Aphex Twin - Melodies from Mars

  On 7/13/2015 at 1:13 PM, ZoeB said:

If there's one thing I've learnt from Aphex Twin, it's that track/album/artist names for instrumental music aren't all that important. :)

Indeed - I think he's well over the "come up with a creative name for this piece" and has instead just name his tracks for what they are or what equipment he primarily used on them (boring, but I imagine a LOT more manageable on his part in his library).

As a die hard AFX fan, i can hardly remember most of the (7\) track titles, same with Autechre and Pan Sonic. Strangely (or not) i do remember most of Fennesz track titles.

Song titles have been a funny business since SAW 2, wasn't the "Rhubarb", "Cliffs" names etc a sort of fan effort at the time that generally got accepted? But it always proves a point, to me at least, that if the song is good enough it'll take on a name of it's own if needs be. If Aphex released a Ziggomatic level tune tomorrow and called it "555beabeabea)(*_)_x=tron", people would still be chatting about it and would probably settle on a nickname/acronym soon enough.

So Melodies From Mars or Vagisil from Venus, the tunes will do the talking.

I've noticed he goes through phases when it comes to track titles. His early stuff was pretty sci-fi esque, then he started messing around with anagrams, then it got silly/playful, then Drukqs came around with the Cornish language, followed by a brief stint of computer viruses, and right now we're in the 'file names/session titles' phase.

Basically, it's got progressively harder to refer to his tracks in the real world.

Specifically, there were a few electronics references in his early work, when he was studying electronics at uni. :) It makes sense to pick a somewhat arbitrary theme with lots of interesting sounding words belonging to the same set, with a different set per album.

so Richard basically confirmed MfM for the end of the year?

Yes, if he managed to hand it in to Warp in time. No confirmation on that.

  On 7/13/2015 at 11:24 PM, Leonod33 said:

Song titles have been a funny business since SAW 2, wasn't the "Rhubarb", "Cliffs" names etc a sort of fan effort at the time that generally got accepted? But it always proves a point, to me at least, that if the song is good enough it'll take on a name of it's own if needs be. If Aphex released a Ziggomatic level tune tomorrow and called it "555beabeabea)(*_)_x=tron", people would still be chatting about it and would probably settle on a nickname/acronym soon enough.

 

So Melodies From Mars or Vagisil from Venus, the tunes will do the talking.

That "fan effort" on SAW 2 wasn't accepted by anyone... especially me.

ALL the tracks, with the exception of BLUE CALX, are untitled, and typically are referred to by their vinyl number (aka #19), or by the UK CD release (CD1 TRK 2).

  On 7/14/2015 at 6:24 PM, Joyrex said:

That "fan effort" on SAW 2 wasn't accepted by anyone... especially me.

Some Warp employees adopted it, though.

The fan titles are pretty much official nowadays. Even Rich refers to track 3 as Rhubarb. Doesn't get more official than that.

if it sounds anything like the casiotronics mfm track on soundcloud i am hyyype, that one is a beast!

Weird one this, wouldn't immediately see this as a MFM track!

https://soundcloud.com/user18081971/24-casiotribaltronics-mfm

Are there anymore MFM tracks in the dump? Trying to make a few playlists...

Also, just one of the few tracks from the Joyrex tape that isn't in the dump yet, maybe it'll be released on MFM?

  On 7/14/2015 at 9:58 PM, Herr Jan said:

Weird one this, wouldn't immediately see this as a MFM track!

 

https://soundcloud.com/user18081971/24-casiotribaltronics-mfm

 

Are there anymore MFM tracks in the dump? Trying to make a few playlists...

 

Also, just one of the few tracks from the Joyrex tape that isn't in the dump yet, maybe it'll be released on MFM?

 

not that i know but this one has become one of my favorites from the uploads, very weird and exactly what i would imagine to be on a MFM album in 2015. the production is awesome and that sub makes the whole house shake

i hope he ordered the tracks for the album and gave it 2 warp this week so we can still listen to this before the end of the year, that would be rad tits

At long last I've been wrapping my ears around the SC shenanigans, been made easier 'cause I recently bagged myself one of those High Res Sony Walkmans, the sound is pretty ace!

One of the tracks which was a bit of a curveball was indeed the 24 Tribaltronics MFM. Doesnt sound to MFM at all heh.

Didn't really vibe with that at all and is on the 'to be culled list' (I'm being pretty disciplined with that tbh)

And I'm going through an anti-vinyl phase at the moment ('cause I naturally always turn on my nose and swim against the main ebb of the tide/trend) However I'd be paying up pretty quick for a MFM vinyl. Would be nice if the vinyl was a limited edition or had an limited version press.

As with Ivan and a few others I've only listened to MFM only a handful of times, I just don't get on with bootlegs that much. So I can't wait for this. Very excited indeed

Tribaltronics is the tits. And that other one. If a new MFM comes out i'll go bananas.

