AFX - Orphaned Deejay Selek 2006 - 2008

You gotta love Richard D. James, right? Often imitated (attempted, at least!) and discussed, but instantly recognizable and stands in his own little microcosm. Orphaned Deejay Selek came out around the same time as Syro, and honestly, I still spin this a lot more than I do the Syro record. There is something much more imminent about this; the way the opening tracks pulse and drive makes you just want to get up and go, to reach out to the world and do something really fucking exciting. 

As the EP goes on, what it loses in immediate urgency it draws up in creativity. More sparse, simpler beats are employed in a hypnotic fashion, and acid tones come out to play to drive home that AFX is going nowhere, alongside the full-time Aphex Twin handle. There has been masses of stuff from this guy released online in recent years, but Orphaned Deejay Selek remains one of my favourite "modern" Richard D. James releases (note that the download from Warp Records contains extra tracks that I have not heard on the Spotify version).

AFX - Hangable Auto Bulb

 If I wanted to hear freaky English kids talking about fucking potatoes over a meltdown of electronics, up until now I'd have said that I'd have to either a.) knock up my ex a few times (aayyy lmao) or b.) hit a shitload of acid. But now, thanks to the Aphex Twin side-project / spin off AFX, I can just wap Spotify on, and away we go! Wow, technology has come so far, I think I have a tear in my eye! Progress, people, progress!

As far as AFX goes, Hangable Auto Bulb is AFX to the core. That may be just as ignorant as that time I did a review where I said Electric Wizard sounds like Electric Wizard, but literally I fail to see how you can listen to this and not know who you are hearing (unless you've never heard AFX / Twin before, of course). Anxious, blippy electronics meet mellow, almost nostalgic synth work and downright bizarre sampling, culminating in a concoction that is just simply gorgeous.

Case in point, "Every Day", taking this mixture to a new level. All hail AFX.

Cool pro tip - This is the CD version of 2 12" EPs together on one release, and I'm sure a few others, unless I'm going insane...

Aphex Twin - Windowlicker

One of my all time favourite songs! Shaming that I never got around to buying this any sooner too! And I gotta say, it sounds fucking massive on vinyl. The higher vocal frequencies end up in fizz a bit, but the bassier parts are much more prominent to what I am usually expecting. Also, the panning seems somewhat different? The joys of analogue music (assuming Aphex Twin was still using analogue equipment to make his noises by the time Windowlicker came out). The title track is nothing short of demented; the beats and tune itself are not too spasmodic although they do flex or burst every now and then as if underneath epilepsy-triggering breakcore is trying to push through, but the groaning, squealing, moaning vocal contributions are nothing short of down-right retarded. What the hell is wrong with this guy!? Who knows.

If you thought side A was a trip, the second track is something else (I won't even bother trying to write it out here, just Google this release to find out the name of it). It sequences manically between wop-wop-wop bass with head-nodding drums and noises far from beyond the ether, created by pushing the boundaries of electronic equipment in ways that it was never designed to be pushed. The final track, "Nannou", rounds everything off nicely, all lovey dovey and chilled with what sounds like a million clocks ticking and winding; although I suspect under the correct substances this could instead sound (and feel) like a swarm of crickets festering on every inch of your flesh. Hmmm.

As always (or most ways haha) this Aphex Twin wax was pressed by Sheffield's very own Warp Records. I would also like to draw your attention to the artwork, which is fucking amazing. A proper "why didn't I think of that?" moment. Imagine your very visage grafted onto to a smoking hot chick. It is enough to give you the creepies. As per usual, the Aphex Twin video for this takes the whole concept a million steps further. Check it out below.