Hear Aphex Twin Rework Two Of His Own Tracks
A few years ago, after a long period of near-complete silence, Aphex Twin returned. And before you knew it, he was throwing scores of tracks up on SoundCloud, faster than anyone could process them. These days, he seems to be relaxing into a more manageable schedule; his only big 2018 release was the (excellent) EP Collapse. But today, Richard D. James has shared three versions of his own older tracks. But he’s not putting them on SoundCloud anymore. He’s selling them himself.
As Pitchfork reports, Aphex is selling three new tracks on his webstore, and you can stream all of them before buying. The first of them is “Mangle 11,” a frantic disorienting drill ‘n’ bass workout with some serious melody undergirding it. This appears to be a new version of “Mangle 11 (Circuit Bent V.I.P. Mix),” a 2003 compilation track that Aphex Twin released under his AFX alias.
And he’s also reworked one of his beloved classics. The sedate piano instrumental “Avril 14th,” from Aphex Twin’s 2001 double album Drukqs, has been sampled by people like Kanye West and the Lonely Island. Today, James offers two new versions of the track: “Avril 14th Reversed Music Not Audio (Re-Recorded 2009 Nagra)” and “Avril 14th Half Speed Alternative Version (Re-Recorded 2009 Nagra).” Both are lovely variations on a lovely piece of music. On the latter, it’s worth noting that Aphex is basically screwing-and-chopping himself, which is a crazy thing to hear.
You can stream and buy all three new versions at Aphex Twin’s webstore.