbot said:

 

  On 9/22/2014 at 12:28 AM, HokusPoker said:

 

  On 9/22/2014 at 12:24 AM, John Ehrlichman said:

 

  On 9/22/2014 at 12:21 AM, Brisbot said:

Well that one guy with like 14 posts obviously joined just to post that he didn't like it. He's very probably a troll.

 

I was taking the piss, and imo it's ridiculous to suggest that someone expressing their dislike for something is 'probably a troll'. If his post had like a mean spirited tirade about how everybody who loves Syro has shit in their ears you might have a point. Too much think-skin ruins a good forum like Watmm.

 

 

Don't bother, he hasn't been able to understand that some people may just not like the album. In his opinion they're either wrong or trolls.

 

He had like 14 posts and every post he's posted so far was negative in some sense. I haven't seen any other kind of post from him. Which is why I think he's just trolling. His posts also sound angry in some way. I see no reason to join to just to post about an album I don't like.

 

Plus I think we're not talking about the same guy. This other guy was like 10 pages back.

 

And Hokus you've got me all figured out don't ya.

 

WATMM has gotten a lot of attention through CAT023, so it's quite likely that many new users join and that not all of them like the album, but still would like to talk about that. Nothing funky there.

I'm not talking about anybody specific here, I just find your rather aggressive behaviour a bit annoying. No need to feel attacked, unless you're Richard, and even then: let people have their opinions and don't tell them they're wrong. It's ok to dislike!

its ok to be wrong

even i am, sometimes

  Quote

 

WATMM has gotten a lot of attention through CAT023, so it's quite likely that many new users join and that not all of them like the album, but still would like to talk about that. Nothing funky there.

I'm not talking about anybody specific here, I just find your rather aggressive behaviour a bit annoying. No need to feel attacked, unless you're Richard, and even then: let people have their opinions and don't tell them they're wrong. It's ok to dislike!

Hey I never told that guy he was wrong. I never even responded to him. I don't even remember his name. If you remember it's the guy that rated the album a 2/10. Like how could the whole album just be that dull? He's the only person I've seen doing that too.

I have responded to a few people wondering why, like if they could verbalize why they don't like something purely because I'm curious. Though I GUESS I should add the disclaimer that I'm curious verses I'm pissed off that they don't like it. I personally don't care for 180db for earth portal too much, except the end of earth portal.

That said there are a some things that are annoying me about the criticism.. like that it's not innovative enough... stuff like that. I don't get that. So I ask.

guys the only way out of this is to seppuku like men

(its also the only real way to experience syro)

  On 9/22/2014 at 12:48 AM, MisterE said:

guys the only way out of this is to seppuku like men

 

(its also the only real way to experience syro)

okay maybe I should read the last few pages of the thread. I think I missed something. But I don't feel like it. Oh well.

how about stop being dumb

misterE please stop referencing seppuku

i'm worried about u

seppuku sounds like something to not look up ever.

  On 9/22/2014 at 12:45 AM, Brisbot said:

 

  Quote

 

WATMM has gotten a lot of attention through CAT023, so it's quite likely that many new users join and that not all of them like the album, but still would like to talk about that. Nothing funky there.

I'm not talking about anybody specific here, I just find your rather aggressive behaviour a bit annoying. No need to feel attacked, unless you're Richard, and even then: let people have their opinions and don't tell them they're wrong. It's ok to dislike!

Hey I never told that guy he was wrong. I never even responded to him. I don't even remember his name. He's the only person I've seen doing that.

I have responded to a few people wondering why, like if they could verbalize why they don't like something purely because I'm curious. Though I GUESS I should add the disclaimer that I'm curious verses I'm pissed off that they don't like it. I personally don't care for 180db for earth portal too much, except the end of earth portal.

 

That said there are a some things that are annoying me about the criticism.. like that it's not innovative enough... stuff like that. I don't get that. So I ask.

 

You sort of told me and some other people some pages back we were wrong or hadn't tried hard enough. Whatever, doesn't matter.

I personally never said I thought it wasn't innovative enough (and can't remember anybody actually complaining about that). We knew it might not be, with Richard saying so himself. It just seems some cannot connect to it emotionally.

Richard's been talking a lot about his obsession with analyzing and de-composing tracks, trying to find their samples, gear, sounds, etc.

It fits with what I complain about, that I don't feel it. There are a lot of different sounds (and machinery, check the sleeves!) involved, but I rarely get in 'the zone'. It's hard to explain it better other than: it doesn't work (unusually big parts don't work, to be precise).

