Aphex Twin Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works 85-92 and Classics are being rereleased yet again, this time as the "2011 edition".

[Guest Kenneth172]

SAW2 is probably his best work IMHO. It's almost timeless, there are few other albums of his that are as genuinely moving and emotional. When I first listened to Lichen it brought tears to my eyes, I'd have it played at my funeral. I can't say this about any other Aphex release. A re-release would be good with the inclusion of Stone In Focus.

[ZoeB]

A re-release would be good with the inclusion of Stone In Focus.

 

And On (28 Mix), that suspiciously SAWII sounding first untitled track from AB3, and whatever the other track is that makes at least 28 in total. I suspect he's holding back. :) And even if he wasn't happy with the production quality of this album (as really he shouldn't be), that ought to spur him into pulling a George Lucas and re-performing the whole thing. Imagine the production quality of the Analords or Rushup Edge, combined with the emotion and atmosphere of SAWII. Of course, it won't happen, but it would be great if it did. Profitable, I'll bet, too.

[Guest Kenneth172]

It's not as though SAW II is bad in production quality as the blurriness of the sound is what makes it so lucid. You need a good quality sound systems to pick up on the nuances. On shitty headphones the smaller details are lost, just needs more clarity to bring the quieter bits out. Can't see this happening though.

[ZoeB]

It's not as though SAW II is bad in production quality as the blurriness of the sound is what makes it so lucid.

 

Oh, I love the decay and reverb, yes. It's just the occasional clipping and really harsh resonance I object to, really.

[Guest Dogboy73]

This is lame because(IMHO):

 

A) It's a cd

B) It doesn't contain the original cover work

 

I just imported this into iTunes. The album artwork appears as the original cover;

 

 

 

It also appears inside in the sleeve notes.

 

Not sure about the 're-mastering' though. 1) it didn't need it 2) I could have probably done a better job myself!! (which really means the same as 1. Did it need it?!). In any case it's great to listen to this again. Such a wonderful album. I don't get how many times it gets re-released. Every Human being on the planet should be fead this frm birth! It should be prescribed as a sort of welcome to the World musical initiation. That way kids wouldn't grow up listening to shit & watching the X-factor & 'believing' that what they're seen could in any way be thought of as talent. Ambient Works Volume One is the soundtrack to the centre of the Universe ........ okay, I'll stop going on now!!

[Joyrex]

Give me a bonus track or demo or ANYTHING

Yea, why didn't they do this? That would guarantee sales.

 

Probably because Richard had nothing to do with the reissues - this is all R&S. Considering the reported bad blood between him and R&S management, I'd doubt he'd offer any outtakes like he did for Surfing on Sine Waves - and even then it was just the first two tracks off the first DAT labeled 'Polygon Window' he found!

 

Well if we're sharing opinions on the matter, I consider it pretty uneventful, as someone who cherishes her copy of SAW85-92 and who sold her copy of Classics long ago. With any album, either it's worth keeping or it isn't. Either way, there doesn't seem much point in getting another version with slightly different mastering and different cover artwork.

 

 

Yeah, I don't often find myself listening to "Classics". Although, I would never sell anything Aphex related.

 

Polynomial-C? There's a reason this compilation is called 'Classics"...

 

Not to mention that SAWII has sold well over 100,000 copies...

 

Is there any evidence to support this? I had read where it was such a commercial flop for Warner Bros that an internal memorandum went around requiring authorization to release any further 'ambient' releases by any artist due to the sales of SAWII...

 

A re-release would be good with the inclusion of Stone In Focus.

 

And On (28 Mix), that suspiciously SAWII sounding first untitled track from AB3, and whatever the other track is that makes at least 28 in total. I suspect he's holding back. :) And even if he wasn't happy with the production quality of this album (as really he shouldn't be), that ought to spur him into pulling a George Lucas and re-performing the whole thing. Imagine the production quality of the Analords or Rushup Edge, combined with the emotion and atmosphere of SAWII. Of course, it won't happen, but it would be great if it did. Profitable, I'll bet, too.

 

On (28Mix) was one of many tracks that are 'SAW II outtakes' that didn't make it on the final release. #19 (aka Stone in Focus) would push this to a 3 CD release, considering the length. Also, #4 (only appeared on the UK CD release as well as the UK-only vinyl versions) needs to be included (in the US at least) on any reissue, as it's one of the best tracks on SAW II (IMO) and it's damn creepy to boot!

 

Give it about 5 more years or so - Richard will probably get nostalgic for his old music (and money) and reissue with WARP's blessing all his classic material.

 

I want a reissued ICBYD with deluxe artwork and packaging, and notes from Richard himself about how he made and the inspiration for the tracks.

