Selected Ambient Works Volume II
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| Selected Ambient Works Volume II | ||||
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| Studio album by Aphex Twin | ||||
| Released | 7 March 1994 | |||
| Recorded | 1985–1993[citation needed] | |||
| Genre | Ambient Dark ambient Electronica |
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| Length | 156:51 | |||
| Label | Warp Records WARP21  Sire/Warner Bros. Records 45482 (rest of world) |
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| Producer | Richard D. James | |||
| Professional reviews | ||||
| Aphex Twin chronology | ||||
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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 1992's Selected Ambient Works 85–92. The album peaked at #11 on the UK Albums Chart.[1] It is also his second album.
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[edit] History
Volume II differs significantly from the first volume in the series, 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 pieces. Many of the tracks feature almost no percussion, and have strong synth textures. James said that the album is "like standing in a power station on acid."[2]
Richard D. James has stated in interviews that the sounds in this music were inspired by lucid dreams, and that upon awaking, he would attempt to re-create the sounds and record them. He claimed that he has natural synaesthesia, which contributed to this album.[2]
[edit] Track listing
Volume II originally consisted of 25 tracks, all untitled except for "Blue Calx". Every track 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 an encoded track-listing system that uses circles and pie diagrams—present in varying forms among the different releases—to represent each track (it may even be the case that the diagrams themselves are the actual track names). The lack of written titles for the tracks on this release provided impetus for fans of the album to come up with their own. Officially, however, the tracks are still referred to by their track numbers. The most widely accepted track names are below:
| Duration | CD | / | VINYL | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | "[cliffs]" | 07:21 | 1-01 | / | A1 |
| 02 | "[radiator]" | 06:27 | 1-02 | / | A2 |
| 03 | "[rhubarb]" | 07:44 | 1-03 | / | A3 |
| 04 | "[hankie]" | 04:31 | 1-04 | / | A4 (Warp pressings only — see Notes) |
| 05 | "[grass]" | 08:51 | 1-05 | / | B1 |
| 06 | "[mould]" aka "[mold]" | 03:27 | 1-06 | / | B2 |
| 07 | "[ropes]" aka "[curtains]" | 08:42 | 1-07 | / | B3 |
| 08 | "[blur]" aka "[circles]" | 05:02 | 1-08 | / | B4 |
| 09 | "[weathered stone]" | 06:45 | 1-09 | / | C1 |
| 10 | "[tree]" | 09:48 | 1-10 | / | C2 |
| 11 | "[domino]" | 07:09 | 1-11 | / | C3 |
| 12 | "[white blur 1]" aka "[steel plate]" | 02:37 | 1-12 | / | C4 |
| 13 | "Blue Calx" | 07:16 | 2-01 | / | D1 |
| 14 | "[parallel stripes]" | 07:55 | 2-02 | / | D2 |
| 15 | "[shiny metal rods]" aka "[metal grating]" | 05:29 | 2-03 | / | D3 |
| 16 | "[grey stripe]" aka "[windowsill]" | 04:38 | 2-04 | / | D4 |
| 17 | "[z twig]" aka "[b+w stripes]" | 02:01 | 2-05 | / | D5 |
| 18 | "[windowsill]" aka "[siding nails]" | 07:13 | 2-06 | / | E1 |
| 19 | "[stone in focus]" aka "[wall-to-wall carpet]" | 10:05 | - | / | E2 (vinyl/cassette only — see Notes) |
| 20 | "[hexagon]" aka "[corrugated tubing]" | 05:50 | 2-07 | / | E3 |
| 21 | "[lichen]" | 04:07 | 2-08 | / | E4 |
| 22 | "[spots]" aka "[leaves]" | 07:03 | 2-09 | / | F1 |
| 23 | "[tassels]" | 07:24 | 2-10 | / | F2 |
| 24 | "[white blur 2]" aka "[rusty metal]" | 11:21 | 2-11 | / | F3 |
| 25 | "[matchsticks]" aka "[b+w stripes II]" | 05:36 | 2-12 | / | F4 |
[edit] Formats and liner notes
SAW2 was originally released on compact disc, cassette tape and vinyl. The 19th song only appears on vinyl and cassette copies, as it was not able to fit on CD copies. The vinyl edition came in two pressings: a black vinyl and a limited edition brown vinyl of 10,000 copies; currently, the brown vinyl is easier to find than the black vinyl edition. Track 19 is also omitted from online retailers, as their copies are based on the original CD version. The only hard-copy digital form of track 19 can be found on the Astralwerks compilation Excursions in Ambience: The Third Dimension, on which it has been given the name "#19". [1] In the United States, Sire Records also omitted track 04 from their CD edition.
