APHEX TWIN - SYRO

[ceiling]

The problem I have with SYRO is some of the Instrumentation. It's obvious that he's tried to keep to a certain aesthetic but his penchant for harsh, odd sounds urks me on this record when it never has before. 4 Bit is such an awesome song but the snare really bothers me, I desperately want it to be a nice crisp clap. The swing on the drums in produk is too sluggish and bulky. 180db has the making of potentially being a good track but that bass drum sound is just awful, a track like that with it's simplicity and repetitiveness needs to rely on exquisite mixing I think to hold it up, which It does not have.

 

There are loads of other small things that bother me throughout the record, which I don't get with any of his other stuff at all. There are some amazing moments though, 4 bit, xmas eve and s950!

 

Also I've brought this up before but was shot down pretty quickly, I'm adamant the metz video is a different mix to the xmas eve on syro. Go back and listen to it, there's very subtle differences and theres some hi hats that run throughout that bridge part that aren't in the syro version. Sounds to me like a superior mix but hes gone with a more rustic version to keep with the aesthetic on syro.

 

I don't wanna crucify it too much though as It will probably end up being a classic in a few years time but drukqs and Rushup Edge are still Numero Uno

[Guest WNS000]

The problem I have with SYRO is some of the Instrumentation. It's obvious that he's tried to keep to a certain aesthetic but his penchant for harsh, odd sounds urks me on this record when it never has before. 4 Bit is such an awesome song but the snare really bothers me, I desperately want it to be a nice crisp clap. The swing on the drums in produk is too sluggish and bulky. 180db has the making of potentially being a good track but that bass drum sound is just awful, a track like that with it's simplicity and repetitiveness needs to rely on exquisite mixing I think to hold it up, which It does not have.

 

There are loads of other small things that bother me throughout the record, which I don't get with any of his other stuff at all. There are some amazing moments though, 4 bit, xmas eve and s950!

 

Also I've brought this up before but was shot down pretty quickly, I'm adamant the metz video is a different mix to the xmas eve on syro. Go back and listen to it, there's very subtle differences and theres some hi hats that run throughout that bridge part that aren't in the syro version. Sounds to me like a superior mix but hes gone with a more rustic version to keep with the aesthetic on syro.

 

I don't wanna crucify it too much though as It will probably end up being a classic in a few years time but drukqs and Rushup Edge are still Numero Uno

 

I like your critical thinking about mixing aesthetics.

 

Do you produce music?

[nickthefish]

There are loads of other small things that bother me throughout the record, which I don't get with any of his other stuff at all.

 

Syro is, to my ears, the most balanced album he's released. Each sound seems well-considered and sits well within the mix - in depth, width and tone. The sound palette of the tracks is highly complementary and the tracks flow with a sonic narrative that's only really matched by Rushup Edge, tho I think the arc of the album in Syro feels more purposeful and precise.

 

It feels to me that Aphex' production values have increased incrementally with each release barring, perhaps, the GIrl/Boy EP which felt somewhat out of place in his canon in retrospect (much as I enjoy it). To each his own, I suppose.

[Brisbot]

Syro is my favorite album by him, it's definitely his most well put together album that's an album

[Astro Tarot]

I keep hearing parts of this album that i've never heard before, parts that probably don't even exist.

 

So much this, great headphones listen, still solid///

[perunamuusi]

 

 

There is some silly stuff on this album. Some of it is even borderline embarrassing.

 

Do tell?

 

I would point to the ~4m breakdown bit of Piezoluminescence

 

 

 

 

lol?

[Ivan Ooze]

i prefer this patapat song

[cruising for burgers]

my life as been much more bright and cheerful since i fell in love with this album, thank you richard, love you!

[HexagonSun]

Enjoy all the nuances x2

 

Edited April 8, 2016 by HexagonSun

[Audioblysk]

 

 

 

There is some silly stuff on this album. Some of it is even borderline embarrassing.

 

Do tell?

 

I would point to the ~4m breakdown bit of Piezoluminescence

 

 

 

 

lol?

 

 

Yeah, I don't know if that's a joke or not.

 

That whole track is brilliant

[Hugh Mughnus]

It's actually my 2nd least fav on the album =(

 

They're all brilliant though, some just slightly less than others.

[Audioblysk]

It's actually my 2nd least fav on the album =(

 

They're all brilliant though, some just slightly less than others.

 

3:47 until the end is possibly the most gold aphex released in years. That haunting poly being panned from right to left with the chaos going on throughout is just fuckin ace.

