Comments for Aphex Twin, Selected Ambient Works, Vol. II

An incredible, emotional piece. extroardinary!

SAWV2 has been likened to Eno's "Music for Airports," among other releases, but certainly stands alone in the everexpanding "ambient" genre. Comprised of sound textures instead of song structures, this release could better be termed as "an isolationist's soundtrack. What sets this release, and artist, apart is the fact that all sounds were made with customized instrumentation i.e. Aphex Twin literally creates his own instruments from the crap that is sold in music stores. The result is an astoundingly intricate collection of "moods;" it literally sounds as if Aphex Twin somehow transcribed his dreams into sounds and compiled them here. If you aren't headstrong, you might not want to listen to these works. If so, indulge! An absolute essential addition to any ambient music fans library.

I think a lot of the material on this has been well thought out and time expended. I have the UK edition, WARPCD21, and tracks like 1/10 and 2/8 must have taken some effort. afx in interviews claims to write truckloads of cutting edge stuff in short spaces of time, which I only half believe! One of the tracks does have a title 'Bluecalx', which also is one the CDs more interesting-but-desolate moments. It appeared on vinyl around 92 and plugged by John Peel on his bbc radio1 show.

Creepy, but cool. Some of the songs I wouldn't want to play if I was lying in the dark. Richard James says he makes up some of his songs in his sleep, so I gather he must have some odd dreams. I highly recommend this album because of its sheer moodiness. Great stuff!

Some of the spookiest shit I''ve ever heard. Simply amazing.

Double-CD set. Very dark and emotionally evocative, muchdarker than Selected Ambient Works 84-92.