The names for the tracks listed, as aforementioned, are interpretations of the photographs on the labels for the vinyl copies and inlay for the double CD release. On the Sire Records edition, various photos were altered, either by showing unblurred photographs or by changing the image altogether. The image representing track 19 was removed entirely on the US version, leaving behind an empty white box. The image for "Blue Calx", it being the only explicitly named track, is a blue box that reads "Blue Calx". The song originally appeared on the Applied Rhythmic Technology compilation album The Philosophy of Sound and Machine under the artist name Blue Calx, which was released in cooperation with Rephlex Records.
The front cover for this album features the textual Aphex Twin logo that was used on the earlier Xylem Tube EP, albeit in a broken, incomplete form.
[edit] Remixes
- SAW2 CD1 TRK2 (Original Mix) (aka "[radiator]"), available on the compilation album 26 Mixes for Cash. Originally recorded for Richard's Peel Session in 1995.
- SAW2 CD1 TRK7 (aka "[curtains]" aka "[ropes]"), jointly remixed with LFO's Simon from Sidney, remixed by Pram for the Warp 10th anniversary compilation 10+3 Remixes.
- SAW2 CD1 TRK1 (aka "[cliffs]"), remixed by Four Tet for the Warp 10th anniversary compilation 10+3 Remixes.
- SAW2 CD1 TRK1 (aka "[cliffs]"), SAW2 CD1 TRK3 (aka "[rhubarb]"), SAW2 CD2 TRK5 (aka "[z twig]") and SAW CD2 TRK8 (aka "[lichen]") remixed by Wisp on "Selected Ambient Works 2: Reworked", released April 30 2004 on TavCOM Records.
[edit] Appearances in other media
- "01" was used in the 2001 film Manic.
- "02", "03", "07" and "18" were featured in the 2006 BBC documentary series Time.
- "03" appeared as part of the BBC's digital widescreen test transmission, which was on loop for many months as the service was introduced across the UK.[3] It was featured on the 2007 award-winning Canadian documentary Sharkwater.
- "03" and "19" are featured several times in the animated flash series Salad Fingers and Spoilsbury Toast Boy, respectively, both of which are by animator David Firth.
- "08" was used in the closing credits of the final episode of season 3 of The Sopranos, "Army of One".
- "Blue Calx" was used in a Dutch documentary about hospitals in African countries.
- "15" was used in a Saab BioPower advertisement in 2005, in a Channel 4 advertisement for a TV programme[which?] and in an episode of the BBC Three series Bizarre ER.
- "17" was used in the Niko Bellic teaser trailer for Grand Theft Auto IV, and features on the game's soundtrack in electronic music station The Journey, under the title "TRK5".
- Numerous tracks from Selected Ambient Works Volume II are used in the comedy series Blue Jam and Jam.
- Cover versions of "Blue Calx" and "01", played on acoustic instruments by the Western classical new-music ensemble Alarm Will Sound, appeared on their album Acoustica: Alarm Will Sound performs Aphex Twin in 2005.
[edit] Charts
| Chart (1994) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart | 11[4] |
[edit] References
- ^ George-Warren, Holly and Patricia Romanowski, ed (2005). "Aphex Twin". The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll. New York, New York: Fireside. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-7432-9201-6.
- ^ a b Toop, David (March 1994). "Lost in space". The Face. EMAP. http://xltronic.com/nostalgia/aphextwin.nu/v4/learn/98136154898147.shtml. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
- ^ http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7570352384798773800
- ^ "Chart Stats - The Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works Vol II". ChartStats.com. http://www.chartstats.com/albuminfo.php?id=12664. Retrieved 30 August 2009.
[edit] External links
- The SAW II GRAPHICAL F.A.Q
- Complete Aphex Twin discography
- Selected Ambient Works Volume II at the Warp Records website
- Brown Vinyl scans
- More pictures of the brown vinyl edition
- Information on Excursions In Ambience: The Third Dimension
- SAWII user review
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