Aphex Twin
Peel Session 2
Warp Records
It’s anniversary time for Warp Records – 30 years, unreal! So various digs in the vault are happening, including the release of this – Aphex Twin’s second Peel Session from around the time of the peak years (’95) where he was still thrilling with drill’n’bass but also working various ambient charms. This EP finds him somewhere between the worlds – the opener, Slo Bird Whistle, combines the Aphex staples of a quirky, repetitive motif (the bird whistle of the title) and slows it up against a soft hip-hop groove. So simple. Why didn’t anyone else think of it right? That’s the territory Aphex was operating in – pulling out all sorts of weird and wonderful ideas. Radiator is a ‘beated’ version of his weightless ambient work from the time. From there it’s to p-string, synth-heavy and glorious, built to shimmer down the spine of a reduced big-beat rhythm. And then Pancake Lizard, which lopes into place years ahead of Groove Armada, but feels a bit like how At The River would have sounded if Ennio Morricone was overseeing its arrangement and shaping.
Here’s the entire session in place for the first time as an EP – 12” vinyl if that’s what you dig – or just in the usual places and in the usual way if you don’t need the vinyl.
It’s crucial as part of the bigger Warp celebration and for Aphex Twin fans that never looked deeper into the label (if there is such a thing).
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