Aphex Twin - Drukqs

Warp Records: 2001

Why, I remember a time when we took new Aphex Twin music for granted, by g'ar. You bet we received Drukqs with barely passing attention. “Yeah, yeah, it's fine,” we shrugged, “but when will you release Selected Ambient Works 3, Mr. James? Or redefine IDM again like with so many other prior albums and EPs?” How were we to know our lackadaisical interest in a double-LP opus would all but force the Aphex'd One into permanent production privacy, pulling a near KLF disappearance from the world of music. Yeah, there were all those acid singles as AFX, but not as Aphex Twin, the pseudonym everyone cared about (re: primarily knew). All these meticulously crafted drill’n’bass electro dancing in your brain, the attempts at ‘real’ music with pianos, harpsichords, and other assorted chamber instruments, all wasted on a selfish audience, wondering why Radiohead was going on about this guy so much.

Or, y’know, ol’ Richie had a pile of unused demo music and discarded braindance B-sides lying about and shoved Drukqs out for some quick dosh. Either scenario wouldn’t surprise me.

For all the music on these two CDs, this album honestly does sound like two different ones mashed together. Half of it is made up of the aforementioned drillin’ breaks, the sort that still sounds indebted to Squarepusher but with enough of Aphex Twin’s quirky fills, changes in tone, melancholic ambient, and irreverent sense of humor making it distinctly his own. If this just sounds like retreads of Richard D. James Album, I counter these tunes off Drukqs are far better polished, even the most extreme glitched-out moments having a logical sense of musical flow to them. Plus, the production is incredibly slick, sounds never mashed into senseless noise even as any number of digital bits and pieces are flying about. Of course, by 2001 much of the IDM world had caught up to such tricks, so that folks wouldn’t be as impressed by Aphex’s efforts isn’t surprising. That doesn’t make them any less mint though.

The other half comprises all the classically minded compositions, most running a couple minutes of noodling about on keyboards of various types. The only unique thing about these is how Mr. James recorded a fair amount of the mechanical process involved in these instruments: the shuffling of pedals, the light plonks of ivory within wooden casings, and even his occasional faulty human flubs. For all I know though, this is a technique many pianists employ – I’m simply not well-versed in that field of music for any comparison. All I can tell is Aphex does craft some lovely little ditties, and a few utterly ART-wanky percussion pieces too (that said, Gwarek 2’s fun with headphones!).

Many came around to Drukqs when it seemed no new Aphex Twin material would ever materialize, so the album has gotten it’s just due now. It’s still better served for folks with some prior knowledge of his music before going in though. Not a beginner’s LP, this.

Model 500 - Digital Solutions

Metroplex: 2015

Considering how very important Juan Atkins is among other Very Important People in the world of techno, it's remarkable how small his discography is compared to his peers. I suppose he gets a pass, what with practically inventing the whole genre while providing one of the first labels supporting his Detroit-bred style of electronic beatcraft. What's even more remarkable about all this, though, is Digital Solutions is the first, proper full-length Model 500 LP to be released on his Metroplex print. Every prior album came out on Belgium R & S Records, including the Classics collection that gathered up a bundle of Metroplex singles. Guess even ol' Juan was pissed off by the lame R & S Logo cover on that recent re-issue of Deep Space (seriously, so stupid).

Whatever the case, Digital Solutions marks the third such effort from Mr. Atkins, well over a decade since the last Model 500 album dropped. The genre he’d built had gone through several changes throughout the ‘00s, most significant the exodus of many faces and shakers to the clubs and warehouses of Berlin even as kids inspired by his early works came into their own. Though there wasn’t any need for a ‘statement album’ from one of the honoured elders, there was some buzz whether he’d use the Model 500 moniker to explore these trends, or perhaps find an entirely new avenue worthy of exploration. So many possibilities, mang!

Instead, Juan said nuts to all that and went way back to his roots, offering up an album of retro electro and techno. Huh, that’s… I’m resistant to say ‘disappointing’, but certainly not what you’d expect in a 2015 LP when previous Model 500 long-players (all two of them!) were evolutions on his futurism music. I can’t even compare it to an old rock band releasing an album of blues standards, since those musicians often have a huge swath of back-catalogue allowing for such nostalgic dalliances. Did Mr. Atkins just not have much to say regarding techno’s recent incarnations, or does he feel the sounds he created thirty years past (!!) are more future-leaning than all the minimal-plonk that dominated for too long? Perhaps that’s the statement us chroniclers of electronic music are deluding ourselves into believing!

