Aphex Twin: minipops 67 [120.2][source field mix

[beep]

my seasoned electronic music-fan friend who now works for soundcloud (who also likes to downplay good IDM music like Ae and aphex) acted shocked that the "stats were so low" "for a warp promo" in the amount of time it had been up. I guess he meant that stuff like flying lotus gets more plays? that would be a shame but also kind of believable. He might have just been trying to be passive aggressive with me though, who knows

  On 9/4/2014 at 10:43 PM, Uzohvezxn said:

Listened to the 24bit WAV a million times now; definitely won't skip when played on vinyl either. Sick, absolutely sick.

Same! Looking forward to playing it on my radio show tonight!!

love this new skrillex song minipops

High expectations are a bitch, still quite good. Looking forward hearing the rest of the album.

  On 9/5/2014 at 11:07 AM, John Ehrlichman said:

my seasoned electronic music-fan friend who now works for soundcloud (who also likes to downplay good IDM music like Ae and aphex) acted shocked that the "stats were so low" "for a warp promo" in the amount of time it had been up. I guess he meant that stuff like flying lotus gets more plays? that would be a shame but also kind of believable. He might have just been trying to be passive aggressive with me though, who knows

FlyLo track will have all the Kendrick Lamar stans playing it on repeat.

Plus Warp upped it to youtube straight away and bleep made it available for download immediately and so it's not surprising that soundcloud is lower.

does anyone actually give a shit how popular Aphex is?

if anything, I prefer when my artists are "undiscovered". Keeps 'em starving and therefore more productive, just the way I like 'em

bark

  On 9/5/2014 at 11:27 AM, lumpenprol said:

does anyone actually give a shit how popular Aphex is?

 

if anything, I prefer when my artists are "undiscovered". Keeps 'em starving and therefore more productive, just the way I like 'em

lol "so I can keep them in my closet and throw them a bone from time to time"

  On 9/5/2014 at 9:25 AM, goDel said:

True.

 

Still waiting for the ZoeB review, btw! If it's any less than 2500 words I'd be truely disappointed. ;)

I've given up on reviews. I still feel guilty about giving Incunabula a less than stellar score, as it's now one of my alltime favourite albums. I find it more helpful to analyse music than to judge it. So I'm trying not to say whether I think a given piece of music is good or bad, so much as pointing out things in it that are really neat that maybe other people want to use as inspiration to try out their own thing.

Besides, so far this year I've released an EP and we're about to launch a product, so my writing's had to take a back seat to all that, I'm afraid.

I will say it was nagging me that I couldn't remember where I'd heard those dropped-in-for-a-bit maracca-style rhythms before. Last Rushup 10.

  On 9/5/2014 at 11:27 AM, lumpenprol said:

does anyone actually give a shit how popular Aphex is?

 

if anything, I prefer when my artists are "undiscovered". Keeps 'em starving and therefore more productive, just the way I like 'em

I think he is rather popular, look at all the press. Plus a lot of people know his music weather they know it or not or 'oh yeah, that guy'

Flylo would get more plays as he is very active

  On 9/5/2014 at 11:27 AM, lumpenprol said:

does anyone actually give a shit how popular Aphex is?

 

if anything, I prefer when my artists are "undiscovered". Keeps 'em starving and therefore more productive, just the way I like 'em

Described RDJ perfectly

why are people obsessing over the mixing? thats like complimenting the frame a picture is in.

psh, obviously the mixing is perfect for what it is, but its the least interesting part.

for example, its not 'mixed' like steely dan, which is arguably some of the best mixing in recording history, but i prefer to listen to Aphex.

and to those who say it sounds excessively clipped or smashed, i'd disagree other than that the loudest percs are consistent.

a funny detail is the noisy looped pedal hihat :) gives character :) which is again, an arrangement detail not a mixing one.

im too humbled to even rate Aphex Twin's music. 'authorities' who rate Aphex Twin's music probably swallow their toothpaste after brushing as a habit.

Ah, so there is life/music outside of Aphex for you Aphids then ;)

Stoked you mention Steely Dan. You're right, some of the most perfect/obsessed over production ever. Love a good steam powered dildo.

  On 9/5/2014 at 11:43 AM, skibby said:

why are people obsessing over the mixing? thats like complimenting the frame a picture is in.

I think it's easier to learn and articulate engineering than composing. Not many musicians are that up on music theory, it seems, and especially in electronic music in particular, people are more interested in timbres and technicalities. The music takes a back seat, to the point where some people complain if a piece of electronic music is "too" melodic. (This might tie in to nonsense macho posturing too, I'm not sure.)

You're right though, people should talk about the actual notes and arrangements more, and the sound patching as distinct from the EQing and compression that elevates a sound and gets it to gel well, but has nothing to do with that initial act of creation. I doubt compression has much bearing on whether I listen to a given album or not, but the hooks certainly do.

