if only Soundcloud was higher quality than 128kbps
January 29, 2015 10:37 AM Subscribe
Aphex Twin is (apparently) unloading over 100 rare and unreleased tracks from his 20+ year vault, now streaming for free on Soundcloud.
Late last year, the semi-reclusive and often-inscrutable electro master Richard D. James released Syro, his first official release as Aphex Twin since 2005's Analord series. Last Friday, he quickly followed that up with an EP of acoustic instruments controlled by computer, aptly titled Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2 EP. (and, previously)
Now, Richard D. James is delving into the archives and putting a treasure trove of material , including various early and remixed versions of classic tracks, live sets, John Peel sessions, and experiments, all online for free. Many of the tracks are tagged "early aphex" or "afx" (one of his pseudonyms), and a large number of them come with small bits of commentary, background, or recording dates.
A few random highlights (the tip of the iceberg)
"7 cutting"
"(vocoder disco)" - "94ish"
"20 Pink Floyd" - "Didn't have many records to sample back then and the girl who lived next door had a floyd lp, never listened to them then or since, just bagged the sample and made the tune, few different versions of it, been in the atic for all these years."
In typical Aphex fashion, the very first uploaded track, 8 Utopia, comes with the comment: "like early aphex but I'd never heard of him when I wrote all these tracks im going to be uploading"
When Aphex Twin did a (Syro) bonkers interview with Noyzelab in november, he also released a number of tracks on Soundcloud (Previously) , which have since been taken down. Enjoy them while they last!
Late last year, the semi-reclusive and often-inscrutable electro master Richard D. James released Syro, his first official release as Aphex Twin since 2005's Analord series. Last Friday, he quickly followed that up with an EP of acoustic instruments controlled by computer, aptly titled Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2 EP. (and, previously)
Now, Richard D. James is delving into the archives and putting a treasure trove of material , including various early and remixed versions of classic tracks, live sets, John Peel sessions, and experiments, all online for free. Many of the tracks are tagged "early aphex" or "afx" (one of his pseudonyms), and a large number of them come with small bits of commentary, background, or recording dates.
A few random highlights (the tip of the iceberg)
"7 cutting"
"(vocoder disco)" - "94ish"
"20 Pink Floyd" - "Didn't have many records to sample back then and the girl who lived next door had a floyd lp, never listened to them then or since, just bagged the sample and made the tune, few different versions of it, been in the atic for all these years."
In typical Aphex fashion, the very first uploaded track, 8 Utopia, comes with the comment: "like early aphex but I'd never heard of him when I wrote all these tracks im going to be uploading"
When Aphex Twin did a (Syro) bonkers interview with Noyzelab in november, he also released a number of tracks on Soundcloud (Previously) , which have since been taken down. Enjoy them while they last!
Although it wouldn't be as easily accessible as SoundCloud for average fans, I wish artists would consider uploading FLAC versions of whatever they decide to freely distribute online to the Internet Archive.
posted by zackfern at 11:04 AM on January 29, 2015 [4 favorites]
...he also released a number of tracks on Soundcloud which have since been taken down.Then again, if you upload it to the IA, it might be a little harder to change your mind and remove it later.
posted by zackfern at 11:04 AM on January 29, 2015 [4 favorites]
what's this...? looks legit but who knows.
http://user48736353001.com
posted by raihan_ at 11:26 AM on January 29, 2015 [8 favorites]
http://user48736353001.com
posted by raihan_ at 11:26 AM on January 29, 2015 [8 favorites]
thanks for the tons of free music!
TOO BAD IT'S SO SHIT QUALITY IT SOUNDS LIKE SHIT SHIT SHIT. SHIT QUALITY. SHIT! I HATE YOU.
posted by blue t-shirt at 11:29 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
TOO BAD IT'S SO SHIT QUALITY IT SOUNDS LIKE SHIT SHIT SHIT. SHIT QUALITY. SHIT! I HATE YOU.
posted by blue t-shirt at 11:29 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Although it wouldn't be as easily accessible as SoundCloud for average fans, I wish artists would consider uploading FLAC versions of whatever they decide to freely distribute online to the Internet Archive.
