[Severian]

Anyone gonna talk at me about the new way out there robotic Aphex Twin or am I really going to have to start that Severian's Electronic Bistro thread?

Some stellar new shit coming down the line already in the Electronic/Juke/Footwork world.

[h8kurdt]

 

Totally digging this at the moment. It's worth a listen to my ears anyhoo.

[guest]

Originally Posted by Severian

Anyone gonna talk at me about the new way out there robotic Aphex Twin or am I really going to have to start that Severian's Electronic Bistro thread?

Some stellar new shit coming down the line already in the Electronic/Juke/Footwork world.

really unsure about this one...richard has most certainly jumped the shark. nothing worthwhile about it on any level, ordinarily his 'innovative' (relative term) projects have been lacking in anything identifiably new but are nevertheless enjoyable, whereas I can't help but think this is the most torpid thing he's ever done.

[guest]

frankly even as enjoyable as syro was it didn't need to exist. like at all.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by guest

really unsure about this one...richard has most certainly jumped the shark. nothing worthwhile about it on any level, ordinarily his 'innovative' (relative term) projects have been lacking in anything identifiably new but are nevertheless enjoyable, whereas I can't help but think this is the most torpid thing he's ever done.

Yeah, I felt that way about everything that wasn't either SAW/II or the RDJ album for a while. Then I stopped. Then I poo-poo'd everything that didn't have the immediately iconic feel of Windowlicker and Come to Daddy. Then I stopped. Then I thought Drukqs was a mess, and wished it had never been made. Then I thought Drukqs was the only thing that mattered. Once each respective era of material was digested, it felt like a crucial part of the Aphex Twin narrative. And I love it all, even though I know each project will probably be my least favorite for a bit.

Long story short, being adaptable and trusting, and letting new shit grow on you is a prerequisite for listening to brilliant musicians.

How can you say CCAI2 lacks originality? Have you encountered so many recordings of hit-anything-robots smacking the holy percussive hell out of god knows what that the whole concept just feels tired and pointless to you?

Come aaaaaahn!

And SYRO most certainly did need to happen. Thank god it did.

Now I'm interested in what you have to say about StrepSipster. I keep hearing that the Bandcamp mateial is "obviously" fake and that the Soundcloud shit is "obviously" real, but I can't say any of it actually seems that "obvious" to me. I will withhold judgment until official confirmation from RDJ himself gives me reason to decide. But I'll keep listening regardless.

[PAULYBEE2656]

Originally Posted by h8kurdt

 

Totally digging this at the moment. It's worth a listen to my ears anyhoo.

Agreed.... fantastic record

[guest]

Originally Posted by Severian

Yeah, I felt that way about everything that wasn't either SAW/II or the RDJ album for a while. Then I stopped. Then I poo-poo'd everything that didn't have the immediately iconic feel of Windowlicker and Come to Daddy. Then I stopped. Then I thought Drukqs was a mess, and wished it had never been made. Then I thought Drukqs was the only thing that mattered. Once each respective era of material was digested, it felt like a crucial part of the Aphex Twin narrative. And I love it all, even though I know each project will probably be my least favorite for a bit.

Long story short, being adaptable and trusting, and letting new shit grow on you is a prerequisite for listening to brilliant musicians.

How can you say CCAI2 lacks originality? Have you encountered so many recordings of hit-anything-robots smacking the holy percussive hell out of god knows what that the whole concept just feels tired and pointless to you?

Come aaaaaahn!

And SYRO most certainly did need to happen. Thank god it did.

Now I'm interested in what you have to say about StrepSipster. I keep hearing that the Bandcamp mateial is "obviously" fake and that the Soundcloud shit is "obviously" real, but I can't say any of it actually seems that "obvious" to me. I will withhold judgment until official confirmation from RDJ himself gives me reason to decide. But I'll keep listening regardless.

I don't mean this as a criticism or anything, more so just an observation, and again I don't think it's directly aimed at you at all but with a larger scope I think, I see it as a thing among fans regardless of age of most genres etc. but here goes...

