If you react to Selected Ambient Works 2, PLEASE include 'Stone in Focus'. It is widely considered one of his greatest ambient tracks ever, and was on the original release of the album, but isn't on the CD or streaming versions. PLEASE include Stone in Focus if you do that album reaction, you are seriously missing out if not.
He made this album using custom built electronics and was recorded directly to tape. No computers, no software. According to legend, a cat mangled the tape at one point which causes some warbling effects on the album. He wasn't able to re-record anything as the electronics he built no longer existed. The "We are the Music Makers" quote is from the movie "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and was said by Gene Wilder. You'll get plenty of recommendations for "Selected Ambient Works Volume II" and "Drukqs" and you should definitely check those out but also make sure to listen to the "Windowlicker" EP- it has some of his best work on it IMO.
Not really true, he used Atari ST for sequencing almost all tracks on this album, look it up. Also if by "custom-built electronics" you mean him fiddling with his synths, then yeah, sure, he made some changes to his SH-101 at least and perhaps he had a hand-made mixer but other than that, it's all pretty standard stuff. He's a huge electronics nerd and knows his stuff in and out but I think this aspect is kinda overstated when talking about his music
Aye this isn't true. He may have dabbled in some alterations but he never built anything. These are all made up stories, mostly by him, to take the piss. You can hear most of this stuff is sampled by the crunch on the sound. As for warbles, an old reel to reel motor will do that or really old tape.
Volume 2 is actually a fully ambient album with almost no drums and its over 2 hours long, I would recommend listening to it as it's an incredible experience. Might not be the best for a reaction video, but definitely listen to it off camera at least I Care Because You Do is a good halfway point imo between this early more atmospheric style and his more chaotic later style. Listening to that album might get you to appreciate the more hectic tracks on richard D james a little more
Fun fact. the robotic sounds at 11:34 are cut from the movie robo cop. specifically the seen when the bot robo cop was fighting (ED-209) wasn't able to deal with stairs.
If youre into the ambient aspect of this album, the sequel (selected ambient works vol II) is 3 hours of pure ambient tracks, i used to sleep to it almost every day during the pandemic. It doesnt make a good reaction video though.
Just found your channel and im liking your honest listen-through of the album and trying to analyze and understand the music, even if you dont necessarily like it. respect man. if you wanna try something different i recommend listening to One Room Survival by Serani Poji. it falls under the genre of "Shibuya-kei" which is an early 2000's japanese genre and phenomenon taking inspiration from many other genres from around the world including french pop, american cartoons, and even brazillian bossa nova. it also layed the foundations for a lot of modern japanese pop music you might hear today
Yeah man I'm glad ur getting into aphex, tha is my personal fav of this album I could listen to it on repeat for hours. You need to react to drukqs next, it's probably his least accessible album along with SAW vol. 2 but after listening to this it will give u an idea of how incredible this guy's range is. It would also make for a good reaction vid (his ambient works usually aren't the best for it lol).
Seconding your drukQs request! Reaction to SAW Vol. II would also be cool but it's gonna be more of a challenge in itself than a typical reaction, haha
The brilliance of this album is that its 100% synth music released at the time of a huge grunge push for mainstream music. Rave music like The Prodigy hadn't even hit mainsteam at this time and Richard D James was always way ahead of the time with synth music composure. BTW Ageispolis is the beat for Ugly Boy by Die Antwoord which came out 22 years later.
Ye, it's one of my favorite albums ever. Cliffs, Rhubarb, Curtains, Blue Calx, Z-Twig, Hexagon, Lichen and Matchsticks are some of the most beautiful ambient tracks of all time :D
Damn I forgot how much I like Aphex Twin ngl. Great reaction btw and if u like this stuff u may like Four Tet, some great stuff. I also recommend these (idk if I mentioned these ones before lol) Steely Dan - Aja Phil Collins - Face Value Supertramp - Crime of the Century Grateful Dead - Terrapin Station Genesis - Trick of the Tail Also any Pink Floyd because I noticed you haven't reacted to them ! Love the videos though keep it up :)
I think you should listen to drukQs next. It’s def his most diverse and disjointed album, including some dnb elements alongside pianos, and is kinda long (1 hour and 47 minutes) but once you really get into it it’s a perfect balance between beauty and chaos.