Here's the thing: Soundcloud supports lossless audio uploads
posted by filthy light thief at 11:37 AM on January 29, 2015 [8 favorites]
Here's the thing: Soundcloud supports lossless audio uploads
We support AIFF, WAVE (WAV), FLAC, ALAC, OGG, MP2, MP3, AAC, AMR, and WMA files. The maximum file size is 5GB. Please note, if your sound is over 6 hours and 45 minutes long, our system will not be able to process it.There's even a Soundcloud group devoted to sharing really high quality audio files on Soundcloud. It's the individual user who opts to prohibit downloads, limiting output to 128kbps "webrips" of the audio.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:37 AM on January 29, 2015 [8 favorites]
Someone please take the time to rip and post a zip with all these tracks, so I don't have to.
posted by pashdown at 11:42 AM on January 29, 2015
posted by pashdown at 11:42 AM on January 29, 2015
I wonder if this massive upload is due to the massive support from fans for the old Caustic Window LP, or more specifically his recent Pitchfork interview (previously) where he said
posted by filthy light thief at 11:45 AM on January 29, 2015 [4 favorites]
I've got thousands more like [the "lost" Caustic Window LP] at home. I should release all that stuff as well. That's the thing, I did a lot of tracks for quite a few years before I released Ambient Works, so there's this whole other persona people don't even know about, and probably wouldn't even recognize.That bit made me go a bit giddy at the time of reading it.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:45 AM on January 29, 2015 [4 favorites]
filthy light thief - I'm under the impression that Soundcloud converts all uploads to 128 kbps. It's a serious point of contention, especially for audiophiles. Even if you're not an audiophile it's a noticeable hit to fidelity. The Soundcloud group you linked to is all about providing FLAC/WAV downloads, outside of Soundcloud streaming.
(Edit: and it's there in your first link: "Sometimes our transcoding system can create audio artifacts, as we transcode all tracks to 128 kbps mp3 for streaming playback.")
posted by naju at 11:46 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
(Edit: and it's there in your first link: "Sometimes our transcoding system can create audio artifacts, as we transcode all tracks to 128 kbps mp3 for streaming playback.")
posted by naju at 11:46 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Someone please take the time to rip and post a zip with all these tracks, so I don't have to.
pashdown - it looks like the site RareAFX might eventually do that. They're keeping a pretty good catalogue of the stuff that's gone up (and at least one track that's since been pulled - a "dark" version of "Girl Boy"). But it doesn't look like he's done uploading yet...
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 11:47 AM on January 29, 2015 [4 favorites]
pashdown - it looks like the site RareAFX might eventually do that. They're keeping a pretty good catalogue of the stuff that's gone up (and at least one track that's since been pulled - a "dark" version of "Girl Boy"). But it doesn't look like he's done uploading yet...
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 11:47 AM on January 29, 2015 [4 favorites]
Yep, there are dedicated superfans capturing these as soon as they go up. I'm waiting for the inevitable massive torrent file to really dive in.
posted by naju at 11:51 AM on January 29, 2015
posted by naju at 11:51 AM on January 29, 2015
LOL, it's like The Dude, Laurie Anderson, and Tom Waits jamming in The Grid.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 12:08 PM on January 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 12:08 PM on January 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
People sure are demanding about what Soundcloud should give them for free.
posted by grumpybear69 at 12:08 PM on January 29, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by grumpybear69 at 12:08 PM on January 29, 2015 [6 favorites]
*commences twitching*
posted by mannequito at 12:11 PM on January 29, 2015
posted by mannequito at 12:11 PM on January 29, 2015
They're all unmastered anyway. I've been grabbing them as they are posted, and I think they sound pretty good!
posted by hyperizer at 12:17 PM on January 29, 2015
posted by hyperizer at 12:17 PM on January 29, 2015
Yeah I'm just listening to these in the background on a cheap CD box (yes I still have one), it all sounds fine to me.
posted by carter at 12:40 PM on January 29, 2015
posted by carter at 12:40 PM on January 29, 2015
Its important to note that we know this SoundCloud account is his because some of the early tracks are higher quality versions of tracks that were previously only heard at live gigs - e.g 22 Pearls. Treat any other mysterious accounts with extreme skepticism. Every kid with a laptop and copy of fruityloops is now going to pretend to be secret aphex.
posted by memebake at 1:07 PM on January 29, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by memebake at 1:07 PM on January 29, 2015 [4 favorites]
"filthy light thief - I'm under the impression that Soundcloud converts all uploads to 128 kbps"
Only for streaming. If you allow downloads it's the exact same file that you uploaded that is downloaded.
posted by flaterik at 1:10 PM on January 29, 2015
Only for streaming. If you allow downloads it's the exact same file that you uploaded that is downloaded.
posted by flaterik at 1:10 PM on January 29, 2015
Every kid with a laptop and copy of fruityloops is now going to pretend to be secret aphex.
posted by memebake at 1:07 PM on January 29
Also cf., years of unbelievably shitty Boards of Canada knockoffs masquerading as proper copies of Hooper Bay and Acid Memories on torrent sites.
posted by mykescipark at 1:12 PM on January 29, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by memebake at 1:07 PM on January 29
Also cf., years of unbelievably shitty Boards of Canada knockoffs masquerading as proper copies of Hooper Bay and Acid Memories on torrent sites.
posted by mykescipark at 1:12 PM on January 29, 2015 [4 favorites]
memebake: every kid with a laptop and copy of fruityloops is now going to pretend to be secret aphex.