Speaking of Digital Solutions, this is a fun little album of throwback electro and techno. In fact, the two tracks that do take stabs at relatively current trends (UK grime in Encounter, minimal in the titular cut) are the only wack moments found among the nine pieces. Even the titles seem culled direct from the ‘80s, simple things like Hi NRG, Electric Night, The Groove and Control. Though I’d have loved to hear a Model 500 album go deeper into the Deep Space style, hearing more in the Classics vein is mighty fine for my ears - even stronger modern production can’t dilute that retro-future charm. I can’t think of anything more suitable for this moniker in its return home to Metroplex.

Various - Air

Altar Records: 2009

So I splurged on a pile of Altar Records CDs. The reason I done did this was they too subscribe to the ‘limited run of physical medium’ philosophy. Fortunately for me though, the Quebec label has thus far flown far under the radar of even the most ardent of downtempo and psy-chill sorts, and much of their back catalogue can still be had direct from their website. As I've been enjoying the cut of their jib from regular artists like AstroPilot and Chronos, you bet I snagged up what I could while it’s still there – I won’t get left behind on this one, nosiree! This includes an entire compilation series spotlighting various in-house talent and assists from a few outside friends, with an elemental theme tying the whole thing together. Hm, not the most original concept, that.

Unlike the previous elemental chill-out series I covered a couple years back (!), this one doesn't have a unifying series banner, simply dropping each compilation into its alphabetical titled sorting with no backup, standing alone for itself. How noble. Oh, and there’s a fifth element to this series too – can you guess what it is? (no, not 'love', that'd be stupid). Anyhow, as I deal with my music in alphabetical order, fate has decreed the first in this series, Air, kicks off my now-sporadic coverage of Altar Records’ Elements series. Incidentally, this was also the first CD released by Altar. And I mean ever!

The opening half of Air prominently features producers the label would cultivate for its roster. In fact, AstroPilot kicks the whole thing off, though is teamed up with one Grigoriy Sobinov as Zymosis. I wouldn’t go so far as to say its typical psy-dub chill-out, but if you’ve digested copious amounts of Shpongle and such, you’re in familiar grounds here (or is it clouds in this case?). Following that is Voices Of The Universe from Aquascape & Skydan, two names I know little about beyond what Lord Discogs tells me, and am stunned to hear a track that’s not too dissimilar to a throwback Jean Michel Jarre piece. Wait, isn’t Altar psy? Sure, and label head DJ Zen drops in for third track Speak Your Mind with flutist Jace Gravel, and holy cow, where’d this cut come from? It has a rather standard world beat build with all the psychedelic trimmings, but when that beat finally drops into a thudding, proggy-dub thing, hot damn! That’s how you make an opening statement for your label, my friends.

Air carries on with nice variety of different-flavored psy on the downbeat, tracks offered by Tentura, Shakri, and Chronos (more on him later). Then Ultimae’s Big Three – Asura, Aes Dana, Solar Fields – drop by to finish the compilation off, and with exclusives no less! Okay, if I’m honest, it’s not that big a deal, their tracks not catching each at the peak of their powers. Still, getting that bump from the top dog of the psy-chill yard had to help Altar’s early prospects.

Seraphim Rytm - Aeterna

Silent Season: 2014/2015

How have I neglected Silent Season for so long? Like, I knew it existed, had seen its name crop up, mostly in relation to a couple ASC albums. Perhaps the ‘dub techno’ tag had me initially wary, an all too trendy buzzword the past decade, but I should have had more faith in a local label being class. Also, as they’ve primarily catered to the digital market, I just assumed there’d be no hard copies available with any of their releases. Turns out I was wrong, they do release CDs, though in a limited capacity. No worries though, even short runs last a few years in a label’s store house. Just pop over to the website and- oh, right. Dub techno. This is the domain of the Basic Channel collector. You either get in right away, or not at all. *sigh* All that back catalog, as out of reach as a first run Fax +49-69/450464 vinyl. Moral: don’t sleep on your locals.