Amusement park on fire 2005 album is a must. an underrated band for sure you should listening to. Each song connects together in the whole album its so beautiful
I don't know why, but something about Ptolemy made me love it. In my 2nd listen, I also loved Pulsewidth. Those are my two favourite songs from this album.
This is an album from my teenage years that I love going back to. You should definitely also give Best of Ben Lukas Boysen a listen. Some incredible tracks on there. He's not really an album guy, so Best of is probably the way to go.
I think i's shortness has to do with the fact it was aphex twins first (known) song when he was 14 and the equipment he had, probably had limitations to it.
I suggest you listen to different electronic EP's and Singles aswell. Definetly should check out "In A beautiful place Out In The Country/Everything you do is a balloon" by BoC and "Come to Daddy/Windowlicker" by Aphex!)
My favourite album. So far as I know the equipment used was: Roland TR-808 Roland TR-606 Roland SH-101 Roland TB-303 Yamaha CS-5 Yamaha DX-7 Some sort of cheap sampler Alesis Quadraveb effects unit Atari computer for sequencing it all. A Mixer Midi to CV converters. A cassette Deck to record it too.
Good to see young people discovering this. This is IMO one of the best albums ever. Bro it’s so weird that “nostalgia” for you is Xbox 360 and Minecraft and CDs are the nostalgic medium lol. For me all that stuff is so recent. You made me feel my age 😂
Fun fact some of the songs are slower ambient reworks of some really old songs he made actium is a rework of flaphead from didgeridoo and hedphelyem is a rework of an untitled song from his analog bubblebath ep under one of his many aliases afx
I always love bringing up how Aphex Twin was born in Limerick in Ireland, although he did move to the UK. The experimental music scene in Ireland is very inspired to follow in Aphex Twin’s footsteps, and is incredible as a result
Also knowing his Irish background and the heavy influence of the church in Ireland, I can always hear church organs in his music, seeking a spiritual sound akin to that of the church but separate from orthodoxy
That is the kind of album that you need to give it more time to grow on you. Once you get into it, even those weird songs like Green Calx start making sense.
I believe "Hedphelym" sampled one of his earlier works The "Analog(ue) Bubblebath Vol. 2" EP the song being the second track titled "Untitled" watch?v=mxg8tHdK0RM&ab_channel=piteronio (the song the EP begins with "Digeridoo later got its own EP called "Digeridoo" The EP which ends with a song from The First "Analogue Bubblebath" EP's Second Track titled "Isopropophlex" which was also sampled in a later one of his tracks "Come To Daddy (Pappy Mix)" / "Come To Daddy EP" and even more in the music video by Chris Cunningham.
The thing that bugs me is how short the beautifully ambient track “I” is, and then to interrupt that atmosphere with f***ing Green Calx. Everything else about this record is fantastic. Xtal and Heliosphan are my two favorite tracks.
You're based asf man. So many great albums you've listened to. By the way, in the last half year I've got really into Tame Impalas first 2 records. I highly recommend one of them, either Lonerism or Innerspeaker. Lonerism is probably the better of the two. Theyre both very psychedelic, art rock albums and very different to his latter two albums. The reason I recommend is I see you saying you like Lets Start Here by Lil Yachty, who was directly influenced by those Tame Impala albums for it, and also the drums in Lonerism and Innerspeaker are insane, and you like drums. Like he's not as much of a virtuoso as the black midi drummer but almost every song in those albums has fucking banger beats and fills that fit perfectly around the melodies. So if you haven't heard them, check them out at some point! Took me a long time of my friend trying to get me into them before I loved them but you seem to click with music faster than I do.