TOO SUSCEPTIBLE TO MYTHOLOGIES

as admirable as it is that richard has been able to manoeuvre his gear by way of machinery to create these sounds, the fact remains that the process by which he abided to make this music has trumped its ultimate goal, that is to say innovation in process does in no way equate to musical innovation. there are definite precedents for this kind of thing in terms of process and sound not only on rephlex (pierre bastien and victor gama respectively) but indeed in the wider field as a whole (russolo's intonarumori, some of xenakis' percussive/rhythmic works). richard's music was previously governed by his means in a really positive way, considering the clear divisions before and subsequent to 1995, when he switched from his (predominantly analog) hardware setup into laptop composition and then back into a hybrid set-up with the modded disklaviers and drill & bass elements, but now it seems as if, when his setup is at its most complex he seems so deeply enamoured by it as to use his music as a showcase for gear more so than his own inarguable skill as a musician which was established by his status as one of the foremost innovators in popular electronic music. as superficially intriguing as the notion of instruments controlled by robots may subjectively be, the fact remains that almost everything he's done could be achieved by other means, whether physical modelling synthesis or hey, playing the fucking instrument himself. timbrally speaking yes, it's again somewhat alluring in its apparent exoticism but it's pure gamelan, with no injection of fresh ideas whatsoever.

frankly, as proficient as richard's new music may be, it's totally redundant. the inspiration seems to have run out after drukqs, which was ostensibly a dying gasp from the man. and in saying that, as much as I loved that record once, perhaps not so much now, it was starved of ideas, the same approaches to rhythm, to melody, to structure drawn out across two records. and it's the same thing I've said on this forum with regard to kanye west, the notional artist, here richard d james as the unimpeachable vanguard because of reclusion, because of past glory, because of a multiplicity of other interrelated reasons which is simply put up as a means with which to deflect the totally warranted accusations that he's, umm, done. this is of course on current evidence, but he's been sleepwalking for a good decade now.

and I mean you compare it to a group like ae, who have unfailingly obliterated every single boundary which befalls them over the course of two decades and, to be completely honest accomplished far more than richard ever has with greater breadth and compositional dexterity, but deprived of that cultural ubiquity they're near ignored at this point. of course people see them as part of the established canon, but due to their distinct lack of pretension in terms of image projection there's nothing for people to latch on to other than the music, hence no mythologies. exai was really unfairly ignored by all but a few publications and fanboys, which is so fucking perplexing when you consider how cohesive a statement it was, how far it pushed them out in every single direction while maintaining a distinct sonic/aesthetic identity.

even shorter: richard's fine but he's another victim of media, who venerate or deride art in terms of its cultural viability as opposed to on the basis of its musical validity, of which afx is a benefactor (or victim or whatever this is all total bullshit)






soundcloud stuff's cool though, yeah. no doubt it's him.

[h8kurdt]

This album has really grabbed me. I'm on my third listen and I only heard it yesterday.

 

Best to describe it without sounding wanky? Umm...Hawkwind mixed with Neu I guess.

Here's a link to one of the songs

[Severian]

Ok, I thought this thread was dead in the water again, so I stopped giving a shit. But I know NR had a resolution for the new year--one that I wholeheartedly support-- to listen to and/or buy one new album every week.

I would be remiss in my duty to support this kind of obsessive compulsive music consumption if I stopped posting here entirely. I have actually had way too much going on to be able to keep up my unbelievable record & CD collecting pace from 2014**, but that doesn't mean I haven't been keeping up.

Here are all the albums I've picked up since January: (There's too much good shit in here to be able to confidently name an album for every week, especially in hindsight, but if this thread continues to float, I'll resume with an album for the week of March 9, 2015)

JANUARY:

1. Viet Cong - Viet Cong *
2. Panda Bear - Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper
3. Disappears - Irreal
4. Death Grips - Fashion Week
5. Lupe Fiasco - Tetsuo & Youth *
6. Aphex Twin - Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt 2 EP *
7. Joey Bada$$ - B4.DA.$$
8. Björk - Vulnicura
9. Pond - Man, It Feels Like Space Again *
10. MCFERRDOG - Lawd Forgive Me *
11. Sleater-Kinney - No Cities to Love
12. Future Brown - Future Brown
13. Vic Spencer - The Cost Of Victory
14. Chief Keef - Nobody
15. Moon Duo - Shadow of the Sun *
16. Kid Ink - Full Speed
17. Beat Spacek - Modern Streets

