Selected Ambient Works 85–92

Selected Ambient Works 85–92
Studio album by Aphex Twin
Released 12 February 1992
Recorded 1985–92
Genre Ambient techno, IDM
Length 74:22
Label Apollo (AMB 3922)
Producer Richard D. James
Aphex Twin chronology

Digeridoo
(1992)		 Selected Ambient Works 85-92
(1992)		 Xylem Tube EP
(1992)

Selected Ambient Works 85–92 (or Selected Ambient Works 85 to 92) is the debut album by Anglo-Irish electronic musician Richard D. James, released under the pseudonym of Aphex Twin. The 1992 LP, on the Belgian techno label Apollo, was his third release. An analogue remaster was released in 2006, and a digital remaster in 2008. Selected Ambient Works 85–92 was appreciated for its minimalist and atmospheric nature and is considered by many music critics to be one of the greatest albums in ambient, IDM, and electronic music.[1] It has since influenced several electronic artists and was followed by Selected Ambient Works Volume II. On the week ending 27 September 2014, the album entered at #30 in the UK Dance Albums Chart after the release of his 2014 album Syro.[2]

Background

James was born in Limerick, Ireland and grew up in Lanner, Cornwall with two older sisters, in a "very happy" childhood during which they "were pretty much left to do what [they] wanted".[3] He enjoyed living there, feeling apart from nearby cities and the rest of the world.[4] James attended Redruth School in Redruth, Cornwall,[5] and claimed to had won 50 pounds in a competition to make a program that produced sound on a Sinclair ZX81 (a machine with no sound hardware) at age 11. He subsequently created music using a ZX Spectrum and a sampler.[3]

As a teenager James gained a cult following being a disc jockey at the Shire Horse Inn in St Ives, with Tom Middleton at the Bowgie Inn in Crantock and along the beaches around Cornwall, learning new musical techniques.[6][7] He studied at Cornwall College from 1988 to 1990 for a National Diploma in engineering. About his studies, he said "music and electronics went hand in hand".[7] James graduated from college; according to an engineering lecturer he often wore headphones during practical lessons, "no doubt thinking through the mixes he'd be working on later".[8]

James' first release as Aphex Twin, later changed to AFX, was the 1991 12-inch EP Analogue Bubblebath on Mighty Force Records. In 1991, James and Grant Wilson-Claridge founded Rephlex Records to promote "innovation in the dynamics of acid — a much-loved and misunderstood genre of house music forgotten by some and indeed new to others, especially in Britain".[9] He wrote "Digeridoo" to clear up his audience after a rave.[7] From 1991 to 1993 James released two Analogue Bubblebath EPs as AFX and an EP, Bradley's Beat, as Bradley Strider. Although he moved to London to take an electronics course at Kingston Polytechnic, he admitted to David Toop that his electronics studies were being evacuated as he pursued a career in the techno genre. Although he allegedly lived on the roundabout in Elephant and Castle, South London during his early years there, he actually resided in a nearby unoccupied bank.[3][10] While performing at clubs and with a small underground following, James went on to release SAW 85-92, which was mostly recorded before he started DJing and consisted of instrumental songs that were mostly beat-oriented.[11]

Recording and production

According to musician Benjamin Middleton, James began producing music at age 12.[12] James said he composed ambient techno music the following year.[13] According to several music journals, including the iTunes store, the "slightly poor" sound quality was due to the cassette tape being attacked by James' cat.

Structure
"Green Calx"
Album version, as it appeared on Selected Ambient Works 85–92
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Although Selected Ambient Works is primarily instrumental, many of the songs use samples. "Xtal" includes a repeating female vocal sample along with interchanging ambient sounds, while "Tha" has clips of several people talking. "We Are the Music Makers" features "We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams", a line of dialogue from the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory; Writing for entertainment website Review To Be Needed, Jordan believed that the sample grew from a pop culture quote to a meaningful statement as the song developed. "Green Calx" contains samples from RoboCop: the dinosaur's popping eyes during the 6000 SUX TV ad, the ED-209 robot trying to go downstairs without success, and the sound of RoboCop browsing faces of criminals in the police archives computer. "Green Calx" also contains a faint sample of the vocal from "Fodderstompf" by Public Image Ltd, as well as distortion of the opening titles of John Carpenter's 1982 film The Thing.[6]

Reception and legacy

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [14]
Pitchfork Media (9.4/10)[15]
Slant Magazine [16]
Rolling Stone [17]
Q Magazine [18]
Record Collector [19]
Spin [20]
The Tiny Home Central (positive)[21]

Selected Ambient Works 85–92 was released on 12 February 1992 by Apollo, a subdivision of Belgian record label R&S Records.[14][22] James departed from R&S Records after the release of SAW 85–92 to focus on Rephlex Records.[23]

Selected Ambient Works has been critically acclaimed for its beat-driven, simple and atmospheric nature, and many reviewers suggested that James developed from the works of Brian Eno,[24] to whom the electronic musician had not listened until he made his early recordings.[25] John Bush of Allmusic felt Ambient Works is sparse with eerie synth lines and narrow percussion and described it as a "watershed of ambient music". He noticed the album's poor sound quality since it was recorded onto a cassette damaged by a cat.[14] When it was reissued by PIAS America in 2002, David M. Pecoraro of Pitchfork Media likened its synth tones to a professional dancer and appreciated the album as "among the most interesting music ever created with a keyboard and a computer" despite its "primitive origins".[15] Rolling Stone's Pat Blashill thought the album combined minimal drums and bass with abundant soundscapes.[17] Eric Weisbard and Craig Marks, authors of the Spin Alternative Record Guide, gave it a 9 rating and called James a "noise-for-noise's sake".[20]

