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

[marf]

im a card carrying aphex fan

[marf]

I don't really like super clean perfectly produced electronic music. Like BT. Yuck.

 

Aphex has changed his production style over the years, def. I think he along with everyone else went through a laptop phase around 97 to 99. I think his tracks from that time sound the weakest in the production sense. The music was always great though

[Guest mafted]

"which sounds utterly genius to my ears now"

 

"is he all that?"

 

 

this does not compute. is 'genius' all that? could've sworn it meant all of that, and not an ounce less of that.

[pera]

Read the FAQ

[Guest Barricade]

Read the FAQ

damn someone needs to update that FAQ lol

[Guest mafted]

why do we need to read it again? jw

[oyster]

Aphex Twin is a good musician.

[boris]

Aphex Twin is a good musician.

 

ty pod

[Guest hahathhat]

bump

[Boxing Day]

The Tuusminator

[Ragnar]

I think he has the right way of thinking about music which eclipses any weak tracks he's done

[Ragnar]

but aside from that he's literally done tracks where no other song has established an atmosphere remotely like it. A lot of his music is more to me is like DISCOVERING things like if you tried all the food in the world and suddenly something new materialized. Even if it was shittily prepared wouldn't you give more to try this new experience than the most well-prepared dish of something you've had a million times before? It's not exactly just that it's new either, it's something new that resembles nothing else either

 

also his stuff has this tip of the iceberg feeling, I've never thought he couldn't do ultra-smooth crisp BT-style stuff it's just that he either likes the rough/unpolished sound/intentionally puts it in/prefers spontaneity or something. Even his technical complicated Drukqs stuff has this dirtyness that gives the sounds this momentum like they could fall apart at any moment. If it sounded I don't know ELEGANT that would not be a good thing. In part it's the accidentalness which may or may not be authentic but also that it sort of pushes the technical aspect into the background... or something

[Ragnar]

I also think he has this way of thinking about the act of LISTENING to the track like yes it's a lo-fi sound but he wants this to make it more believable. Like even if it's dirty-sounding on computer like RDJ album maybe he was going for a feel like those hacked Sega Genesis savestates, like what if you just popped in a genesis game and something like RDJ album came out. I just like the idea that the music would come from some source like that, not only like a computer making its own music but also there was the anonymonity of game music, it was just made by some guy you didn't know except for a name and that was when and if you got to the credits. Combined with being a kid maybe it did have this feel like music just EXISTED without a person having some part in creating it? ... or something

 

 

 

sorry forums hate me and won't let me edit

[Candiru]

Very funny the 'poor' sound quality and the 'flaws' in RDJ's music are mentioned.

When i read an interview with the head of the former R&S Records (label where RDJ started and who put out SAW 85-92 , Xylem Tube and Classics), the 'sound quality' was mentioned as well. His music was on DAT-tapes and their 'sound quality' wasn't always that great. Still, the music on these tapes was incredible. It still is.

 

You can argue that there are 'flaws' in his music or that the quality of the sound could be better, but i think that you're really missing out on the whole. And saying that this would be unintentional is really taking it a step too far...I remember reading an interview with him where he states that he prefers the analogue equipment because of the fact that it isn't always delivering a clean sound, but there are always little differences and glitches; it's a more organic sound. He also said he doesn't like to aproach his music in a 'mathematical' way as lots of other people in the field do. So...i think you can forget about the 'flaws' being unintentional just as well as you might not want to state that the sound should be better. I do believe that, as mentioned before in this thread, it's got more to do with what works. I would even dare to say that in some occasions it's even the more the result he explicitly wants rather than the effect of laziness of incapability.

 

I agree that RDJ is hyped a bit to much at times, but i don't argue on the point that he's a genius. He really has put out a lot of marvelous music while maintaining his inventivity, his craftsmenship and (definitely!!) his wits on a very high level. The fact that he's hyped is actually a bit of a sad story, because it's often for the wrong reasons. I'd like to state that the other side of the story is that he doesn't always get the credit he deserves. But hype or lack of credit...RDJ kept playing with it. He kept joking with it...and that very same element of fun and mockery returns in his music. But just as the whole Tuss-hype was a superb hoax, the music on the records was hitting the spot. And while he jokes and plays around, his music still keeps things interesting...The dynamics of his music are really great, and -luckily for us- not always that clean. The humour, artistry and charm are an intregal part of the intricacy of RDJ's music.

