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Top content from across the community, hand-picked by us.

Global Goon - Give It 2 Ya
Wednesday, July 1, possibly shirts as well:

https://global-goon.bandcamp.com/album/give-it-2-ya
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1998 interview
hadn't seen this 1998 interview with Tom

 
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Methyl Orange LP - 2x12"
So recently I got a request from a user if there is a possibility to do a Kickstarter similar to the Caustic Window LP we did back in 2014 for Tom's "Methyl Orange" LP, a 2x12" whitelabel apparently only given to Richard, Chris Jeffs, GWC, and potentially a few other mates. Was destined for MEN Records (a Rephlex sublabel) back in 2003 but never saw the light of day.

Wait - what? "Methyl Orange LP"? I'd never heard of it until now...

So, a bit of Googling (you get a lot of science-y stuff if you just Google "Methyl Orange"), and I did find where I am assuming Tom played these tracks live for WARP20 and keyfumbler posted it to Mixcloud:

A comment on the Mixcloud page seems to indicate this set contains tracks from that LP, and Richard has played some in recent live sets:

Anyone have more info? I would like to know a bit more, and the possibility of a Kickstarter is highly unlikely, but I'd like to know more.
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MIDI SANS FRONTIÈRES
THE REFERENDUM ON THE UK'S MEMBERSHIP OF THE EU HAS HAD APPALLING CONSEQUENCES. IT HAS AMPLIFIED MANY DIVISIONS IN SOCIETY AND IN PARTICULAR HAS HELPED TO RE-ESTABLISH XENOPHOBIA AS LEGITIMATE AND ACCEPTABLE. WITNESSING THIS AGAINST THE GLOBAL BACKDROP OF A RESURGENCE OF THE FAR-RIGHT, IT'S ESSENTIAL THAT THOSE WHO FIND THESE DEVELOPMENTS UNACCEPTABLE MAKE THEIR THOUGHTS KNOWN AND TAKE ACTION.
THIS PIECE OF MUSIC WAS WRITTEN IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE REFERENDUM AND I PRESENT IT AS THE BASIS OF AN INTERNATIONALIST COLLABORATION WITH SOUND MAKERS IRRESPECTIVE OF WHAT KIND OF MUSIC THEY MAKE, WHERE THEY LIVE, THEIR BACKGROUND, THEIR AGE - ALL ARE INVITED TO PARTICIPATE. IT IS NOT OFFERED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICAL ACTION BUT AS A COMPLEMENT TO IT. I PUT IT FORWARD IN DEFIANCE OF THE BIGOTRY THREATENING THE FRAGILE CONNECTIONS THAT EXIST BETWEEN US ALL. I HOPE IT WILL BE AN OPPORTUNITY TO REAFFIRM SOME OF THOSE CONNECTIONS AMIDST A VERY DISTURBING SITUATION.
I HAVE PROVIDED A FINISHED MIXDOWN OF THE PIECE AND AUDIO STEMS OF THE CONSTITUENT INSTRUMENTAL PARTS. ALSO AVAILABLE ARE SCORES AND A MIDI FILE REPRESENTING THE NOTE TO NOTE INFORMATION. TAKE THE PARTS AND USE THEM HOWEVER YOU LIKE. IT COULD BE SUBTLY REMIXED OR REWORKED BEYOND RECOGNITION. CHANGE THE INSTRUMENTATION, THE KEY, THE ORDER OF NOTES, THE NOTES THEMSELVES - IT IS ABSOLUTELY OPEN. THE ONLY STIPULATION IS THIS: IF YOU WANT YOUR PIECE TO BE LISTED ON THIS SITE THEN IT MUST HAVE THE TITLE "MIDI SANS FRONTIÈRES". YOU ARE WELCOME NOT TO USE THAT TITLE FOR WHATEVER YOU DO BUT THAT MEANS WE CAN'T HOST YOUR PIECE.
 