I think you mean "these could be made with a five-year-old with a cracked copy of Renoise," because that's totally what AFX's actually son did.
Er, not as far as uploading new tracks to Soundcloud, but making music with software he got off of Pirate Bay. At least, as RDJ tells it.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:17 PM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
I think you mean "these could be made with a five-year-old with a cracked copy of Renoise," because that's totally what AFX's actually son did.
Er, not as far as uploading new tracks to Soundcloud, but making music with software he got off of Pirate Bay. At least, as RDJ tells it.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:17 PM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
The good people of watmm forum and /r/aphextwin are dutifully compiling online archives of the tracks, if you want all the ones so far in one go.
posted by memebake at 1:23 PM on January 29, 2015
posted by memebake at 1:23 PM on January 29, 2015
If you upload to Soundcloud in high quality, *and* enable downloads, *then* someone who downloads that track will get the high quality file. I've downloaded straight .wav's via Soundcloud before, because the uploader happened to follow those steps.
Because aphex is not enabling downloads, the best you can do is web rips of the 128 stream.
posted by rsanheim at 1:28 PM on January 29, 2015
Because aphex is not enabling downloads, the best you can do is web rips of the 128 stream.
posted by rsanheim at 1:28 PM on January 29, 2015
For those happy on the command line: https://github.com/lukapusic/soundcloud-dl
I've just grabbed the 109 uploaded so far:
/Volumes/media/Music/aphex_twin/[2015] SoundCloud Dump > du -h
487M .
Checked a few and they're 128kbps. Still, as a fan of the early to mid 90's AFX: Fuck Yes.
posted by lawrencium at 1:29 PM on January 29, 2015 [3 favorites]
I've just grabbed the 109 uploaded so far:
/Volumes/media/Music/aphex_twin/[2015] SoundCloud Dump > du -h
487M .
Checked a few and they're 128kbps. Still, as a fan of the early to mid 90's AFX: Fuck Yes.
posted by lawrencium at 1:29 PM on January 29, 2015 [3 favorites]
@lawrencium: you can also use youtube-dl, which happens to support a billion other streaming sites. I believe soundcloud-dl was just ripped from youtube-dl:
https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/
posted by rsanheim at 1:33 PM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/
brew install youtube-dlif you are on a mac with homebrew.
posted by rsanheim at 1:33 PM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
A ha! I have youtube-dl somewhere... *runs locate*
posted by lawrencium at 1:36 PM on January 29, 2015
posted by lawrencium at 1:36 PM on January 29, 2015
It's come to this. An important artist releases a ton of unheard work, and all we can talk about is the bitrate and player format.
Seriously people. I've got Mr McLuhan right here, and he agrees with me.
posted by iotic at 2:38 PM on January 29, 2015 [7 favorites]
Seriously people. I've got Mr McLuhan right here, and he agrees with me.
posted by iotic at 2:38 PM on January 29, 2015 [7 favorites]
People sure are demanding about what Soundcloud should give them for free.
It's come to this. An important artist releases a ton of unheard work, and all we can talk about is the bitrate and player format. Seriously people. I've got Mr McLuhan right here, and he agrees with me.
Ha, well, let's not forget that one of the things that makes RDJ a great artist is his audio production and sound design. Which extends to his dynamic mixing and frequency manipulation, both of which are crushed down and sometimes flat out lost when encoding in a lower bitrate. So, we're not splitting hairs. The encoding rate has a major impact on the actual work itself.
That said, I'm just happy to hear it at all. It's not so low quality that you can't enjoy it.
Here's hoping it'll be available at some point in higher quality...!
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 3:16 PM on January 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
Which extends to his dynamic mixing and frequency manipulation
"Ventolin" is like a master class in the latter.
posted by naju at 3:23 PM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
"Ventolin" is like a master class in the latter.
posted by naju at 3:23 PM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
One of my friends was commenting today on twitter that some of the music has already been pulled, so here's hoping for the torrent.
posted by immlass at 3:51 PM on January 29, 2015
posted by immlass at 3:51 PM on January 29, 2015
One of my friends was commenting today on twitter that some of the music has already been pulled, so here's hoping for the torrent.
