…On which Richard D James continues his impressive run since emerging after a long silence in 2014.
This is one of his tighter sets, accessible to casual listeners and with enough character to keep fans happy. “T69 Collapse” is a tight electro funk number with trademark control of rhythm and scattershot beats. aphextwin.warp.net also includes on the EP a ‘durichroma’ exclusive remix of this track, which does enough to exist as its own entity. “1st 44″ calms things down a little but there still some surprise in there, as the last third of the tracks plays out some off-kilter scratchy keys and beats before the track collapses to a grinding halt.
“MT1 t29r2” inhabits a lower level of hearing rhythmic space before hints of music box sprinkle themselves intermittently and the track moves into an eastern tinged second movement. “abundance10edit[2 R8’s, FZ20m & a 909]” (these are the actual song titles; as per usual of no decipherable meaning but still great identifiers) is a more spooky affair though perhaps without the menace some past recordings have had.
It’s pretty creepy though employing childlike speech samples and is perhaps the most filmic song here. “pthex” completes this short set (it is absent from the vinyl release however) and is perhaps the most messed up track here; its broken rhythms underpinned by more eastern-sounding synth lines that themselves present little in the way of traditional timing and presence.
Aphex Twin’s real skill is making these elements all work together to form a coherent set, and this is indeed what he has done with this EP, possibly my favourite recording since his 2014 sudden and surprise re-emergence. The EP has been accompanied by manic media promotional activities all over the planet (including a great video for ‘T69 collapse’) and if you’ve never given Aphex Twin the time of day before but are open to the idea of boundary-pushing electronic music that is able to communicate to mass audiences despite playing by its own rules, then perhaps now is the time to dive in…
Author: Ian, Romford store
