General Article name: Selected Ambient Works 85-92
Genre: Disco / Dance Product type: LP (Vinyl) Label: Apollo Records Number of tracks: 13 Duration: 74:20 Tracklist LP - 1 1. Aphex Twin - Xtal 4:51 2. Aphex Twin - Tha 9:01 3. Aphex Twin - Pulsewidth 3:47 4. Aphex Twin - Ageispolis 5:21 5. Aphex Twin - I 1:13 6. Aphex Twin - Green Calx 6:02 7. Aphex Twin - Heliosphan 4:51   Tracklist LP - 2 8. Aphex Twin - We Are the Music Makers 7:42 9. Aphex Twin - Schottkey 7th Path 5:07 10. Aphex Twin - Ptolemy 7:12 11. Aphex Twin - Hedphelym 6:02 12. Aphex Twin - Delphium 5:36 13. Aphex Twin - Actium 7:35   Description Description

One of the indisputable classics of electronica, and a defining document for ambient music in particular, SELECTED AMBIENT WORKS 85-92 is one of Aphex Twin's (AKA Richard D. James) earliest and most fully realized achievements. Reputedly created on homemade equipment deconstructed from standard synthesizers, the music within takes its cue from club beats and the techno rhythms of rave and acid-house culture. Upon these foundations, however, Aphex Twin weaves melodic tapestries of great subtlety, beauty, and atmospheric texture. "Tha," for example, contains a muted bass-drum pulse that becomes the center for evolving patterns of sound--a kind of aural mandala. The more driving rhythm of "Heliosphan" also gives rise to the ethereal play of melody. Several tracks, such as "Schottkey 7th Path" and "Hedphelym," have a tense, telescoping ambience that evokes paranoia and a sense of gravity-free floating at once. Other selections show Aphex Twin working more firmly in the techno-dance idiom, but even these display a complexity, elegance, and delicacy rarely heard in the genre. This landmark recording is one of the essential building blocks of any electronica collection.

Description

Selected Ambient Works 85-92 is a desperately sparse album: thin percussion and several haunted-synth lines are the only components on most songs, and Richard D. James added only one vocal sample on the entire album ("We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams"). Also, the sound quality is relatively poor; it was recorded direct to cassette tape and reportedly suffered a mangling job by a cat. All this belies the status of Selected Ambient Works 85-92 as a watershed of ambient music. It reveals no influences and sounds unlike anything that preceded it, due in large part to the effects James managed to wrangle from his supply of home-manufactured contraptions. [Selected Ambient Works was also released on LP.] ~ John Bush

John Bush

Contributors Artist: Aphex Twin Record Label: Apollo Record Label: R&S Records