If I was asked if I'd rather take, say, Vordhosbn or the entire Syro to the famous desert island, I wouldn't hesitate a second to just take Vordhosbn. It doesn't mean Syro is a piece of crap, and as I said, I might like and love it some day, but so far, not much has happened for me.

It also doesn't mean I don't have my wallet ready to buy whatever album there might be in the making without even thinking about it.

  On 9/22/2014 at 12:57 AM, Brisbot said:

seppuku sounds like something to not look up ever.

baka gaijin

  On 9/22/2014 at 12:14 AM, conjugacy said:

I didn't just say I'm not into it, I also gave a reason: I'm not seeing the clear and focused use of sounds and of structure that I am used to in my favorite aphex tracks. I am definitely getting aphex's interesting sound choices and all that loud and clear, but what I'm missing is how it's all put together. Can someone comment on this?

Without knowing your fave Aphex songs, it's hard to comment. How it's all put together is vey unique to this album. No other Aphex has had this kind of freeform structure that keeps subtly changing over the different tracks. His 90's stuff is very simple structure-wise, but this one is experimenting on this level as well, which makes it more challenging to those who want instant gratification. It's not that it isn't a clear structure anymore, but it's a next-gen structure - it's neither 100 % linear nor 100 % unpredictable. You have to navigate in between the two.

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You sort of told me and some other people some pages back we were wrong or hadn't tried hard enough. Whatever, doesn't matter.

I personally never said I thought it wasn't innovative enough (and can't remember anybody actually complaining about that). We knew it might not be, with Richard saying so himself. It just seems some cannot connect to it emotionally.

 

Richard's been talking a lot about his obsession with analyzing and de-composing tracks, trying to find their samples, gear, sounds, etc.

It fits with what I complain about, that I don't feel it. There are a lot of different sounds (and machinery, check the sleeves!) involved, but I rarely get in 'the zone'. It's hard to explain it better other than: it doesn't work (unusually big parts don't work, to be precise).

If I was asked if I'd rather take, say, Vordhosbn or the entire Syro to the famous desert island, I wouldn't hesitate a second to just take Vordhosbn. It doesn't mean Syro is a piece of crap, and as I said, I might like and love it some day, but so far, not much has happened for me.

 

It also doesn't mean I don't have my wallet ready to buy whatever album there might be in the making without even thinking about it.

The most I've done is tell someone that I bet they'll change their mind. I don't remember telling them to try harder. It doesn't sound like something I've said recently. The innovation thing comes from other online reviews from 'top critics' that posted stuff about it. Like they'll give the album a 4/5 or whatever then lament at the end: it's nothing new. which was their only piece of negative criticism, which is annoying. There were a few people who said that it wasn't as good as drukqs, so I felt like posted that I thought it was better than Drukqs because I do. But I'm not putting Drukqs down for saying that am I? I mean it's implied that I think it's better, not that Drukqs sucks and Syro doesn't. That said I understand that someone would prefer Drukqs over Syro, but I'll still ask what's going through their head because I'm curious

If the album had turned out to be shit I would have mentioned it somewhere I guess. Thankfully it's way far from it though. I am also looking forward to his more experimental stuff he claims to have.

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baka gaijin

Except I know what that means.

  On 9/22/2014 at 12:14 AM, conjugacy said:

 

  On 9/21/2014 at 11:38 PM, AliceS said:

To those that weren't really in to it, were you listening on headphones or speakers? I've noticed blasting it on speakers makes a huge difference over listening on headphones. I'm glad I listened to it on vinyl first time round, when I went to listen to it in my room with headphones on after, it definitely didn't feel nearly as good. I know this applies to a lot of music, but something like Drukqs is much better on headphones for me. Syro is very different.

 

I've listened on two different sets of high-end heaphones, I'm sure that's only a minor factor.

 

I didn't just say I'm not into it, I also gave a reason: I'm not seeing the clear and focused use of sounds and of structure that I am used to in my favorite aphex tracks. I am definitely getting aphex's interesting sound choices and all that loud and clear, but what I'm missing is how it's all put together. Can someone comment on this?

 

There are specific things I like about all of aphex's music which are missing from this release. that's what kills me.

 

This is pretty much how I feel. It seems the people that don't like it share the same reasons...

one of the best parts of it is the way some songs don't spell it out for you. ace imo

  On 9/22/2014 at 12:22 AM, John Ehrlichman said:

S950tx16wasr10 (Earth Portal Mix) is the only track I really can't get into yet. I absolutely love the intro, the closest Aphex has ever gotten to classic jungle (that one single pitch up of the break at :48? brilliant) but after those little FM melodies come in the track falls apart for me

Interesting, I thought the melodic content towards the end was brilliant, one of the best melodies on the album imo