Aphex Twin's best album to be sure. If you want to hear more electronic experimentation like this but with frequent use of acoustic instruments, Imogen Heap is worth your time. Think Bjork meets Aphex meets Kate Bush. Her album Speak For Yourself probably has her most popular songs (Hide & Seek) but the album Ellipse is probably her most musically adventurous and clearly structured work. The album even has instrumental versions available for every song so your production/engineering mind can dissect them without vocals.
Totally agree the album is too long, glad I'm not the only one who thinks so. Should've cut some of the back half, as I feel like much of it doesn't add anything particularly new or exciting to the experience, and isn't as strong as the first half.
One of the best albums of all time
If you react to Selected Ambient Works 2, PLEASE include 'Stone in Focus'. It is widely considered one of his greatest ambient tracks ever, and was on the original release of the album, but isn't on the CD or streaming versions.
PLEASE include Stone in Focus if you do that album reaction, you are seriously missing out if not.
Same
+1
true
That track is in my Last Will and Testament to be played at my memorial.
Stone in focus is the menu music of the game called life.
Xtal made me feel nostalgic the first time I heard it too, and I first heard it in 92.
Its honestly wild that the music iv been recently finding has been around long before i was born
00:43 - Xtal
02:09 - Xtal review
02:53 - Tha
04:03 - Tha review
05:01 - Pulsewidth
05:54 - Pulsewidth review
06:50 - Ageispolis
08:21 - Ageispolis review
09:34 - I
10:03 - I review
10:25 - Green Calx
11:59 - Green Calx review
12:43 - Heliosphan
14:10 - Heliosphan review
14:58 - We Are the Music Makers
15:46 - We Are the Music Makers review
16:44 - Schottkey 7th Path
17:47 - Schottkey 7th Path review
18:21 - Ptolemy
19:33 - Ptolemy review
20:15 - Hedphelym
21:18 - Hedphelym review
21:53 - Delphium
22:39 - Delphium review
23:10 - Actium
24:01 - Actium review
This album was my go-to album for studying while in college.
LIkewise
Also, nice name. sweetsweetmeat.
@@dylan777 I would have chosen "sweetmeat" if it was available (the Pigface song)
Me too. I nailed the end of my first year listening to this.
He made this album using custom built electronics and was recorded directly to tape. No computers, no software. According to legend, a cat mangled the tape at one point which causes some warbling effects on the album. He wasn't able to re-record anything as the electronics he built no longer existed. The "We are the Music Makers" quote is from the movie "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and was said by Gene Wilder. You'll get plenty of recommendations for "Selected Ambient Works Volume II" and "Drukqs" and you should definitely check those out but also make sure to listen to the "Windowlicker" EP- it has some of his best work on it IMO.
Not really true, he used Atari ST for sequencing almost all tracks on this album, look it up. Also if by "custom-built electronics" you mean him fiddling with his synths, then yeah, sure, he made some changes to his SH-101 at least and perhaps he had a hand-made mixer but other than that, it's all pretty standard stuff. He's a huge electronics nerd and knows his stuff in and out but I think this aspect is kinda overstated when talking about his music
Aye this isn't true. He may have dabbled in some alterations but he never built anything. These are all made up stories, mostly by him, to take the piss. You can hear most of this stuff is sampled by the crunch on the sound. As for warbles, an old reel to reel motor will do that or really old tape.
Volume 2 is actually a fully ambient album with almost no drums and its over 2 hours long, I would recommend listening to it as it's an incredible experience. Might not be the best for a reaction video, but definitely listen to it off camera at least
I Care Because You Do is a good halfway point imo between this early more atmospheric style and his more chaotic later style. Listening to that album might get you to appreciate the more hectic tracks on richard D james a little more
Every single time I've watched one of your reviews, it brightened my day. I'm not even joking
Thank you !
That UA-cam statistic video analyses of Tha and Ageispolis is perfect, great channel! ❤
A soundtrack to many pharmaceutically-aided nights in the 90s!
Fun fact. the robotic sounds at 11:34 are cut from the movie robo cop. specifically the seen when the bot robo cop was fighting (ED-209) wasn't able to deal with stairs.
