HAB

[Guest cctoide]

I really should pay more attention to this EP, I mostly ignored it after I first got into RDJ. Custodian Discount, Wabby Legs, Hangable Auto Bulb... all nice tracks.

 

I also like the way Arched Maid Via RDJ jumps into the thick of things with no slow-burning intro or any other formalities; it reminds me of RDJA, and I get the same feeling of being instantly enveloped by the sound as I do with Polynomial-C... probably due to the warm bass playing under the lead right at the start.

[eh Speedy]

Hey SPD, was that you who I bought my HAB1 copy from? Like, 10 or so years ago?

 

may very well be man. I think so, Kansas City, that sounds familiar. it was sealed no?

 

I can't remember if it was sealed or not.... I traded my GAK CD for HAB1 and the GAK 12" with someone from somewhere.... and that's where my mind goes blank, lol.

 

Actually, it couldn't have been you if your copies were sealed, because mine had some sharpie where a dude wrote in his DJ handle on it, so it couldn't have been new. I think I bought a Caustic Window 12" from you. The marbled white one.

 

Nope wasn't me then. I got my Gak CD from Pelican, and I've never ever owned a Caustic Window 12" other than the 3xLP Compilation. I should get those. We should do a deal then after all this talk. Here's my wantlist http://www.discogs.com/wantlist?user=WGYSS

[Guest Diao]

Hey SPD, was that you who I bought my HAB1 copy from? Like, 10 or so years ago?

 

may very well be man. I think so, Kansas City, that sounds familiar. it was sealed no?

 

I can't remember if it was sealed or not.... I traded my GAK CD for HAB1 and the GAK 12" with someone from somewhere.... and that's where my mind goes blank, lol.

 

Actually, it couldn't have been you if your copies were sealed, because mine had some sharpie where a dude wrote in his DJ handle on it, so it couldn't have been new. I think I bought a Caustic Window 12" from you. The marbled white one.

 

Nope wasn't me then. I got my Gak CD from Pelican, and I've never ever owned a Caustic Window 12" other than the 3xLP Compilation. I should get those. We should do a deal then after all this talk. Here's my wantlist http://www.discogs.c...list?user=WGYSS

 

Whatever happened to Pelican? I haven't seen him around for ages, I got a few things from him years back. I remember he had a Synton Fenix that I really wanted to get from him, but I'm sure it's long gone now.

[modey]

I would really love to hear a band play everything from these EPs. If I had the patience/motivation I'd do it myself. Especially Every Day and Arched Maid Via RDJ.. Would be amazing with guitars and live drums!

[psn]

Guitars are great and all, but I have still to hear a "rock" version of my favourite electronic music that justifies the effort.

[Joyrex]

If I've got my chronology right, not only is this where James starts to experiment with cutting up breakbeats (after Spotlight, at least), it's also where he starts to experiment with structure, along with Melodies From Mars. Before Hangable Auto Bulb, most of his music seems to consist of a single section with various parts that fade in and out, or otherwise join in then leave again.

 

Far as I know this is the result of the point at which he changes production methods from just like a live mixing board w/ tracks playing, to computer based editing and effects. At a show Vibert once said much of the stuff before HAB was pretty old.

 

Richard has been using computers since the get-go - he had an old Atari 512 ST that some of the SAW 85-92 tracks were made with (used trackers like STB Tracker, I reckon - I was playing around with STB Tracker in 1988/9 myself on a 1040 STe). It wasn't until Cubase and a few other programs came into their own and he switch to a mostly computer-based production setup (around RDJ album/HAB era). Melodies From Mars followed ICBYD and was some of his first experiments with that setup... probably why Logan Rock Witch and Fingerbib eventually ended up on RDJA. Some of ICBYD dates back to as early as 1990.

 

IIRC, he used Pro Tools for a lot of his early "all-computer" days, but even then a lot of the sound sources were still coming from analog synths/samplers/etc.

 

And Cubase was actually one of the best programs on the Atari 512/1040 for MIDI sequencing and composing, along with Notator (now known as Logic). I'm sure he used a variety of shit, but I would wager it was mostly Cubase.

 

 

but there is that pic of him with the mpc 3000 which leads me to believe he used that for sequencing as well

esp on the rdj album because none of the drums get pitched up or down in real time

 

Samples from an MPC60 were sequenced using his PC.

