SAW2

[karmakramer]

stone in focus

[markedone]

The first time Rhubarb really, i mean REALLY clicked with me, it was the most beautiful and humbling experience. Lichen was the most recent track to completely rock my world.

 

This album is really fucking special. Otherworldly yet completely human

 

SAWII is a tea biscuit that's just been dunked for the perfect amount of time

that split second when everything is simultaneously soggy and crunchy and sweet and bitter and watery and buttery and grainy and moist

 

 

"quite good"

 

 

brilliant

[bubbhasdance]

Listened straight through Tree last night, my brain was already exhausted from the sheer amount of emotions flowing through it. I couldn't even finish CD1, it was as if it sucked all of the energy from me. SAWII is amazing

[Guest theSun]

one of the first "idm" albums i got. i was like wtf the first time i heard it but i appreciate it a fuck ton now.

 

going to go home and listen to this one (and roll one up), cause the last time i was listening to these tracks i was tripping on low doses of shrooms in the woods in winter. lichen always brings me back to these 3 massive hills that, to me, were emitting an ultra-low frequency that was doing my fucking head in.

 

this is one of the best attempts at manipulating/describing emotion through music i've ever heard.

 

i might even like it better than an autechre album

[Guest cyphersum]

SAW2 was my 4th RDJ release. AB1, Polygon Window and On single were 1st, 2nd and 3rd. I was fortunate to be listening to and anticipating RDJs music from nearly the get go. With 'On', I was just ecstatic over the tracks 73 Yips and Xepha. It was SOOOO aggro and different from really anything I had be listening too except for maybe X-103 (sidenote: check out the track Eruption... i'm sure RDJ may have been influenced by X-103).

 

When I got SAW2 (US Sire release) I was tremendously disappointed! (That got your attention didn't it!)

 

Actually... it was a very emotionally charged release that would take far too many words than I would want to write about to describe it's greatness... especially since every track would need to be described.

 

For me, this release is summed up as a collection of tracks that are mostly (17) haunting, unsettling and paranoiac and the rest(8) being meditative, soothing, and comforting. The most beautiful track is Stone in Focus which I didn't hear until I got the Excursions 12".

 

I had a scary personal experience with CD2 track 3 and Nitrous while getting a wisdom tooth extracted. All was well until 31 seconds in when the percussion gets ratcheted up. This pulsating black and white tiled pattern started to engulf me. I kind of panicked and they had to turn my mixture down so I could come back down.

 

Sonically... musically... I think it's one of the best examples of how audio when processed, treated and manipulated can go a long way! The range of timbres and atmospheres is truly amazing.

[Dragon]

Trivia:

 

[white blur 2], or CD2 Track 11, is the longest track Richard D. James has ever released, and possibly the longest he has ever created.

 

When the unofficial track titles were being written, the tracks "Parallel Stripes" and "Grey Stripe" were mixed up. If you look closely at the images for Disc 2, you'll find that the image representing "Parallel Stripes" depicts a grey stripe, and the image representing "Grey Stripe" depicts two parallel stripes. This is probably due to the arrangement of the images which place them out of order.

 

The six pie charts representing the album are based on the track lengths of each track on each side of vinyl. However, after doing some calculations and making six pie charts for myself, I found that the pie charts for sides C and D were inaccurate. Compare the top row to the bottom row:

 

 

This could suggest that these pie charts were based on earlier versions of the tracks which were longer or shorter than the final versions. In the pie charts that were released, the segment for "White Blur 1" is almost as large as the segment for "Tree" which suggests that "White Blur 1" could have originally been much longer. Also notable is that "Z Twig" is of almost equal size to the tracks "Shiny Metal Rods" and "Grey Stripe" which suggests that "Z Twig" could have originally been up to five minutes long.

 

Are all of the 25 tracks based on lucid dreams? I investigate in this thread:

http://forum.watmm.com/topic/53619-which-sawii-tracks-were-inspired-by-lucid-dreaming/

[beerwolf]

Trivia:

 

[white blur 2], or CD2 Track 11, is the longest track Richard D. James has ever released, and possibly the longest he has ever created.

 

When the unofficial track titles were being written, the tracks "Parallel Stripes" and "Grey Stripe" were mixed up. If you look closely at the images for Disc 2, you'll find that the image representing "Parallel Stripes" depicts a grey stripe, and the image representing "Grey Stripe" depicts two parallel stripes. This is probably due to the arrangement of the images which place them out of order.