That all sorted, let’s talk about Silent Season’s latest offering, Aeterna from Seraphim Rytm. Erm, can’t help you out much on the producer info part, as Mr. S.R. is rather reclusive from the interwebs. All I can glean from the sporadic PR blurbs is he’s from Belgium, and a far-flung region at that. Heh, figures he’d end up releasing an album on an equally far-flung label like Silent Season. Oh, and he also produces as Damaskin, which Lord Discogs confirms. Only the most quality sleuthing here at Electronic Music Critic!

Though I mentioned Silent Season’s breaded butter sits in the dub techno fridge, the music on Aeterna barely categorizes as that. There’s certainly dub production going on, but Seraphim Rytm layers his loops to such a degree that he turns his tracks into lengthy, hypnotic drones. His rhythms are mostly soft ambient techno, the sort that’ll have forlorn old-school Aphex Twin fans reminiscing of simpler times. Synth pads pulse and throb like meditative breathing, and melodic touches ebb in and out during each track’s duration (running an average of ten minutes apiece). Aside from the titular opener’s beatless, running-water theme, there isn’t much stylistic variation between any of these cuts, but they’re well crafted pieces of music, never so monotonous that you’ll lose interest in their meandering journey (yeah, the ‘water’ motif was deliberate on Mr. Damaskin’s part). Should you spring for the digital version of Aeterna (pretty much necessary at this point), you get two additional tracks for your dollar, Kozara and Sana. Compared to the relative calm tones of the album proper, these come off more experimental in their chosen sounds, though still follow the same droning looptastic nature as the other tracks. Definite B-side material, then.

And Hell, I’ll say it: Aeterna is a trance record. Not euro-trance, or techno-trance, or whatever qualifier you need describing that large genre, but in its purest sense, where the listener is drawn within through subtlety and repetition. Okay, maybe neo-trance too, if we’re counting that as a thing.

Sabled Sun - 2147

Cryo Chamber: 2015

In some ways, the haunting final transmission of Sabled Sun’s 2145 could have served as a perfect conclusion to the whole project. It’d be bleak as all Hell, a lone survivor from another time, left to scrape out what meager existence he has left in an inhospitable environment. Yet, struggle on he will, as that is what marks the indomitable human soul. If 2145 was a novel, what more fitting ending: the protagonist overcoming the remorseless antagonist that is the ruined world surrounding him? It matters not whether he survives for long; he's determined to leave some trace of mankind's fighting volition, overcoming our most horrible mistakes. Whether he succeeds or not is irrelevant, this is a spiritual triumph in the face of impossible circumstances. (holy cow, has Sabled Sun ever inspired my inner literature wanker!)

Carry on Simon Heath did though, with follow-up 2146 serving as a direct exploration of the ruined world compared to 2145's broad thematic setting. I initially figured it was set from the perspective of space travelers discovering the remnants of this world, but with an actual point-of-view protagonist being established in the album prior, it could be his continuing story as well. Either or would work in 2146's favor, though with 2147, I get the sense we're firmly back in the eroded shoes of our man from the past.

Whatever the case may be, as the cheery cover art illustrates, things haven’t improved much on the planet in the two years since first awakening (and three years since the last Sabled Sun album came out). The opening track is titled Survival, and through windswept field recordings, pelting acid rain, and staggered steps through charred landscapes, a mournful dirge emanates from the embers of civilization. Much of the music on 2147 follows in Survival’s wake, long droning compositions with dark pads layered to the point of distortion, as though even tonal harmony can no longer exist in this desolate clime’. There’s also more sense of journey in this album, and not just because there’s a track titled Journey either. Other track titles include The Outer Zone, The Space Center, Hope, Home, and Hibernation. Wait… Hope? As in, there’s some actual light within the abyss that is this future Hellscape?

Perhaps. The titles and music suggests there may be a few holdouts, and that our nameless protagonist from 2145 has come across them. Or he decided this world was not worth living in, and thus re-entered cryo slumber, a possibility of a better tomorrow should he be revived again. The final track Dreams Without A Future is certainly the most pleasant thing heard on all three Sabled Sun albums, a gentle bit of piano ambience with only the slightest bit of distortion added. After the ordeal we’ve been through, a respite is most welcome, a sweet release from the turmoil of this broken world. Of course, that’s all conjecture. Guess we’ll have to wait for the next chapter in Mr. Heath’s story to find out.

