This time, I created a ranking for Aphex Twin.
He is a genius and his work is original.
No matter what genre you usually listen to, I recommend that you experience it once.
After listening to it, you may find that it changes the way you listen to music.
I have chosen to focus on songs that are relatively easy to listen to.
This blog is an automatic translation of a Japanese blog into English.
Please understand that it may be difficult to read.
- 1 No.1「4」(Album:Richard D. James Song Title)
- 2 No.2「Xtal」(Album:Selected Ambient Works 85–92)
- 3 No.3「Flim」(EP:Come to Daddy EP)
- 4 No.4「On」(Album:51/13 Singles Collection)
- 5 No.5「Avril 14th」(Album:drukqs)
- 6 No.6「Vordhosbn」(Album:drukqs)
- 7 No.7「Windowlicker」(Single:Windowlicker)
- 8 No.8「Alberto Balsalm」(Album:…I Care Because You Do)
- 9 No.9「Analogue Bubblebath」(Album:Classics)
- 10 No.10「Z Twig」(Album:Selected Ambient Works Volume II)
No.1「4」(Album:Richard D. James Song Title)
■Song Title：4
■Album Name：Richard D. James Song Title
■Video link：「4」
This type of music is called drilled bass.
Driven bass is derived from the music called drum ‘n’ bass.
Drum ‘n’ Bass is a music that combines fast rhythms with a heavy bass.
On the other hand, drilled bass is a development of drilled bass music, which is more unrestrained, less regular, and a bit noisy.
It’s hard to put into words, so just listen to this song.
This song is made up of sharp beats and oriental melodies.
With just words, it may not seem like a good combination.
But if you listen to this song, you will find out that it is an interesting combination!
Here is another famous song that is the same as this one.
Both of these songs are music that will surprise you the first time you hear them.
No.2「Xtal」(Album:Selected Ambient Works 85–92)
■Song Title：Xtal
■Album Name：Selected Ambient Works 85–92
■Video link：「Xtal」
This album is known as one of the “three divine instruments of techno” chosen by Takkyu Ishino.
But when I first heard this song, I wondered if it was that good.
But after repeated listens, I finally realized the appeal of this song.
The appeal of this song lies in the combination of ambience and uplift.
The female chorus has the strange effect of relaxing and uplifting the listener at the same time.
The song could be like a drink that contains alcohol and caffeine.
His music always has that kind of dual structure to it.
This song may have a slightly different image from that of techno in general.
No.3「Flim」(EP:Come to Daddy EP)
■Song Title：Flim
■EP名：Come to Daddy EP
■Video link：「Flim」
In the early days, he just put his inner madness into sound, and it became original music.
Perhaps it was different from pure music.
But then he matured musically.
He began to present so-called “musical” music, including the beauty of melodies.
I don’t feel his madness in this piece.
It is purely excellent music.
He didn’t seem to be an artist who relied on some morbid part of himself.
In electronica, I love I Am Robot And Proud, but I feel the sense of melody is similar.
No.4「On」(Album:51/13 Singles Collection)
■Song Title：On
■Album Name：51/13 Singles Collection
■Video link：「On」
This album is not a best-of album.
This album is not a best of album, it is just a compilation of singles from a certain period of time, unique to Japan.
Moreover, it is a remix of the singles, so the versions of some songs are different from the original.
Nonetheless, this album is not to be missed.
How about this song, for example?
It’s a beautiful song with an ambient and minimalistic intro.
The moment when the heavy bass beat starts after that is always thrilling.
There is one more song on this album that I recommend, so I’ll just post a link to it.
This is toy music with high tension.
I feel the innocent violence in his music, like a child ripping off the legs of a grasshopper.
No.5「Avril 14th」(Album:drukqs)
■Song Title：Avril 14th
■Album Name：drukqs
■Video link：「Avril 14th」
This time I decided to choose only one song from each album.
Initially, I had planned to include “minipops 67 (source field mix)” from “Syro”.
However, I really wanted to introduce two songs from this album, so I decided to replace them.
Here is the link to “minipops 67 (source field mix)”.
Aphex Twin – minipops 67 [120.2][source field mix]
Since “drukqs” is a two-disc set, I decided to choose two songs.
This song reminds me of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s piano piece.
It is well known that Ryuichi Sakamoto is influenced by Debussy, and I feel the same vibe in this song.