 

The six pie charts representing the album are based on the track lengths of each track on each side of vinyl. However, after doing some calculations and making six pie charts for myself, I found that the pie charts for sides C and D were inaccurate. Compare the top row to the bottom row:

 

 

This could suggest that these pie charts were based on earlier versions of the tracks which were longer or shorter than the final versions. In the pie charts that were released, the segment for "White Blur 1" is almost as large as the segment for "Tree" which suggests that "White Blur 1" could have originally been much longer. Also notable is that "Z Twig" is of almost equal size to the tracks "Shiny Metal Rods" and "Grey Stripe" which suggests that "Z Twig" could have originally been up to five minutes long.

 

Are all of the 25 tracks based on lucid dreams? I investigate in this thread:

http://forum.watmm.com/topic/53619-which-sawii-tracks-were-inspired-by-lucid-dreaming/

 

 

Without meaning to sound condescending I just listen to the music. Pie charts are something from maths class when I was 14, and I hated maths LoL. To me it's about 3 slabs of vinyl and pictures in my head. The pie charts don't get a second glance from me. Philistine (I know).

[Guest Calx Sherbet]

i was once looking at those pie graphs and i noticed the same thing about those pics. some of them make more sense for other tracks, rather then the tracks they they are paired with

[Guest Calx Sherbet]

well then Z Twig has the alt. title "black and white stripes". which would make more sense as a title drawn from the pic then z twig (srsly, ztwig? wtf). so that could also get mixed up with other stripe pictures

[bubbhasdance]

Maybe I should become an uber-Aphex fanboy and just make them untitled ('cept for Blue Calx, of course)

[Guest Calx Sherbet]

i use unnofficial track titles

[bubbhasdance]

As do I, but with all of the drama over which track title is which, I'm leaning towards the untitled

 

:P

[sneaksta303]

Trivia:

 

[white blur 2], or CD2 Track 11, is the longest track Richard D. James has ever released, and possibly the longest he has ever created.

 

 

try again

 

Soft Ballet - Sand Lowe (The Polygon Window Remix)

 

fuck yo trivia

 

and your couch

[superstix]

cocaine is a helluva drug

[cern]

What do you guys think of the ending of the disc 1? I talking about White Blur 1 of course.

It reminds me of Simmonds tape recording experiments..but the clocks are too loud. Iam not so into this clocks like my mom.

 

What do you call them in English?

[Dragon]

Trivia:

 

[white blur 2], or CD2 Track 11, is the longest track Richard D. James has ever released, and possibly the longest he has ever created.

 

 

try again

 

Soft Ballet - Sand Lowe (The Polygon Window Remix)

 

fuck yo trivia

 

and your couch

 

OK, turns out it's 11:43, which is 16 seconds longer than [white blur 2]. But then again, it is a remix, so it's not entirely a Richard D. James track.

[cern]

Also, If you listening closely to the background around 0.35 - 01.00 you can hear a strange sound that reminds me of this theme:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfi2RBA3h64

[Guest Barricade]

What do you call them in English?

wind chimes, pretty ambient...

[sneaksta303]

Trivia:

 

[white blur 2], or CD2 Track 11, is the longest track Richard D. James has ever released, and possibly the longest he has ever created.

 

 

try again

 

Soft Ballet - Sand Lowe (The Polygon Window Remix)

 

fuck yo trivia

 

and your couch

 

OK, turns out it's 11:43, which is 16 seconds longer than [white blur 2]. But then again, it is a remix, so it's not entirely a Richard D. James track.

 

 

Yeah, listen to it and say that.

[Boxing Day]

Trivia:

 

[white blur 2], or CD2 Track 11, is the longest track Richard D. James has ever released, and possibly the longest he has ever created.

 

 

try again

 

Soft Ballet - Sand Lowe (The Polygon Window Remix)

 

fuck yo trivia

 

and your couch

 

OK, turns out it's 11:43, which is 16 seconds longer than [white blur 2]. But then again, it is a remix, so it's not entirely a Richard D. James track.

 

ehm? .. HELLO!!!!!!!!!!! DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT RDJ??

[Guest Calx Sherbet]

do you?

[xy_politics]

it's one of his most well known songs despite the fact it's on perhaps his least well known album

i could be very wrong of course, but i'd have thought that SAW 2 was actually the best known, and best seller of all his albums. it almost made the u.k top 10. thinking about it though SAW 1 probably has sold more in the long run, and it's the most owned afx album on discogs.

[Guest theSun]

saw 2 almost made uk top 10? wtf?

 

i can't image more than a handful of the population would give this a chance. then again i'm an american

[bubbhasdance]

do you notice and recognize miracles?

[Guest Hanratty]

when i forst bought saw2 on a whim i was very sad that there was no beats. electronic music is supposed to have a 140 bpm 909 kick at all times right?

 

nowadays i appreciate it. "stone in focus" is amazing. wasnt that on a version of saw2? not my version but still