 

I had forgotten about Cubase being on the ST - you're probably right on about that. I think that's what made Richard's music all the more unique from that era - even though he was using computers, the sounds were certainly not all computer-generated. He seemed to have kept a good mix of hardware and software, knowing just when to use what.

 

Too bad. I see that the youth is more into files and CD as a comfortable medium but Warp are still using vinyl. It should not be the problem to offer this rare gem on vinyl and get people who buy it. But well………

 

Yes they are not on 10inch format. Strange. I wondered about myself that I had it in mind.

 

The CD is fine but the tracklist is wrong in some parts. Really strange artwork also.

 

The artwork (I think) was a real cop-out - it's just the colours of HAB1 and HAB2 vinyl labels merged together. Wow, creative. The fact they got the tracklisting wrong too is another example of shoddy production work.

[ZoeB]

I had forgotten about Cubase being on the ST - you're probably right on about that. I think that's what made Richard's music all the more unique from that era - even though he was using computers, the sounds were certainly not all computer-generated. He seemed to have kept a good mix of hardware and software, knowing just when to use what.

 

I could be wrong here, but I was under the impression that in the early to mid nineties, pretty much most electronic (or at least rave) music was sequenced on the Atari ST using the early versions of Logic and Cubase, which was in turn driving hardware synths and samplers? I thought the main allure of the ST was that it had MIDI build into it, thus making it the de facto standard for professional musicians. It's debatable whether software or hardware sounds best, but when it comes to sequencing notes, software's certainly more convenient, and the Atari ST could do it well from the beginning, hence why so many people wrote sequencer software for it. Norman Cook even continued using his Atari ST in the late nineties and possibly a while after that. So I don't think it would make anyone's sound esoteric.

 

Especially after reading that interview from 1993, I think what made James's sound so unusual was his predilection towards making his own sounds from scratch, from sampling smashing things together at junk yards to making electronic devices, and using synths other than preset drum machines for making percussive sounds, at a time when everyone else was using either drum machines or samples of acoustic drums, and pretty much nothing else, for all their percussion sounds. That and seemingly not using actual chords for a while, eschewing formal theory and popular ideas in favour of actual experimentation, using trial and error to work out what sounded good to him, and trusting his own judgement on the matter.

 

I don't think the equipment he used defined his sound much. I think the angle he was approaching music from did.

[Guest]

Too bad. I see that the youth is more into files and CD as a comfortable medium but Warp are still using vinyl. It should not be the problem to offer this rare gem on vinyl and get people who buy it. But well………

 

Yes they are not on 10inch format. Strange. I wondered about myself that I had it in mind.

 

The CD is fine but the tracklist is wrong in some parts. Really strange artwork also.

 

The artwork (I think) was a real cop-out - it's just the colours of HAB1 and HAB2 vinyl labels merged together. Wow, creative. The fact they got the tracklisting wrong too is another example of shoddy production work.

 

 

While you mention it-- yes it could be as you said. Wonder because TDR has done the artwork. This is not their best work really. A bit sad to see they did not make a serious artwork for such an monolith of album.

[Joyrex]

I had forgotten about Cubase being on the ST - you're probably right on about that. I think that's what made Richard's music all the more unique from that era - even though he was using computers, the sounds were certainly not all computer-generated. He seemed to have kept a good mix of hardware and software, knowing just when to use what.

 

I could be wrong here, but I was under the impression that in the early to mid nineties, pretty much most electronic (or at least rave) music was sequenced on the Atari ST using the early versions of Logic and Cubase, which was in turn driving hardware synths and samplers? I thought the main allure of the ST was that it had MIDI build into it, thus making it the de facto standard for professional musicians. It's debatable whether software or hardware sounds best, but when it comes to sequencing notes, software's certainly more convenient, and the Atari ST could do it well from the beginning, hence why so many people wrote sequencer software for it. Norman Cook even continued using his Atari ST in the late nineties and possibly a while after that. So I don't think it would make anyone's sound esoteric.

 

Especially after reading that interview from 1993, I think what made James's sound so unusual was his predilection towards making his own sounds from scratch, from sampling smashing things together at junk yards to making electronic devices, and using synths other than preset drum machines for making percussive sounds, at a time when everyone else was using either drum machines or samples of acoustic drums, and pretty much nothing else, for all their percussion sounds. That and seemingly not using actual chords for a while, eschewing formal theory and popular ideas in favour of actual experimentation, using trial and error to work out what sounded good to him, and trusting his own judgement on the matter.

