Selected Ambient Works 85–92 – Aphex Twin
Ambient is not a genre I have spent much time listening to. In general, the odd song that I have heard doesn’t engage me in the way that a good story song does, or one with a great middle-8 or even one with some exceptional instrumental skill.
A brave choice by
@LGWIO, but after two and a half listens, I’m out.
I know I've used this line more than once before, but for the most part, this sounds like somebody has got a CASIO keyboard for Christmas. I think the difference here is that he hasn’t gone mad with it and tried to get every sound onto the tunes. For the most part it’s tasteful, but ultimately not engaging for me. I could see it working as the background music to film, TV and particularly in documentaries, but it just doesn’t work for me as a standalone listen.
The opening track, “Xtal”, is a bit of a drone, and I’m not sure what “Tha” is meant to be – there’s not much going on and weird voices intrude like somebody is not respecting the sanctity of the recording studio.
“Ageispolis” – There’s an interesting melody going on there. The 80s computer game noises and tinny electronic drums are a little districting, but otherwise it was fine.
“Green Calx” sounds like a video game in progress - and I take back my comment about not trying to get every sound the keyboard can make into a tune because it feels Mr Aphex is bashing away on that electronic drum pad for all he’s worth. I know that LGWIO said that this is one of his favourites, but I’d rate this in the “just plain awful” category.
The transition to "Heliosphan” is a relief because this tune had a bit of melody that I enjoyed.
The odd voices that appear intermittently in “We are the Music Makers” put me off because they almost never work in music (although I’ll let him off as apparently, it’s the voice of the great Gene Wilder!) which is a shame because otherwise it’s not bad.
“Schottkey 7th Path” sounds like a slow-motion rave in a submarine (and not in a good way) This could definitely work in a Whale documentary or the as-yet-unmade
Jacques Cousteau: The trippy years film. As I type this on my second listen, I’m weirdly enjoying this “tune”. “Ptolemy” was OK in achieving a bit of pace and melody.
“Actium” is the pick of the bunch because I like the way that the piano played around with a little riff over the bass and general thrum.
Whilst this was not to my taste, there were moments that I enjoyed, and for the most part, it was not as “in-yer-face” as The Streets’ album, which is why I’ll be scoring it higher. My frame of reference for this album is comparing it to two other albums that we’ve reviewed on this thread.
I enjoyed it less than the Michael Stearns album (which I scored 7) because that had a more organic, warm feeling to the layered keyboards and was free of the tinny CASIO keyboard sounds. In fact, whether you like this album or not may be determined by whether you are willing to accept the cold sound of a CASIO versus the beautiful, rich power of a Hammond.
However, I enjoyed it more than The Chemical Brothers album (which I scored 3) because that was way too bombastic and tuneless for my tastes. Splitting the difference between the two, and, accepting that this is never a genre that I will be fond of, I’ll score it a
5.
