Bryan reacts to and talks about his thoughts on 'Flim' and 'Avril 14th' ORIGINAL VIDEO (Film) // • Flim ORIGINAL VIDEO (Avril 14th) // • Avril 14th ALL LINKS // linktr.ee/criticalreactions
Amazing and scary. Makes me wonder how many other things I'm 'missing' because my brain is overriding what my senses are telling it with what it expects. 😅
Aphex twin is unbelievable. I’ve been listening to him for close to a decade and still regularly find songs by him that I’ve never heard before. Truly a generational artist.
Agreed! I just revisited Kick Ass (Violin Solo) and Stone in Focus; after that initial wave of early-aughts nostalgia, I gained a brand new appreciation for his creative method. Outstanding.
I've been listening to the man for over 30 years. When everywhere you went it was just awful jungle and the worst of all time 'happy hardcore' warp records was such a release from all that garbage. Basically brit house started out ok in the late 80s when it was an underground niche scene but by 91 to my ears every track just sounded exactly the same with an annoying as hell mc non stop throughout. Just awful awful generic trash. Just got syro today. Still got it. This man was a game changer. Who else would release an album called 26 mixes for cash. One day, when he dies they'll find him in like a typical hoarders house hidden beneath about half a million CDs, DATS and about 25 years worth of incredible music.
@@Darrenski This is trite as fuck (my response I mean, not yours), but he's an iconoclast. He's not always more "fun" to listen to than the current shit, but he's always better.
So glad you checked Aphex Twin out. He's just one guy, and he's arguably the most influential electronic music artist ever. Dude really paved the way for a lot of things we can hear in electronica, and I've even heard some of his influence (especially on a rhythmic level) in metal music. He's a master of counterpoint and composition, that's for sure. Fun fact: he's a mad scientist of the music world, a lot of his music comes from modifying old synthesizers and writing his own software instruments. This isn't too uncommon these days, but back in the nineties he was a pioneer in this field.
He’s also 100% self taught, in his early days (up until the late 90s) it was also clear from intervies that he was blissfully unaware of huge swathes of music including artists and styles many had assumed as his influences.
On Flim… My impression is that just as the drums sit higher in the mix more like the melodic elements usually would, the melody loops more like rhythmic elements usually do. That juxtaposition seems pretty central to me with what the composer is doing. At first listen, it seems like endless drum fills, but as it’s all electronic. It’s not a skilled player flourishing instinctively, it’s a composer programming considered choices. All of that seems, to me, like an expression of what can make electronic music fundamentally different than that played on analog instruments.
I didn't pick that up but you're right. And I agree about it being a strength of electronic music. While any genre can flip the roles of instruments I think electronic is a bit ahead of the game as it can as simple as moving a midi roll form one voice to another and then maybe tweaking some notes that don't sound quite right. The ability to play around with sound is exponentially easier for electronic music.
Wow. That first song just feels like being wrapped in a warm blanket of comfort. And the second one like the joy of coming home to family after a long day of work.
I have since listened to "Come to Daddy" and it couldn't have been further from these feelings. I get the feeling that Aphex Twin has a wide variety of styles in his music.
@@CriticalReactions Just listened to Come to Daddy. Uhhh yeah... to say that was different would be a *massive* understatement XD. What an unsettling trip.
@@CriticalReactions And then realise that Flim and Come to Daddy play back to back on the EP. Aphex Twin/Richard D. James has maybe the most impressive discography of any electronic musician.
You may not read this or may not know this, but Avril 14th was programmed by Richard D James (Aphex Twin) via his own software to a disklavier, he didn't lay a human finger on the piano for this piece, but it was a real disklavier piano playing notes he had programmed from scratch.
The range of his work is quite wide, just on the album Flim comes from, it ranges from bucolic to something almost like electronic metal. Come to Daddy from that same album is the classic song that very much defined his sound in this phase and is very very different than the tracks you listened to.
ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TZ827lkktYs.html this blew my mind the first time I heard it, but comparing it now with Flim for the same record, you can see how the drums are being used in much the same way while the vocals and melody loop repetitively.
Come to daddy, though his most successful track along with Windowlicker, is an outlier amongst his work. He’s stated that he made the track to take the piss out of death metal and he personally dislikes it, even stopping its circulation at one point.
These are great songs and I live hearing someone who understands music at a technical level also be wowed by it. Been listening to Aphex since SAW Vol2 came out and have never gotten tired of it. I just wish I could catch Aphex live one time!
Brilliant breakdown, Aphex Twin is an absolute pioneer of electronic music. I recommended Four Tet - She Moves She - on another video, if you like Aphex you should also check out Squarepusher - Come on my selector is a good track to start with. Prefuse 73 are also really cool - the colour of tempo is a great track. ✌️
Nice to see you checking out some electronic stuff! I’ve had Between the Buried and Me’s new album on repeat since Friday and if you were planning to revisit, I’d highly recommend the song Bad Habits, one of my new favorites and one of the best they’ve ever written imo
Oh man, i think you'll love the world of aphex twin/breakcore drum covers, im not a drummer but still v inspiring stuff in terms of finding a middle point between traditional songwriting and electronic music
Avril 14th's one of my favorite songs and I think you helped me figure out why (beyond it just being a really pretty song lol). Since we're on electronic music here, I'd love to hear your thoughts on Ezra by Oneohtrix Point Never.
