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First new album from the quasi-mythical electronica legend, Aphex Twin (AKA Richard D. James), in thirteen years. Out September 22nd on Warp Records.
BUY THE ALBUM ON BLEEP:
https://bleep.com/release/53848-aphex-twin-syro
BUY ON ITUNES:https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/syro/id911319255 (UK)
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/syro/id911319255 (US)
MY REVIEW:
I’ve been wanting to write up a mini-review for this album for a little while now. Finally, upon my third listen of this album in its entirety, I’m beginning this review [*Editor’s note: this must be like the sixth or seventh listen now, so I really need to finish and publish this review! I kind of didn’t want to do a “track by track” type of review, but I think I’ve decided: this isn’t really a normal album, so let’s just do the review like that. Hope it won’t be too mish-mash and still give you a useful indication of the music]. Please let me know what you think!
First of all, I must admit that I am a relative newcomer to the Aphex Twin fanbase, only having recently discovered his music (believe it or not!). So where to begin?! Guess I’m still “struggling” in a way just a little bit to best describe this record (a sentiment with which, I’m willing to believe, veteran Aphex Twin fans alike may well agree). *Another thing I’ll point out that I wasn’t aware of the first few times listening to the album is that, according to the Rolling Stone article linked to below, ‘Syro’ is actually a collection of “tracks recorded over many years” (a point which does not detract from the work, I would say, but after listening to the album a few times, this may seem to make sense).
It’s chock-full of the blurps and bleeps that you might expect if you’ve heard any sufficient quantity of Richard D. James’ music before. How DOES that guy create and put together those wild, bleepy sounds….
So, here’s a brief summary of my own personal take on the music, track-by-track:
minipops 67 [source field mix] – OK, although it sounds a bit better to my ear after a few subsequent listens, I have the feeling this may be the cause of the various “thumbs-down” I’ve seen on YouTube… (although, as they say, careful judging a book by its cover 😉
XMAS EVET10 [thanaton3 mix] – in my opinion, the standout “track” on the album. It’s ten and a half minutes of everything from chorus guitar sounds to cathedral vocal samples to gamelan and tablas, all roled into one, with solid atmosphere and development on the piece: Aphex Twin at his finest…
PRODUK 29 – dark, lush and gothic-sounding chords, with a bit of “mystic hi-hat” :p
4 bit 9d api+e+6 – starts off with jungly, TR-808-ish drumbeats, continues with synth swells, a bit reminiscent of Thomas Dolby even.
180db_ – sounds a bit like an out-of-phase edm track, with, dare I say, kind of “trippy polka beats” layered underneath.
CIRCLONT6A [syrobonkus mix] – Russian vocal samples, along with what sounds rather like it could be the soundtrack for an old Nintendo game (one of those consoles with the really small controllers :-).
fz pseudotimestretch+e+3 – a piece that has subtle overtones of Ulrich Schnauss! 😮
CIRCLONT14 [shrymoming mix] – a bit of almost-breakout-beats.
syro u473t8+e [piezoluminescence mix] – a resumption of the proverbial Aphex Twin bleeps and sampled rhythms.
PAPAT4 [pineal mix] – interesting rhythmic textures & progression – breakbeat, amen almost.
s950tx16wasr10 [earth portal mix] – more amen-style breakbeats and shimmering synths.
Syro concludes with aisatsana, a beautiful and somewhat haunting piano piece, revealing that this guy not only has some unique skills in sampling, arranging, and developing digital soundscapes, but is also just a talented musician at heart.
After listening to this album, you may be able to get some sense of the “Aphex Twin mystique” that has surrounded the artist for some time now (another example apart from the enchanting quality of the music itself were the impromptu listening parties that were held in secret locations revealed only to lottery-winning uber-fans in select cities in Europe and North America ahead of the album’s release). I’m not going to give the record any particular “4 or 5-star” relative rating or anything like that, but I would recommend it as an intriguing listen definitely worthy of checking out; it really does draw you in to come back for repeat listens later – something about the tones he creates and the way he strings them together.
For more, check out this recent cool interview with Aphex Twin in Rolling Stone.
-KP