At least 2 tracks have been pulled after being uploaded: 4 Red Calx (not 4 Red Calx[slo] which is available) and 5 Girl Boy Dark Version. So that makes 111 tracks at minimum. I'm guessing the archivers linked above are on their toes, but I can share these two down the line if they're not part of a later torrent.
posted by shortfuse at 3:59 PM on January 29, 2015
At least 2 tracks have been pulled after being uploaded: 4 Red Calx (not 4 Red Calx[slo] which is available) and 5 Girl Boy Dark Version. So that makes 111 tracks at minimum. I'm guessing the archivers linked above are on their toes, but I can share these two down the line if they're not part of a later torrent.
posted by shortfuse at 3:59 PM on January 29, 2015
filthy light thief - I'm under the impression that Soundcloud converts all uploads to 128 kbps. It's a serious point of contention, especially for audiophiles. Even if you're not an audiophile it's a noticeable hit to fidelity. The Soundcloud group you linked to is all about providing FLAC/WAV downloads, outside of Soundcloud streaming.
Nah this isn't true. if you enable downloads, they're at much higher quality. I think either V0 or 320k mp3. They generally even retain the original filename they were uploaded under. A friend of mine who produces uploaded a bunch of tracks for me and set them as "private" then linked me, i used the download links and got full quality files.
The main annoying/dumb thing is there's a limit to how many downloads you can allow unless you have a "pro" account.
Also, that soundcloud sucks and keeps walking back on their usage model and warping what the side originally was more and more to bend over for labels(auto takedowns, takedowns adminned by labels, etc). This is all i could find, but i've heard from a couple people with semi-insider knowledge that it's going to be severely restricted, like spotify style on mobile, to use the site as a non-paid user even just to listen to music soon. Really low caps on how much you can play before it gates you in to paying and stuff.
Ugh, i miss old soundcloud. Even the older style app was 1000x better.
posted by emptythought at 4:00 PM on January 29, 2015
Nah this isn't true. if you enable downloads, they're at much higher quality. I think either V0 or 320k mp3. They generally even retain the original filename they were uploaded under. A friend of mine who produces uploaded a bunch of tracks for me and set them as "private" then linked me, i used the download links and got full quality files.
The main annoying/dumb thing is there's a limit to how many downloads you can allow unless you have a "pro" account.
Also, that soundcloud sucks and keeps walking back on their usage model and warping what the side originally was more and more to bend over for labels(auto takedowns, takedowns adminned by labels, etc). This is all i could find, but i've heard from a couple people with semi-insider knowledge that it's going to be severely restricted, like spotify style on mobile, to use the site as a non-paid user even just to listen to music soon. Really low caps on how much you can play before it gates you in to paying and stuff.
Ugh, i miss old soundcloud. Even the older style app was 1000x better.
posted by emptythought at 4:00 PM on January 29, 2015
if you enable downloads, they're at much higher quality. I think either V0 or 320k mp3. They generally even retain the original filename they were uploaded under.
again, it is exactly the same file. I have 35 dj mixes up on sound cloud and care a lot about file name and tags and file size (I like high bit rate, but also keep files under 200megs to accommodate iTunes match), and I've never had them change a single thing about the file that is downloaded.
</derail>
posted by flaterik at 4:50 PM on January 29, 2015 [3 favorites]
again, it is exactly the same file. I have 35 dj mixes up on sound cloud and care a lot about file name and tags and file size (I like high bit rate, but also keep files under 200megs to accommodate iTunes match), and I've never had them change a single thing about the file that is downloaded.
</derail>
posted by flaterik at 4:50 PM on January 29, 2015 [3 favorites]
Ha, well, let's not forget that one of the things that makes RDJ a great artist is his audio production and sound design.
I hardly think of his work from before, say, 1993 as having anything like pristine production. There's plenty that's hissy or muddy. The music doesn't necessarily suffer much for it, but it's there and it's noticeable.
OTOH the noisier the original recording, the more it's going to be harmed by encoding it at a low bitrate.
posted by aubilenon at 5:51 PM on January 29, 2015
I hardly think of his work from before, say, 1993 as having anything like pristine production. There's plenty that's hissy or muddy. The music doesn't necessarily suffer much for it, but it's there and it's noticeable.
OTOH the noisier the original recording, the more it's going to be harmed by encoding it at a low bitrate.
posted by aubilenon at 5:51 PM on January 29, 2015
Soundcloud never had a good revenue model beyond getting pro users to pay for upgraded accounts. Not even advertising! So it is entirely unsurprising that they are failing and getting muscled by the record labels given the amount of unauthorized covers, remixes etc. that were up there. My cover of "Kiss" even got pulled down recently - it turns out you have to pay the statutory rate for any stream or download, even if it is free.