I'm already subscribed and probably will watch a lot more of your videos, but please consider reacting to Mt saint Michel + St Michel Mount by aphex twin. It's a long song but I think it's the most complex yet best work by him. Anyway thanks!
Aphex Twin was the first electronica artist I knew that made me aware that electronica was actually a genre. I never really got into electronic music back then, but listening now to what strikes me most is how much Radiohead were clearly influenced by him. Flim sounds very much like Radiohead ca. Kid A, but much brighter/comforting and even, dare I say, "optimistic" as opposed to Kid A's darkness, austerity, and mysteriousness. Avril 14th was quite different, sounds more like indie rock, and is quite lovely. Though the harmonic and melodic language is really different it almost seems Mozartean in how clear, elegant, and beautiful it is. It could be a great piece for a film soundtrack. Both pieces are really good. Guess I should make Aphex Twin a priority.
Radiohead straight up admitted that. Aphex Twin Bjork’s Homogenic and Portishead all were admittedly huge Kid A influences. The song Kid A takes so so so many sonic elements from the CTD ep. I love Radiohead and Kid A especially, but apparently RDJ wasn’t stoked about it. Kinda felt like with Drukqs he was like “here Radiohead, try to incorporate THAT into your sound!”
'Their works' should be his (RDJ's) work. Aside from that a good breakdown, his music to me, at the most basic level is mostly about atmosphere. This man has so much music it would take a long time to get a full grasp of it, and 30 years down the line I'm still no nearer pining him down. Just a genius. Another pair of artists id recommended would be autechre, especially tri repete.
I like how you do all kinds of different genres. I listened to this back in the late 90's, while also listening to bands like Genesis and Yes. Good music is good music, genre is irrelevant.
There are very good renditions on youtube covering some APhex tracks. May recomend Windowlicker by BinkBeats Flim by The Bad Plus Alberto Balsalm by some kids in a school can't remember the name of the video and I can remember also a very cool rendition for Nannou (or Nanou 2??) This without considering the several solo piano covers by a lot of musicians in their channels, cheers from MExico!
bro, look into the rest of this album and appreciate the contrast. then look into Richard D James album as a whole and see the more orchestral, modern Mozart vibes :)
Aphex Twin beats and melodies rarely line up perfectly with bars and grids. Beats expand and contract. The silent pauses are a chance to reset parts that are going faster or slower. A master class of this is Vordhosbn from Drukqs.
Avril 14th is a bit of an interlude / contrasting element and doesn't make much sense outside of the album. I think Jynweythek and Vordhosbn (first two tracks of the album) would give you a much better idea of what the album is about. That said if I had to recommend a single track it would probably be syro u473t8+e [141.98][piezoluminescence mix] (easily the best synth solo ever written).
This would be really good background music. Like way more enjoyable than a lot of the typical lo-fi stuff out there as that little bit of extra complexity makes this way more interesting to me.
Imo those are probably some of the worst recommendations you could make to somebody that’s barely familiar with Aphex Twin. A song that he essentially admitted to making to troll people, and another which was openly an attempt at making something more radio friendly... so a novelty record, and deliberately watered down Aphex Twin. Doesn’t reflect the true essence of his work or artistic ability at all tbh.
@@xx-ug9hn I think on this track the piano sounds normal and not 'prepared' but on many of the other piano tracks like Jynweythek (my favourite) he's messed with the the sound quite a bit.
So how i heard Ahex Twin did it he was on very little sleep and just composed a ton of stuff than had his friends pick out the ones they liked the best thus becoming his biggest hits.... My question what was he on when he did Come to Daddy? Most of been some serious sleep depravation man!
I listened to a couple of tracks on my own and they've shown up in 1 or 2 of the livestreams. I'm probably close to having heard 5 or 6 songs. It's interesting but not necessarily my cup of tea. I haven't quite figure out of that's because of the music itself or if I just need more time to acclimate to their unique take on electronica music.
Just an advice, next time, please listen a couple a while, the coment. The idea is to listen at least a while, the you can come with more awesome and understandable fair critic! 👍👍👍
Boards of Canada is an electronica band with a ton of filler tracks. It's a pity "The Devil is in the Details" is just over three and a half minutes. It's one of the most disturbing tracks I know, along with Kate Bush's "Under Ice" (which is 2:22). "A is To B as B is To C" follows on from "The Devil is in the Details". A really interesting track, as is "Roygbiv". (Or maybe I just like the groove.)
Haha, that entirely makes sense but I didn’t clock it at all. I guess ‘filler’ rings more pejoratively to me and I couldn’t square it with your enthusiasm.
