[stolen from alt.rave]
APHEX TWIN DREAMS ON
APHEX TWIN has been talking exclusively to The Maker about his forthcoming
new album, "Selected Ambient Works II".
The album, a triple vinyl and double CD and cassette set, will be
released on Warp Records at the end of February. The 25 tracks (24 on the
CD) are identified by photographs of textures rather than by titles.
Some of the tracks were recorded under the influence of what Aphex Twin,
Richard James, calls "lucid dreaming".
"Selected Ambient Works II" is the follow-up album to his "Selected
Ambient Works 85-92", which has not left the indie charts since its
release at the end of 1992. Richard James has, however, released an album,
"Surfing On Sine Waves", under the name Polygon Window in the interim
period.
The new album was recorded at Aphex Twin's home studios in London and
Cornwall, and was completed almost a year ago.
The release has been delayed because of Aphex Twin's heavy live schedule
over the last few months. Richard James has also announced that he will
not be playing any more gigs for at least a year.
"The new album is radically different to the first 'Ambient Works'," he
told The Maker. "Most of the tracks are a lot more minimal, and only three
or four of them have rhythms. A lot of the tracks are based on my own
tunings and scales. There's an infinite number of notes between C and
C sharp, but most musicians in the West never use them. With special
micro-tuning, I've been able to give the tracks a completely different
edge.
"I haven't made a conscious attempt to change direction with the new
album. It was just something that I wanted to do at the time. As far as
I'm concerned, it is 100 times more interesting than the first 'Ambient
Works'. I don't know what other people are going to think about it, but
I don't actually care if people love it or hate it.
"I've always made music for myself and the fact that it's now coming
out on vinyl is completely irrelevant to me.
"Some of the tracks were recorded under the influence of lucid dreaming.
In other words, they're based on sounds I first heard while dreaming. When
I wake up, I go straight into the studio and try to recreate what I've
heard in my dreams.
"I've been able to control my dreams since I was a kid, and just before
I started work on the album, I tried experimenting with the idea of
dreaming about recording tracks. As the album progressed I found that I
was able to train myself to do it pretty much whenever I wanted to.
"The main problem is remembering what I've dreamt about. Melodies are
easy, but the acutual sounds can be a little more difficult. Sometimes I
sleep in the studio so that I can start work as soon as I wake up and
there's less of a chance of forgetting anything.
"Lucid dreaming is not really uncommon, but most people are only able
to control the visual element. With a bit of practice, it's relatively
easy to dream about meeting a certain person or having a shag, but it's
more difficult to be able to dream about sounds. Dreaming about tastes
and smells is also great fun. I've even tried inventing new foods and
dreaming about what they taste like.
"I also set myself the challenges of recording some of the tracks
using one sound, and one sound only. That way, I've been able to get
down to ultra-pure frequencies and sine waves. When a sound is broken
down into the most basic, elementary parts like that, you reach a point
where it seems to be coming from all around you rather than just coming
straight out of the speaker. It surrounds the whole room and means that
you're able to feel as well as hear the music.
"I made the decision to stop playing live for the foreseeable future
after touring America at the end of last year. I played 15 dates in less
than three weeks. Seeing as how I'd never played two gigs in a row before
then, it was quite a mental strain. I was chuffed that I pulled it off,
but when I got back to Britain I couldn't face having to do it again for a
while. I was supposed to play at Oscillate in Birmingham, but on the
journey up there I thought, 'No, I can't do this', and turned round and
came home. It's not that I hate playing live or anything like that, it's
just that I didn't realise how important it is to take the time to
occasionally think about nothing.
"Another problem was that my equipment was taking a real hammering at
the gigs. Some of the pieces were starting to fall apart around me.
Seeing as how my gear is all homemade, I can't just go out and buy
replacements in the shops. I've lost interest in electronics, so it's
going to be difficult to motivate myself to start work building new pieces.
I'd say that it will be a good year before I'll be playing live again."
[Reprinted from Melody Maker, January 22, 1994 issue]
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