Selected Ambient Works Volume II (Expanded Edition)

Aphex Twin

Released on 4/10/24 by Warp Records
Main artists: Aphex Twin
Genre: Electronic

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Few albums in electronic music are more iconic than the two volumes of Selected Ambient Works by Aphex Twin. Constantly referenced by DJs past and present, Aphex Twin’s first two albums were instant classics, with it seeming almost impossible to be indifferent to the artistry of this English artist. To celebrate 30 years since its release, Warp is reissuing Selected Ambient Works Volume 2 in an "expanded" version. Aphex Twin was living in a small Cornish village of just 2,000 inhabitants at the very edge of England when he composed these 24 tracks in the late '80s. He still hadn’t turned 20, composing with an analog synthesiser he bought when he was 12 and modified over the years.

In 1989, at 18, he became a pub DJ in Newquay, a nearby seaside town. Two years later, he showcased his fresh take on acid house with his EP Analogue Bubblebath, released on Rephlex, the label he founded with fellow pub DJ Grant Wilson-Claridge. The following year, the first volume of Selected Ambient Works was released on the Belgian label R&S Records, owned by Rene Vanpappeliere, who quite simply rang up the number listed on the Analogue Bubblebath sleeve after hearing it. “Richard (Aphex Twin) came to my house with all his tapes. I was impressed because he’s a very intelligent guy. He’s from another planet, and his karma is very powerful. We listened to everything, and that’s when he decided which tracks would go on the album,” Vanpappeliere told Qobuz. Volume 2 was signed to the British label Warp in 1994, which is now reissuing it with bonus tracks like "th1 [evnslower]," "Rhubarb Orc. 19.53 Rev," and "#19 (Stone in Focus)," which wasn’t always included in all formats.

Trying to recreate sounds heard during his lucid dreams, Aphex Twin told ‘The Face’ the experience was like “standing in an electrical substation on acid.” Just listen to "#14" to understand the accuracy of this metaphor. A 24-track album of intricately wonderful musicality, it alternates between noise ("#15"), cosmic ambiance ("#11"), hypnotic layers ("#20" with its ethereal synth), and moments of gentle calm (with the ambient “hit” "#19 (Stone in Focus)," which is arguably one of the most serene tracks in history. This 27-track dreamlike odyssey concludes with a final stroke of genius: "Rhubarb Orc. 19.53 Rev," a kind of church hymn played backward—and it works absolutely brilliantly. © Smaël Bouaici/Qobuz

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Selected Ambient Works Volume II (Expanded Edition)

Aphex Twin

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