APHEX TWIN - SYRO

Did Joyrex ever get the special edition version?

  On 12/14/2015 at 3:12 PM, psn said:

lol

brilliant!

well, if it's time for reminiscenses, I remember my first immersive, focused listening of Syro --- it gave me jolts ... like something is off, not like expected ... in terms of pitches ... so I wonder if there is any analysis by someone with good ears on scales and tunings ...

The musicians (especially the drummer) in that minipops cover are drifting too much. More rehearsal needed. Compositionally it was handled well.

XMAS_EVE IS A MADE UP DRUKQS

Syrup is the best work of fx tween till date. Waiting impatiently for the sequel: ketchup

There is some silly stuff on this album. Some of it is even borderline embarrassing.

When it's on, though, it is skeleton-jellifyingly on. Produk is up there with his greatest ever.

  On 1/23/2016 at 5:43 AM, doorjamb said:

There is some silly stuff on this album. Some of it is even borderline embarrassing.

Do tell?

He's been reading the artwork ;D

Or lyrics in minipops :P

  On 1/24/2016 at 8:11 PM, Audioblysk said:

 

  On 1/23/2016 at 5:43 AM, doorjamb said:

There is some silly stuff on this album. Some of it is even borderline embarrassing.

 

Do tell?

 

Philistine though I doubtless be, I would point to the ~4m breakdown bit of Piezoluminescence and honestly all but the last 30 seconds of Circlont6a. Still crisp and lush in terms of production, but disappointing and, as I say, silly insofar as tone and melody.

¢2.

please get your coat, sir.

Relistening to Syro and I heard something interesting... In 180db you can hear the synth melody saying "ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY DB" if you listen close enough

EDIT: Spelling and grammar

oh cool. would listen to it if i hadn't deleted the most overrated track in the album

  On 1/26/2016 at 6:41 AM, doorjamb said:

 

  On 1/24/2016 at 8:11 PM, Audioblysk said:

 

  On 1/23/2016 at 5:43 AM, doorjamb said:

There is some silly stuff on this album. Some of it is even borderline embarrassing.

 

Do tell?

 

Philistine though I doubtless be, I would point to the ~4m breakdown bit of Piezoluminescence and honestly all but the last 30 seconds of Circlont6a. Still crisp and lush in terms of production, but disappointing and, as I say, silly insofar as tone and melody.

 

¢2.

 

Yeah but hasn't there been silly stuff the whole way through his discography? I mean, he's always had a sense of humour; a light touch here and there. A glint in the eye, a wink and a nudge, arched eyebrow and an eye on the mainstream.

And an extra set of eyes to do all that ;)

Fair enough. I love Windowlicker, despite the iffy second half—but that's partly because I understand it to be thoroughly tongue-in-cheek (especially given the MTV satire of the video & the similar vibe of Come to Daddy). But I don't actually get the sense that Syro is meant to be taken that way; it feels more like a serious comment on, or refinement of, a lot of trends in the bland, mainstream edm & dubstep that Marco Rubio listens to.

Which is fine, but a big aspect of Richard's appeal for me is his ear for melody. Some of his most minimal, uncomplicated tracks are also the most melodically hard-hitting, & he's always been great at inserting micro-bends & tweaks that can totally change what would otherwise become monotonous. I find Syro underwhelming in that respect.

This album seems closest in many ways to RDJ Album, which I've always had a love-hate relationship with because it's so melodically saccharine. But RDJ Album makes up for it with psychedelic weirdness like Logan Rock Witch & digital children singing about feet, arms, & ears. Syro lacks that druggy vibe, & often ends up just being sickly sweet & overly invested in the sonic-palette-du-jour (viz. the Piezoluminescence breakdown).

It's not smooth or inoffensive enough to be a genuine classic like the SAWs/Analord/ICBYD, not mental enough to rise to the level of Drukqs/HAB/Classics, & not weird enough to be fun as are Windowlicker/CTD/RDJ Album. It's got bits & pieces of each aesthetic, but it falls short of any of them.

It's just tunes. Good tunes.

Apologies in advance for pretentious extended discussion post about Syro... in a Syro thread on an IDM message board...

Take your memes to the dank memes thread, meme fans. Everyone else watch out for the MFM mud sling ;)

That's a good job of explaining where you're coming from, doorjamb, and I understand the position without agreeing with it. Syro overall does feel more serious but I also think that tracks like Circlont6a and syro u473t8+e are fun, if not playful in the same way as RDJ and CTD. I remember the first time I listened and heard the motif that repeats across those two tracks. That seemed like a piss take at first but I think it's just a bit of fun.

I was disappointed that the album didn't seem to go anywhere on the first couple of listens. After a while, it clicked. I think it's an album of music that spirals in on itself rather than goes anywhere. There's definitely a lack of emotion (other than aisatsana) and, for me, the pleasure in listening comes from the interplay of textures, beats and micro-melodies. There's loads of little melodies that, on first listening, I wanted to continue for whole songs but are abandoned after just a couple of bars. Now I enjoy the continuous shifting and cutting. I'm getting old (and spending more on headphones ;) ), so simply listening for the pleasure of textures is enough for me, and I can live with aphex not flexing the melody muscles.