Sabled Sun - 2145

Cryo Chamber: 2012

It took him nearly three years to do it, but Simon Heath finally released the next chapter in his Sabled Sun story, 2147. But wait, there's still the first album in this series, 2145! I should go back to that one first and get the whole picture, eh? Like, would you read Foundation by skipping Prelude? The Lord Of The Rings by skipping Fellowship? The Thrawn Trilogy by skipping Heir To The Empire? Nah, guy, you do things proper-like and read/hear things from the beginning. So to it then.

As 2145 is the opener to the Sabled Sun setting, it’s only appropriate there’s an Intro. Here, a nameless protagonist wakes up from a cryo’ sleep, providing a brief, haggard narration detailing the health conditions that led him taking such drastic measures. Finally having the reality of his environment settle in, he remarks with abject incomprehension, “You know, I imagined waking up not in any kind of utopia – not so naive – but at least something. I mean, I figured things were bad before... but this? ...what happened?” What indeed.

Heath is never explicit in the details, but track titles do provide some hints.This Is Where The World Ends, Singularity, Silo, Date Expired, Shattered, A New Sun and Acid Rain are such examples, with a few vague ones like The Ancient, Retina, and The Hideout thrown in for good measure. Or these could be references to the world we now find ourselves in, the historical events that led to the downfall of civilization forever lost. The music never explicitly details anything either – we are dealing with a dark ambient project, so our references are mood and conjecture, leaving things to interpretation. It's like an album full of those transitional bits from The FSOL's Dead Cities.

As for the music itself, it’s suitably sombre and bleak. Most tracks run relatively brief for the genre, seldom ever droning on for more than necessary (if you’re after that, check out the Signals spin-off). Some tracks focus more on melody, others on sound effects and immersion, all retaining a gritty, future-shock tone, though not so heavy on the sci-fi ‘scapes as the follow-up 2146 went. I found a few of the latter tracks growing redundant with this album’s theme, though the elegy Acid Rain near the end definitely puts a proper, reflective capper on what was lost in this future world.

The final track though, Transmission/Outro ...damn. A menacing, escalating drone with spits of static reminds you just how desolate the world now is, no chance of recovery, no light at the end. Then the nameless protagonist from the intro returns, sending a desperate plea to anyone who might hear him, even into space. “Humanity’s last testament, a lonely voice in the cosmos.” He wonders if intelligences beyond might discover some trace of what we accomplished, or be disgusted that we threw it all away. Then he proclaims that he’s still there, even as his voice is consumed by suffocating static. Defiant to the last.

Burial - Rival Dealer

Hyperdub: 2013

I mean, if you have as dedicated and willing a listening audience as Burial’s, why not take the noble road with a Message Album? It’s tricky though, getting them across such that they’re understandable, but without coming off cloying and obvious as fuck. Also, when even the greatest songwriters look goofy in benefit concerts, what hope does a persistently reclusive sort like Mr. Bevan have, especially with a bevy of Burial backlashers waiting in the bleachers? And did they ever pounce when Rival Dealer came out, decrying it the point where Burial had finally fallen off (until this latest single Temple Sleeper anyway), straying too far from his future garage roots into sentimental pap in delivering his one very important thought. Others countered it was bold moving on from dubstep’s resolutely isolationist urban vibe in favor of something uplifting and socially embracing. Debates raged over intent of message versus calculated courting of controversy for the purpose of marketing, posts in comment threads reaching word counts longer than what I self-impose upon myself for these reviews. Oh shit, the review! I still have to talk about the music!

Three tracks make up Rival Dealer, though the way Burial changes course so frequently, it feels like twice as many shorter tunes mashed together forming a whole. The titular opener alone runs the gamut of darkcore jungle, ravey bosh, and rain-soaked cinematic ambience, all fed through Burial’s distinct crackly urban-soul production. Less about songcraft than sound collage, there’s much to digest, a sonic assault provoking a response – whee, art! Hiders, the short cut of the three (other two breach the ten minute mark each) goes in a synth-pop route, including swelling strings, uplifting pianos, and a lovely croon; then, over a minute of field recordings static and dark drone. Talk about contrasts.

