Thursday, June 5, 2008

Selected Ambient Dishes


Artist:
Aphex Twin
Title: Selected Ambient Works, 85-92
Released in: 1993
Liner Notes: Missing, but not because I was studying the lyrics

Pitchfork raves. AllMusic calls it a watershed of the ambient scene (I would say idm, but why split hairs). There's no denying how influential this album was, but there are only two tracks that hold my interest now: Xtal and Ageispolis. A lot of the album sounds like it was recorded under water and/or far away (AllMusic blames this on bad cassette transfer and an encounter with a cat). A lot of the drum tracks sound like slowed down 90's rave beats and/or Enigma (probably because they were made on the same equipment). Still, you gotta give respect where it's due, and the sound palette for the album remains rich (squelches, teeny plinks, expansive swaths of synth, etc.). And at least Richard D. James wasn't dabbling in highly disturbing imagery yet.

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