No.6「Vordhosbn」(Album:drukqs)
■Song Title：Vordhosbn
■Album Name：drukqs
■Video link：「Vordhosbn」
This song is from the same “drukqs” as the one above.
This one is drilled and based, but some people call it IDM (Intelligent Dance Music).
When this album came out, I was reading some music magazines, and the reviews were split in two.
There were those who praised it greatly and those who gave it a low rating.
The reason given by those who gave it a low rating seemed to be that the album lacked novelty.
At the time, this person was already deified.
Not only was his music great, but he was also expected to be innovative.
But when he stopped focusing on innovation, many music critics lost their appreciation.
What do you think when you hear this song now, 20 years later?
I find it to be very creative music.
I sometimes feel that the opinions of music critics are shallow.
No.7「Windowlicker」(Single:Windowlicker)
■Song Title：Windowlicker
■シングル名：Windowlicker
■Video link：「Windowlicker」
This song is very much appreciated.
The single “Windowlicker” was voted #1 on NME’s list of best tracks of 1999 and #12 on Pitchfork Media’s list of best tracks of the 90s.
In 2009, ten years after this song was released, it was voted by fans as their favorite song on Warp Records.
Perhaps it is the easiest of his songs to listen to.
Incidentally, this song was made into a commercial song for a road safety campaign in the UK in 2017.
The first half of the song is a little too smooth, but the noisy second half of the song is wonderful.
No.8「Alberto Balsalm」(Album:…I Care Because You Do)
■Song Title：Alberto Balsalm
■Album Name：…I Care Because You Do
■Video link：「Alberto Balsalm」
This man has been called the “Mozart of the techno world.
Perhaps he is a genius and was named after his eccentric behavior.
So I looked up some of his episodes.
I’ve been writing songs since I was 10 years old, but for some reason I had my piano up against the wall and was plucking the strings directly instead of the keys.
He had never listened to anyone else’s records until he was 16 years old.
Signed a huge contract with the Sire label in the U.S. for what was said to be several hundred million yen. Signed a huge contract with the Sire label in the U.S. for hundreds of millions of yen.
He has remixed many songs, but he only takes on songs he hates. He remixes a lot of songs, but only takes on songs he hates, because he wants to reduce the number of shitty songs (in Japan, it’s “bakchiku,” or “the worst,” according to Richard).
He remixes a lot of songs, but only takes on songs he hates. He remixes many songs, but only takes on songs he hates, because he wants to reduce the number of shitty songs.
He teaches Bjork how to enjoy sandstorms on TV.
At the first Fuji Rock Festival in 1997, he set up a doghouse on stage and played inside it the whole time.
This song is chill-out music created by such a pervert.
The downer and mysterious atmosphere is wonderful.
It’s a song you’ll appreciate after a few listens.
No.9「Analogue Bubblebath」(Album:Classics)
■Song Title：Analogue Bubblebath
■Album Name：Classics
■Video link：「Analogue Bubblebath」
I also recommend the first song below for this album.
It’s a bit like Jamiroquai or The Chemical Brothers.
Well, this album was released in 1995.
I Care Because You Do” was released in 1995. I Care Because You Do” and was searching for his next direction.
However, even in the process of trial and error, he produced a number of great singles like this.
However, many of his singles were not included on the album, so I was very grateful for this edited version at the time.
It was also around this time that he started releasing his work under aliases and pseudonyms.
This song is under the name AFX, but he also released works under various other names, such as Polygon Window and Caustic Window.
No.10「Z Twig」(Album:Selected Ambient Works Volume II)
■Song Title：Z Twig
■Album Name：Selected Ambient Works Volume II
■Video link：「Z Twig」
He was a precocious prodigy, and at the age of eleven he entered and won a magazine sweepstakes.
His early music has been called “bedroom techno”.
By “bedroom techno,” I don’t mean the music you hear in your bedroom, but the music you make at home.
When he was 21 years old, he released the results as “Selected Ambient Works 85-92” to great acclaim.
However, with this second album, he has changed course.
This second album, however, is more ambient in style, and is a two-disc set.
Ambient is not a music that sells well, and from an objective point of view, it was a big gamble.
But it turned out to be a huge success.
The second album reached #11 in the UK Album Chart.
Geniuses always produce results that are different from what most people expect.