www.squarepusher.net
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Musicians Algorithmically Generate Every Possible Melody, Release Them to Public Domain
https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/wxepzw/musicians-algorithmically-generate-every-possible-melody-release-them-to-public-domain
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Bjork and Microsoft Use AI to Make Music That Changes With the Weather
This is really amazing stuff... I think some sort of ambient art installation where the music changes based on the weather (say in some sort of outdoor amphitheatre) would be amazing.
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DistroKid - Make Sure Your Music Reaches Your Fans and You Get Paid for It
I ran across an artist who uses this service to ensure that their music gets heard by as many people as possible by making sure it's available on all the streaming services, etc. It's affordable (20USD per year for unlimited albums) and also ensures you get paid for when your music is used/licensed: https://distrokid.com/

We'll get your music into Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, Pandora, Amazon, Google Play, Tidal, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Deezer and 150+ other stores & streaming services.

Keep 100% of your royalties, get paid monthly.


In stores 10-20x faster than any other distributor, at a fraction of the price.


Pay only $19.99 to upload unlimited albums & songs for a year (our competitors charge at least 2x that just to upload one album).


Keep all your earnings—or set up "splits" to automatically route any percentage of earnings, from any track, to anyone.


Bonus features! Distribute cover songs legally · Get paid when other people use your music in YouTube · Unlimited backups · Instant Spotify verified checkmark · Manage your Apple Music page · Get your credits & lyrics into stores · Get a YouTube Official Artist Channel · Spotify pre-save · So much more...



Thought this might be of interest/useful for budding musicians here or established ones who don't want the headache of doing all this yourself.

 
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Beck asked RDJ to produce an album for him in 1998
Knew of the "Richard's Haircut" remix and all, but this tidbit was news to me:

https://www.stereogum.com/2065648/beck-discusses-failing-to-get-aphex-twin-to-produce-him-in-the-90s-and-denying-dumb-and-dumber-loser-for-its-theme-song/news/

 

RDJ certainly was hit up often for remixes and collaborations, can't help but wonder if that's partly why he ramped up his eccentric reputation in interviews.
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Be Up A Hello [2020]
I will update the thread once the pre-orders go live with the links to them.


Source: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081KRTJCH/ref=sr_1_24?qid=1574193944&refinements=p_32%3ASquarepusher&s=music&sr=1-24

 
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Plaid featured in this month's issue of Computer Music Magazine! (Plus NEW EP!!)
I've been meaning to make a topic to let all you British folks know that Plaid is featured on this month's issue (December 2019) of Computer Music magazine! I saw they retweeted the news on Twitter and scrambled to an ol British Newsstand website I used to buy the sadly defunct SpongeBob Magazine years back, Newsstand.co.uk. Very useful site if you're not living in the U.K and interested in seeing Plaid talk for a bit and show how they make Los with specific software, among a couple other features.


The magazine also shows a link to an awesome video with making Los too if you can't buy the magazine.

 

My copy came today and I peeked a bit through it. Will give it a full read later but I saw some news that caught my eye. Ed mentions a NEW EP coming by the end of November or so!!! I'm fuckin hyped, not only do we get Peel Session 2 but this too! Andy mentions it being "more pure dancey material".


I wish I can scan the 12-page feature but I sadly don't own a scanner and taking pictures on my sister's phones will take ages. XP
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Aphex Twin and Luke Vibert video edit
A new edit i put together with audio Luke shared in a 2003 interview showing a collaboration he did with Richard.
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Caustic Window - Compilation / CAT 009 CD
OK gang - what do we have here. Well we have the CW compilation CD filed under CAT 009 CD. AB3 (CAT 008) was released in 1993 but this one came out in 1998. They must have decided early on that there would be a compilation put out to collect those early CW 12"s. Those were some of the first Rephlex records out there and correct me if I'm wrong, but are Pop Corn and R2D2 the only tracks not included on this comp? They are good tracks and it's too bad they're not on here however I happen to love this CD. This compilation was also repressed as 3x12s" in 98 as well (although that one is missing the humanoid must not escape" -- tragic)