Talking of which, while this isn't quite what I meant when I said it would be great if Aphex Twin wrote vocals with lyrics and hooks, this kind of technically has all of those, albeit in an Aphex Twin sort of way. :) I for one think it's better for it.

Incidentally, if you can figure out how to articulate what makes a good hook, let me know! I think it's more in the realm of the subconscious, though.

First new Aphex since 2007 > WATMM discusses mixing

Production is crazy important to electronic music as alot of the music rely's on technique rather than composition. If steely dan mixed their stuff badly it would still be amazing music, for example, Caring is creepy by The shins is awfully mixed but the song is great so you accept the timbre's for what they are. Electronic music needs production in order to convey the minimal (usually) composition it will have. Obviously Aphex is very capable at very musical composition as are many others but there are many tracks that do not have a musical composition at all and if they were badly mixed then they would not be listenable.

A hook can be anything that stands out as different. Usually the more disturbing from the norm the better. That's why annoying pop songs can easily become guilty pleasures.

If you try and write something akin to other stuff you have heard and like then you'll never come up with a hook. A hook will mostly appear by accident and at first you'll think "hmmm, not sure I like that or others will like that" as it does not follow any idea that you have heard before, it's new.

@4:02... Megaman, anyone?

Damn, couldn't hold back the tears over there..

  On 9/4/2014 at 10:04 PM, Icct said:

I haven't had time to analyze it yet, has anybody figured out lyrics for this yet??

Yeah, eeeeewaaheeaaaheeeehoooh x4

  On 9/5/2014 at 12:25 PM, Chesney said:

Production is crazy important to electronic music as alot of the music rely's on technique rather than composition. If steely dan mixed their stuff badly it would still be amazing music, for example, Caring is creepy by The shins is awfully mixed but the song is great so you accept the timbre's for what they are. Electronic music needs production in order to convey the minimal (usually) composition it will have. Obviously Aphex is very capable at very musical composition as are many others but there are many tracks that do not have a musical composition at all and if they were badly mixed then they would not be listenable.

 

A hook can be anything that stands out as different. Usually the more disturbing from the norm the better. That's why annoying pop songs can easily become guilty pleasures.

If you try and write something akin to other stuff you have heard and like then you'll never come up with a hook. A hook will mostly appear by accident and at first you'll think "hmmm, not sure I like that or others will like that" as it does not follow any idea that you have heard before, it's new.

Well, you have to define "production". Looking at early Aphex Twin and Orbital, a lot of their music was out of tune, but the instrumentation/timbres and the rhythms were good and novel, so that didn't matter as much as it would in genres with more rigidly set instrumentation. But in terms of actually mastering, early Aphex Twin music is notoriously bad for clipping and overdriving things in a way that really shouldn't be overdriven because they simply sound unpleasant and harsh as a result. In that respect, both these artists (as most other artists) have improved their production skills and their composition skills over the years, but what originally got them popular was their timbres and rhythms. At least, I think that's the case. They were admittedly both slightly before my time, really.

As for hooks... it's really hard to say. Pop music demands them, so you can find plenty of good examples. My favourite techniques lately include call-and-response and delayed-rhyme, but I'm not sure if there's proper phrases for them. With practice, you can get the hang of making catchy hooks easily enough, but you can't necessarily get much better at articulating what exactly it is you're doing, why it sounds so nice.

As for Minipops, the lead vocal actually has a pretty catchy melody, and the fact it's a voice singing it makes it more encouraging for you to sing or hum along. But I don't think I could say why that particular melody is hummable, even if I can also make hummable melodies. So it's hard to discuss these things, but I'm certainly game for trying.

yeah you're right that their early sound is what grabbed attention. I personally prefer the "less produced" sounds and timbre's from artists early material. However I still count them as being produced. With Electronic music, I feel that the process is more akin to production than songwriting so RDJ's early stuff was totally produced whether it be thrown together or meticulously edited.

Production is deeper than the final mix and mastering I think.

  On 9/5/2014 at 9:56 AM, kinski said:

 

i cant get into it. i paid the two bucks to listen to it in highest quality available, arranged pefect listening scenario (well, im just alone in a room, but you know) and i just cant get into it. iit sounds like rot13. or one of other afx-inspired acts. i mean it's not a problem per se that afx got one-upped by his successors/imitators, and im sure theres lots of gems on the release. but as far as first new song released as aphex twin since 2005 goes - i am being let down, big time.

 

it makes me said :(

 

i think im going to avoid any leaks. first reviews/track-by-tracks are not that flattering, and i think i'll just wait for the vinyl and even if its not up to standard at least ill have some fun. listening to vinyl is pretty fun.

 

I sort of agree and it makes me said also :(

It's probably just because of those goddamned Tuss copycats. Cause now he sounds like one of 'em

oh the ironing

  On 9/5/2014 at 11:27 AM, lumpenprol said:

does anyone actually give a shit how popular Aphex is?

 

if anything, I prefer when my artists are "undiscovered". Keeps 'em starving and therefore more productive, just the way I like 'em

Richard is a $millionaire.