syro
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You are currently reading a thread in /mu/ - Music
You are currently reading a thread in /mu/ - Music
so i'm just getting into aphex twin as of late, and i'm curious of something- syro appears to be his best reviewed album besides selected ambient 1. was this just the result of hype or do fans genuinely think of it as one of his best? it seems like a lot of comeback albums as of late have been overrated by review outlets imo. i'm curious to see what /mu/ has to say, as i've only listened to syro, cheetah, and drukqs so far (drukqs being my favorite of the bunch)
Bumping, curious about this
>>66409997
I like it, but I wouldn't call it his best.
It feels to me like a good summary of his work up to that point.
>>66410400
I feel similair to this. Although i usually dont pick favorites with rdj's albums in general.
>>66409997
It's okay.
I like the two ambient albums a lot, but I almost see them as being by a different artist. When someone says Aphex Twin I think of RDJ Album or Drukqs.
followup question- do afx/rdj fans in general think his best days are behind him as an artist? does he seem on track to make music as potent as his old work?
>>66410560
bangers are coming m8
>>66410821
what is this from?
>>66410989
user18081971 on soundcloud aka Richard D James
https://soundcloud.com/user18081971
it is one of his less exploratory releases, but the writing on some of the tracks is just unbelievable. XMAS_EVET thanaton mix is legit one of his best tracks, incredible and fresh transitions paired with satisfying drums and pleasant synths and vocoders sounds like a good time to me.
the excitement of something like Drukqs can easily make it look like Syro just lacks enthusiasm or inspiration, but there are fantastic things in that LP that i am somewhat sad not many people talked about. i recommend taking a look at this after fully digesting his Drukqs tier stuff.
>>66410560
syro was pretty good, tuss was incredible, and analords was great. i think assuming his best days are behind him is too premature.
>>66411160
>>66411125
>>66410821
cool
when it comes to RDJ you cannot ever judge his music through reviews and what others like. His sounds are very diverse and almost every record has seen positive and negative reviews. Hell Drukqs was actually reviewed by somebody to be some of the worst music to be ever made using a piano and a computer. Something like that. People tend to get more positive about his music much later after it's release. Syro for me was one of his best. I compare it to the Richard D. James album in the way it made me feel. But it was definitely much poppier. And that'swhat Richard apparently wants to release these days. Many tracks on Syro were 6 years old when it released. He is just choosing to release such material right now. This is how he said he 'catalogs' and backs up his files, by releasing them. Don't think much, just listen to what you like. Don't ever listen to /mu/ when it comes to RDJ.
I don't rate aphex albums. all of them changed in time on what I prefer more
he himself has said people rate albums too quickly he needs to sit on an album at least for a month before he decides if its shit or not
>>66409997
I like Drukqs better
>>66412137
>Drukqs was actually reviewed by somebody to be some of the worst music to be ever made using a piano and a computer
Drukqs has some of the best prepared piano pieces ive heard in a long long time how dare they
>>66410560
Before rich came back with syro + soundcloud dump & etc i did think that at a point. But now after he's come back and with like double the songs in the past two years than before im looking optimistic towards what he'll continue to release
>>66413192
i know man, see this is exactly why I don't ever trust any review when it comes to Richards music.
>>66409997
Hello, OP!
If you're just getting into Aphex, it's important to know that he has a "loud" style, and a "quiet" style.
For the "quiet" style, see both of the original Ambient albums. Vol II is one of my top five favorite albums, and if I could only listen to 1-5 albums during a 10-year stint in prison or something like that, SAW II would be on the very short list for me.
Do the RDJ album. It's a bit catchier than the others, has a famous cover, and has some more of the "angry" stuff. Then listen to AFX's "Hangable Auto Bulb". This is one of his better EP collections, is still a bit more "loud" and "pop".
For blends of both loud and quiet, try either/both of Drukqs or the Come to Daddy EP.
For extreme LOUD stuff, try the Caustic Window compilation. For more quiet material, try Polygon Window - Surfing on Sine waves. These are some of the main recordings which contain good tracks and also give you background on RDJ's other pseudonyms.
>>66414247
Also, "I Care Because You Do" is a bit dated, but it contains one fantastic melodic pop standout called "Alberto Balsalm", which you should listen to.
In the video, some school steel-drummers play an arrangement of the track. Their beat is just a bit off, but the instrument choice does the track justice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XlTjeNHv-8
>>66414247
you seem like a really cool dude. Who are some of your favorite musicians that you'd consider a peer of, or in the same vein of Aphex Twin?
>>66414247
hey, thanks for the recommendations! as this thread has gone on, i actually ended up listening through RDJ album and SAW 1! good call, i liked them both, RDJ more though. i'm gonna check out SAW 2 next, seems like a massive undertaking, but a unique and wild album.