My mom used to go to this nightclub, called "Club Visage" they would play a shit ton of Aphex Twins.
If youre into the ambient aspect of this album, the sequel (selected ambient works vol II) is 3 hours of pure ambient tracks, i used to sleep to it almost every day during the pandemic.
It doesnt make a good reaction video though.
I suggest you listen to a greek 90s electronic band Stereo Nova. Listen to the tracks asyrmatos kosmos, telson and atlas.
The sound effects on Green Calx are from Robocop
Just found your channel and im liking your honest listen-through of the album and trying to analyze and understand the music, even if you dont necessarily like it. respect man.
if you wanna try something different i recommend listening to One Room Survival by Serani Poji. it falls under the genre of "Shibuya-kei" which is an early 2000's japanese genre and phenomenon taking inspiration from many other genres from around the world including french pop, american cartoons, and even brazillian bossa nova. it also layed the foundations for a lot of modern japanese pop music you might hear today
Yeah man I'm glad ur getting into aphex, tha is my personal fav of this album I could listen to it on repeat for hours. You need to react to drukqs next, it's probably his least accessible album along with SAW vol. 2 but after listening to this it will give u an idea of how incredible this guy's range is. It would also make for a good reaction vid (his ambient works usually aren't the best for it lol).
Seconding your drukQs request! Reaction to SAW Vol. II would also be cool but it's gonna be more of a challenge in itself than a typical reaction, haha
The brilliance of this album is that its 100% synth music released at the time of a huge grunge push for mainstream music. Rave music like The Prodigy hadn't even hit mainsteam at this time and Richard D James was always way ahead of the time with synth music composure. BTW Ageispolis is the beat for Ugly Boy by Die Antwoord which came out 22 years later.
glad to see someone really enjoying this album, reminds of when i first heard it myself
Heliosphan is my favorite song from this album, great great melodies
SAW vol.2 is a long listen but worth because of how beautiful it is
it has way better ambient tracks
Ye, it's one of my favorite albums ever. Cliffs, Rhubarb, Curtains, Blue Calx, Z-Twig, Hexagon, Lichen and Matchsticks are some of the most beautiful ambient tracks of all time :D
Yeah SAW2 is transcendent
Last time I heard this album I was on shrooms lol. Loving your videos man!
The Selected Ambient Works Volume II is also amazing :) you will like it
Damn I forgot how much I like Aphex Twin ngl. Great reaction btw and if u like this stuff u may like Four Tet, some great stuff. I also recommend these (idk if I mentioned these ones before lol)
Steely Dan - Aja
Phil Collins - Face Value
Supertramp - Crime of the Century
Grateful Dead - Terrapin Station
Genesis - Trick of the Tail
Also any Pink Floyd because I noticed you haven't reacted to them ! Love the videos though keep it up :)
Aja!
I think you should listen to drukQs next. It’s def his most diverse and disjointed album, including some dnb elements alongside pianos, and is kinda long (1 hour and 47 minutes) but once you really get into it it’s a perfect balance between beauty and chaos.
an absolute classic. xtal=crystal
always cools seeing someone react too this for the first time.
Amusement park on fire 2005 album is a must. an underrated band for sure you should listening to. Each song connects together in the whole album its so beautiful
i care because you do by aphex twin is a must listen bro, has the best of both albums you've listened to so far!
I don't know why, but something about Ptolemy made me love it. In my 2nd listen, I also loved Pulsewidth. Those are my two favourite songs from this album.
Next you need to hear Polygon Window - Surfing On Sinewaves. It’s Aphex’s pseudonym. Released in ‘92.
This is an album from my teenage years that I love going back to. You should definitely also give Best of Ben Lukas Boysen a listen. Some incredible tracks on there. He's not really an album guy, so Best of is probably the way to go.
His clarion EP is definitely one for the books, the clarion remix by kiasmos is just incredible. The mogwai remix of Love is also really amazing
Fave coding album
I think i's shortness has to do with the fact it was aphex twins first (known) song when he was 14 and the equipment he had, probably had limitations to it.