 

I don't think the equipment he used defined his sound much. I think the angle he was approaching music from did.

 

Oh yes, I totally agree - you said it much better than I did. I recall that back in the day, the only reason Atari existed in the late 80's early 90's was because of their strong approach towards MIDI, and the fact that just about anyone in music was using them. Amiga tried, but Atari was dominant like the Mac was for graphic design in the 90's. I only mentioned computer-generated sounds as there was a subset of musicians who used 'signature' sounds that you just knew came from an Atari, versus what Richard was creating that sounded like nothing else around, despite using then industry standard equipment.

 

That recently mentioned anecdote about Alberto Balsam's odd sound actually coming from a mic inside a ammunition box clearly illustrates what you're talking about.

 

Another fond memory was the whole "demo" scene where programmers and musicians would push that machine to it's limits and release a program showing off their mastery of the hardware, both visually and sonically. That, and I remember the .mod files (precursor to today's digital files) that would replicate popular music (not digitize it) using computer-generated sounds. Mike P (µ-Ziq) was still using his STe, I think the last time on Bilious Paths. I could be wrong on that, but I know he was a big Atari user. Wished I didn't let my STe go into disrepair... it was a good little computer (my first one, in fact).

 

Too bad. I see that the youth is more into files and CD as a comfortable medium but Warp are still using vinyl. It should not be the problem to offer this rare gem on vinyl and get people who buy it. But well………

 

Yes they are not on 10inch format. Strange. I wondered about myself that I had it in mind.

 

The CD is fine but the tracklist is wrong in some parts. Really strange artwork also.

 

The artwork (I think) was a real cop-out - it's just the colours of HAB1 and HAB2 vinyl labels merged together. Wow, creative. The fact they got the tracklisting wrong too is another example of shoddy production work.

 

 

While you mention it-- yes it could be as you said. Wonder because TDR has done the artwork. This is not their best work really. A bit sad to see they did not make a serious artwork for such an monolith of album.

 

I really think they just slapped it together quickly for a release - shame, really as Hangable Auto Bulb evokes so many interesting images that they could have went in any number of creative directions. Perhaps they didn't have the time. it's not a terrible concept, (the merging of the two EP colours), but not what I would expect from tDR (then again, look at 26 Mixes...)

[marf]

Custodian Discount and Wabby Legs. The synth in the background makes those two very special songs.

 

you could say that about all aphex tracks. i like the way he uses percussion as part of the melody

[ZoeB]

Another fond memory was the whole "demo" scene where programmers and musicians would push that machine to it's limits and release a program showing off their mastery of the hardware, both visually and sonically. That, and I remember the .mod files (precursor to today's digital files) that would replicate popular music (not digitize it) using computer-generated sounds.

 

Oh, juvenile humour and sexualised imagery aside, I love the demoscene. It's so impressive what some people can do with such little to do it with. Again, knowing that cheap tools were used to get the job done makes the artwork made using those tools seem even more impressive. Just check out

on the C64, for instance.

 

What's kind of funny is that the Amiga had much better internal sound, what with being able to generate four channels of 8-bit PCM audio (or 2 of 14-bit if you hack it), and was the machine to use if you couldn't afford anything else and needed a self-contained device (minus a TV set or monitor) that you could use to make music on, whereas the Atari ST was simultaneously better (at controlling other hardware) and worse (on its own). That and the Amiga was made by disgruntled former Atari employees, but that's a whole other story.

 

Hangable Auto Bulb evokes so many interesting images that they could have went in any number of creative directions. Perhaps they didn't have the time.

 

I'm sure I read somewhere that tDR never actually listened to the music they were creating cover art for. They talked to the musician about what they were aiming for, and then they both tackled the subject matter separately. Which didn't seem very good to me, but then again, I love their artwork.

[Joyrex]

Another fond memory was the whole "demo" scene where programmers and musicians would push that machine to it's limits and release a program showing off their mastery of the hardware, both visually and sonically. That, and I remember the .mod files (precursor to today's digital files) that would replicate popular music (not digitize it) using computer-generated sounds.

