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Selected Ambient Works Volume II

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Untitled

Selected Ambient Works Volume II is the second studio album by English electronic musician Richard D. James under the alias Aphex Twin. The album was released by Warp on March 7, 1994. James has claimed that the album was inspired by lucid dreams James had, and upon waking he would attempt to re-create the sounds heard in the dream for the album. Described as a follow-up to Selected Ambient Works 85–92, the album differs in sound by being virtually beatless ambient music.

On Selected Ambient Works Volume IIs release, it received reviews such as Simon Reynolds the album as a new step forward in ambient music while others such as Robert Christgau who found it unworthy of such claims. Pitchfork would later describe the album as one of the first albums whose reception was influenced by the internet with fans giving the untitled tracks on the albums titles and changing how the album would be received years after its release. It was placed on various best of the decade lists by publications such as Rolling Stone, Spin and Pitchfork.

Production

James stated the the sounds on Selected Ambient Works Volume II were inspired by lucid dreams, and that upon awaking, he would attempt to re-create the sounds and record them. He claimed to have natural synaesthesia, which contributed to this album.[1]

Style

Simon Reynolds commented that on the album Selected Ambient Works Volume II James changed styles "from the idyllic, Satie-esque naivete of early tracks like "Analogue Bubblebath" to clammy, foreboding sound-paintings."[2] Reynolds stated that along with other artists such as Seefeel, David Toop and Max Eastley, that artists have moved from "rave into the vicinity of "isolationism", a term coined by critic Kevin Martin which "breaks with all of ambient's feel-good premises. Isolationism is ice-olationist, offering cold comfort. Instead of pseudopastoral peace, it evokes an uneasy silence: the uncanny calm before catastrophe, the deathly quiet of aftermath."[2] Volume II differs significantly from the first volume in the series, in that it consists of lengthy, textured ambient compositions with minimal percussion and occasional vocal samples, in a vein similar to Brian Eno's ambient works. James described the album as being "like standing in a power station on acid"[1]

Release

Select Ambient Works Volume II was released in the United Kingdom by Warp on 7 March 1994.[3] Warp has released Select Ambient Works Volume II compact disc and triple vinyl.[3] The album charted in the United Kingdom on 19 March 1994 where it debuted and peaked at the 11th position on the charts.[4] The album sold 9,336 copies in its first week of release.[5] It stayed on the charts for three weeks.[4] Sire released the album on compact disc on 12 April 1994.[6] The album was re-issued on vinyl by 1972 records on 6 March 2012 by 1972 Records.[7]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Entertainment WeeklyC[9]
Rolling Stone[10]
Select4/5[11]
Spin Alternative Record Guide8/10[12]
The Village VoiceB−[13]

From contemporary reviews, Spin gave the album a positive review, stating that the album has "plenty of the shimmeringly euphoric and majestically melancholy tunes that have won James so many devout fans." but that the album "will leave you not so much blissed as spooked out."[14] Rolling Stone stated that "While many of his disciples have done little more than propel New Age atmospheres into the computer age, producing comforting but often emotionless elevator music, James has used the medium to confront his shadowy demons, exploring realms of spooky, textured sound."[10] The review concluded that the album "provides a visionary perspective on ambient electronic music."[10] Commenting on the audiences reaction of the album in 1999, Simon Reynolds stated that on that "Many in the Aphex cult were thrown for a loop" and that "Aphex aficionados remain divided" on the album.[15] Select stated that "Anyone who thinks they know what to expect on the basis of 'Volume I' night care to sit down, have a nice cup of tea and prepare themselves for a shock."[11] The review noted the album was not successful "as a conventional dance record", but "as an album to wallow in at 5am while watching the wallpaper conduct a heated argument with the lightshade, it is indeed the knees of the bee."[11] Robert Christgau gave the album a B+ rating and critiqued reviews by Frank Owen, Simon Reynolds and J.D. Considine finding that "James is rarely as rich as good [Brian] Eno, not to mention good Eno-Hassell or Eno-Budd." and that "these experiments are considerably thinner ("purer," Owen wishes) and more static ("pulse dreamily," Considine dreams) than the overpriced juvenilia on the import-only Volume I."[13] Entertainment Weekly wrote that "At its best [the album] is an avant-garde score in search of a postapocalyptic theater piece, a la Philip Glass. More often, it’s chamber music for humorless cyber-nerds"[9]

Retrospective reviews

At the end of the decade, Selected Ambient Works Volume II was included on several publications lists of top albums of the 1990s including Rolling Stone and Spin.[15][16] Rolling Stone stated the album was James creating "an enriched, wraparound style of burp-andwhoosh programming, the perfect soundtrack for pulling the pieces of your brain back together after spilling them all over the club floor. The first dance album to celebrate the rhythms in your head."[16] Spin placed both Selected Ambient Works 85–92 and Selected Ambient Works Volume II at number 56 on their list of the top albums of the 1990s, calling it a "an awe-inspiring feat of avant-techno texturology"".[15] Pitchfork placed the album at number 62 on their list of top albums of the 1990s, stating that it "spurred on one of the great trajectories of pop music in the 1990s, influencing everyone from Radiohead to Timbaland."[17]