Final cut Come Down To Us lays the sentiments on thick as syrup, though the broken beats Burial crafts are nice and thick too, so I can’t complain. As for his pull on your emotions, yeah, this is as subtle as a meat hook in your heart, but damn if he doesn’t pull it off. Burial’s ace remains his appeal to your base emotions, particularly tugs at nostalgia (hello eleven millionth Boards Of Canada comparison) - that he wrenches feeling out of issues of depression, isolation and hope doesn’t surprise me, and I’m more stunned he pulls it off without crossing that aforementioned line of corn. I can see how others wouldn’t agree, and deride Burial for even going there, but as far as I’m concerned, this is as tastefully done as one can hope, given the context of the subject matter.

As for that particular topic, I’m hardly the person to start preaching, but for what it’s worth, I believe it’s absolute shit the way LGBTQ folk have been generally treated. They deserve better, and am glad progress is made in their benefit, slow as it may be. As the sample on Rival Dealer consistently assures throughout, “you’re not alone”.

Various - Rising High Trance Injection

Instinct Records: 1994

One of the buried treasures of early '90s classic trance, this. Not that Teenage Sykonee realized it when he picked it up by random chance. All he saw was an affordable double-CD with a bunch of weird, cool names (Influx! Syzygy! Tranquilizer! New London School Of Electronics! Perry & Rhodan?), and the word ‘trance’ on the cover. Perfect! Oh wait, except for one track, this sounds nothing like hard German trance. Fail. That second disc's got some neat ambient though. Win!

More to the facts, Rising High Trance Injection is a gathering of ancient trance-leaning tunes from the seminal UK label Rising High, offered up by seminal US label Instinct. Also in for the ride are tracks from seminal German label Fax +49-69/450464, whom Rising High had a distribution deal with. Geez, is that ever a lot of label cross promotion. There's also a lot of acid on hand, Rising High more of a techno print than trance, but daring enough in their records that occasional spacey, trippy sounds would be released along with the hardcore rave thump. If you’re curious about what trance was doing in the UK before even Platipus existed, Rising High Trance Injection is as perfect a summation as you’ll find. Detailing all the cool music on this release will require a serious namedrop paragraph though, so let’s get to it.

CD1 features such important names as Casper Pound (he founded the label so of course), Resistance D., The Irresistible Force, Pete Namlook, Dr. Atmo, and Ed Handley of Black Dog Productions. They are almost all under pseudonyms, some making music you’d never expect of them. For instance, Namlook and Atmo teamed up as Escape, and their track Escape To Neptune is an absolute blinder of hard trance stomp. Due to some legal hiccups, Resistance D’s credited as RD1 for their classic bliss cut Eclipse. Casper Pound hides in the trippy self-titled Tranquilzer, while breaks and ambient dabbler James Bernard (Expansion Unit!) offers up two spacey acid tracks as Influx (plus a dark space ambient outro as Cybertrax at the end of CD2). Oh yeah, Perry & Rhodan’s beloved The Beat Just Goes Straight On & On opens disc one, but I’ve always felt that tune too gimmicky. Give me the deep acid pulse of OBX’s Eternal Prayer or psychedelic build of Balil’s Parasight instead!

That disc two though, hot damn are there some hidden gems lurking about. Here there be lo-o-ong tracks, only six in total but great examples of the ethnic leaning side of chill-out house and ambient dub. Most are familiar with the Namlook and Morris pairing Dreamfish, and we get the aptly dreamy eighteen-minute long School Of Fish on this CD. Namlook’s also here with Christian Thier as Sequential for the proper-trancey Everything Is Under Control. My favourite discovery of these though is Syzygy’s Discovery, coming off what a blend of early Orb and Banco de Gaia might sound like. On acid. Seriously, dude, the acid’s all over this compilation.

