Boards of Canada Going off Aphex Twin - is he all that?

[doorjamb]

rushup edge was like driving 100 miles for a spliff and a cold beer

 

[karmakramer]

This new album should be interesting... Drukqs was the album oddly enough that finally sent the public eye away, clearly because of its harsh intense songs... even though I and most in electronic community consider it his best album.

 

I personally think this new album will be his most accessible... probably a true demonstration of all of what he has learned combined into one. But I hope not, I hope he continues to drive himself further from the crowd, fuck them.

[brian trageskin]

rushup edge was like driving 100 miles for a spliff and a cold beer

 

hahahaha wtf

[Guest ComicMaster]

Richard D. James Album, the 10-track original, still sounds perfectly amazing on all levels.

[Guest melotronic]

semiotics go a long way to explaining why rdj is a genius... but he still is one

[Guest Aces]

I must be one of the few who really dosen't like the tuss stuff that much. Nor analord apart from 10.

[MDF]

I love the analord stuff and think its a return to his more direct and personal sounding music, the Tuss is good but there wasnt nearly enough, plus it doesnt sound as personal. The RDJ album was a fairly empty sounding album compared to his best stuff IMO. Basically he seems to have 2 main vibes to his music, the stuff that sounds like it just poured out of him (his best), and then theres the music that sounds like he was trying to make it.

He is hyped, some of his music lives up to the hype, some doesnt.

I do wonder if he is really as prolific as is said, he doesnt release all that much really considering how much music he's supposed to have, and he plays mostly the released stuff at gigs. I hope he really has got 1000's of tracks unreleased and much more of his music gets released. Come on Rephlex do the decent thing and release his archives as downloads, hundred tracks at a time.

[autopilot]

I've always maintained the belief that Aphex/AFX/Tuss is about 40% utter genius and 60% garbage. The 40% is fucking amazing though. I pretty much never listen to any of his albums all the way through start to finish without skipping tracks except for Hangable Auto Bulb. Nothing kills the flow of some really well written songs like some guy's parents singing happy birthday on an answering machine. Sure, it's funny the first listen, but after that it's just dumb.

 

Funny that RDJ album's sound quality was brought up. I'm really not a fan of that album at all because of how poorly mixed it sounds. It sounds like the final master was dubbed on cassette tapes or something. Compared to the crisp production of something like Tri Repetae or Actual Sounds & Voices (which are only a year or so apart from RDJ album if I'm not mistaken), it sounds really bad.

 

I think the breakcore tracks on Drukqs and Hangable Auto Bulb are fucking stellar, though. That's what I keep coming back to. Seriously amazing work. Analord 10 is pretty incredible as well.

 

That being said, I'm really looking forward to his new album. If he can do something thematically focused like Drukqs, with the programming skill of Synthacon 9/Alspacka/Fenix Funk 5, it could be a real gem.

[Guest spraaaa]

noticed the op didn't mention any of his early stuff - check out classics, surfing on sine waves, saw 85-92, etc! saw2 & drukqs were and are my favs, I didn't check these out forever, but now that I have I like them way more than icbyd, rdj album, that whole idm getting popular phase. way more repetitive, but it gets you absorbed in the sounds more in a way that the poppier stuff doesn't really let you.

 

honestly I totally believe rdj's talk about just releasing what he thinks will sell... especially listening to this earlier stuff, you can hear lots of sounds being reused between different songs, get the impression that he does lots of jams and versions, but later on he's not releasing nearly as many of them.

[gunnar]

i'm afraid if RDJ album would be mixed to sound pleasant or up to some normal standars it would take away it's charm. it's part of what it makes it so unique. '4' would not sound as powerful with ever level adjusted and turned down. IMO ofcourse

[marf]

can we all just agree that xtal is the greatest track of all time?

[Guest Shit Attack]

aphex is the only "idm" musician i would even consider stealing a new record by. all the rest of them have either turned into a parody of themselves (squarepusher + boc im lookin at you) or were really really terrible already (autechre, clark, all the other annoying shitheads) i dont like this kind of music its absolute cack handed sheep shit dipped in manure with a side helping of musical diarheoa. aphex is the best of a bad bunch but i bet his new one will suck a golfball through a garden hose.

[hardcode]

i used to listen to autechre

 

back in 96

[Berk]

aphex is the best of a bad bunch but i bet his new one will suck a golfball through a garden hose.

 

Why would he go from brilliant to crappy? I don't understand why some people here think that.