Aftermath and influence

Online music zine Pitchfork noted described that Selected Ambient Works Volume II as "a very early example of a record being anticipated, experienced, and, ultimately, analyzed in minute detail through online communication."[18] Pitchfork noted that the Electronic mailing list titled IDM (Intelligent dance music) had a profound influence on how the album would be received in the future, noting that the community's influence has to do with the album's mysterious non-titles.[18] List member Greg Eden, who kept a detailed discography, gave the tracks names based on a word or two that related to the corresponding images.[18] Eden would later work for the Warp, the original label for Selected Ambient Works Volume II.[18][19]

A book on the album was released in the 33⅓ series on 13 February 2013.[20] The series are short books inspired by or focused on albums and are generally written as longform essays.[20] The book was written by Marc Weidenbaum, a music journalist and former editor of Tower Records' in-store magazine Pulse!.[18][20]

Track listing

The tracks on the album do not have names but represented by pictures on the record's artwork.[11]

All tracks are written by Richard D. James[21]

Compact disc one, vinyl sides one to three, and cassette sides one and two
No.TitleCorresponding imageLength
1.UntitledCliffs7:27
2.UntitledRadiator6:34
3.UntitledRhubarb7:44
4.Untitled (UK vinyl, CD and cassette pressings only)Hankie4:34
5.UntitledGrass8:55
6.UntitledMould3:31
7.UntitledCurtains8:51
8.UntitledBlur5:08
9.UntitledWeathered Stone6:54
10.UntitledTree9:58
11.UntitledDomino7:18
12.UntitledWhite Blur 12:38
Total length:Warp CD, Warp vinyl, cassette: 79:32
Sire CD, Rhino vinyl: 74:58
Compact disc two, vinyl sides four to six, and cassette sides three and four
No.TitleCorresponding imageLength
13."Blue Calx" 7:20
14.UntitledParallel Stripes8:00
15.UntitledShiny Metal Rods5:34
16.UntitledGrey Stripe4:45
17.UntitledZ Twig2:05
18.UntitledWindow Sill7:17
19.Untitled (UK vinyl and cassette versions only)Stone in Focus10:07
20.UntitledHexagon5:57
21.UntitledLichen4:15
22.UntitledSpots7:09
23.UntitledTassels7:30
24.UntitledWhite Blur 211:27
25.UntitledMatch Sticks5:41
Total length:CDs, Rhino vinyl: 77:00
Cassettes, Warp vinyl: 87:08

Personnel

Credits adapted from Selected Ambient Works Volume II liner notes.[21]

  • Richard D James – writer, producer, liner notes, photography
  • Prototype 21 – design

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Toop, David (March 1994). "Lost in space". The Face. EMAP. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
  2. ^ a b Reynolds, Simon (January 1995). "Chill: The New Ambient". Artforum International. 33 (5). Artforum International Magazine, Inc: 60. ISSN 1086-7058.
  3. ^ a b "Aphex Twin: Selected Ambient Works Volume II". Warp. Archived from the original on 18 November 2009. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Selected Ambient Works Volume II". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  5. ^ Pakinkis, Tom (29 September 2014). "Official Charts Analysis: alt-J's This Is All Yours secures No 1 album slot on 30,947 sales". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 29 September 2014. (subscription required)
  6. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Selected Ambient Works, Vol. 2". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  7. ^ Hughes, Josiah (13 January 2012). "Aphex Twin's 'Selected Ambient Works Volume II' to Get Vinyl Reissue". Exclaim!. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  8. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Selected Ambient Works, Vol. 2 – Aphex Twin". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  9. ^ a b Aaron, Charles (15 April 1994). "Selected Ambient Works Volume II". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  10. ^ a b c Wiederhorn, Jon (30 June 1994). "Aphex Twin: Selected Ambient Works Volume II". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 22 February 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  11. ^ a b c d Collis, Clark (April 1994). "Aphex Twin: Selected Ambient Works Volume II". Select (46): 89.
  12. ^ Weisband & Marks 1995, p. 15–16.
  13. ^ a b Christgau, Robert (31 May 1994). "Consumer Guide". Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  14. ^ Reynolds, Simon (March 1994). Marks, Craig (ed.). "Spins". Spin. Vol. 9, no. 12. SPIN Media LLC. p. 74. ISSN 0886-3032.
  15. ^ a b c Reynolds, Simon (September 1999). "The Greatest Albums of the '90s". Spin. Vol. 15, no. 9. p. 148. ISSN 0886-3032.
  16. ^ a b Sheffield, Rob; Powers, Ann; Fricke, David (13 May 1999). "Aphex Twin: Selected Ambient Works, Volume II". Rolling Stone. No. 812. New York: Rolling Stone. p. 79. ISSN 0035-791X.
  17. ^ Linhardt, Alex (17 November 2003). "Top 100 Albums of the 1990s". Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  18. ^ a b c d e Richardson, Mark (25 April 2014). "Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works Volume II". Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  19. ^ Eden, Greg (16 December 2008). "Words About Body Riddle". Warp. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  20. ^ a b c "Kanye West, Bjork, J Dilla and more to be featured in a 33⅓ book series". Dummy. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  21. ^ a b James, Richard D. (1994). Selected Ambient Works Volume II (Media notes). Richard D. James. Warp. WARPLP21LTD.

References

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