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[[Category:Aphex Twin albums]] |
[[Category:Aphex Twin albums]] |
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[[Category:1994 albums]] |
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[[Category:Ambient |
[[Category:Ambient music]] |
Revision as of 00:49, 6 October 2004
Selected Ambient Works Volume II (SAW2), released in 1994, is an ambient double album by Richard D. James under his Aphex Twin moniker. It is a follow-up to 1993's Selected Ambient Works 85-92.
Music
Volume II differs significantly from Aphex Twin's first volume in that the first volume is mostly beat-oriented, with complex instrumental rhythmic patterns and heavy bass frequencies. In contrast to the fast, club-inspired ambient music of its predecessor, Volume II consists of slow, moody songs, performed much like ambient pioneers Brian Eno and John Cage. Many of the tracks feature almost no beats, and have strong synth textures that craft expansive sonic environments.
Tracks
Volume II originally consisted of 25 songs, all untitled except for the song Blue Calx. Every song matches with a specific photograph taken by James himself (except for a solid blue emblem representing the first track of the second CD, "Blue Calx"). The graphics are part of a somewhat encoded tracklisting system that uses circles and pie diagrams to represent each track. The lack of titles for the tracks on this release provided impetus for fans of the album to come up with their own titles. Officially though, the songs are still referred to by their track numbers:
- "cliffs" (CD 1, track 1 / side 1, track 1)
- "radiator" (CD 1, track 2 / side 1, track 2)
- "rhubarb" (CD 1, track 3 / side 1, track 3)
- "hankie" (vinyl/Warp CD only) (side 1, track 4)
- "grass" (CD 1, track 4 / side 2, track 1)
- "mold" (CD 1, track 5 / side 2, track 2)
- "curtains" (CD 1, track 6 / side 2, track 3)
- "blur" (CD 1, track 7 / side 2, track 4)
- "weathered stone" (CD 1, track 8 / side 3, track 1)
- "tree" (CD 1, track 9 / side 3, track 2)
- "domino" (CD 1, track 10 / side 3, track 3)
- "white blur 1" (CD 1, track 11 / side 3, track 4)
- "Blue Calx" (CD 2, track 1 / side 4, track 1)
- "parallel stripes" (CD 2, track 2 / side 4, track 2)
- "shiny metal rods" (CD 2, track 3 / side 4, track 3)
- "grey stripe" (CD 2, track 4 / side 4, track 4)
- "z twig" (CD 2, track 5 / side 4, track 5)
- "windowsill" (CD 2, track 6 / side 5, track 1)
- "stone in focus" (Limited Edition vinyl only) (side 5, track 2)
- "hexagon" (CD 2, track 7 / side 5, track 3)
- "lichen" (CD 2, track 8 / side 5, track 4)
- "spots" (CD 2, track 9 / side 6, track 1)
- "tassels" (CD 2, track 10 / side 6, track 2)
- "white blur 2" (CD 2, track 11 / side 6, track 3)
- "matchsticks" (CD 2, track 12 / side 6, track 4)
The names for the tracks listed, as aforementioned, are interpretations of the monochromatic (black-and-white or red-and-white) photographs on the center sticker for the vinyl copies and inlay for the double CD release.
There are three different versions of SAW2 available for purchase. The most complete, with all 25 tracks, is the Limited Edition UK vinyl, which is pressed on brown vinyl, and was limited to a press run of 10,000 copies. The second most complete versions are the regular vinyl release and the Warp Records (UK) CD release, which has every track except for "stone in focus". The third most complete version is the Sire Records (US) CD release, which also omits "hankie".
It is also interesting to note that the front cover for this album features the full Aphex Twin logo that was used on the earlier Xylem Tube EP, albeit in a broken, incomplete form.
The remix EP for the Aphex Twin single On, released the same year as SAW2, features a track titled "On (28 Mix)," which in no way resembles its original mix, and is very similar to the tracks found on this album. It is suspected that the 28 Mix is actually the unreleased 28th track for this album.
There is only one known remix of any of the SAW2 tracks. "SAW2 CD1 TRK2 (Original Mix)" appears on the Aphex Twin album 26 Mixes For Cash. The remix is remarkably similar to the original song on SAW2 overlaid with fast breakbeat samples from the song. It is highly unlikely that this mix is the original, as it was recorded for James's Peel Session in 1996. Some theorize that he is attempting to pull a joke on his fans.