 

Oh, juvenile humour and sexualised imagery aside, I love the demoscene. It's so impressive what some people can do with such little to do it with. Again, knowing that cheap tools were used to get the job done makes the artwork made using those tools seem even more impressive. Just check out

on the C64, for instance.

 

What's kind of funny is that the Amiga had much better internal sound, what with being able to generate four channels of 8-bit PCM audio (or 2 of 14-bit if you hack it), and was the machine to use if you couldn't afford anything else and needed a self-contained device (minus a TV set or monitor) that you could use to make music on, whereas the Atari ST was simultaneously better (at controlling other hardware) and worse (on its own). That and the Amiga was made by disgruntled former Atari employees, but that's a whole other story.

 

Hangable Auto Bulb evokes so many interesting images that they could have went in any number of creative directions. Perhaps they didn't have the time.

 

I'm sure I read somewhere that tDR never actually listened to the music they were creating cover art for. They talked to the musician about what they were aiming for, and then they both tackled the subject matter separately. Which didn't seem very good to me, but then again, I love their artwork.

 

Yes, tDR did some great stuff - inspired me as a designer long ago, but somewhere along the way they lost the plot - and I would be surprised if Richard had a hand (or voice) in the way HAB or 26 Mixes looked. Then again, I could be totally wrong, but he seems to favour the quality stuff - DrukQs is a great example (photography by Richard, graphic design by Manuel Sepulveda (aka 'Bradley Strider', LOL)

[ZoeB]

Then again, I could be totally wrong, but he seems to favour the quality stuff - DrukQs is a great example (photography by Richard, graphic design by Manuel Sepulveda (aka 'Bradley Strider', LOL)

 

I'd always assumed it was Warp's founders who favoured the high quality packaging. Compare SAW II and Drukqs to Analogue Bubblebath 3 (or pretty much anything of that era on Rephlex), 2 Remixes by AFX and the Tuss series.

[kinski]

Then again, I could be totally wrong, but he seems to favour the quality stuff - DrukQs is a great example (photography by Richard, graphic design by Manuel Sepulveda (aka 'Bradley Strider', LOL)

 

I'd always assumed it was Warp's founders who favoured the high quality packaging. Compare SAW II and Drukqs to Analogue Bubblebath 3 (or pretty much anything of that era on Rephlex), 2 Remixes by AFX and the Tuss series.

 

i always thought rephlex minimalism was quite great. i prefer the tuss packaging to saw2 tbh.

 

opinions opinions

[modey]

I really think they just slapped it together quickly for a release - shame, really as Hangable Auto Bulb evokes so many interesting images that they could have went in any number of creative directions. Perhaps they didn't have the time. it's not a terrible concept, (the merging of the two EP colours), but not what I would expect from tDR (then again, look at 26 Mixes...)

I dunno, I think it would have just been cheesy with new, elaborate artwork. I thought the concept was quite interesting, actually. I mean, the circle thing has been done to death but I love the minimalism of it.

 

Of course, if you have any ideas I'd love to see them!

[modey]

i always thought rephlex minimalism was quite great. i prefer the tuss packaging to saw2 tbh.

 

opinions opinions

I can understand how the Tuss artwork could have been awesome, I just think that the quality isn't very good. By quality I mean the actual design of the label. Looks like it was designed in Powerpoint or something. Right down to the Times font.

[Joyrex]

Then again, I could be totally wrong, but he seems to favour the quality stuff - DrukQs is a great example (photography by Richard, graphic design by Manuel Sepulveda (aka 'Bradley Strider', LOL)

 

I'd always assumed it was Warp's founders who favoured the high quality packaging. Compare SAW II and Drukqs to Analogue Bubblebath 3 (or pretty much anything of that era on Rephlex), 2 Remixes by AFX and the Tuss series.

 

I'd be surprised if they convinced Richard to come up with those designs - he clearly likes photography, and takes great pride in his Aphex Twin releases on WARP (he had nothing to do with 26 Mixes or HAB being released/reissued).

 

Then again, I could be totally wrong, but he seems to favour the quality stuff - DrukQs is a great example (photography by Richard, graphic design by Manuel Sepulveda (aka 'Bradley Strider', LOL)

 

I'd always assumed it was Warp's founders who favoured the high quality packaging. Compare SAW II and Drukqs to Analogue Bubblebath 3 (or pretty much anything of that era on Rephlex), 2 Remixes by AFX and the Tuss series.