what to say. I love all these tracks. Another excellent showcase of early RDJ at his esoteric best. Tracks go all over the place stylistically but each one is so easily identifiable as an RDJ product. As far as early "compilations" go, I prefer this one to "Classics" - Cordialatron, Italic Eyeball, Astroblaster, On The Romance Tip and Humanoid Must Not Escape are so excellent. I don't know if these are as "club-ready" as Digeridoo or even Tamphex. Maybe this release sits between SOSW and Classics on headphone <--> dancefloor spectrum.

Won't say much more because we all know and love this one, and I wanna keep going to more "obscure" Rephlex releases. This one has even been reissued more than once!

In short.... It's great. 4/5.

Up next.... CAT 010 CD / Mike Dred The Kosmic Kommando - Freaquenseize 
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Aphex Twin - Interactive Installation
The agency that created an interactive installation for the Collapse release did a walk through of how the project was created and executed. Pretty cool to see the design and tooling behind the scenes. RDJ had sent them samples to work with but apparently Warp thought it was "off brand" so it was changed out last minute to use clips from the Collapse songs.

 
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AFX - Analogue Bubblebath Vol. 3 / CAT 008 CD
"AFX in his third Analogue Bubblebath"

Well... What to say here.. I'll keep it short because I'm sure any and everything Aphex has been discussed thousands of times over on this site and elsewhere. The CD edition coming in early 1993 slightly after the 12" in 92, contained 5 extra tracks left off the original vinyl. These were later put to wax when they repressed AB3 in 1997. I'll get to one of those in a moment.

In the context of his entire oeuvre, I would say this is a pretty weak release for him, sounding like discarded scraps from SOSW and Caustic Window releases. Probably why it came out on "his" label. I still like them and they have an unmistakable aphexy-ness, but after making my way though the soundcloud dump I'm not totally clear as to why *these* tracks were selected. For serious heads only. Sound off in the comments.

There is one track on this CD however that i would rank as one of His Best Ever. I'm speaking of course of "(CAT 00897-AA1)"  which is a happy, uplifting piece of simple electronic music that only RDJ can come up with. It is a treasure and always puts me in a good mood. It's often on background playlists for when I have people over and it always gets "ooooh what is this?"

 

For this track alone the CD is worth it. It's a magical one. Another track I like is .1993841, a nice long moody groove. (CD only track #1) is also a nice "b-side" from SAW II perhaps. The rest I could probably do without. Anyone here absolutely love this release?
 

So.. AB3: 3/5

(CAT 00897-AA1): 5/5

 

Up next.... more RDJ with the Caustic Window Compilation CAT 009 CD 🙂

 

 

 
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Autechre mixlr active again!
Just got a notification that the Autechre mixlr account is live again.. I can't remember if it was a legit one or not but posting it here just in case 😄

http://mixlr.com/autechre/?utm_source=new_broadcast_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alert
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ART CD 2 - The Philosophy of Sound and Machine
"A selection of Electronic Music.... for Dance and Thought"

Well this was the "first" Rephlex CD, released in 1992, in cooperation with the ART label that was run by Kirk DeGiorgio (still is I think) An excellent start for Rephlex, which I think had only released Bradley's Beat before this. Hence why it was "shared" with ART.

This is an exemplary compilation of the "British Techno Sound" that Rephlex would showcase for the first third of it's life. The sound we all associate with IDM. Aphex, B12, Black Dog/Plaid show up big here. All good tracks, although the Red Cell track is really excellent. B12 are so so underrated imo. The Aphex tracks are more humorous and lighthearted than the remaining comp, which is quite "spacey" and contemplative. The Soit P.P. track is the ageispolis beat obviously. I'm actually interested if this CD came out before SAW 85-92. 

