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Selected Ambient Works Volume 2
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Product Details/SpecificationsRecording label: Sire / London/Rhino EAN: 0093624548225Binding: Audio CDRelease Date: 1994-04-12Universal product code (UPC): 093624548225Number of discs: 2Album Description
Aphex Twin's 1994 masterpiece Selected Ambient Works Volume II includes barely anything resembling a beat or any sign of typical song structure, yet the album continues to garner adulation generally reserved for holy music. Fans have been testifying on its behalf for nearly two decades, as if it were capable of curing ills or healing the soul. Its synthetic construction belies the intuitive, human, melancholic and uplifting nature of the music. Some have speculated the album was intended by Aphex Twin's Richard D. James as a farce, as if its ++ber-minimalism was a joke played on an electronic community that relied so heavily on the beat; an expectation-defying statement from ambient-house's young hero. The album induces varied responses and often from the same person. A listener may go from being incredulous to drenched in tears within the span of a single track. Music critic Frank Owen described the music as "veering between an eerie beauty and an almost nightmarish desolation." James himself described it as "like standing in a power station on acid." The album's raw emotional power is built upon the influences of Brian Eno, Erik Satie, Steve Reich, Terry Riley and The Orb. Each of its tracks has an elegiac and desolate feel far removed from the tooth-rattling, drill-'n'-bass or abstract electronica for which James was originally known. The soft, nimble flow leaves one in a tranquilized state. Throughout the album, James resists the temptation to layer the sound with beats or samples. Instead, he relies on swathes of sound and harmonics and almost-implied pulses. When the music does incorporate subtle industrial sounds, rhythmic drums or muted samples, it is only to affect a menacing feel in the textures. Remarkably, for an album that is often perceived as difficult, Selected Ambient Works Volume II is quite accessible. Featured in films, commercials and video games, the music continues to offer an entry point for listeners new to the ambient genre while remaining a classic touted by connoisseurs.
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British electronics wunderkind Richard James (alias Aphex Twin, AFX, Polygon Window, etc.) claims he heard the compositions on Selected Ambient Works, Volume II in lucid dreams. Like abstract paintings composed of shades of a single color, James's resonant explorations of specific timbres linger close to a central idea on each cut, incorporating just enough variation to remain disturbing. While its predecessor, Selected Ambient Works '85-'92 drew on seven years' worth of material, the uniform quality of these untitled tracks, plus their judicious sequencing, suggests they were assembled over a shorter period. Clocking in at over 150 minutes, the double-disc set (if this is "selected," how many hours of outtakes remain?) provides an exemplary introduction to the quieter facets of James's expansive, idiosyncratic aesthetic. --Kurt B. Reighley
Brand: APHEX TWINDisc 1 Tracks: 1. cliffs2. radiator3. rhubarb4. grass5. mold6. ropes7. circles8. weathered stone9. tree10. domino11. steel plateDisc 2 Tracks: 1. blue calx2. parallel stripes3. metal grating4. windowsill5. b+w stripes6. siding nails7. corrugated tubing8. lichen9. leaves10. tassels11. rusty metal12. b+w stripesII13. Shiny Metal Rods - Aphex Twin14. Grey Stripe - Aphex Twin15. Z Twig - Aphex Twin16. Window Sill - Aphex Twin17. Hexagon - Aphex Twin18. Lichen - Aphex Twin19. Spots - Aphex Twin20. Tassels - Aphex Twin21. White Blur 2 - Aphex Twin22. Match Sticks - Aphex TwinPublishers: Sire / London/Rhino
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