 

i always thought rephlex minimalism was quite great. i prefer the tuss packaging to saw2 tbh.

 

opinions opinions

 

With Rephlex, I think it comes down to time/economics more than going for a minimalist look (although you'd think that, with their 'it's only about the music' mantra). But, they are capable of some great packaging - look at the insanely large poster that came with Bradley's Beat, or the inserts and extras with the Caustic Window Joyrex releases (the clear vinyl 303/606 picture disc goes down as one of the greatest Rephlex releases ever), not to mention the Analord series (again, Richard's photography). UI Green is another great example, with the multi-size coloured vinyl in a shopping bag.

 

I really think they just slapped it together quickly for a release - shame, really as Hangable Auto Bulb evokes so many interesting images that they could have went in any number of creative directions. Perhaps they didn't have the time. it's not a terrible concept, (the merging of the two EP colours), but not what I would expect from tDR (then again, look at 26 Mixes...)

I dunno, I think it would have just been cheesy with new, elaborate artwork. I thought the concept was quite interesting, actually. I mean, the circle thing has been done to death but I love the minimalism of it.

 

Of course, if you have any ideas I'd love to see them!

 

If I was still in design school (15 years ago), I would have probably taken on every electronic music release cover I didn't deem worthy and did a redesign for a project - I still have my ABB2 CD rip that I did jewel case inserts for...

 

i always thought rephlex minimalism was quite great. i prefer the tuss packaging to saw2 tbh.

 

opinions opinions

I can understand how the Tuss artwork could have been awesome, I just think that the quality isn't very good. By quality I mean the actual design of the label. Looks like it was designed in Powerpoint or something. Right down to the Times font.

 

Again, I think they didn't want to make a fuss (Tuss?) about it, especially with their poor attempt to release it and claim it wasn't Richard's work - at least it did feature a bit of Richard's photography again.

[Guest eichel]

Pelican

 

wow, what a flashback. didnt thought about him for years.

[springymajig]

I would really love to hear a band play everything from these EPs. If I had the patience/motivation I'd do it myself. Especially Every Day and Arched Maid Via RDJ.. Would be amazing with guitars and live drums!

Absolutely! I've always thought of Arched Maid Via RDJ as a rock song. Was listening to this album on the bus today and thought that track would be good to try to convert a certain kind of music listener to electronic music :)

[KyonPalm]

Personally, I love the HAB CD's artwork, even if the font is a bit overused. I would like to see the artwork you made for AB2, though, Joyrex.

[Joyrex]

Personally, I love the HAB CD's artwork, even if the font is a bit overused. I would like to see the artwork you made for AB2, though, Joyrex.

 

it's pretty old (made it around 2000 I think when I got my ABB2 vinyl), and probably not that good. I'll dig it up if I remember to do so.

[Lane Visitor]

Found an HAB 1 vinyl a while back inside a crate of records i bought off of a friend who got it from a swap meet. He sold me the crate for like 10 bucks. Inside was a whole f load of dnb, jungle and trip hop, mostly original 90s uk stuff. Found some Warp stuff inside too.. Along with early dnb test pressings and acetates from early uk jungle labels. Theres even the acetate of soul slinger and afrika bambaataa- "fire". Crazy! Turns out the crate was lost and belonged to one of the founding fathers of jungle- DJ Soul Slinger of Liquid Sky/Jungle Sky Records. I contacted him and he told me to be the gatekeeper of his stuff until he comes to phx. Arrggh. I'm gonna ask him if he'd donate the AFX to me for being his gatekeeper haha. Anyway, sorry for the essay.. Just thought it was interesting.

 

[Ivan Ooze]

Hell yeah claim the HAB! and then make sure your friend doesn't steal your record crate!

[Guest narkeworld]

I hear an R8 drum machine sound on one of the tracks on HAB, it's the same highhat used throughout GAK. They all had R8s back then, I had one too.

[Guest afxtonal]

I recall some of the HAB EPs were released as "misprints" there tracks 7 and 8 were switched, causing confusion. I own the one where Track 7 is "Arched Maid via RDJ" and 8 is "Every Day". Is this a misprint?