Aphex Twin - Richard D. James Album (Original TC Review)

Warp Records: 1996

(2015 Update:
Oh God, there's such a glaring hole in this review, a critical piece of information I left out. Or forgot. Or didn't bother researching for some lazy reason. Richard D. James Album is officially the first album Richard D. James produced using soft-synths as his primary music hardware, which should be totally obvious by the tonal shift in these tracks. The tickity-tack sounds, cut-up rhythms, micro-sliced sampling, and braindance glitch is common for compositions by way of computer trickery, of which this album his filled with. His prior work, still on analog gear, is more straight-forward in their arrangements, though filled with their own sonic oddities because it's Aphex. Even if that distinction is obvious though, it's an important piece of RDJA's make-up, an essential piece of music journalism I neglected.

Speaking of, man does this review ever read like a stock 'music journalism' piece. I guess that's sorta' good, in that in TranceCritic's late run we were finally coming off polished and professional. Can't say I like reading it now though, much of it feeling functional while sandpapering personality off. Probably didn't like it much then either, at least on a subconscious level. Two year hiatus was nigh.)


IN BRIEF: Aphex-Pusher? Or Square-Twin?

After so many years of being an eccentric pioneer, the perpetually creepy-grinning Richard D. James suddenly was not. Rather, he started following the lead of another eccentric pioneer, Tom Jenkinson. Legend goes James was so impressed by then-unknown Jenkinson’s live show that he quickly signed him to his Rephlex label and released the first Squarepusher album. Then, James himself went and started making tracks with similar aesthetics, where frenetic jazz-fusion rhythms were thrown into a mixing bowl of real-world noises and samples for use in sound banks.

For the Aphex Twin moniker, this was quite new. Granted, there were dabblings here and there (most famously Didgeridoo), but James had carved out his name with gritty drill’n’bass beats, strange yet lovely ambient textures, and, most famously, unique sounds that only he seemed able to create –which is no surprise since the Cornwall native's hobby was gleefully dissecting and experimenting with equipment like some kind of evil vivisectionist. Why would a guy who made a career of sounding like no one else suddenly make music that potentially did (and would when others followed his and Squarepusher's lead)?

Well, aside from the aforementioned Jenkinson influence, fact of the matter was electronic music in general was in transition in the mid-90s, and James was no exception. As a part of the old guard of rave musicians and partiers, he, like so many others, found himself at a crossroad once the original rave scene finally crumbled into separate niches: either find a way to become highly successful in the music industry, or retreat the other way to satisfy the muse. If this album is anything to go by, his initial gut reaction was to retreat – let the other guys (Orbital, Prodigy, et al) have their mainstream. Ironically, the Aphex moniker too would see mainstream success, thanks in huge part to a series of Chris Cunningham videos, but that came later.

Back to the album at hand, it isn’t nearly as over-indulgent as you might expect from the likes of James. It is, however, somewhat jarring on first listen, if for no reason than opening track 4 has some of the tinniest, blunt percs offered from any Aphex Twin tune. Sure, the melody is charming enough, but where are those trademark big crunchy beats, eh? Not here, my friends, and nowhere on this album either. The early-90s Aphex Twin has moved on.

Fingerbib aside, the first half of Richard D. James is probably going to sound like a bunch of glitchy, abrasive, noisy nonsense for those uninitiated to IDM’s more screwy, intense drum programmers. Granted, we’ve had over a decade to get accustomed to such screwbars and nutballs (Venetians Snares, Bogdan Racyzinski, to just name-drop a couple we’ve already covered [at TranceCritic]), but way back in ye’ old 1996, this was some radical sounding stuff. Poor folks were coming into this album looking for more ambient bliss like Blue Calx or drill’n’bass delights like Come As You Mean To Go On, and instead get bizarre metallic clanging in Peek 8245yadayada or contortions of modem dial-up squawks in Carn Marth. You could still hear some of those old Aphex tropes littered about - the melodies James came up with, no matter how distorted or buried they got, still sounded great - but you had to give this album repeated listens to actually get it. Aphex Twin had always been a bit challenging in that regard, but he at least could be counted on cuts that you could easily digest in one sitting. Not so much here though.

Moving on to the second half in short time, James leaves behind most of the harsh sounds in favor of cute’n’cuddly silliness. Result: something far more accessible for those untrained IDM ears out there, and a good load of giddy adulation at the cleverness of it all from the rest. For instance, the brilliantly titled To Cure A Weakling Child splices together pieces of children singing along with infantile melodies (and, of course, intense clippity-cloppity skitter-beats), creating something that’s ridiculously twee, yet very disconcerting whenever James goes into a ‘drum solo’. Yellow Calx aside (which has more in common with older Aphex material due to the synthy backing melodies), Richard D. James wraps up on such silly charming sentiments, even going so far as to include a slide whistle in the final track. It does work wonderfully in a track like Girl/Boy Song, bringing nutty grins to your face in spite of the frenetic drum work, but is simply wacked in Logan Rock Witch, which seems to be James messing around with a bunch of left over samples.