Widely regarded by critics as one of the pioneering works in early IDM and modern electronic music, retrospective reviews mention its influence on electronic artists.[24] Warp Records refers to it as "the birthplace and the benchmark of modern electronic music" and has stated that "every home should have a copy."[26] In 2003, the album was placed #92 in "NME's 100 Best Albums" poll (link). Nine years later, it was named the greatest album of the 1990s by FACT Magazine.[27] The album was also featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

A remastered SAW 85–92 Compact Disc was released by Apollo/R&S Records on 8 April 2008. The remastered 12" vinyl record was released in 2006.

Track listing

All tracks composed and arranged by Richard D. James.

No. Title Length
1. "Xtal"   4:54
2. "Tha"   9:06
3. "Pulsewidth"   3:46
4. "Ageispolis"   5:23
5. "i"   1:17
6. "Green Calx"   6:05
7. "Heliosphan"   4:51
8. "We Are the Music Makers"   7:43
9. "Schottkey 7th Path"   5:08
10. "Ptolemy"   7:10
11. "Hedphelym"   6:00
12. "Delphium"   5:26
13. "Actium"   7:32

Personnel

Credits from Selected Ambient Works 85–92 taken from liner notes.[28]

Chart positions

Chart (2014) Peak
position
UK Dance Albums Chart[29] 30

References

  1. ↑ Cinquemani, Sal. "Selected Ambient Works 85-92> Review". Slant Magazine Inc. Retrieved 2 November 2002.
  2. ↑ http://www.officialcharts.com/archive-chart/_/19/2014-10-04/
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 O'Connell, John (October 2001). "Untitled". The Face. EMAP. Archived from the original on 15 June 2008. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
  4. ↑ Stern, Theresa (September 1997). "Interview by Theresa Stern". The Aphex Twin Community. Archived from the original on 2 April 2008. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
  5. ↑ Stuart Aitken (28 November 2003). "Rephlexology". mad.co.uk.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Jordan (9 December 2011). "My Year in Lists: Week Forty-Nine". Review To Be Named. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Robinson, Dave (April 1993). "The Aphex Effect". Future Music.
  8. ↑ Murray, Janet (12 June 2007). "College days". The Guardian (London: Guardian Media Group). Archived from the original on 26 June 2008. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
  9. ↑ Wilson-Claridge, Grant (30 November 1992). "~~~ The definitive RePHLeX ~~~". alt.rave. Archived from the original on 21 June 2008. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
  10. ↑ Toop, David (March 1994). "Lost in space". The Face. EMAP. Archived from the original on 3 June 2008. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
  11. ↑ Bush, John. "Aphex Twin". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  12. ↑ Middleton, Benjamin (October 1992). "~~ rephlex ~~ aphex ~~ drn ~~". alt.rave.
  13. ↑ Anderson, Don (1999). "Aphex Twin: Mad Musician or Investment Banker?". Space Age Bachelor. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Bush, John. "Selected Ambient Works 85-92 > Overview". Allmusic. All Media Guide, LLC. Retrieved 6 March 2008.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Pecoraro, David M. (20 February 2002). "Aphex Twin: Selected Ambient Works 85-92: Pitchfork Record Review". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 6 March 2008.
  16. ↑ "Aphex Twin: Selected Ambient Works 85-92 | Music Review". Slant Magazine. 2 November 2002. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Blashill, Pat (12 December 2002). "Selected Ambient Works 85-92 : Aphex Twin : Review : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. RealNetworks, Inc. Retrieved 6 March 2008.
  18. ↑ http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=8573851
  19. ↑ Kris Needs. "Selected Ambient Works 85-92 - Aphex Twin > Review". Record Collector. Diamond Publishing. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Eric Weisbard and Craig Marks, ed. (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. New York City: Spin Media. pp. 15–16. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  21. ↑ The Tiny Home Central. "Selected Ambient Works 85-92". The Aphex Twin Community. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  22. ↑ "Aphex Twin Charts & Awards Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Retrieved 6 December 2009.
  23. ↑ Weidenbaum, Marc (13 February 2014). "Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works Volume II". 33⅓ series. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-62356-763-7.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 George-Warren, Holly and Patricia Romanowski, ed. (2005). "Aphex Twin". The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll. New York City: Fireside. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-7432-9201-6.
  25. ↑ "They thought I was the only one". Junglizt. 1996. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  26. ↑ Blashill, Pat (12 December 2005). "Selected Ambient Works 85-92 : Aphex Twin : Review : Mahalo". Mahalo. Mahalo, Inc. Retrieved 6 March 2008.
  27. ↑ "The 100 Best Albums of the 1990s – FACT Magazine: Music News, New Music". Factmag.com. 3 September 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  28. ↑ Selected Ambient Works 85–92 (booklet). Aphex Twin. R&S Records. 1992.
  29. ↑ http://www.officialcharts.com/archive-chart/_/19/2014-10-04

Notes

External links