The album certainly gives Artificial Intelligence I a run for its money, although the horrendous album art (a holdover from the detroit era) is hokey and misleading. Warp did a better job in that respect. Other weak points for me are the Derrick May remix, and the Mike Dred track, which needs about 2 min cut from its run time, but I'll be getting into that when we go through freaquenseize....


Most of these tracks appear on other releases, on 12"s from that era or on various other comps later on in the decade and into the aughts. I believe this is the first appearance of Blue Calx, a full 2 years before it shows up on SAW II. I've of course listened to it 190809320943 times and it's seared into my brain, but I could easily imagine thinking this CD is worth it for that track alone. What a feeling that must have been in '92!! 

I give this a 4/5. It's retro now, a time warp, but in a great way.

 

Up next... Synectics - The Purple Universe. stay tuned.
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Synectics - The Purple Universe / CAT 006 CD
The first official Rephlex only CD is upon us in the form of CAT 006 CD: Synectics - The Purple Universe, released in 1993 and sporting a flashy translucent purple jewel case!

Let's get through the technical details before we talk about the music. The CD release contains 3 tracks left of the original LP release, which itself sported a rather bizarre sleeve and label, neither containing purple (!?!?) It's clear the definitive edition of this release is the CD. Synectics was made up of a Swiss duo of Marco Repetto & Stefan Riesen, who were in the process of starting their own (excellent) label Axodya, which released all sorts of continental early 90s IDM with v high quality control imo.
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The drawing that inspired the Wagon Christ name
The Ted Jouflas drawing that inspired Luke to dub himself Wagon Christ:
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Aphex on Rephlex (label of the month,resident advisor)
Great article on Resident Advisor talking to Aphex Twin about Rephlex Records: https://www.residentadvisor.net/features/3509
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Collapse Logo Generator
a year ago, pacman shared the 3d template for the collapse cover image logo, so we could use our own photos to make custom logos using blender. i've made a web app that uses his file, and now you can use your phone camera to generate the logo on the fly. try it here with your phone:

https://collapse.glitch.me

use safari if you have an iphone, or chrome if an android phone.

if you want to save the image you're looking at, just touch the camera view. i can't save it directly to your photo roll because of browser security, so a new tab will open containing the snapshot, then you can save/download it the usual ios/android way (as in, hold your finger down on the image).

many thanks to pacman.
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We Are The Music Makers | Volume Two (PLANNING & DISCUSSION)
Our first compilation, We Are The Music Makers | Volume One came out back in 2004. Since then, I've always wanted to do a Volume 2, following the same formula of having the community contribute tracks, vote on the best tracks by the community, and then have a professional-pressed CD of the release.

It would be great if we could do a vinyl version as well, but of course that costs money - the way we did it back in 2004 was by getting at least 100 preorders to fund the CD pressing. This was long before things like Kickstarter, GoFundMe, etc. changed the crowdfunding landscape. Now, we could do the same, or maybe go the Kickstarter route like we did with the Caustic Window LP? Have stretch goals for vinyl versions, shirts, etc.?

I'm 100% open to ideas, suggestions, etc. on getting this off the ground and making Volume Two a reality (and have fun doing it) - so let's hear some of your ideas and suggestions!
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  • 136 replies


Ableton Provides Free Learning Synths Resource
Ableton announced they have launched a new, free resource for learning synthesis, Learning Synths: https://www.ableton.com/en/blog/learn-synthesis-in-your-browser/
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Warp30
Will there be anything for Warp30? I haven't read / heard anything really. In particular after the big event of Warp20 - with the Fan Selection and stuff - it's so awfully quiet on the Warp front. Any insights apart from maybe a few gigs?
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Forum Discussion/Issues
Let's keep topics about the new forum limited to this thread - if it becomes a big thing, we could consider a subforum, or start up a bug tracking database (although there really shouldn't be any bugs per se)...
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What Video Games Are You Currently Playing
Continuing on from here, let's keep talking about games!
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