Aphex Twin: Syro Listening

10 cm diameter.

i think people who go to these events should try to nab more then one of everything and give them out for free to people here, the person receiving only has to cover postage.

There was ZERO Aphex swag at the NY event. Nothing. Major bummer.

The LA event was interesting. The location was very small and had a pretty underwhelming sound system. It was loud enough but the audio quality was a bit muddy. I kept thinking a lot of you guys would have been pissed by that.

They had no promotional items, which was a huge bummer. Not even stickers.

There were 3 small SYRO posters hanging up by the enterance, where we had to check our phones, but they weren't for distribution. I asked the girl who was checking the phones if I could keep one but she militantly told me no.

The album is fantastic. Big surprise. It definitely sounds more like The Tuss than the Analords. It's very beat-driven. The last 2 tracks were my favorites.

  On 9/7/2014 at 2:04 AM, Papillon said:

 

  On 9/7/2014 at 12:57 AM, ianandi said:

I can't make it to the Toronto event - anyone want my ticket?

 

Honestly I don't think they are transferable though the one I got (emailed) says they ask for id, your name, and email address and check against a guest list...

 

I wonder if anyone is going to the Toronto show, none of my friends or my lady got a ticket, I'm just going myself...lol

 

I called the venue and though the guy working the event firmly told me you do need an ID, after talking about how it would suck if there was an empty seat he changed his tune a little and suggested that if you want to roll the dice and try the email only it's your call. I think someone could get in with simply an email once they realize it's not being claimed. If it were me I'd try...

  On 9/7/2014 at 3:14 PM, J3FF3R00 said:

The LA event was interesting. The location was very small and had a pretty underwhelming sound system. It was loud enough but the audio quality was a bit muddy. I kept thinking a lot of you guys would have been pissed by that.

They had no promotional items, which was a huge bummer. Not even stickers.

There were 3 small SYRO posters hanging up by the enterance, where we had to check our phones, but they weren't for distribution. I asked the girl who was checking the phones if I could keep one but she militantly told me no.

The album is fantastic. Big surprise. It definitely sounds more like The Tuss than the Analords. It's very beat-driven. The last 2 tracks were my favorites.

Btw, I had to mention... Before they played the album, I overheard a guy next to me ask this girl "Will they be here". She asked "who?". He said "The Aphex Twins". She said "probably not. It's just one guy." This confused him. She said "Aphex Twin is just one guy". Then the guy said "He was more of an 80s thing, right? I thought he was more of an 80s guy. I really like his 86-91 album. It's ALWAYS on my spotify, like all the time".

  On 9/7/2014 at 3:49 PM, J3FF3R00 said:

 

  On 9/7/2014 at 3:14 PM, J3FF3R00 said:

The LA event was interesting. The location was very small and had a pretty underwhelming sound system. It was loud enough but the audio quality was a bit muddy. I kept thinking a lot of you guys would have been pissed by that.

They had no promotional items, which was a huge bummer. Not even stickers.

There were 3 small SYRO posters hanging up by the enterance, where we had to check our phones, but they weren't for distribution. I asked the girl who was checking the phones if I could keep one but she militantly told me no.

The album is fantastic. Big surprise. It definitely sounds more like The Tuss than the Analords. It's very beat-driven. The last 2 tracks were my favorites.

Btw, I had to mention... Before they played the album, I overheard a guy next to me ask this girl "Will they be here". She asked "who?". He said "The Aphex Twins". She said "probably not. It's just one guy." This confused him. She said "Aphex Twin is just one guy". Then the guy said "He was more of an 80s thing, right? I thought he was more of an 80s guy. I really like his 86-91 album. It's ALWAYS on my spotify, like all the time".

 

awww, sounds like he was trying to impress her

  On 9/7/2014 at 3:49 PM, J3FF3R00 said:

 

  On 9/7/2014 at 3:14 PM, J3FF3R00 said:

The LA event was interesting. The location was very small and had a pretty underwhelming sound system. It was loud enough but the audio quality was a bit muddy. I kept thinking a lot of you guys would have been pissed by that.

They had no promotional items, which was a huge bummer. Not even stickers.

There were 3 small SYRO posters hanging up by the enterance, where we had to check our phones, but they weren't for distribution. I asked the girl who was checking the phones if I could keep one but she militantly told me no.

The album is fantastic. Big surprise. It definitely sounds more like The Tuss than the Analords. It's very beat-driven. The last 2 tracks were my favorites.

Btw, I had to mention... Before they played the album, I overheard a guy next to me ask this girl "Will they be here". She asked "who?". He said "The Aphex Twins". She said "probably not. It's just one guy." This confused him. She said "Aphex Twin is just one guy". Then the guy said "He was more of an 80s thing, right? I thought he was more of an 80s guy. I really like his 86-91 album. It's ALWAYS on my spotify, like all the time".

