Mitt at the ready, ‘cos here comes that curveball you wanted. After a 13 year wait for ‘Syro’, Richard D. James has unveiled ‘Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2’, an Aphex Twin EP that ditches the throwback, good-time squelches in favour of more experimental fare.
Whatever the processes behind this collection - which clocks in at a thoroughly un-EP 13 tracks, although one breaks the tape at nine seconds - the results are dissonant, intriguing and, in Skynet terms, eerily fascinating.
James, as ever, is happy to pose far more questions than he answers and many moments here barely register as anything beyond ideas. snar2 is a snare roll and 0035 1-Audio a burst of busy percussion, while piano un1 arpej is a brief segue into jazz piano. disk aud1_12, represents that track’s dissonant sibling.
The more fleshed-out arrangements are keepers, though. diskhat ALL prepared1mixed 13 bleeds menace and, in a similar fashion to diskhat1, foregrounds live drums amid ricocheting instrumentation.
The ambient, percussive disk prep calrec2 barn dance [slo] also evinces a palpable air of foreboding, but the closing statement, hat5c 0001 rec-4, is far more playful, its off-kilter keys bouncing off a beat that chases itself in circles.
James’ methods and motives will likely become just another Aphex Twin mystery but, while this is far from his most essential work, bleak atmospherics and a mischievous heart ensure that the fruits of his latest labour will stick with you.
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