[rayword45]

Day 50: Syro by Aphex Twin

Leaked a day early. Hooray.

Richard D James is one of the most well-regarded electronic artists out there. While I definitely don't disagree with that sentiment, that's mostly due to how influential he is. He's covered a whole lot of ground, from acid techno to ambient to noise to drill and bass to modern classical to many other genres, never to be truly pigeonholed. Like any artist that covers a lot of different ground though, his work seems to be rather hit-and-miss, at least for me. I personally don't care much for Selected Ambient Works 85-92 or most of what I've heard from the Analord series, but goddamn if Richard D James Album isn't one of the finest, most timeless electronic albums out there, and I'm also partial to ...I Care Because You Do and Hangable Auto Bulb. Never listened to Drukqs.

Here's a random note. I've played Stepmania since July 2007, and now, JUST NOW, I'm realizing that Pac-Man by Power Pill is an Aphex Twin song. Wow, I'm fucking stupid. Also, that stepchart is and was total ass.

Well, I originally wanted to go in-depth here, but I'm done now and that clearly didn't happen. Before I say anything, let me take 5 minutes to see if this seeps in any more and it fully clicks with me.

Nope, that didn't happen, so here's my first listen opinion. It starts out rather weak and almost dated-sounding (maybe it's due to the vintage analog synthesizers) but track-by-track things improve and by the time we reach track 8, CIRCLONT14 (Shrymoming Mix), things finally start to REALLY pick up. I honestly can't tell if I'm suddenly starting to get it at that point or if the songs are actually better. I'm going with the latter.

So yeah, starts fairly mediocre, but gets better and better, with the last 5 tracks being the best, though nothing reaches the peak tracks of Richard D James Album. I don't have much else to say other than I'm slightly underwhelmed, especially in comparison to the comebacks (from a relatively shorter hiatus, mind you) from Daft Punk and Boards of Canada, two other electronic groups I'm really fond of... Man, I'm really not that eclectic with my electronic music.

One last thing, is he trying to be Autechre with these song names or something? Jesus Christ nothing he's done in the past has been this annoying with the titles, though Drukqs and Analord 8 and 9 got close enough.

Best Track: S950tx16wasr10 (Earth Portal Mix)
Rating: 6.5/10 (I'm tempted to deduct points for those horrible titles)