It is a great place to share and discover music, and hopefully something else will pop up to fill the void once it gets paywalled.
posted by grumpybear69 at 6:51 PM on January 29, 2015
It is a great place to share and discover music, and hopefully something else will pop up to fill the void once it gets paywalled.
posted by grumpybear69 at 6:51 PM on January 29, 2015
If we're talking about downloads, cool, but I thought this was about streaming bitrate (as in the Aphex streams.) Those are all downsampled to 128. Spotify has 320 kbps streaming, just to compare.
posted by naju at 7:59 PM on January 29, 2015
posted by naju at 7:59 PM on January 29, 2015
Thanks, lawrencium, that was a godsend. If I'm reading my playlist right, he's dropped about 8 and a half hours of unreleased tracks. I've heard a few abrasive ones, but many more that are just delightful. That RareAFX site is great for putting some of them in context.
posted by Catblack at 10:43 AM on January 30, 2015
posted by Catblack at 10:43 AM on January 30, 2015
For folks looking for everything uploaded to date, including a few deleted tracks, here's a relevant post on /r/aphextwin.
posted by filthy light thief at 4:57 PM on January 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by filthy light thief at 4:57 PM on January 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
's good! thnx flt
posted by mannequito at 5:53 PM on January 30, 2015
posted by mannequito at 5:53 PM on January 30, 2015
According to speculation on WATMM and going from comments he's posting, there's probably two (or more, plus some fakers) other accounts that might be him. Look at user901489418 and brainwaltzera
posted by Catblack at 8:16 PM on January 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Catblack at 8:16 PM on January 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
I don't know when he added it, but there's a msg now on the account page: "***hello humans, hopefully im gunna start making all these tracks downloadable from 6pm next saturday 7th Feb, [if i can find some internets]"
posted by shortfuse at 7:38 AM on January 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by shortfuse at 7:38 AM on January 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
OOH! and there's a new track (that IS downloadable) - a luke vibert remix.
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 11:20 AM on January 31, 2015
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 11:20 AM on January 31, 2015
Sounds noticeably better than previous. He writes "soz, only 192 , the rest r mainly 320 i think, in middle of nowhere travelling with slo internets, would take2 long for anything else..going offline now cya"
It also has a (probably very old) email address in the ID3 tags. (weird)
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 11:29 AM on January 31, 2015
It also has a (probably very old) email address in the ID3 tags. (weird)
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 11:29 AM on January 31, 2015
According to speculation on WATMM and going from comments he's posting, there's probably two (or more, plus some fakers) other accounts that might be him. Look at user901489418 and brainwaltzera
I really really doubt he's using any other accounts. The consensus at WATMM is that user48736353001 is the only legit one. There are hundreds of fakers who are going to try and coat-tail this. Some of them might even make good music.
The main aphextwin soundcloud (the proper one) just reposted rhubarb-orc-1953-rev which was previously online as one of the syrobonkers interview tracks. Its really nice. Here it is reversed (or unreversed, depending on how you look at it)
posted by memebake at 12:02 PM on January 31, 2015
I really really doubt he's using any other accounts. The consensus at WATMM is that user48736353001 is the only legit one. There are hundreds of fakers who are going to try and coat-tail this. Some of them might even make good music.
The main aphextwin soundcloud (the proper one) just reposted rhubarb-orc-1953-rev which was previously online as one of the syrobonkers interview tracks. Its really nice. Here it is reversed (or unreversed, depending on how you look at it)
posted by memebake at 12:02 PM on January 31, 2015
All the tracks on https://soundcloud.com/user48736353001 are now downloadable at 320kbps. Profile now says 'fly away babies, good luck!'
I wonder if this will crash soundcloud.
posted by memebake at 2:39 PM on January 31, 2015 [2 favorites]
I wonder if this will crash soundcloud.
posted by memebake at 2:39 PM on January 31, 2015 [2 favorites]
There's quite a lot to be said about all this, apart from just 'yay'. If even 20% of these tracks had been given a proper release on Warp or some other label they would have made a ton of money. It could have been a bunch of albums, or a bunch of EPs, or a massive box set. Release it on CD and high quality vinyl and people would have hoovered it up. I wonder what the people at Warp think of all this.
Its been said that Aphex doesn't just have hundreds of unreleased tracks - the rumour goes that he has hundreds of hours of unreleased material.
There can't be many artists in the world who could just give away 8 hours worth of music like this. He's said he finds choosing tracks to go in a release overwhelming and the process of doing a release (interviews, press, etc) a bit tedious. But he's also said that releasing things lets him draw a line under them and get on with something else. So I think this is just a big clearout of lots of old stuff, he knows he'll never have time to go back and make selections and do mastering, so he's chosen to just throw it out for free. Then he can clear his head and focus on new stuff.
