Long-lost album from Richard D. James, AKA Aphex Twin. This was a legendary unreleased album that pretty much no one had heard, and then a test-pressing showed up on ebay earlier this year. Some people from an IDM-centric message board started a Kickstarter to buy the album, and then with RDJ and Rephlex's blessing, people who payed into the Kickstarter got a professionally ripped digital copy.

Anyway, what does it sound like? To use other Aphex reference points, it sort of splits the difference between Selected Ambient Works 85-92 and Polygon Window. It's got a lot of the dreaminess of SAW85-92, but also a lot of the heavy techno tendencies of Polygon Window. However, I don't find it as abrasive as Polygon Window... I haven't listened to that album in a while, but I remember there being something really hard about the mastering that made it a bit difficult to listen to the whole thing in one shot, and I don't find that to be the case here, even with the really frenetic tracks.

Lots of new Aphex Twin this year! Exciting times.

RIYL: Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works 85-92, Aphex's Polygon Window, Kid606, techy nastily playful IDM in general

1: propulsive, but dreamy. atmospheric pads, various synth woodwinds. stuttery drums. definite SAW85-92 vibe. good summer afternoon music if your the sort of person who listens to propulsive aphex twin on a summer afternoon.
2: frantic. not as frantic as "didgeridoo", but frantic. squelchy and fuzzy. spectral synth pads come in around 2:00, then a metallic whistle starts weaving it's way through around 2:30. the drums drop out for a brief respite around the midway point (3:40). another respite around 4:00 something, and reverby chimes and a few piano notes get added. other than new elements coming in throughout the song, it's fairly unchanging, though it's less punishing than you'd think it'd be (i think because the kick has a relatively soft attack?).
3: uses funny vocal samples in the same way as some of the hangable auto bulb stuff ("i'm late!"). bright slightly squelchy keys, big boomy drums that are just a bit hollowed out (and a bit metallic on the high end). intermittent ethereal pads.
4: fast, bouncy. rubbery kicks, synth bells, fuzzed out other stuff. short (1:20).
5: relatively slow. dark, slinky. starts w/ a straight 4/4 house beat that morphs into something like old chemical brothers on hydrocodone. synths get squelchy and fill out when the drums change. dark descending ethereal pad melodies. has that same ringing synth triangle thing as the opening track of SAW85-92. probably my favorite thing on here.
6: dark, creepy. horror movie atmosphere + weird fast aphex drums.
7: hollow toms and stomping techno kicks and some sort of machine-sound in place of a snare. electronic voice repeating "aphex". apt name ("afx tribal kik"). short (just over 1:00).
8: bright lightly filtered synth unfolds over 4/4 kicks. filter sweeps and changing length on synth notes. splashy percussion added around 1:00. just under 130 bpm, but feels slower.
9: 808 type drums, flowing lightly treated piano, spacey pads. some of that squelchy clicky percussion that SAW85-92 has. some snare rolls.
10: rubbery 303, intermittent tambourine, heavy 4/4 kick. boards of canada-esque synth melody that starts in the background and becomes more prominent. shuffling hats around 1:30. drums drop out at points, synth gets hollowed out a bit at points.
11: slow, snaking, squelchy melody. bassy keys. then some almost housey keys, though the percussion is relatively softly pattering breaks. not particularly slow, but still very chill.
12: bright synth keys with maybe a bit of filter. synth woodwind. occasional short runs of squelchy echo-y keys. no percussion till just before 2:00, and then it's just a bit of echo-y triangle slowly building for a while. percussion eventually goes away entirely again. and comes back for a bit at the end. serene and satisfied. almost 9 minutes, but doesn't drag.
13: rumbling fuzzed-out noise and clattery drums. warped 303ish melody. undulating mid-range metallic ringing at later points.
14: hectic snares and cymbals with little decay, rubbery kick, laser-ish synths. slows down a bit before 2:00, then winds right back up and gets crazy again. falls apart and re-coheres again between 2:30 and 3:00. fake-out wind down and wind up at the end to fade out.
15: like the title says, RDJ making prank phone calls. mu-ziq is one of the recipients.


recommended: 5, 3, 9, 2, 1, 12