>>66414305
i also gave "i care" a shot and it did really feel dated/like sort of an outlier in what i've heard thus far.
his magnum opus
it's so highly rated because
1) it came out long enough after his old stuff that a new generation of relatively inexperienced listeners had already glorified him as an electronic god
2) his music is very inaccesible while being very well-known, a recipe for success for anything not blatantly "bad"-sounding (i.e. tmr)
3) it's a pretty good album and doesn't really shock
4) enormous hype
it's the perfect combo
>>66409997
My favorite is drukqs
My favorite of drukqs is vordhosbn
>>66414688
my favorite from drukqs is mt saint michel
>>66414664
what an efficient way of saying nothing and dispersing no information
>>66414511
So-called "Intelligent Dance Music" has a "big-four", which are Aphex Twin (and all his various projects/pseudonyms, Autechre, Boards of Canada, and Squarepusher. All of these artists have released material and have long-standing relationships with Warp Records, which puts their stuff out.
"Intelligent Dance Music", or IDM is just a label to describe a particular glitchy style of music - it's really just a label associated with the above four, and some associated acts. Some critic coined the phrase and it stuck, but the artists have complained about the label because it makes it sound like other music is dumb by comparison, which is not necessarily true (although sometimes it is).
Ironically, Richard D James started his own record label called "Rephlex Records", which is now sorta-defunct. And on this label, his branding device was to call their catalogue "braindance".
If you like RDJ in a general way, you will find things done by Autechre and/or Squarepusher that you also like, but they may not all be to your liking. Autechre is my favorite group. Their "LP5" sounds very similar to RDJ's style. It's not my personal favorite, but "for something that sounds similar" (to AFX) that's a good starting point.
>>66414687
>his music is very inaccesible
uh, no
>>66414708
That song helped me pass multivariable calculus. That and amphetamines.
>>66414778
I agree. IDM is a pretentious, trendy acronym.
>>66414751
>what is google image reverse-searching built directly into 4chan's interface (the triangle thingy)
>what is the very first result, which is obviously correct by context
>what is oxygen and how to I breathe it
>what is this music and how do I dance to it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpJvFeCntHo
very much enjoyed the album with the face with the creepy smile, some of it was a little over the top (shitty), but the good parts were great
>>66414820
pulling your leg m8
>>66414929
Got him
>>66409997
>checking metacritic for consensus
>not rateyourmusic
kys my man
While OP is branching out into some new music that we like, let's entice with one Autechre track!
This track is called "Pen Expers". It was released on the album "Confield", in 2001.
I don't want to build it up too much, but it's a long favorite. just listen to the track and notice a few things:
-Abrasive, rhythmic-near-chaos.
-Hints.
-Struggling, against the chaos... a melody. an Order. It strengthens.
-It is buttressed by a Harmony.
-Melody and Harmony vindicate the earlier chaos as a Rhythm. A very complex Rhythm.
-Melody trips. Everything goes to hell.
-Chaos wins.
I don't think it's unfair to say that this is a favorite track among Autechre fans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdO9SzDd3OU
>>66414974
Why did you capitalize harmony holy shit
>>66414792
/mu/ =/= regular people
even within the music community a ton of users still find weird electronic noises inaccessible. I know people who know Grimes, Radiohead, even Bjork irl (all more popular artists who heavily utilize/d stuff AT-y sounds) but nobody who knows Aphex Twin.
>>66415009
Yeah like how weird electronic noises were banished from the mainstream along with EDM shit
>>66414974
OP here, desu, i've been into autechre for a while. haven't taken the normal stepping stones into electronic. ya boy got the exai vinyl boxset desu
>>66415005
The capitalizations are intended to give the elements personality, as an aid to the imagination. I was describing something which is very beautiful to me, so I wanted to set up a little play-act with a few different named characters.
Capitalizing is also a valid rhetorical technique which is sometimes used for sarcastic emphasis in political, or argumentative writing. It's not just used unconsciously by uneducated black people.
</autism>
>>66415106
Ok I understand now
>>66415106
Sorry if I was rude. I tend to assume people typing like that are idiots. I use facebook too much.
>>66415009
Is Aphex really making "weird, electronic noises" though? Obviously his take is slightly more oddball, but he's just putting a spin on popular genres (or popular at the time) of dance music e.g. jungle, techno, dnb.
>>66414820
still all you had to write was 2 words.
why make someone reverse image search? isn't it much simpler and easier for everyone if you just include the name of this disk in you post?
>>66415009
Tastes progress over time into the more obscure and inaccessible i find. For example i went from liking the most mainstream electronic brostep garbage when i was younger, to the techno, IDM, ambient, DnB i like today.
>tfw alberto jalsam is my favourite
>>66416731
same !
also
>Heliosphan
>Xtal
>Hexagon
>Crying In Your Face
>Rushup I Bank 12