 

And people like that are rewarded with a lottery ticket while a lot of 'real fans' have to stay at home. Just saying

p.s. good to have you back!

  On 9/7/2014 at 4:05 PM, Herr Jan said:

 

  On 9/7/2014 at 3:49 PM, J3FF3R00 said:

 

  On 9/7/2014 at 3:14 PM, J3FF3R00 said:

The LA event was interesting. The location was very small and had a pretty underwhelming sound system. It was loud enough but the audio quality was a bit muddy. I kept thinking a lot of you guys would have been pissed by that.

They had no promotional items, which was a huge bummer. Not even stickers.

There were 3 small SYRO posters hanging up by the enterance, where we had to check our phones, but they weren't for distribution. I asked the girl who was checking the phones if I could keep one but she militantly told me no.

The album is fantastic. Big surprise. It definitely sounds more like The Tuss than the Analords. It's very beat-driven. The last 2 tracks were my favorites.

Btw, I had to mention... Before they played the album, I overheard a guy next to me ask this girl "Will they be here". She asked "who?". He said "The Aphex Twins". She said "probably not. It's just one guy." This confused him. She said "Aphex Twin is just one guy". Then the guy said "He was more of an 80s thing, right? I thought he was more of an 80s guy. I really like his 86-91 album. It's ALWAYS on my spotify, like all the time".

 

 

And people like that are rewarded with a lottery ticket while a lot of 'real fans' have to stay at home. Just saying

 

p.s. good to have you back!

 

Thanks! Good to be back :)

I think I overheard that he got in because his neighbor was one of the promoters. At first, I thought the same as you, "Why should he be he get in when others who would KILL to be there have to miss out?"

Then I thought "Hopefully, he'll have a mind-blowing experience that will shape his world view and spur his appreciation for more of the Aphex Twins' catalog"

  On 9/7/2014 at 3:47 PM, ianandi said:

 

  On 9/7/2014 at 2:04 AM, Papillon said:

 

 

  On 9/7/2014 at 12:57 AM, ianandi said:

I can't make it to the Toronto event - anyone want my ticket?

 

Honestly I don't think they are transferable though the one I got (emailed) says they ask for id, your name, and email address and check against a guest list...

 

I wonder if anyone is going to the Toronto show, none of my friends or my lady got a ticket, I'm just going myself...lol

I called the venue and though the guy working the event firmly told me you do need an ID, after talking about how it would suck if there was an empty seat he changed his tune a little and suggested that if you want to roll the dice and try the email only it's your call. I think someone could get in with simply an email once they realize it's not being claimed. If it were me I'd try...

You called Coda? I googled the venue, doesn't look to bad actually I read they have a good system, from the front door I'd expect a grubby place...

Huh I wish I'd thought of calling earlier. Thanks for the effort though, I'm leaving in a few minutes because I will be drinking and don't want to have to drive home...

Really looking forward to it, I haven't done much all day today so this is the highlight of my weekend....

Going to the Chicago show in a bit. Can't wait.

  On 9/7/2014 at 8:21 PM, axi0n said:

Going to the Chicago show in a bit. Can't wait.

Enjoy, post back on how the event was if you get a chance. I tried to go to this one but alas I was not chosen. Curious to the setting, how it plays out and if they will be handing out any promotional stuff. Anyways have a blast!

I managed to talk my friends way in instead of me for the Chicago show. Since I saw New York I wanted to spread the love. The first 8 people firmly gave me the "no transfers" spiel, but I managed to get the ear of someone in charge, who got me marked off the list and my buddy admitted. Perseverance works. Now I'm killing time drinking next door while he gets a listen.

THE ALBUM'S GOOD Y'ALL.

  On 9/8/2014 at 12:20 AM, gtbean said:

I managed to talk my friends way in instead of me for the Chicago show. Since I saw New York I wanted to spread the love. The first 8 people firmly gave me the "no transfers" spiel, but I managed to get the ear of someone in charge, who got me marked off the list and my buddy admitted. Perseverance works. Now I'm killing time drinking next door while he gets a listen.

 

THE ALBUM'S GOOD Y'ALL.

How kind of you good sir! Have another drink, hope your buddy digs it

  On 9/7/2014 at 3:14 PM, J3FF3R00 said:

The LA event was interesting. The location was very small and had a pretty underwhelming sound system. It was loud enough but the audio quality was a bit muddy. I kept thinking a lot of you guys would have been pissed by that.

They had no promotional items, which was a huge bummer. Not even stickers.

