Twelvetrees Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 I've been going back through the old stuff with Cheetah on the horizon and after listens here and there I've started to separate AFX's music into pre-Windowlicker and post-Windowlicker. His music's always been pretty emotional but it seemed to become a great deal darker and more intense from Drukqs onwards. Sure, Alberto Balsalm is very emotionally charged but it doesn't have the same intensity as Phontacid or Death Fuck. There was a lightness, or a sense of fun, to his earlier music that seemed to vanish when Drukqs came along. I think his post-WL music is actually better than the pre-WL stuff but it sounds dominated by gloom or despair or just a generally dark sentiment. It's almost like two different peoples' work. Of course Aphex has always modified his sound with every release but the sentiment running through his work was generally consistent, until after Windowlicker when the sentiment suddenly changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hello spiral Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 Nah. What about the r&s stuff? Iccthedral? Ventolin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twelvetrees Posted June 23, 2016 Author Share Posted June 23, 2016 I know where you're coming from. I'm not saying that he didn't do intense/dark tracks before, but that those sentiments became much more prominent post-WL. I suppose another way of saying it would that his music became much more raw, or visceral, after WL. The sense of playfulness disappeared. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flacid Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 lol. Classics... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZoeB Posted June 29, 2016 Share Posted June 29, 2016 I'd say quite a bit of the Analords, and tracks like Goodbye Rute, have a gentle melancholy to them, although he's still written happy tracks like I'm Self Employed and ones invoking other emotions too. His work before Drukqs had occasional scary tracks like Icct Hedral, but not flat out sad ones in my opinion. I think the OP's pretty accurate in his assessment. This is all pretty subjective, of course. What I find warm and fuzzy, like [Rhubarb], some others find lethargic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodorsbn Posted June 29, 2016 Share Posted June 29, 2016 lol @ trying to classify an artist's work in such a black and white way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adamovich Posted June 29, 2016 Share Posted June 29, 2016 lol @ trying to classify an artist's work in such a black and white way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caze Posted June 29, 2016 Share Posted June 29, 2016 I love the pre-windowlicker stuff, I love the post-windowlicker stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragnar Posted June 29, 2016 Share Posted June 29, 2016 lol @ trying to classify an artist's work in such a black and white way. venetian snares pre and post- dc offset (pre being Doll Doll Doll, HCCBU, post being Detrimentalist/Filth etc) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purlieu Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 There are maybe fewer playful or mellow tracks later on, but it's hardly a direct cutoff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kennylogg Bubblebath Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 If we're really gonna separate Rich's work into two chronological groups, surely pre-Drukqs and post-Drukqs would be more justifiable cutoff points? But even that's a bit forced due to the inconsistency and unpredictability of his output. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awesomeperson Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 Come To Daddy was the departure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoggy Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 Come on you slags, neotekt72 - lots of other exceptions I think the biggest change in how his stuff sounds is pre-post computer, with RDJ album maybe in the middle - but then later, the analog stuff... so that's wrong too... You can say maybe he used more minor key stuff after CTD/WL (I don't know) but it's only one facet and there are lots of exceptions Something I love about his music is how naturally multidimensional it is - like a human personality Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kennylogg Bubblebath Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 Come To Daddy was the departure. CTD was merely a continuation of HAB and RDJ Album, at least from a sonic standpoint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colunga Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 Come To Daddy was the departure. Came in to post this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZoeB Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 Come To Daddy was the departure. Really? I kind of think of it as Hangable Auto Bulb 3 and 4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbhasdance Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 Lmao Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxus Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 I don't know about the whole light/dark anakin/vader thing, but I figure the biggest change after CTD and Windowlicker was that he got way more international fame and notoriety, and that's bound to change anyone's outlook. Seemed like he shunned the spotlight after that, at least til recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lane Visitor Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 I hear what you and some of the other comments are saying or trying to convey, but I disagree--not that his music style has changed, but in the way you describe. I don't know that I agree its necessarily more gloomy / dark / intense / less playful (but in a sense- the playfulness observation makes sense to me) so much as this observation... His recent music (post-Drukqs) feels to me more serious and intentional in terms of the sonic, programming, sound design and partly rhythmic sense, while it feels more experimental/understated/less intentional (and maybe even less focused) in the musical/mood/atmosphere aspect. While for me, it felt the opposite in his pre-Analord work (everything Drukqs and before). His 2001 and before (with the exception of the swinging piano piece) work felt more focused on feeling and depth and mystery and beauty (and terror), and more open ended on what sounds and techniques he used to get there. (Even in stuff like Classics and Caustic - though they didn't have much musicality, there was still mood and vibe that gave it a sense of music--partly to me it was the feeling portrayed which I perceived as unique blend of maniacal, manic, and hypnotic. Same with SOSW--cold, dark, alien, and detached, but somehow swimming in emotion- some sort of mood. It casted imagery and color--even with the cover art for SOSW and Quoth.) Now, it seems as if many of these tracks are simply exercises in groove and modular funkiness--not that they're not excellent in their own right. And there is the occasional feels and depth in some of the tracks, but it feels considerably more mental and body, and less heart and spirit. Also less conceptual. A good amount of work on Syro transcends that though and it taps into some blissful elements, and jazzy downtempo aspects which feel kind of a new territory for RDJ to focus on (while also maybe being a longer-lasting nod to stuff like IZ-US & WL.) In a way, this makes his recent output (as dark or acid or mental or whatever it may be), safe feeling--not very extreme. But I don't see that as particularly negative--more just interesting observation, and makes me wonder if that's intentional or not... Wonder if anyone else feels similar, and if this is tapping into something on a bigger picture? Wonder if RDJ is holding back some feeling or maybe waiting for the right time to release it, or maybe releasing certain aspects emotion though other means than music? Or maaaybe we're all pre-evolved listeners missing the subconscious emotional cues he's trickling through out his recent work. Maybe the minimal-ness in terms of emotion and melody is intentional and done as part of a coldness and numbness that he wants to put across. Whatever the case, I will follow, respect, and jam out to his work until the end :) (sorry i don't know why this came up all white background lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kennylogg Bubblebath Posted July 2, 2016 Share Posted July 2, 2016 Spot on, fella. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plarkreluke Banloboh Posted July 4, 2016 Share Posted July 4, 2016 Saw someone actually licking a window today, the legacy lives on.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.