Last year Warp re- issued Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works II, a four discs of vinyl album originally released in 1994. It followed the hugely acclaimed Selected Ambient Works 85- 92, the album which cemented Richard D. James' reputation as an auteur, a genius, a maverick and a colossal talent (much of which was evident on his very first 12" Analogue Bubblebath). SAW II is a very different album to SAW 85- 92. It is almost entirely beatless, a lengthy set of ambient music, slow moving tracks built on waves of sound, noise, subtle drones and hum, the sound of continents shifting slightly, of ice ages coming and going- minimalist dark ambient.
The album seems built to confuse. The majority of the tracks have no name, all titled 'untitled' and on digital releases were numbered #1, #2 etc, apart from #13 which is named Blue Calx. Many gained unofficial fan names- radiator, white blur 1, tree, stone in focus, lichen. The sleeve wasn't much help either. The eight sides of vinyl and individual tracks are represented by symbols (all of which are very similar to each other). If you took the four discs out of the sleeve and mixed them up, you'd be lost fairly quickly. It's not user friendly at all. The re- issue has added two tracks, both with actual names- th1[evnslower] and Rhubarb Orc. 1953 Rev.
James compared the album to listening to the sound of a power station while on acid. There's no doubt that listening to it is an immersive experience that can alter the way you feel. It is very much an album that encourages one to reflect and to contemplate, a serene, discombobulating, almost out of body experience. It's melancholic, spooky but ultimately, I think, filled with an eerie sense of humanity- or of nature maybe. The vinyl re- issue, four discs housed in a big sleeve with a poster and stickers, is a monolithic feeling release and came with a £50 price tag. I got some Christmas money from a relative and after a little dithering spent the money on Selected Ambient Works II, a decision I don't regret at all. It's a magnificent piece of work. This is ten sublime minutes of it...
There are some copies left at Bandcamp or you can get a more budget friendly digital release.
1 comment:
As it happens i listened to Cliff through till Domino yesterday. Rhubarb from that section was a particular highlight for me.
Probably never given enough time to SAW II before as SAW 85-92 is one of the best electronic (probably any genre really) albums i've ever heard and so influential as well.
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