Many commercial artists claim not to care about money, but I'm not sure there's many as carefree as RDJ right now.
posted by memebake at 2:55 PM on January 31, 2015 [2 favorites]
Its been said that Aphex doesn't just have hundreds of unreleased tracks - the rumour goes that he has hundreds of hours of unreleased material.
There can't be many artists in the world who could just give away 8 hours worth of music like this. He's said he finds choosing tracks to go in a release overwhelming and the process of doing a release (interviews, press, etc) a bit tedious. But he's also said that releasing things lets him draw a line under them and get on with something else. So I think this is just a big clearout of lots of old stuff, he knows he'll never have time to go back and make selections and do mastering, so he's chosen to just throw it out for free. Then he can clear his head and focus on new stuff.
Many commercial artists claim not to care about money, but I'm not sure there's many as carefree as RDJ right now.
posted by memebake at 2:55 PM on January 31, 2015 [2 favorites]
All the tracks on https://soundcloud.com/user48736353001 are now downloadable at 320kbps. Profile now says 'fly away babies, good luck!'
I wonder if this will crash soundcloud.
Holy cannoli. Wish I could change the post title now!
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 2:59 PM on January 31, 2015
I wonder if this will crash soundcloud.
Holy cannoli. Wish I could change the post title now!
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 2:59 PM on January 31, 2015
Okay... I just had a braingasm...
This is seriously great news.
May peace forever be upon Richard D. James.
Forever and ever.
Amen.
posted by PROD_TPSL at 8:25 PM on January 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
This is seriously great news.
May peace forever be upon Richard D. James.
Forever and ever.
Amen.
posted by PROD_TPSL at 8:25 PM on January 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
I wonder what the people at Warp think of all this.
Ken from The Black Dog tweeted recently that 2015 is the 20th anniversary of Spanners and he would've liked to do a re-release with extra tracks from the era, but that Warp couldn't be arsed. At the risk of sounding like "why don't artists give us more free stuff wah", I'd dearly love for some of those extra tracks to find their way onto SoundCloud.
posted by shortfuse at 5:12 AM on February 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
Ken from The Black Dog tweeted recently that 2015 is the 20th anniversary of Spanners and he would've liked to do a re-release with extra tracks from the era, but that Warp couldn't be arsed. At the risk of sounding like "why don't artists give us more free stuff wah", I'd dearly love for some of those extra tracks to find their way onto SoundCloud.
posted by shortfuse at 5:12 AM on February 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
RDJ just posted 4 or 5 new tracks in the last 10 mins, and in this comment he says its 'going to be a long night' so perhaps we're in for another batch of 100
posted by memebake at 2:07 PM on February 3, 2015
posted by memebake at 2:07 PM on February 3, 2015
Also, the RareAFX site is casting doubts that a small number of the tracks are him.
posted by Catblack at 2:53 PM on February 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Catblack at 2:53 PM on February 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
So, maybe, the real RDJ is intentionally throwing in some fake Aphex tracks to confuse us even further? That's amazing.
posted by naju at 3:00 PM on February 3, 2015
posted by naju at 3:00 PM on February 3, 2015
Also, the RareAFX site is casting doubts that a small number of the tracks are him
This is pretty odd. I wonder how they're determining this. Because these tracks don't sound as much like his published work than other tracks? You have to assume that a certain amount of these are just runoff or little experiments - and from spot checking a few of the ones they flagged, they're fairly messy and feel like weird little experiments more than complete tracks... but some of them feel pretty full, and relatively similar to Aphex Twin's usual style. Maybe they know something we don't. (they do say it's their opinion. but, still, odd to single out the ones they did, without explanation).
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 3:45 PM on February 3, 2015
This is pretty odd. I wonder how they're determining this. Because these tracks don't sound as much like his published work than other tracks? You have to assume that a certain amount of these are just runoff or little experiments - and from spot checking a few of the ones they flagged, they're fairly messy and feel like weird little experiments more than complete tracks... but some of them feel pretty full, and relatively similar to Aphex Twin's usual style. Maybe they know something we don't. (they do say it's their opinion. but, still, odd to single out the ones they did, without explanation).
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 3:45 PM on February 3, 2015
I dunno about the RareAFX site at all, perhaps they are remixes? Perhaps he's just dumping stuff stuff off of tape or an old hard drive? I have no idea.
But tonight's uploads are really lush and beautiful. And I think we are in for a lot of them. There've been what, 17 so far?
posted by Catblack at 3:57 PM on February 3, 2015
But tonight's uploads are really lush and beautiful. And I think we are in for a lot of them. There've been what, 17 so far?
posted by Catblack at 3:57 PM on February 3, 2015
I woke up because our cat broke a glass. I find that after a break he's uploading even more.