 

So, he's not all that... He's more and less. He's definitely less and without any doubt a whole bunch more. I guess the clean music got your ears or your brain messed up. RDJ has proven that he's more than capable of creating superb music that mixes a lot of styles and influences. He has done it his way, both with analogue and digital material. So if you're not hearing it any more or you're brain doesn't get stimulated any longer...you're up for either a hearing device or brain surgery.

 

This post and the one after are totally cool. Summing up my thoughts nicely.

[Guest ataraxy2]

jesus horatio christ, woman, you must be some sort of miserable... if you listen to songs and are seriously contemplating whether certain levels are right or wrong or what sounds good and how much effort was put into this and how that was made was the distortion intentional/!@ i'd say you might as well cut your dick off, but um, i think you've got that taken care of.

 

SUCH WIN.

 

i honestly don't get how people can listen to music so cold and barren and machine-like, and go figure you claim that you've liked autechre more lately, as their music has sounded like an electronic bowel movement for a good ~7+ years or thereabouts, so cold and contemplated like hte product of assembly lines fornicating and its what happen when people deconstruct themselves as opposed to music or the environments around them.

 

SUCH FACEPALM.

 

Aphex is alright. He knows what he's doing.

[Guest ruiagnelo]

You say maybe Ae and BoC got much more attention in the IDM scene has time has gone on, and maybe you are right, but you also said Richard was the only one getting attention on the 90's - when all started - because he was the pioneer, the creator, and there's a part of the credits that goes exclusively to him, which is not going to change with time. Of course other artists started making music in the same way, with different ideas and a whole different spirit, so naturally good results started appearing.

 

I am taking a guess here: i think you are classically trained for music and you play some instrument or just enjoy the classic aspects of music because your writings suggest you prefer stuff like drukqs for being more rigorous and integral. That is not bad and i find it curious because you can probably feel the music in a whole different way.

 

I just think you shouldn't forget about Richard's first steps and how genius they were. No one can possibly deny the quality that exists in SAW 85-92 or ICBYD, even if its more spontaneous or emotional and less rational.

[gunnar]

I don't really like super clean perfectly produced electronic music. Like BT. Yuck.

 

Aphex has changed his production style over the years, def. I think he along with everyone else went through a laptop phase around 97 to 99. I think his tracks from that time sound the weakest in the production sense. The music was always great though

 

funny 'cause i think he perfected his production style at that period. tracks like flim, contour regard, iz-us, windowlicker, equation....nuff said

[J3FF3R00]

I think he had his opinion due to the fact he was born in 1985 and was 10 at the time that RDJ was seriously releasing new sounds people had never heard before on EVERY release. I can see if you listen to it out of the context of the era it was released in that it may sound "lazy" or sloppy or whatever but to virginal ears 15 years ago, if you were into electronic music and heard new AFX shit, your mind was going to be blown over and over again. He is the best. End of story.

[Cryptowen]

I always hesitate using terms like "best" in relation to music. I mean, it's all subjective, right? I'm sure the majority of WATMM thinks his music is super awesome, but there are plenty of people out there who won't ever get into it. I don't think it's because they don't get it, it's just that people gravitate to whatever speaks to them. For me personally, I'd say Aphex Twin has had a big impact, but so have a lot of other musicians, and while I wouldn't call him my favourite music maker I'd definitely put him in the big shifting whirlpool of music makers who make music I really like. I could never organize them all, & I like it that way.

[Guest Scrambled Ears]

i think 26 mixes for cash is the shit and i would listen to it no matter who made it

[karmakramer]

i think 26 mixes for cash is the shit and i would listen to it no matter who made it

 

amen

[chassis]

He's got nothing on Ae

 

 

[gaarg]

Thread question-wise: More serious music (I love minimalists like Glass, Riley and Reich) helped quite a lot to start getting me out of idmish music, where RDJ is kinda the boss imo. Not that I don't care for artists like Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, Autechre or Clark, but I just got the feeling that Idm isn't grown up enough at times.

[jeremymacgregor87]

Autechre isn't grown up enough fer ya?

[gaarg]

Yes, yes it is. But it's not grown up as much as Steve Reich.