There's lots of detail to enjoy on the album. The varying attack on the piano notes at the start of XMAS_EVE 10, that soaking wet kick on produk 29, the 90s Jungle snares and bongo on earth portal and PAPAT4, the 80s sci-fi movie pads on 4 bit, the bubble popping synth on CIRCLONT6A. The retro analogue sound is du jour, as you say, but to be fair, this is a palette aphex has been playing with and exploring for over a decade now. And nobody has used it this well.

Well over a year from release and I'm still listening to tracks from this album almost daily. The pleasure of exploring the interplay of every subtle, and unsubtle, element has only become stronger with familiarity. Knowing what's coming next in different levels of such labyrinthine tracks has only boosted the dopamine rewards of repeated listens.

Having said all that, I too can't be doing with 180bd..... nope, not for me.

I prefer the seriousness and occasional fun of Syro to the cringy student humour of milkman and come on you slags etc., and everyone's got the aphex they don't 'get'; I still can't break into Expert Knob Twiddlers and don't feel particularly excited about MFM. Cute little ditties for computer games. That's the silly stuff for me ;)

jaysus, that tom jones song is woeful.

  On 3/1/2016 at 6:39 PM, caze said:

jaysus, that tom jones song is woeful.

It's like he just haunts the studio through slap-back echo's and reverb...

Structure and harmony and melody and rhythm in the notes

  On 2/23/2016 at 11:07 AM, Jez Courtez said:

Apologies in advance for pretentious extended discussion post about Syro... in a Syro thread on an IDM message board...

Take your memes to the dank memes thread, meme fans. Everyone else watch out for the MFM mud sling ;)

 

That's a good job of explaining where you're coming from, doorjamb, and I understand the position without agreeing with it. Syro overall does feel more serious but I also think that tracks like Circlont6a and syro u473t8+e are fun, if not playful in the same way as RDJ and CTD. I remember the first time I listened and heard the motif that repeats across those two tracks. That seemed like a piss take at first but I think it's just a bit of fun.

 

I was disappointed that the album didn't seem to go anywhere on the first couple of listens. After a while, it clicked. I think it's an album of music that spirals in on itself rather than goes anywhere. There's definitely a lack of emotion (other than aisatsana) and, for me, the pleasure in listening comes from the interplay of textures, beats and micro-melodies. There's loads of little melodies that, on first listening, I wanted to continue for whole songs but are abandoned after just a couple of bars. Now I enjoy the continuous shifting and cutting. I'm getting old (and spending more on headphones ;) ), so simply listening for the pleasure of textures is enough for me, and I can live with aphex not flexing the melody muscles.

 

There's lots of detail to enjoy on the album. The varying attack on the piano notes at the start of XMAS_EVE 10, that soaking wet kick on produk 29, the 90s Jungle snares and bongo on earth portal and PAPAT4, the 80s sci-fi movie pads on 4 bit, the bubble popping synth on CIRCLONT6A. The retro analogue sound is du jour, as you say, but to be fair, this is a palette aphex has been playing with and exploring for over a decade now. And nobody has used it this well.

 

Well over a year from release and I'm still listening to tracks from this album almost daily. The pleasure of exploring the interplay of every subtle, and unsubtle, element has only become stronger with familiarity. Knowing what's coming next in different levels of such labyrinthine tracks has only boosted the dopamine rewards of repeated listens.

 

Having said all that, I too can't be doing with 180bd..... nope, not for me.

 

I prefer the seriousness and occasional fun of Syro to the cringy student humour of milkman and come on you slags etc., and everyone's got the aphex they don't 'get'; I still can't break into Expert Knob Twiddlers and don't feel particularly excited about MFM. Cute little ditties for computer games. That's the silly stuff for me ;)

I haven't played Syro for a while now, but I found this post quite motivational in getting back on again. I know I'm not fully locked into the Syro groove where I should be. I know it's only a matter of time because I always get a warm wave of anticipation before I press play.

  On 3/2/2016 at 8:45 PM, beerwolf said:

I haven't played Syro for a while now, but I found this post quite motivational in getting back on again. I know I'm not fully locked into the Syro groove where I should be. I know it's only a matter of time because I always get a warm wave of anticipation before I press play.

Reminds me of how I was with SAW2 - took me a good couple of years of occasionally wheeling it out for a dutiful listen, before eventually it clicked. It's like visiting an unapologetic criminal relative in prison and one day discovering they've reformed. Or how you eventually see the beauty in your average looking co-workers ;)

Fascinating video. Shame they never asked Mandy about the clipping; that discussion was thrilling when Syro came out...

Now, as a complete lay person, I guess that her desk is expressing its analogue character by dint of the construction of its inner workings, but can someone explain to me (without being mean) the benefit of her knobs having fixed-click increments instead of being analogue too? Thanks in advance ;)

That was common in vintage gear. Instead of a variable resistor (potentiometer), you would choose between a handful of set resistors. Typically in this kind of equalizers, each setting would boost/attenuate a given frequency.

Early type of parametric eq I guess.