FEBRUARY:

1. Jack Name - Weird Moons *
2. Rone - Creatures
3. Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear
4. Big Sean - Dark Sky Paradise
5. Aphex Twin - Strepsipster
6. John Tejada - Signs Under Test
7. Grooms - CombThe Feelings Through Your Hair
8. Drake - If You're Reading This It's Too Late *
9. Ghostface Killah & Badbadnotgood - SOUR SOUL
10. Chief Keef - Sorry For The Weight
11. Dan Deacan - Glass Riffer
12. Six Organs of Admittance - Hexadic
13. Torche - Restarter

MARCH:

1. Hudson Mohawke - Hud Mo 100
2. Cannibal Ox - Blade of the Ronin
3. Oren Ambarchi & Jim O'Rourke - Behold *
4. Lightning Bolt - Fantasy Empire *

I'm forgetting stuff. Will update when possible

[Severian]

2014**
Speaking of this, my album of the year list is still over 100 motherfucking cocksucking albums long. I'm having a real bitch of a time editing it down to a manageable number without feeling like I'm casting my my own children out onto the street to fend for themselves.

Is anyone even remotely interested in what I think the best albums were in a year that's nearly 4 months dead? I won't be offended.... But if nobody cares I'll spend all the goddamn time I want editing this bitch, even if it takes me until 2016 to bring it down to 50.

If anyone gives the tiniest little pebble of a shit, I'll expedite things and just slap together an order for #'s 11-100 based on my mood at the time and I'll give it to Ya ASAP.

It's a damn good list, and it features a lot of artists that don't get a whole lot of coverage around these parts. Just thought some of you guys might be into it. Meh. Lemme know or don't.

[h8kurdt]

Yes.

[h8kurdt]

That's the short answer btw.

[Severian]

Nice. Nice.

[Severian]

I wrote Viet Congo instead of Viet Cong. I must have been thinking about how much I love Michael Crighton again. (like that's the kind of thing that just slips one's mind, right?) A-HA! Ho hum, nudge, nudge.

*Chortle*

[h8kurdt]

I wasn't to impressed with the Viet Cong album. I'd heard a lot of good things and at the end of it it was just "meh".

[Severian]

Originally Posted by h8kurdt

I wasn't to impressed with the Viet Cong album. I'd heard a lot of good things and at the end of it it was just "meh".

Really? I didn't think I was going to give much of a shit, considering how much I loved Women, and how VC was pretty much into initially marketed as a consolation prize for fans of the band that should have probably picked up Sonic Youth's mantle.

But when the EP hit, I heard it before I knew it was (clever way of circumventing your own biases) and heard in in the record store. Sounded raw and fucked and glorious. The album really delivered for me, and I feel like it's possible that VC could have a long and fruitful career, making music that's just different enough from what Women were into to justify the group's existence.

Still, I would rather Women reunited... But overall, not a bad consolation prize. So far the best rock-type-album of 2015.

[Severian]

This week, Lotic blew my mind fuzz with this dandy new EP.
For those who like it hard and weird.

 

[h8kurdt]

Two new albums I've listened to this week that I've really dug.

 

Brilliant album and looking on Spotify she has another one that's just come out. I'll give that a listen at some point.

 

I really didn't want to like the new Godspeed album (I feel they got so over-hyped it's stupid), but yeah, I can't deny there's some bitching riffs on this one.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by h8kurdt

I really didn't want to like the new Godspeed album (I feel they got so over-hyped it's stupid), but yeah, I can't deny there's some bitching riffs on this one.

I listened to it from start to finish, and even though I liked what I heard, it certainly didn't blow me away. I should revisit the second half, though.

[Severian]

Last week:

Jefre Cantu-Ledesma "A Year With 13 Moons" (Kemado/Mexican Summer)

 

Oh hell yeah.