There were 3 small SYRO posters hanging up by the enterance, where we had to check our phones, but they weren't for distribution. I asked the girl who was checking the phones if I could keep one but she militantly told me no.

The album is fantastic. Big surprise. It definitely sounds more like The Tuss than the Analords. It's very beat-driven. The last 2 tracks were my favorites.

Yo! I disagree wholeheartedly about the sound system. I thought it sounded excellent, however, to get the perfect effect you had to be standing right in the center of the dance floor. (The bartender told me this as I walked in). I tried standing in different areas and the sound was night and day. Super muddy near the bar and even sitting off the center of the stage the highs would taper. Where were you?

  On 9/7/2014 at 3:49 PM, J3FF3R00 said:

Btw, I had to mention... Before they played the album, I overheard a guy next to me ask this girl "Will they be here". She asked "who?". He said "The Aphex Twins". She said "probably not. It's just one guy." This confused him. She said "Aphex Twin is just one guy". Then the guy said "He was more of an 80s thing, right? I thought he was more of an 80s guy. I really like his 86-91 album. It's ALWAYS on my spotify, like all the time".

  On 9/8/2014 at 2:08 AM, Mike_Haggar said:

 

  On 9/7/2014 at 3:14 PM, J3FF3R00 said:

 

The LA event was interesting. The location was very small and had a pretty underwhelming sound system. It was loud enough but the audio quality was a bit muddy. I kept thinking a lot of you guys would have been pissed by that.

They had no promotional items, which was a huge bummer. Not even stickers.

There were 3 small SYRO posters hanging up by the enterance, where we had to check our phones, but they weren't for distribution. I asked the girl who was checking the phones if I could keep one but she militantly told me no.

The album is fantastic. Big surprise. It definitely sounds more like The Tuss than the Analords. It's very beat-driven. The last 2 tracks were my favorites.

Yo! I disagree wholeheartedly about the sound system. I thought it sounded excellent, however, to get the perfect effect you had to be standing right in the center of the dance floor. (The bartender told me this as I walked in). I tried standing in different areas and the sound was night and day. Super muddy near the bar and even sitting off the center of the stage the highs would taper. Where were you?

The Chicago show was fantastic. So glad I got to hear the entire album on a proper system. It simply won't be the same come cd time, but I'm just happy I had the chance to hear it loud in its entirety. No freebies though. That kinda sucked. Okay that really sucked.

Not sure how the other shows went but for most of the Chicago show, it was pitch black. With sporadic pinches of strobe during some tracks but then it'd go black again. And there was a green Aphex logo laser light that would pop up here and there on the wall now and again, expanding and shrinking etc. Oh and they turned the fog machine on.

  On 9/8/2014 at 4:38 PM, GyreViper said:

The Chicago show was fantastic. So glad I got to hear the entire album on a proper system. It simply won't be the same come cd time, but I'm just happy I had the chance to hear it loud in its entirety. No freebies though. That kinda sucked. Okay that really sucked.

 

Not sure how the other shows went but for most of the Chicago show, it was pitch black. With sporadic pinches of strobe during some tracks but then it'd go black again. And there was a green Aphex logo laser light that would pop up here and there on the wall now and again, expanding and shrinking etc. Oh and they turned the fog machine on.

SmartBar has a Funktion One, which is pretty freakin' incredible.

Yeah, the Chicago listening party was about as great as I could have hoped. I stood right in the sweet spot of the soundsystem.

They let me in on my buddy's ticket, but I think it was only because I was prepared with an email from him containing his cell #. They actually called to confirm and make sure that my story was legitimate, but they did let me in.

Couldn't be more grateful to SmartBar or to the Warp crew that made this possible. Album was fantastic. Can't wait to hear it again.

jesus so sad I missed the smartbar thing. live about a 5 min walk from it and yet didn't get a ticket!>!>!>! argh

Chicago listening party attended at the Smart Bar last night. Drove four hours, waiting in line chatted up an individual that was on business from Boston and another that drove over three hours from Indiana. Had no idea what to expect.

Seemed kind of unorganized but the staff was cool. Security was pretty lax. Requested to turn off all phones before entering and ask they not be taken out at any point during playback. Bag check, no pat downs or cavity searches to the best of my knowledge.

Nothing was uttered from the staff before playing. They hit play, it played a few seconds and cut off. Had to restart the album. Kind of interesting how majority of people faced towards the DJ booth as there wasn’t much to see. At one point a couple zig-zaged through the crowd to get up front. Smoke machine used (almost too often), occasional lighting/strobes and unproportionate green outlined Aphex logo from time to time laser projected behind the booth. Was positioned fairly close to the middle of the floor for listening. Great bass to be had from their sound system, which seemed to be above par. At times some tracks sounded “distant”, especially last track. Could have been how the audio was encoded/supplied, could be my abused ears from the years. Unimportant.