Via reddit, there's a shared google doc here that's keeping track of the uploads, right now numbering at 153, and about 11 hours, 15 minutes of music.
I still can't get over how unreal this is, or how great these compositions are. He could have released these as albums for the next decade and the fans would have been more than happy.
posted by Catblack at 3:58 AM on February 4, 2015 [3 favorites]
Via reddit, there's a shared google doc here that's keeping track of the uploads, right now numbering at 153, and about 11 hours, 15 minutes of music.
I still can't get over how unreal this is, or how great these compositions are. He could have released these as albums for the next decade and the fans would have been more than happy.
posted by Catblack at 3:58 AM on February 4, 2015 [3 favorites]
Thanks for that Google Docs link. A poster on WATMM id'd the song [80s tite] as not a RDJ track (s/he found an old YouTube clip of it, etc.) and it's also been deleted from the account. So right now I think we're at 152 total. Also, the WATMM thread has a link to FmsubBass at its original bitrate (before SoundCloud pulled it), if anyone wants.
posted by shortfuse at 6:06 AM on February 4, 2015
posted by shortfuse at 6:06 AM on February 4, 2015
Please link any mixes / arrangements as they get posted by the AFX community. I'm not die-hard enough to listen to 150 tracks, but I really appreciate the highlights people are posting here.
posted by anthill at 8:00 AM on February 4, 2015
posted by anthill at 8:00 AM on February 4, 2015
I really like this remix, (not by AFX) which combines Aisatsana from Syro and hat 2b 2012b from his latest EP.
posted by Catblack at 8:22 AM on February 4, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Catblack at 8:22 AM on February 4, 2015 [2 favorites]
WATMM has a thread where people are suggesting best-of lists: http://forum.watmm.com/topic/86548-soundcloud-tracks-cd-length-best-of/
posted by shortfuse at 6:55 PM on February 4, 2015
posted by shortfuse at 6:55 PM on February 4, 2015
anthill: I'm not die-hard enough to listen to 150 tracks...
I would usually say I'm not, either, but I have loaded up the first 111 tracks and I'm listening through them at work. Sometimes I skip the really abrasive techno/noise tracks, and sometimes I zone out, but every now and then something catches my ear and I perk right up. For example, 20 Pink Floyd is what made me come back to this thread, just to say it's a trip to hear early AFX, when he was noodling around with breakbeats and what could well be decent house music.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:51 AM on February 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
I would usually say I'm not, either, but I have loaded up the first 111 tracks and I'm listening through them at work. Sometimes I skip the really abrasive techno/noise tracks, and sometimes I zone out, but every now and then something catches my ear and I perk right up. For example, 20 Pink Floyd is what made me come back to this thread, just to say it's a trip to hear early AFX, when he was noodling around with breakbeats and what could well be decent house music.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:51 AM on February 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
The first 112 tracks are now uploaded to archive.org:
https://archive.org/details/aphex_twin_user48736353001_afx. I guess the rest will follow.
posted by carter at 12:11 PM on February 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
https://archive.org/details/aphex_twin_user48736353001_afx. I guess the rest will follow.
posted by carter at 12:11 PM on February 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
FANTASTIC!
For folks scratching their heads about "VBR" (variable bit rate) MP3s on Archive.org vs Aphex Twin's 320 KBPS CBR (constant bit rate) own uploads to Soundcloud, they're actually 320 KBPS on Archive.org. The only files that wouldn't be 320 KBPS MP3s are "096 5 girl boy dark version" (it was pulled off early, well before everything was available to download officially) and "112 luke vibert spiral staircase [future music competition] [afx remix]," which AFX downgraded to 192 kbps due to slow internet access.
Supa-supa sweet!
posted by filthy light thief at 1:53 PM on February 5, 2015
For folks scratching their heads about "VBR" (variable bit rate) MP3s on Archive.org vs Aphex Twin's 320 KBPS CBR (constant bit rate) own uploads to Soundcloud, they're actually 320 KBPS on Archive.org. The only files that wouldn't be 320 KBPS MP3s are "096 5 girl boy dark version" (it was pulled off early, well before everything was available to download officially) and "112 luke vibert spiral staircase [future music competition] [afx remix]," which AFX downgraded to 192 kbps due to slow internet access.