 

 

He might release some more accessible stuff for cash, but his 'easy' stuff has been very good as well (even Rushup Edge is accessible imo, only not as well known)

 

 

Agree though that he's one of the few IDM artists that still makes music because he's super into it and has got a story to tell

[Guest Shit Attack]

i would of thought sucking a golf ball through a garden hose would be something of an achievement to be honest

[Guest hahathhat]

aphex is the only "idm" musician i would even consider stealing a new record by. all the rest of them have either turned into a parody of themselves (squarepusher + boc im lookin at you) or were really really terrible already (autechre, clark, all the other annoying shitheads) i dont like this kind of music its absolute cack handed sheep shit dipped in manure with a side helping of musical diarheoa. aphex is the best of a bad bunch but i bet his new one will suck a golfball through a garden hose.

 

who are you??? let's see your credentials plz

[Guest HokusPoker]

It's all about context as well. If On, SAW 85-92, and Surfing on Sine Waves were released in the last 5 years, they'd be well-recieved but not considered classics. RDJ broke away from the cliche 4/4 rave and ambient output of other major electronic artists and took D'n'b into a whole new direction with Hangable Auto Bulb and The RDJ album. You can arguably gripe about sound quality or un-amazing sounding tracks, but I even appreciate his most older lackluster songs because they don't sound like any other artist, even now.

 

Seriously: what has RDJA got to do with D'n'B??

[sneaksta303]

It's all about context as well. If On, SAW 85-92, and Surfing on Sine Waves were released in the last 5 years, they'd be well-recieved but not considered classics. RDJ broke away from the cliche 4/4 rave and ambient output of other major electronic artists and took D'n'b into a whole new direction with Hangable Auto Bulb and The RDJ album. You can arguably gripe about sound quality or un-amazing sounding tracks, but I even appreciate his most older lackluster songs because they don't sound like any other artist, even now.

 

Seriously: what has RDJA got to do with D'n'B??

 

really? REALLY???

[m.leafeater.dl]

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[GORDO]

there's nothing in the present that comes near rushup edge, dunno what you're all on about.

[Guest Aces]

The fact that taste in music is subjective.

[sneaksta303]

To answer the topic question: Yes he is all that (and a bag of chips *crisps in the UK*)

 

Imperfections in his discog is inevitable. No reason to hate. I dunno. I think i'm taking this too personally.

[Guest Shit Attack]

my credentials are im a person with ears and poorly thought out opinions which i like to foist (? not sure if this is a word) on others when they complain that they dont like a musician because there is "unintention distortion when the levels are wrong" i dont think afx is perfect by any means but the unintention(al) distortion when the levels are wrong never really entered into my enjoyment of his or anybody elses music that ive ever heard ! the idea of not liking any kind of music because of some minor technical flaw also seems completely crazed and wrong headed. in the case of afx i think his early music some of which sounds pretty ropey is probably the best and most original tracks he made. the shitty sound quality adds to it if anything like you could really hear some weird kid cranking out this evil sounding music in a shed somewhere or something and not considering that anyone is ever going to hear it. the later stuff is a bit more polished and complicated but i dont think it makes it necessarily better. then i wanted to slag off some of the other idm "gods" cos i got ripped off buying their shit cd's for long enough before i realised their music is every bit as bad in its own way as anything in the pop charts or any other kind of music. especially nowadays when it seems like fuckin prog rock is the new hip thing going by squarepusher and that exile chump's new shit or clark and venetian snares latest attempts which personnaly i could only listen to at gun point and even then it would be a chore. Personaly i just dont like it - sorry. finally i use the occasion as some sort of typing exercise to amuse myself while my dinner cooks which it most certainly has and is very tasty thankyou.

[sneaksta303]

my credentials are im a person with ears and poorly thought out opinions which i like to foist (? not sure if this is a word) on others when they complain that they dont like a musician because there is "unintention distortion when the levels are wrong" i dont think afx is perfect by any means but the unintention(al) distortion when the levels are wrong never really entered into my enjoyment of his or anybody elses music that ive ever heard ! the idea of not liking any kind of music because of some minor technical flaw also seems completely crazed and wrong headed. in the case of afx i think his early music some of which sounds pretty ropey is probably the best and most original tracks he made. the shitty sound quality adds to it if anything like you could really hear some weird kid cranking out this evil sounding music in a shed somewhere or something and not considering that anyone is ever going to hear it. the later stuff is a bit more polished and complicated but i dont think it makes it necessarily better. then i wanted to slag off some of the other idm "gods" cos i got ripped off buying their shit cd's for long enough before i realised their music is every bit as bad in its own way as anything in the pop charts or any other kind of music. especially nowadays when it seems like fuckin prog rock is the new hip thing going by squarepusher and that exile chump's new shit or clark and venetian snares latest attempts which personnaly i could only listen to at gun point and even then it would be a chore. Personaly i just dont like it - sorry. finally i use the occasion as some sort of typing exercise to amuse myself while my dinner cooks which it most certainly has and is very tasty thankyou.

 

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