Whatever the case, Richard D. James Album is definitely one of those Must Have releases for connoisseurs of IDM. Along with Squarepusher, it set a precedent for the future direction of this wildly eclectic genre, as several others began following suite and diving off the deep end with such experimental albums (unfortunately to ever-increasing patience-trying results).

For the rest, though, I can sense a little trepidation, especially considering the short running time (finishing out at just under thirty-three minutes). Frankly - and I know this point has been hotly contested over the years - this isn’t the best starting point for Aphex Twin material. Actually, I’m not even sure which album would be, but Richard D. James Album definitely is not it. Due to the very short running times of most of these tracks, the album comes across more like a collection of jingles than songs; great jingles, mind, but jingles nonetheless.

Unless you’re already well versed in IDM sample-skitter-step, I’d hold off on this album until you’ve already taken in one or two Aphex Twin releases. You will eventually enjoy Richard D. James - if not for the eccentric attributes, then for discovering the warmth underneath the eccentric attributes - but at least this way you’ll soften that initial “WTF?” blow to your ears.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2009. © All rights reserved.

Leftfield - Rhythm And Stealth

Columbia: 1999

We’re not many, us Leftfield fans who prefer Rhythm And Stealth over Leftism. Mind, most enjoy both albums to some degree, but when pushed for a proclaimed love between the duo’s sole two LPs, Leftism gets the like-thumbs first. And why not? It’s got the classic tunes many are familiar with - Release the Pressure, Song Of Life, Open Up - plus a bevy of classy cuts running from downtempo dub, tribal ‘riddims, and progressive house. These are all easy sounds for a casual consumer of electronic music to vibe on, which was kinda’ the point when Leftfield put that album together anyway. They had new markets to penetrate.

With Rhythm And Stealth though, Barnes and Daley basically said nuts to all that and started treading where their contemporaries feared to venture. They go deeper into the dub, getting their gear good and gritty with Roots Manuva on opener Dusted, then on the cusp of UK super-stardom. Compared to the floating bliss of Release The Pressure, this is one confrontational kick-off by comparison, Leftfield letting their loyal fanbase know they’re in for a rougher ride on this LP. And in case you fooled yourself into thinking it was just a one-off, the pummeling beats and rough rhythms of Phat Planet, Double Flash, Dub Guessett, and 6/8 War reinforces the notion Leftfield aren’t playing nice for their sophomore effort. That’s half the album devoted to unrelenting submission of your psyche, radio-friendly jams be damned. And if you’re obligated in making a radio-friendly jam, I’ve no problem with it being Afrika Shox, a nu-skool electro-funk outing that rescued Afrika Bambaataa from Italian euro-dance Hell (much love for Feel The Vibe tho’!).

Still, they do mix things up with tunes more in line with the reggae dub that inspired much of their output. Chant Of A Poor Man brings back Cheshire Cat for some dancehall business, Swords is basically Leftfield’s stab at trip-hop (getting featured on all the hip rave movies of the time, ‘natch), and a pair of crackly ambient dub outings with El Cid and Rino’s Prayer mark the mid and end points of the album. Come to think of it, each half of Rhythm And Stealth is remarkably similar: opening single with prominent rapper, instrumental banger, downtempo cut, another instrumental banger, and ambient outro. Wow, I never realized that until now! I feel so stupid.

Album programming aside, the fact Rhythm And Stealth caught many off guard is one of the key reasons why I prefer it over Leftism. Barnes and Daley knew they couldn’t repeat their debut, the genres there they’d helped pioneer already coming off dated by decade’s end. Instead, they gambled on pounding dub rhythms and productions fused with other hot genres of the time, once again carving their own sound in the process. It’s an album where the listener must take in on its terms, crossover fans be damned. My kind of LP then, though understandable why Rhythm And Stealth left others cold.