i personally enjoy Aphex Twins their my favorite band.
no but really though, around 2015 this is was the biggest thread like, EVER on the old database. and, i’m sure you nerds already heard:
so, in honor of aphex giving us something today, let’s talk about Mister RDJ. first… fave track? no takebacksies.
I’ll be that one asshole who’s bound to show up. I’ve never really been a fan of his work, really. I respect his influence and legacy but I can’t stand to listen to any of it. Kind of like the Beatles.
I think he has an EP under an alias that sounded pretty decent though, someone might know what I’m talking about. I sure as hell don’t
Yeah, I’m sorta with you. It’s like the electronic version of shreddy prog death metal stuff - I appreciate the effort and technicality and boundary pushing, and it’s super interesting to listen to analytically, but I don’t really enjoy it in a ‘sit back and let the music take me’ sense.
You’re talking about The Tuss maybe?
There’s nothing wrong with having that opinion man! Not wrong at all. I do feel that sometimes too. But what sets Aphex apart from the Beatles is that their music has been dissected and analyzed and replayed over and over and over to oblivion. I do respect and revere The Beatles for their masterful songwriting and musicianship, but goddamn I am fucking sick of their music. I call them “grocery store music”… it’s not that I don’t like them or their music, it’s just that I’ve moved on. With Aphex, this has not even come close to happening yet, at least for me. Also everything new he puts out, if ever, is interesting to me. I am more of a Autechre/Squarepusher leaning dude though, and if I had to choose one it would be ol’ Tom Circleshover. Also… I mean sheeeeit, he let me hold/play his bass.
Ok, maybe I should call this the Aphex Twin Discussion Thread
all opinions are welcome here
except @Vlantis
jk
I don’t want to stand in your church and shit on your religion or anything. The guy is top of his game, I guess I’ve just always been more of an Autechre fellow, but I can’t really explain why. More textural and abstract, maybe?
Just so I actually contribute… I think the first track I ever heard from RDJ was Bucephalus Bouncing Ball and it did totally blow my mind in a “how the fuck is he doing that” way. I did explore more of his stuff and it was all super interesting but I never found myself really getting along with his work as songs, more as “this is what you can do if you’re super fucking smart and hard working” motivational pieces.
I also forget about Selected Ambient Works - there is some stuff on there I really enjoy: Schottkey 7th Path and Actium are standouts off the top of my head and I know I’ve got them on some playlists.
AFX is one of those artists where if you’ve ever done acid and listened to the music you hold a forever appreciation for it. The drugs rewire your brain or something. Not suggesting that drugs are the only pathway to appreciating his music though.
RDJ album is probably my favourite, followed closely by select ambient works 1
Oh dude, not at all. I hope that’s not directed at me. I totally understand not liking Aphex Twin… or any music really. I mean, I listened to that Tuss album as I was reading the posts from earlier and was like “you know what, I don’t really fucking like this.” Also music is time and place. Manton hit it on the nose about the acid thing too. There’s something about it that sits with you. I don’t really listen to Aphex Twin too often anymore… I just wish I heard it in more grocery stores.
Also Avril 14 holds a special places in my heart. IDK, it’s kind of like a “matured relationship” with the music or something. Also, he’s a pretty smart and cool dude according to my friends who make contact with him about gear/synths from time to time.
But yeah, maybe a question would be, what tracks/albums were you into before you became a jaded-ass hater? 
jk. I truly am just as interested as to why people dislike something as much as why they like it.
I really just started this thread for the low-hanging-fruit SEO traffic
I liek his breakcore traxs
Of course I’ve been self-analyzing that since I wrote it. Why don’t I like Aphex Twin? It seems like it should be right up my alley, but I never really connected with it.
The best I can come up with is that I didn’t come up in techno or electro or any of the 80s/90s dance electronica. I was a Pink Floyd fan then a Dead Kennedys fan then a Slayer fan, then started working my way into more weird stuff like 70s early industrial and 80s EBM before getting turned onto things like Stockhausen and Xenakis in college. For better or worse, I was at home exploring Kraftwork’s catalog while my friends were going to raves. I think if I’d been more into that scene and its music it would have given me a stating point to appreciating AT musically, and I just never developed it.
I feel like RDJ sort of wears that techno influence on his sleeve, no matter how weird and wild he gets. It’s very beat driven, mostly couched in 4/4 (regardless of how he plays with the bpm), and has very ‘techno’ melodies with a minimal structure. There’s also a playful, almost purposefully immature sort of goofiness in his songs that doesn’t really do much for me. It’s most of the things I didn’t really like about techno as a genre, just cranked up to 11 and turned on its head. Sometimes that’s super cool and it really catches my ear for a moment, but I think I’m really just connecting with a technical feat he pulled off and not the emotional intent he was trying to convey.
So I dunno, that’s my armchair self-analysis of why Ronny Dio James is terrible and if you listen to him you’re killing the environment. I hear Taylor Swift has a new album coming out, can’t we just talk about that? 
Did you see the Benn Jordan video about the software RDJ used on his early albums? Super fascinating and really drives home how much work he had to be putting in to get that music because it wasn’t all drag and drop easy mode back then. Also got the impression that Benn literally emailed him and was like “hey, doing a little video, what stuff did you use?” and he answered him, which is fucking inspiring and amazing. My guess is I’d totally enjoy having a pint with the guy.
It’s fine, but I prefer The Soft Greens lol
this is great. I love this thread so much already 
may it return to its glory of top google search and spring forth like an SEO phoenix search queries of the almighty Interw3bz, may it receive many clicks and impressions, and honor the namesake forum if its kind thus sayeth the lord
You know The Soft Greens appeared on Sounds for Skeletons, and same track I had remastered on Retrospective Vol. 2. His name is Conor Mackey and currently uses the alias lynyn. He has 1 album and about to drop a second in September. Love his music. I would say its more like Squarepusher with tje Jazz influences than Aphex Twin though.
3 posts were split to a new topic: Music Review/Rating Implementation Discussion
Thanks for the info! I met up with him in Chicago many moons ago.
Aphex Twin is kind of the whole reason I got into [making] electronic music ever.
I understand why some people here would dislike his music, I think it’s because he’s just a really popular artist in this field, so people would probably think he’s overrated, and I agree to an extent.
Like everyone else here, I prefer Autechre, but I always seem to come back to his music, even when I get into other artists or genres. He has such a wide variety of music, especially under his many aliases.
Tha will always be my favorite, if not, one of my favorite songs from him. It’s just really good. Even though I like a lot of his discography, Tha, MSM+SMM, and Paralel Stripes will always be my very favorites.
The only downside I see of his music is the fact that it’s usually not as complex as that of other IDM artists, but he still makes some pretty abstract work sometimes.
Anyone wanting a dose of AFX I recommend listening to RTR on Analogical Force:
Very similar in some regards