  On 7/14/2015 at 10:20 PM, beerwolf said:

 

One of the tracks which was a bit of a curveball was indeed the 24 Tribaltronics MFM. Doesnt sound to MFM at all heh.

 

 

Yeah, but that thermin-sounding thing in the background has some of that mfm sound, it's a pretty fun track

A little insane too :)

  On 7/14/2015 at 12:38 AM, ZoeB said:

Specifically, there were a few electronics references in his early work, when he was studying electronics at uni. :) It makes sense to pick a somewhat arbitrary theme with lots of interesting sounding words belonging to the same set, with a different set per album.

I would agree with you Zoe, but perhaps it isn't important for people with a lot of name recognition already! I feel a large part of the reason he's naming his tracks this is so he doesn't get too much attention. That seems to be a thing to him nowadays. If he wanted to he could push his music out further by giving his tracks names and coming out with videos for them, landing him 2-3 times the sales. But he's not.

yeh i'm in the "unfamiliar-with-mfm" camp too....

.... its nice to leave a bit of gravy on your plate to mop up later with some crusty bread

  On 7/15/2015 at 10:49 AM, phudoshin said:

yeh i'm in the "unfamiliar-with-mfm" camp too....

 

.... its nice to leave a bit of gravy on your plate to mop up later with some crusty bread

Richard has released a lot of gravy over the years... I doubt many people know all of it by heart.

  On 7/14/2015 at 6:24 PM, Joyrex said:

 

  On 7/13/2015 at 11:24 PM, Leonod33 said:

Song titles have been a funny business since SAW 2, wasn't the "Rhubarb", "Cliffs" names etc a sort of fan effort at the time that generally got accepted? But it always proves a point, to me at least, that if the song is good enough it'll take on a name of it's own if needs be. If Aphex released a Ziggomatic level tune tomorrow and called it "555beabeabea)(*_)_x=tron", people would still be chatting about it and would probably settle on a nickname/acronym soon enough.

 

So Melodies From Mars or Vagisil from Venus, the tunes will do the talking.

That "fan effort" on SAW 2 wasn't accepted by anyone... especially me.

 

ALL the tracks, with the exception of BLUE CALX, are untitled, and typically are referred to by their vinyl number (aka #19), or by the UK CD release (CD1 TRK 2).

 

Yes it was accepted by some people. Clearly they are not untitled, richard gave them a "name" in the form of a picture but posting a picture every time you want to reference the track is impractical, so giving the name of the object is perfectly fine.

Concurring on Tribaltronics, wicked track.

  On 7/19/2015 at 3:49 PM, Zeffolia said:

 

  On 7/14/2015 at 6:24 PM, Joyrex said:

 

  On 7/13/2015 at 11:24 PM, Leonod33 said:

Song titles have been a funny business since SAW 2, wasn't the "Rhubarb", "Cliffs" names etc a sort of fan effort at the time that generally got accepted? But it always proves a point, to me at least, that if the song is good enough it'll take on a name of it's own if needs be. If Aphex released a Ziggomatic level tune tomorrow and called it "555beabeabea)(*_)_x=tron", people would still be chatting about it and would probably settle on a nickname/acronym soon enough.

 

So Melodies From Mars or Vagisil from Venus, the tunes will do the talking.

That "fan effort" on SAW 2 wasn't accepted by anyone... especially me.

 

ALL the tracks, with the exception of BLUE CALX, are untitled, and typically are referred to by their vinyl number (aka #19), or by the UK CD release (CD1 TRK 2).

 

 

Yes it was accepted by some people. Clearly they are not untitled, richard gave them a "name" in the form of a picture but posting a picture every time you want to reference the track is impractical, so giving the name of the object is perfectly fine.

 

Yes, and the size of the pictures is relative to the running time of the track, yes, clever, etc.

BUT, if you look at any listings of tracks, you will NEVER see them listed other than UNTITLED, CD[X] TRK[X], or track # from the vinyl. I would also argue that the "names" given are inaccurate since in some cases, those are guesses as to what the image really is.

He did upload Rhubarb Orc. 19.53 Rev to his Aphex Twin Soundcloud account though innit (and in the Syrobonkers tracks etc). Seems like an acceptance of the 'fan effort', no?

  On 7/20/2015 at 8:12 PM, Timothy Forward said:

He did upload Rhubarb Orc. 19.53 Rev to his Aphex Twin Soundcloud account though innit (and in the Syrobonkers tracks etc). Seems like an acceptance of the 'fan effort', no?

He also has renamed tracks he posted previously... and in this particular case, the picture clearly is rhubarb, so I think we can assume he's not giving a nod to the fans on that one...

Which begs the question - if Richard does have his own 'names' for these tracks - what are they?

I know from experience that track names are important to him, as with the Caustic Window LP, I was given explicit instructions not to even capitalize, remove the catalogue number from the track names, etc. as that is how Richard intended the tracks to be released and those were the official names.