 

It used to be one of my lesser favorites, until I was frying balls in the forest and put on the last part and it synced with nature outside. Those higher up synths sound like birdcalls on the mountain-side to me.

[Guest WNS000]

I haven't really checked the full album yet but the first 3 tracks are absolutely stunning. It is not a matter of course to hear such incredibly well composed music. It flows so naturally yet it never bores. So elegant and fresh.

Edited April 10, 2016 by Jev

[cruising for burgers]

The problem I have with SYRO is some of the Instrumentation. It's obvious that he's tried to keep to a certain aesthetic but his penchant for harsh, odd sounds urks me on this record when it never has before. 4 Bit is such an awesome song but the snare really bothers me, I desperately want it to be a nice crisp clap. The swing on the drums in produk is too sluggish and bulky. 180db has the making of potentially being a good track but that bass drum sound is just awful, a track like that with it's simplicity and repetitiveness needs to rely on exquisite mixing I think to hold it up, which It does not have.

 

There are loads of other small things that bother me throughout the record, which I don't get with any of his other stuff at all. There are some amazing moments though, 4 bit, xmas eve and s950!

 

Also I've brought this up before but was shot down pretty quickly, I'm adamant the metz video is a different mix to the xmas eve on syro. Go back and listen to it, there's very subtle differences and theres some hi hats that run throughout that bridge part that aren't in the syro version. Sounds to me like a superior mix but hes gone with a more rustic version to keep with the aesthetic on syro.

gotta come clean and admit some details on thsi album still sound bitter to my ears, specially that bitcrushed tail on the snare of 4bit liek you mentioned and most of the noise that substitutes some of the OH, HH, CY and shakers on tracks liek syro u473t8...

i really love the sluggish swing on produkt29 though and have nothing to point at xmas evet, still, gotta listen to that version you mentioned... just did, you're completely right, those hi hats!!!

 

btw my favorite songs are xmas, produk, papat and s950... the end section of s950 is one of my favorite parts of the album!

Edited April 10, 2016 by THIS IS MICHAEL JACKSON

[HexagonSun]

In spanish potato is "patata", so it sounds kind of "Pineal potato"

[ceiling]

 

The problem I have with SYRO is some of the Instrumentation. It's obvious that he's tried to keep to a certain aesthetic but his penchant for harsh, odd sounds urks me on this record when it never has before. 4 Bit is such an awesome song but the snare really bothers me, I desperately want it to be a nice crisp clap. The swing on the drums in produk is too sluggish and bulky. 180db has the making of potentially being a good track but that bass drum sound is just awful, a track like that with it's simplicity and repetitiveness needs to rely on exquisite mixing I think to hold it up, which It does not have.

 

There are loads of other small things that bother me throughout the record, which I don't get with any of his other stuff at all. There are some amazing moments though, 4 bit, xmas eve and s950!

 

Also I've brought this up before but was shot down pretty quickly, I'm adamant the metz video is a different mix to the xmas eve on syro. Go back and listen to it, there's very subtle differences and theres some hi hats that run throughout that bridge part that aren't in the syro version. Sounds to me like a superior mix but hes gone with a more rustic version to keep with the aesthetic on syro.

gotta come clean and admit some details on thsi album still sound bitter to my ears, specially that bitcrushed tail on the snare of 4bit liek you mentioned and most of the noise that substitutes some of the OH, HH, CY and shakers on tracks liek syro u473t8...

i really love the sluggish swing on produkt29 though and have nothing to point at xmas evet, still, gotta listen to that version you mentioned... just did, you're completely right, those hi hats!!!

 

btw my favorite songs are xmas, produk, papat and s950... the end section of s950 is one of my favorite parts of the album!

 

Yeah those hi hats really add a nice little touch to xmas eve, wish they were on the syro version. Also another thing that bothers me on syro is his trademark style of cutting samples short. Happens a lot on drukqs but sounds really cool, on syro though it bothers me slightly. All in all I enjoy everything he's done I just think Rushup Edge is far superior to syro and I compare the two because I think he was coming from a similar place when he was making syro.

[ceiling]

I think Rushup Edge and Confederation Trough were definitely a precursor to Syro, a trying out of ideas and flexing out those live analogue hardware muscles. The same way Hangable Auto Bulb was to Richard D James album. The problem is where hangable auto bulb lacked some emotion, The RDJ album made up for it, not sure this is the case for The Tuss and Syro. To me It seems this time round, the one that came before ended up being the better one.

