Aphex Twin : Selected Ambient Works Volume II (RTD 126.1670.2)
CD1: 78:27
CD2: 77:04
After listening to this for about half a day now, I somehow still feel
that I coudldnt tell you that much about it. Someone mentioned that it's
an album you cant really listen to, you just hear it, and thats exactly
what I feel. There are no melodies as such, no formal construction, just
raw sounds. I was amused at first when I heard that most of these tracks
were composed through "lucid dreaming", but thats exactly what it sounds
like. Consisting of long sustained single notes, chimes, huge amounts of
reverb and echo, we are presented with vast amounts of space. Talk of
soundscapes and images constructed within these pieces are truely valid -
lying on my floor with eyes closed you really *can* go places. The
presence some of these pieces give you is incredible. Though there are
really no beats to speak of, the afx sound is unmistakably there. For
those of you that enjoyed Blue calx, included on this CD, and the
beatless track 11 on Analogue Bubblebath 3, there is more of the same
here. This is still not your traditional ambient sound however, as somehow,
Rj manages to bastardize noise and add that afx edge to everything. The
general aura surrounding these pieces is one of darkness. You never seem
to feel truely comfortable in these new unfamiliar surroundings. With
burts of dissonance, those haunting somehow childlike chimes, and
brooding atmospheres, Im somehow left feeling rather vulnerable. when
strung together then, these add up to a considerable gloom and thoughts
of what this recording could do when combined with your favourite
chemical lay themselves upon me. Of course, there are moments of relief,
when it appears as if a beam of light suddenly finds you only to be
dimmed soon after. Also throughout are those twisted, usually
incomprehensible, vocal samples that Rj like to throw in. Sometimes that
are hardly recognizable as voices, more shadows, or signs from people
trapped within.
Richard James has shown us once again what he is capable of and with this
album, has opened up another infinate number of doorways. If you dont
have this in your ambient collection, than you have a huge hole that
little else could fill.
I'll pass on a score out of ten because that would do it no justice.
_______
(__,-, \
/ /\ \ f l u i d
/,_) \ \
(/ \\ brit@bach.udel.edu
\) flu'id (floo'-)
still floating.....