I suggest you listen to different electronic EP's and Singles aswell. Definetly should check out "In A beautiful place Out In The Country/Everything you do is a balloon" by BoC and "Come to Daddy/Windowlicker" by Aphex!)
i definitely think his album drukqs would make a great reaction video, its very long though
Happy to see your reaction to SAW, I'd say one of the best albums ever!
Just to variate a little, listen to Let's Start Here by Lil Yatchy
Love that album haha
dido
My favourite album. So far as I know the equipment used was:
Roland TR-808
Roland TR-606
Roland SH-101
Roland TB-303
Yamaha CS-5
Yamaha DX-7
Some sort of cheap sampler
Alesis Quadraveb effects unit
Atari computer for sequencing it all.
A Mixer
Midi to CV converters.
A cassette Deck to record it too.
Good to see young people discovering this. This is IMO one of the best albums ever. Bro it’s so weird that “nostalgia” for you is Xbox 360 and Minecraft and CDs are the nostalgic medium lol. For me all that stuff is so recent. You made me feel my age 😂
Fun fact some of the songs are slower ambient reworks of some really old songs he made actium is a rework of flaphead from didgeridoo and hedphelyem is a rework of an untitled song from his analog bubblebath ep under one of his many aliases afx
Haha, listening this on my TV, I didn't realise how much reverb was on that album before.
I usually watch Smags's videos on my TV too. Way better than on my phone which I'm stuck with today haha
Oh yes, if "I" was short for you, then you definitely need to listen to Selected Ambient Works part II
GIVE ME THAT BIG CHIP NOW!
That pulsewidth reaction 😂. Man. Used to feel the same way immediately hearing stuff like that for the first time ..... "FUCKIN WHERE?! WE OUT?!!!"🎉❤
I always love bringing up how Aphex Twin was born in Limerick in Ireland, although he did move to the UK. The experimental music scene in Ireland is very inspired to follow in Aphex Twin’s footsteps, and is incredible as a result
Also knowing his Irish background and the heavy influence of the church in Ireland, I can always hear church organs in his music, seeking a spiritual sound akin to that of the church but separate from orthodoxy
Actium uses the same instruments as Flaphead from the 1992 EP Digeridoo
One of the best ambient albums ever EASY
xtal so goated
That is the kind of album that you need to give it more time to grow on you. Once you get into it, even those weird songs like Green Calx start making sense.
I believe "Hedphelym" sampled one of his earlier works The "Analog(ue) Bubblebath Vol. 2" EP the song being the second track titled "Untitled" watch?v=mxg8tHdK0RM&ab_channel=piteronio (the song the EP begins with "Digeridoo later got its own EP called "Digeridoo" The EP which ends with a song from The First "Analogue Bubblebath" EP's Second Track titled "Isopropophlex" which was also sampled in a later one of his tracks "Come To Daddy (Pappy Mix)" / "Come To Daddy EP" and even more in the music video by Chris Cunningham.
"I" is one of the best accomplishments in all music IMHO. I know its really short but its like a fleeting sighting of God.
Am I the only one who likes both the ambient type tracks and the chaotic type tracks??
The next Aphex album you hear should be I Care Because You Do..
Yes
@@dalek604 no - Polygon Window - Surfing on Sinewaves
@@adamsmith307 also yes
I'm going to throw AFX - Analogue Bubblebath 3 into the mix.
Yes
8:19 This makes me think of his album Surfing on Sine Waves.. coz of the waves sounds and those sine wave basslines are beautiful.
You should listen to his alter egos, i really recommend polygon window - surfing on sine waves
Best work rdj ever concocted for me is rush up edge by the tuss def worth a reaction
The thing that bugs me is how short the beautifully ambient track “I” is, and then to interrupt that atmosphere with f***ing Green Calx. Everything else about this record is fantastic. Xtal and Heliosphan are my two favorite tracks.
some (or all) of the robotic sounds in Green Calx is sampled from Robocop
Yo it would be cool if you listened to either Violator by Depeche Mode or The Lonesome Crowded West by Modest Mouse
You're based asf man. So many great albums you've listened to.
