Celebrating Avril 14 four months early

December 13, 2018 8:55 PM

As the darkness of December descends, why not celebrate April 14th four months early? Aphex Twin dropped a few new gifts recently, expanding his 2001 album Drukqs with two newly available versions of Avril 14 (a 3rd was briefly available, long enough that someone got it and posted it to Soundcloud). Richard D. James isn't one to talk about song titles or inspirations, but there's a theory that he's marking a rather dark day, or repeating date, in history.

The latest addition to Drukqs, "Mangle 11," appears to be the same version found on the 2003 compilation Rephlexions! An Album of Braindance!.

The "Nagra" referenced in the two new versions of "Avril 14" is likely a Nagra recorder. And if you hadn't picked up Drukqs before but found "Avril 14" sounding familiar, that might be because it was sampled in an SNL skit "Iran So Far" and in Kanye's "Blame Game" [NSFW lyrics] or you've seen it featured in Marie Antoinette (2006), Four Lions (final scene, possible spoilers; 2010), or Her (trailer; 2013).

posted by filthy light thief (13 comments total)

That day is Ruination Day
posted by little onion at 9:15 PM on December 13, 2018 [4 favorites]

SHUT. UP!
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 9:39 PM on December 13, 2018

The snow effect on that Beautiful Song of the Week site makes me feel like my eyesight is decaying rapidly.

I really like Drukqs and its content did not seem familiar to me. I don't get why it would be considered a retread, as that article suggests. I'm not sure that I can even talk about the way it impacted me, emotionally, without sounding like I'm just spouting hyperbole. It almost felt like that album was him showing off, it was so impressive.

Mangle 11 is new to me, though. That's good stuff. [And helpful YouTube comments, for once. I had never heard of The Tuss. Obviously, I need to spend more time at discogs.]

I'd like to own the Windowlicker remix that's playing in the car at the beginning of the video (NSFW language). I bought the extended Japanese single version hoping, but alas, it's not there. Maybe it doesn't exist as a whole song.
posted by heatvision at 3:37 AM on December 14, 2018 [1 favorite]

I understand why "Avril 14th" is so popular - it's a wonderfully evocative piece of Satie-ism. But "Vordhosbn" was always the best Drukqs track for me.

Vordhosbn (original)
Vordhosbn (making of video shared by RDJ, drumless) - this isolates the melodies and emphasizes how beautiful they are
Vordhosbn (unofficial version slowed down to 33rpm speed <- actually my favorite bercause it slows the drums down enough to let you understand how surgically precise and in-the-pocket that drum programming is
posted by naju at 4:43 AM on December 14, 2018 [5 favorites]

As for the rest of Drukqs, I admit I slid off of most of it when it was first released and never really revisited it since. I loved the treated piano tracks, didn't care for the rest ("Vordhosbn" aside). But I should give a dedicated listen again; it's possible that the album has held up incredibly well. I think there's a strong chance that it's better than any of his recent output.
posted by naju at 5:04 AM on December 14, 2018 [1 favorite]

On a recent flight I perused the Aphex Twin albums on my phone and came to the conclusion that I like the Richard D. James album the best. I bought Drukqs when it came out but it never really grabbed me, mostly because it felt like (much, much) more of the same.
posted by grumpybear69 at 6:16 AM on December 14, 2018

But here is a fascinating article about Vordhosbn which includes a video of the Player Pro tracker software he used rendering a beatless version of the song. I was wondering to myself how he composed such intricate drum patterns, and now it all makes sense. Tracker software is built for exactly that.
posted by grumpybear69 at 6:25 AM on December 14, 2018 [6 favorites]

When RDJ names tracks, like gives them proper names instead of random strings of nonsense, he tends to use things personal to his life. Places in Cornwall, anagrams of his various names (most of the tracks names on ICBYD are anagrams of Aphex Twin or Richard D James in various permutations). For example "Mt Saint Michel + Saint Michaels mount" is so named because of a 'lush' day he spent there (can't find the exact source for that right now, but this is close). So I'm pretty sure Avril 14 is so-named because of something in his life that happened on that day. His girlfriend at that time was French, so that also points to it being something personal.
posted by memebake at 1:07 PM on December 14, 2018 [1 favorite]

One of my all time favorite songs, not just Aphex but of everything I've heard in my life. It's so amazing and beautiful. I'm afraid to check the new mixes because the original is just too perfect to me.
posted by symbioid at 1:14 PM on December 14, 2018

heatvision: I'd like to own the Windowlicker remix that's playing in the car at the beginning of the [windowlicker] video.

Since the Great Soundcloud Dump of 2015, he's seemed happy to unearth things like that and make them available. You can download it from the official Aphex mp3 store at warp:

https://aphextwin.warp.net/release/68151-aphex-twin-windowlicker

The one you're after is called "Windowlicker scratch Intro (cos-mix)" and he's left an amusing note beside it:

scratching by me and not luke! dunno were the fuck that rumour came from.. soz for shit quality, i dont why its so shagged...its from an Aif...but ..its prob as good as its ever gunna get , i gave orig master to cunny and never got it back. Chris will hopefully be sending me some of his lush artwork&storyboards to put here soon.

(Luke here would be his mate Luke Vibert, Cunny refers to Chris Cunningham who directed the video.)

The "end-roll version" is also pretty bananas.
posted by memebake at 1:14 PM on December 14, 2018 [5 favorites]

re: Vordhosbn - I was so, so pleased when that Making Of video came out and it was all done on a tracker! As someone who's gateway to creating music was Screamtracker and Impulse Tracker, it's no wonder Aphex Twin registered so strongly on my radar at the time. I remember reading interviews where he said he made his own synthesizers, and I had this idea in my 18 year old head that he was using completely out of reach technology to make these bonkers arrangements, and yet a big part of the secret sauce was the same free software I used to whittle away beats and rhythms.

I'd never listened to it slowed down before, thank you for sharing that link. Incredible detail in those beats that are flying past you at such a high rate of speed during normal playback. It's funny to me because these days, I find myself programming high BPM glitchy stuff on my Tempest (drum machine), letting them sit on the shelf for a while, and then I drop the tempo to half speed and I'm less intimidated at the prospect of turning that into a 3-5 minute song.

It's hard to imagine having the perseverance and skill to build something out that involved, and then shorten it.
posted by Leviathant at 2:23 PM on December 14, 2018 [3 favorites]

I remember reading interviews where he said he made his own synthesizers, and I had this idea in my 18 year old head that he was using completely out of reach technology to make these bonkers arrangements

I had the exact same thoughts! Like, I imagined a room full of bespoke circuitry that somehow spat out Boy/Girl Song.

It's hard to imagine having the perseverance and skill to build something out that involved, and then shorten it.

To think that he sampled every note of every instrument, potentially multiple samples with and without effects, and then sequenced all of that using a tracker - it boggles the mind. His attention to detail and patience must be world-class.
posted by grumpybear69 at 2:48 PM on December 14, 2018

Wow, I didn't know about all these cultural associations (I decided early the rest of Aphex Twin was not my cup of tea).

But April 14th is my irl birthday and I've listened to Avril 14th once a year for the past... 16 years?

The day I was born, it was dark and it was rainy, my mom says. I know I always I do carry one heavy cloud with me wherever I go. So yeah, it all makes sense somehow. Beautiful song.
posted by ipsative at 8:08 PM on December 14, 2018 [1 favorite]