Will you like this album? Well, it's one of the most forward looking albums in the genre in many respects. The first listen is not necessarily 'comfortable'... these peices grab your ear throughout, interrupt conversation. But if you want to know what the considerations are of those musicians are who lead the field in progressive, intelligent electronic music, then this is an absolute must. Royskopp, Avalanches, Zero 7, Goldfrapp... this is where their coming from, only earlier, dirtier and harder. We've had the 70's revival, the 80's revival (and some of that revivals influence can be heard here), but this is really about the rivival of certain recording qualities. Here you have tunes programmed using the latest sound crunching computers, but with the warm, familiar, analogue quality of bootleg electro tapes, or white label garage house circa '88. At other times the production is sharp and crisp and glossy as a Prince ballad, but somehow... wrong. In all the right ways. Instruments and samples are evocative like the words chosen by a poet, but in music -unlike writing- musicians have the extra dimension of process: the process by which the sound was captured. Scratchy records were the obvious way for trip-hop and rap artists to add a throw-away or appropriated feel to their music, but this is the next level. When begin to appropriate music from 5 years ago, we know our sound 'palette' is reaching it's limits. This album makes you realise how pop will eat itself.
And it's very cool. This is what I imagine the meat and potatoes of Aphex Twin's record collection to consist of. Drop any number of theses tracks into your mix. This is wise, wise music.