Supa-supa sweet!
posted by filthy light thief at 1:53 PM on February 5, 2015
flt - There was one more uploaded-then-deleted track, 4 Red Calx (not 4 Red Calx[slo]), which is floating around but wouldn't be at 320. Also, I'm on a diff machine now from the one onto which I downloaded all the SC files, but I remember seeing in iTunes several tracks that were uploaded by RDJ at less than 320. Some were 192, 160, maybe even an 80? I think these <320 tracks were mostly in the last upload batch of 40 songs. I guess I'll double-check on SC later tonight. Gotta say I'm not too picky in this situation - I'd be happy these are out even if they were only available as 128.
posted by shortfuse at 2:19 PM on February 5, 2015
posted by shortfuse at 2:19 PM on February 5, 2015
Good to know - those two stood out to me, because I knew girl boy dark version was no longer available, and I read the notes on the Luke Vibert remix, then sampled a few tracks at random. I'll be downloading the files from Soundcloud or Archive.org tonight, and I can give anyone who cares a tally of files by bitrate, if you don't do it first, shortfuse.
And I agree on the suitability of these files at lower bitrates. It's new material to me so I can't compare versus an uncompressed copy, and I've found that electronic music is generally more forgiving of heavier compression.
posted by filthy light thief at 2:24 PM on February 5, 2015
And I agree on the suitability of these files at lower bitrates. It's new material to me so I can't compare versus an uncompressed copy, and I've found that electronic music is generally more forgiving of heavier compression.
posted by filthy light thief at 2:24 PM on February 5, 2015
Yeah, I commented elsewhere that it's as if Wong Kar-Wai said "here's a bunch of stuff I shot over the years" and uploaded 12 hours of previously unseen footage onto YouTube. I'd still be going bonkers even if not all of it was at 720p.
posted by shortfuse at 2:34 PM on February 5, 2015
posted by shortfuse at 2:34 PM on February 5, 2015
I'm having a good experience with the torrents that were uploaded to kickass.so:
1-112
113-152
Here's my friend's 11-track 48-minute mix. I haven't given it a listen yet, but I can vouch for him being a heavy fan of this stuff from back in the day, and someone with good electronic music tastes in general.
posted by naju at 3:52 PM on February 5, 2015
1-112
113-152
Here's my friend's 11-track 48-minute mix. I haven't given it a listen yet, but I can vouch for him being a heavy fan of this stuff from back in the day, and someone with good electronic music tastes in general.
posted by naju at 3:52 PM on February 5, 2015
After listening to a bunch of this, I'd really suggest ignoring that RareAFX fellow's idea of what is fake and what isn't. Guy's nuts.
posted by naju at 5:09 PM on February 5, 2015
posted by naju at 5:09 PM on February 5, 2015
Ooh, five more!
FYI: Right now there are 157 tracks total (155 online + 2 deleted), and out of those, 24 are <320. I'm seeing 1 80, 2 128 (the 2 deleted tracks), 9 160, 1 174 (VBR), 5 192, and 6 256. All of these were downloaded from SC.
posted by shortfuse at 3:33 PM on February 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
FYI: Right now there are 157 tracks total (155 online + 2 deleted), and out of those, 24 are <320. I'm seeing 1 80, 2 128 (the 2 deleted tracks), 9 160, 1 174 (VBR), 5 192, and 6 256. All of these were downloaded from SC.
posted by shortfuse at 3:33 PM on February 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
...and Aphex Twin just won a Grammy for Syro. The announcement was suitably awkward
posted by memebake at 3:15 PM on February 8, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by memebake at 3:15 PM on February 8, 2015 [4 favorites]
A re-dub of that Grammy announcement with some more appropriate music from someone at WATMM
posted by memebake at 6:59 AM on February 11, 2015
posted by memebake at 6:59 AM on February 11, 2015
An omnibus torrent including all 157 tracks... various bit rates... infinite bliss...
posted by PROD_TPSL at 5:20 PM on February 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by PROD_TPSL at 5:20 PM on February 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
DJ Food - Selected Aphex Works
DJ Food has mixed his selections out of all the tracks into one tidy mix, with bits of interviews with RDJ.
posted by shortfuse at 2:32 PM on February 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
DJ Food has mixed his selections out of all the tracks into one tidy mix, with bits of interviews with RDJ.
posted by shortfuse at 2:32 PM on February 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
Now it looks like RDJ pal Mike Paradinas (aka µ-ZIQ) is joining in on the fun...!
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 8:57 AM on February 24, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 8:57 AM on February 24, 2015 [3 favorites]
Wow! That's a treasure trove. Looks like Paradinas uploaded an album from 1982. There's some singing on it; he sounds like an 11 year old. Because, well, he was an 11 year old.
posted by naju at 9:35 AM on February 24, 2015
posted by naju at 9:35 AM on February 24, 2015
That's fantastic. BTW, RDJ has uploaded 17 additional tracks.
posted by shortfuse at 2:30 PM on February 24, 2015
posted by shortfuse at 2:30 PM on February 24, 2015
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posted by naju at 10:51 AM on January 29, 2015 [5 favorites]