[ZoeB]

Well if we're sharing opinions on the matter, I consider it pretty uneventful, as someone who cherishes her copy of SAW85-92 and who sold her copy of Classics long ago. With any album, either it's worth keeping or it isn't. Either way, there doesn't seem much point in getting another version with slightly different mastering and different cover artwork.

 

 

Yeah, I don't often find myself listening to "Classics". Although, I would never sell anything Aphex related.

 

Polynomial-C? There's a reason this compilation is called 'Classics"...

 

 

I love Polynomial-C and Analogue Bubblebath, but I don't generally think it's worth keeping an album or compilation for just two tracks, especially these days when you can pick and choose the tracks you want to buy. Then again, I also sold ...I Care Because You Do and Drukqs, although I somewhat regret that and bought back the (in my opinion) good half of I Care Because You Do as downloads... so I guess I'm just indecisive. He's one of those artists where I don't like everything he does, but I like most of it intensely enough to get far too obsessive.

 

Not to mention that SAWII has sold well over 100,000 copies...

 

Is there any evidence to support this? I had read where it was such a commercial flop for Warner Bros that an internal memorandum went around requiring authorization to release any further 'ambient' releases by any artist due to the sales of SAWII...

 

 

Here in the UK, Selected Ambient Works Volume II apparently got to number eleven in the charts, so it must have sold some copies. Not enough for a major label such as Warner Brothers to be happy with, I'm sure, but enough to make an indie label such as Warp proud, surely? It's kind of like Moby's album Play though, in that most of the money it generated was presumably through licensing it out to films and TV shows, not selling it directly to consumers.

 

Plus Warner Brothers are big enough that he has less bargaining power with them:

 

I also tried to talk to Warner Bros (Richard's record label in Japan and the US) as well but they weren't that easy to persuade. I told them something like: 'I want to do Aphex Twin on Rephlex.". But they just said: 'No way. we bought you, we own you.' We discussed it a lot. I said: 'If you don't say yes you ain't getting anything in future from me.' And they said: 'Alright, then we just don't get anything from you.' I'm allowed to use AFX on Rephlex so I just focus on this."

 

A re-release would be good with the inclusion of Stone In Focus.

 

And On (28 Mix), that suspiciously SAWII sounding first untitled track from AB3, and whatever the other track is that makes at least 28 in total. I suspect he's holding back. :) And even if he wasn't happy with the production quality of this album (as really he shouldn't be), that ought to spur him into pulling a George Lucas and re-performing the whole thing. Imagine the production quality of the Analords or Rushup Edge, combined with the emotion and atmosphere of SAWII. Of course, it won't happen, but it would be great if it did. Profitable, I'll bet, too.

 

On (28Mix) was one of many tracks that are 'SAW II outtakes' that didn't make it on the final release. #19 (aka Stone in Focus) would push this to a 3 CD release, considering the length. Also, #4 (only appeared on the UK CD release as well as the UK-only vinyl versions) needs to be included (in the US at least) on any reissue, as it's one of the best tracks on SAW II (IMO) and it's damn creepy to boot!

 

Give it about 5 more years or so - Richard will probably get nostalgic for his old music (and money) and reissue with WARP's blessing all his classic material.

 

I want a reissued ICBYD with deluxe artwork and packaging, and notes from Richard himself about how he made and the inspiration for the tracks.

 

I really don't get why they chose to exclude #19 from the CD version instead of any of the lesser tracks... At any rate, now that we have digital downloads, it would be nice if Warp released a download-only version with all the tracks. The vinyl has all that will fit on three records, the CDs have all that will fit on two discs, and the download can have everything because it doesn't have any manufacturing costs. :)

 

I'd love it if successful musicians told their fans how they made their music, be it as a bonus DVD video, a composer's commentary track had DVD-A taken off, a series of online videos or even a small run or digital download autobiography / how-to guide. Most people who listen to music, even instrumental music, probably aren't musicians though, so perhaps wouldn't appreciate such a feature or product, and IDM musicians are notoriously shy it seems, so sadly that doesn't sound likely. This is exactly why I decided to start making how-to videos myself and put them online, but I doubt I'm professional enough yet for them to be useful to that many people. It really would be something though if a good musician videotaped the whole process of writing an album, and you saw the whole thing coming together from a few simple ideas, through a lot of hard work, to a well polished final product. You could edit it down to a nice making-of documentary. I saw a great video once which was a time lapse of someone writing some interactive fiction. It really helps you appreciate how much effort goes into something that's well made. For now, I'll have to make do with just imagining what kind of advice such inspirational musicians would give the aspiring next generation, which probably boils down to "stop wasting time on forums and get on with actually making music." :)

[Guest Kenneth172]

Fcuk the re-releases anyway, just wish he'd crack on and deliver us some new stuff.

[ascdi]

Good post Dogboy