By the way, in the last half year I've got really into Tame Impalas first 2 records. I highly recommend one of them, either Lonerism or Innerspeaker. Lonerism is probably the better of the two. Theyre both very psychedelic, art rock albums and very different to his latter two albums. The reason I recommend is I see you saying you like Lets Start Here by Lil Yachty, who was directly influenced by those Tame Impala albums for it, and also the drums in Lonerism and Innerspeaker are insane, and you like drums. Like he's not as much of a virtuoso as the black midi drummer but almost every song in those albums has fucking banger beats and fills that fit perfectly around the melodies. So if you haven't heard them, check them out at some point! Took me a long time of my friend trying to get me into them before I loved them but you seem to click with music faster than I do.
music has a right to children
Lone - Galaxy Garden....trust bro
26:22 This is exactly what i felt when this track be played
The last time someone made an album as cool and innovative as this was 2018 with Compro.
I enjoy this album but at a certain point it becomes something that feels more suitable for being in the background.
5:58 - bro needs to go to Denver
Not watched yet.. but have a like for the thumbnail 😎
YEEHA!
lets gooooo
Next, Syro by Aphex Twin!
It's like the best electronic album of 2014, Richard won a Grammy for it. Definitely worth a listen.
Minipops is sensuous as hell
Is the Minecraft song you mentioned Dreamscape by 009 Sound System?
Yeah that’s the one
the first half is 10/10 the second half is 6/10. so its an 8/10 album imo
20:10 he’s turning into Björk oh god
I’d love to hear your opinion on bavarian fruit bread by hope sandoval
Hedphelym... rage anger humility..
Bro make a reaction for boards of canada next time !
Heliosphan is just crazy.
"old youtube song" try out 009 sound system trance, that should be it
“we are the music makers” from “Charly and the chocolate factory” film❤
*Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Check ultravisitor by Squarepusher.... It will change your life
Finally, people are reacting to stuff I've been listening to 2010.
THE PEOPLE ARE CATCHING ON.
lol... Got it in -93. Glad you finally found it, though.
You are not special for listening to Aphex Twin lmaoo
green calx best track
BRO come to daddy ep
Aphex Twin's best album to be sure. If you want to hear more electronic experimentation like this but with frequent use of acoustic instruments, Imogen Heap is worth your time. Think Bjork meets Aphex meets Kate Bush. Her album Speak For Yourself probably has her most popular songs (Hide & Seek) but the album Ellipse is probably her most musically adventurous and clearly structured work. The album even has instrumental versions available for every song so your production/engineering mind can dissect them without vocals.
6:06 fr 💀😭
“Wizard Shit” 😭😭😭
Autechre - Tri Repetae
And “Amber”!
Totally agree the album is too long, glad I'm not the only one who thinks so. Should've cut some of the back half, as I feel like much of it doesn't add anything particularly new or exciting to the experience, and isn't as strong as the first half.
You’re talking nonsense
@@adamsmith307 Just my opinion:)
For contrast, I think drukqs actually justifies its length!
listen to drukqs
Xtal is pronounced "crystal"
First
okay
I don't get reaction videos. Unless it's music I wrote I don't care what someone elses reaction is. What a very strange time we live in.
Here’s something for you… you don’t have to watch them if you don’t want to!
@@Thatsjusthewayitis I didn't. It came on, i commented, I left. So get it roon ye.
zoomers are a mistake.
Pushing 40💀💀
@@biteof78 priced out of housing 💀💀
Aphex twin is so bad, he makes dumb music.
Me when I lie:
racially motivated
Overrated + Vol. II is better
Sure, to a degree, but it's needs to be taken into context. It was revolutionary when it came out in 92.
Nope and nope. Vol. II is still fantastic though
You’re talking out of your arse
12:42 From this and your reaction to cock/ver.10 I am guessing you haven't really heard much acid and you don't like the acid sound.