[madisonthorne]

i love this album and think its a very mature work of his but it's very hard for me to listen to. the time when i picked it up and was playing it daily i was in a very compromised state of mind and body (i was kicking heroin) and if youve ever done it then you know that it strands you in a very very weird depressive place that leaves an imprint that you dont forget. while in that space i experienced this album and it must have been the most touching and melancholic work id ever heard from him....it was downright depressing, sad, inextinguishably cloudy and gray and bleak and dark i suppose. surely my own state of mind was coloring it to some degree but it had such a unique feeling of nostalgia and deep sentiment that it was overload. i hate when an association like that gets made and it taints your listening....such as associating music with a female during a relationship or something. i wont even go to listen to it now, knowing it will put me back in that strange place. aphex really has a knack for wonderfully emotive music, perhaps a bit too deep at times. i sincerely love every thing he's ever put out but i struggle with this one.

[Time Tourist]

Just fell in love with is album all over again.

Said it over and over, but it keeps on happening, hearing new sounds and layers with each listen.

Just fantastic, come one rich, give us something new.

[reapersquush]

Though I really love this album, I do have to agree with some of you that the overal compressed aesthetic can be a bit harsh on the ears and it seems to lack some soul. In retrospect the Metz recording of xmas sounds utterly mind-blowing to me because of the heavy reverb, which I thought at the time was part of the track, but now it seems it was just the spacial reverb produced at the venue itself. I really had to get used to the Syro mix of this track because none of the sounds are allowed the 'breathe' the way they could and it dampens the the impact of the song somewhat.

[madisonthorne]

i will also add that it seemed very much that several tracks on this album would build and build and ultimately not peak. anticlimactic, whatever - a bit meandering.

 

as usual though the sequencing and sheer array of instrumentation leads me to believe that AFX must have severe ADHD and is medicated or some other condition that allows you to focus intensely for 17 hours straight on a task. his programming is so meticulous i cant imagine what it must take for track setups, especially if he's using all hardware. same thing with drukqs. i wish i had 1/20 the devotion to do something similar. the best i usually muster is about 1-2 hours and i get fucked off and want to stop.

[Guest WNS000]

i will also add that it seemed very much that several tracks on this album would build and build and ultimately not peak. anticlimactic, whatever - a bit meandering.

 

as usual though the sequencing and sheer array of instrumentation leads me to believe that AFX must have severe ADHD and is medicated or some other condition that allows you to focus intensely for 17 hours straight on a task. his programming is so meticulous i cant imagine what it must take for track setups, especially if he's using all hardware. same thing with drukqs. i wish i had 1/20 the devotion to do something similar. the best i usually muster is about 1-2 hours and i get fucked off and want to stop.

 

You just don't release a track after a few hours/days of jamming (the soundcloud culture). You patiently spent weeks and months building and improving it bit by bit. You keep listening to your work over and over again and let it stand the test of time. Progressively erasing, re-working, editing stuff that does not fit in the long run. You listen in various conditions and emotional states. You don't give much value to wow-effect and first impressions and rather aim for properties that has longevity (which is why you keep listening over and over again, because excellent tracks can stand it). That is all. You don't need to sit 17 hours straight on a task. You divide it between several days. You just have to be patient and keep your eyes on the ball. You just have to be cool with the fact that a track can be in a non-finished state for months or even longer. And of course, you have to truly love making music.

[Guest WNS000]

Also, knowing music theory can help immensely in tricky situations.

[marf]

i will also add that it seemed very much that several tracks on this album would build and build and ultimately not peak. anticlimactic, whatever - a bit meandering.

 

as usual though the sequencing and sheer array of instrumentation leads me to believe that AFX must have severe ADHD and is medicated or some other condition that allows you to focus intensely for 17 hours straight on a task. his programming is so meticulous i cant imagine what it must take for track setups, especially if he's using all hardware. same thing with drukqs. i wish i had 1/20 the devotion to do something similar. the best i usually muster is about 1-2 hours and i get fucked off and want to stop.

totally resonate with this. almost making me want to pac kit in. im starting to realize im not a menu diver. aphex must sit for hours in front of little screens. like hes on adderral. maybe it is the tracker music gamer methodology he came from. screeeens, sit in one place. stress position

[chronical]

I wonder if the next 2010+ (not MFM so to say) release will be similar to Syro or reminiscent of the oldschool AFX. Might be SAW III. Who knows. Wish I did.