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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5364 in Music
• Released on: 1996-07-04
• Number of discs: 2

CD Description
Very occasionally in music, something will come at you fromso far out on the left field, that not only do you not noteits immediate import, you scarcely recognise it as music atall. This is the record that cemented the media's fascination with Richard James, a Cornwall bedroom DJ. Selected Ambient Works is not an entirely representative recording, as these are essentially mood pieces, unlike the more instantaneous, dancefloor-targeted material that originally brought him to the nation's attention. Nevertheless if you are prepared to make the journey, and can see past the album's intimidating length and its lack of linear framework, there are some exquisite moments - ranging in texture from melodic delirium to sweeping melancholy.

Customer Reviews

One for the discerning fans
I only recently got into Aphex Twin; having heard Selected Ambient Works Volume 1 and deciding that it was one of the best albums I had ever heard, I went out and got this, 26 Mixes for Cash and the Come to Daddy mini-album. What I particularly like about Richard James' work is the variation. The music he produces differs greatly from album to album but I have not been disappointed by any tracks I have listened to. What struck about this album is that is far less accessible that others I have listened to, but as such far more rewarding. Two hours of ambient music is a lot, but if you really listen the changes in the music are very subtle and clever indeed. The first CD is slightly reminiscent of SAW vol.1 but with more continuity between the tracks and, if its possible, a more ambient chilled out synth feel to it. CD 2 encompasses some industrial sounds and haunting vibes of the sort you would not want to listen to on your own in a wood at night. Actually quite scary even in the daytime. If you really take time over this album, its subtleties and quality will become clear, and this is far more rewarding than those wear the strength of tracks are immediately obvious. In short, if you really like your music, and like what you have heard from Aphex Twin then this is the album for you - it is not a good entry point to his music for someone who has never experienced it before. Try SAW vol. 1 for this; I did and I was hooked! Warp is a quality label - check out their other stuff for great beats from Prefuse 73, Autreche, Squarepusher, Nightmares on Wax and Anti-Pop Consortium to name just a few.

Track-By-Track Review of Aphex's Haunting Subconscious
There is little I can say about this album that has not been said before, so I thought I would describe each track individually as well as how they made me feel whenever appropriate, in an attempt to get the feel of the album across.

Disc 1

1. Snippets of undecipherable speech bubble over Richard's mountain range of synth. A good, interesting start to the album, setting the tone with relaxing, mysterious haunting melodies which build, then thin out over the course of the track.

2. Mysterious, simple melody which sounds to me like a very relaxed alarm. Shifts in pitch a few times, creates a pretty motionless soundscape. Another three note melody joins it in time, a hint at a beat works its way in as if it's just hanging out on the track because it doesn't have anything better to do. Massive reverb and delay as on most tracks.

3. An absolutely beautiful, ethereal melody is the basis of this track. It sounds like the soundtrack to Christ's ascension, or the death of an angel. It's a track to think back on your life moments before your death to or to look out over the Grand canyon at midnight. A life-enriching track.

4. A sinister distorted synthscape, like being alone in a forest at night.

5. Tribal rhythmic drums with oh so soft synth pads behind it. Eventually what sounds like hugely processed vocal sounds join it, but they sound like synth anyway.

6. A processed softened voice kind of hums the intro to this track, with a synth line accompanying it in a few seconds. A bassline adds a bit of depth momentarily. The voice stops, and the rest of the music carries on for a while before the voice is re-introduced. For some reason it sounds great as it fades back in.

7. A soft intro melody which sounds like background music in a cheap mystery film. Other gentle melodies eventually accompany it. This plods on and on, lulling the listener. The sound gently warps and changes slightly over the course of the track.

8. Gently percussive sounds, sounds like a being in another dimension bouncing a collection of different bouncy balls at midnight, in a desert. Layers of synth fade in and establish a melody.

9. More tribal beats open out onto a fun, deranged melody, like a accordion singing a lullaby to baby accordions whilst the father of the baby accordions sings along to his favourite TV show's theme music very pleasant and light-hearted sounding.

10. Frightening synth that sounds to me like being accidentally locked in a pyramid on another planet at night and slowly realising you're not alone...

11. Plonk plonk synth, like a very very soft glockenspiel. Sounds to me like a huge musical combination to an ancient lock on a cage which is only now being reopened to release Richard d. James' subconscious, at midnight by hundreds of children with Richard's face and the Aphex logo tattooed on their forehead.

12. With dreamy chimes, sped up and processed voices and other sounds which seem to replicate the sensation of being half asleep, so that both the actual world and the dream world have access to your consciousness. A modern day lullaby.

Disk 2

1. To quote another review website, this track opens with 'Percussive effects that sound like single water drops down the deepest well on the planet' then synth comes in which sounds like someone found the well and it was so beautiful they wrote music about it. A constant clicking keeps track of time and beat. Having listened to this track a few times, I now realise it really is quite beautiful, and creates the image of the first, delicate little flower germinating and growing in the wake of a nuclear holocaust.

2. Sounds very calm, with a hum like some kind of laboratory, on the moon, where a scientist is working diligently to create the most perfectly white light in existence.

3. A change of pace. A clear beat, with a lot of noise to which various noises are added. Faster and clearer than anything before preceding it on this record.

4. Sounds like a very, very fast lift taking you to the top of a huge glass spire on an alien world.

5. Uplifting optimistic synthy bubbles. Sounds like a computer singing about how great it is to be a computer. It sounds very much sound like red spheres rolling around.

6. Flutey sounds open up and tom-tom drums join it. Other little snippets of sound join over the course of the track. The flute changes about half way through to a different melody.

7. Nice track. More structure than the rest of the tracks. A solid beat, but still relaxing, still with dancing little melodies. Then a weird sound like a bike chain sped up fades in and out.

8. Smooth soft and very cool. Like floating on a cool lake on a warm summer evening.

9. Echoing inaudible speech booms around you - whispering, mingled with a synthy feedback. The whole thing sounds like exploring a cavernous cathedral built to worship the Aphex Twin logo.

10. An endless loop of radio feedback. Reminds me of the computer game myst, with the static in the blue and red books. Desolate synth waves wash over the static's spiky texture. Very electro and buzzy.

11. Haunting track which is evocative of waking up one morning and finding that no-one else in the house is around, you cant find them anywhere, they have left no note, and although its 1pm its still very dark outside. You try the TV and radio but every channel and station is broadcasting this track; SAW2 CD2 Track 11.

12. A fitting and ethereal end to the album, golden undulating synthy chords. Hard to describe, but it works well.

Absolute Peace....and Terror
Well, I am about to buy Aphex Twins SAW2, for the second time. I bought it first pretty much when it had just come out, on audio tape. A friend and I sat down to listen to it on his dads hifi in an acoustically treated room, and we were amazed, we just sat there chilling out for the whole album, letting our minds wander with the highs and lows of the moods it gives you. Not once did we think of stopping it, in fact we barely spoke for the whole of it. Obviously we had to turn the tape over, but my friend was sitting next to the deck so it didnt intrude too much on our ascension.
However before buying this understand it isnt ambient music in the way you normally imagine (think Orbs early stuff) but is a state of mind instead. It isnt like tranquility music featuring whales and dolphins etc, its mostly electro stuff, although im sure some of it is sounds from objects mucked around. But it doesnt have beat patterns or anything like that. Its designed to allow your mind to ponder, and is especially good at inducing alternative dreams (nice, odd, or in one case terrifying!)if listened to late at night.
On the whole, you cannot go wrong if you have an open mind toward sound, not just towards music.