The album is an aural delicacy as a whole. Would personally label it The Tuss on steroids. May have been my mind playing tricks on me, but heard a section that was very similar to the Barbican show portion with the disco ball pendulum array. Haven’t seen anyone else mention it, so could be totally mistaken. It was about three quarters of the way through the album. Fantastic to hear the live tracks fleshed out further. As other people have mentioned it really picks up throughout the duration. Aisatsana is a beautiful piano piece and a great way wrap the album up. Strange adding a bonus track after it for the Japan release.

Really fantastic that Warp made these events available. Lottery is kind of an interesting technique to roll it out. Looks like Bobslayer was whom I was talking to actually successful in “transferring” a ticket. Trading twitter banter with both Warp and the Metro paid off. Perhaps enjoying his SAWII promo tape while reading this.

Can’t wait to devour all the details Syro has to offer with a set of headphones. So much could not be taken in by this atmosphere.

  On 9/8/2014 at 6:20 PM, silentvision said:

May have been my mind playing tricks on me, but heard a section that was very similar to the Barbican show portion with the disco ball pendulum array. Haven’t seen anyone else mention it, so could be totally mistaken.

Can’t wait to devour all the details Syro has to offer with a set of headphones. So much could not be taken in by this atmosphere.

i think someone else also heard this

Drunken Cubs fans kept walking by, asking why everyone was standing in line outside the Metro/Smartbar. When asked at one point, a person behind me told the person inquiring that he and his friends just really liked standing in lines. That there was no event. It was pretty amusing.

  On 9/8/2014 at 6:20 PM, silentvision said:

Chicago listening party attended at the Smart Bar last night. Drove four hours, waiting in line chatted up an individual that was on business from Boston and another that drove over three hours from Indiana. Had no idea what to expect.

Seemed kind of unorganized but the staff was cool. Security was pretty lax. Requested to turn off all phones before entering and ask they not be taken out at any point during playback. Bag check, no pat downs or cavity searches to the best of my knowledge.

 

Nothing was uttered from the staff before playing. They hit play, it played a few seconds and cut off. Had to restart the album. Kind of interesting how majority of people faced towards the DJ booth as there wasn’t much to see. At one point a couple zig-zaged through the crowd to get up front. Smoke machine used (almost too often), occasional lighting/strobes and unproportionate green outlined Aphex logo from time to time laser projected behind the booth. Was positioned fairly close to the middle of the floor for listening. Great bass to be had from their sound system, which seemed to be above par. At times some tracks sounded “distant”, especially last track. Could have been how the audio was encoded/supplied, could be my abused ears from the years. Unimportant.

 

The album is an aural delicacy as a whole. Would personally label it The Tuss on steroids. May have been my mind playing tricks on me, but heard a section that was very similar to the Barbican show portion with the disco ball pendulum array. Haven’t seen anyone else mention it, so could be totally mistaken. It was about three quarters of the way through the album. Fantastic to hear the live tracks fleshed out further. As other people have mentioned it really picks up throughout the duration. Aisatsana is a beautiful piano piece and a great way wrap the album up. Strange adding a bonus track after it for the Japan release.

 

Really fantastic that Warp made these events available. Lottery is kind of an interesting technique to roll it out. Looks like Bobslayer was whom I was talking to actually successful in “transferring” a ticket. Trading twitter banter with both Warp and the Metro paid off. Perhaps enjoying his SAWII promo tape while reading this.

 

Can’t wait to devour all the details Syro has to offer with a set of headphones. So much could not be taken in by this atmosphere.

Godamn I wish I could've gone, too many things came up at once for me so I couldn't make the trip down.

PS I was the one to offer my ticket to Bopslayer...naturally he turns out to be WATMM member as well my ticket definitely got into good hands.

Thanks for all the write-ups on the experience and especially the album. It sounds like it's going to be a treasure.

  On 9/8/2014 at 6:20 PM, silentvision said:

 

The album is an aural delicacy as a whole. Would personally label it The Tuss on steroids. May have been my mind playing tricks on me, but heard a section that was very similar to the Barbican show portion with the disco ball pendulum array. Haven’t seen anyone else mention it, so could be totally mistaken. It was about three quarters of the way through the album. Fantastic to hear the live tracks fleshed out further. As other people have mentioned it really picks up throughout the duration. Aisatsana is a beautiful piano piece and a great way wrap the album up. Strange adding a bonus track after it for the Japan release.

....

Can’t wait to devour all the details Syro has to offer with a set of headphones. So much could not be taken in by this atmosphere.

So psyched! Thanks to all of you for posting !