Aphex TwIN
Don’t know much outside of both SAW albums so looking for ward to this
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What I hope to get from this is a stronger sense of what separates good electronic/ambient music made by actual people from both AI slop as well as Spotify-commissioned muzak.
I know the difference is real and pronounced, but sometimes explaining that in real terms isn’t so easy. Although tbf, recently someone asked me why Aphex Twin was better than all the generic ambient stuff you hear, so I played him #20 (Lichen) from SAW II and said only a genius could make that. Luckily, he agreed.
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It’s textural specificity for me. Anyone can hit a chord on a synth pad or get AI to generate something similar, but there’s so much sound design you can delve into
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Sorry, having a bit of a debate with myself here. Just thought that it isn’t really the music that makes the key distinction, it’s the intention. A friend told me recently that if somebody creates something and calls it art (genuinely, without sarcasm), then it is art, the debate ends there. I think the same applies for music, whether or not AI “music” sounds similar to the real thing is irrelevant, it has no artistic merit. I guess that becomes less clear with the mass produced Spotify stuff…as someone has made that and only they can know their intentions behind it (although we can assume).
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Absolutely, and while that’s probably fairly easy to pick up on for people who make music like yourself, for the rest of us it’s more intangible…but it’s definitely there. Take Lichen for example, it’s a piece that has a definite perspective to it. You get a strong sense of location from it, that feels like it applies to anyone who listens to it and isn’t just confined to your personal experience. That can’t be replicated by AI
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My experience of making music is if you put something personal and sincere in, people will get something personal and sincere (to them) out of it too
It’s a wonderful form of communication
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Really like this; it covers both tenets of the debate - the artistic intent but also the personal qualities that you get from something made by another human.
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IN for the ride, will be nice revisiting stuff I haven’t heard in ages and things I never got that familiar with. Will likely not nerd out on picking things apart & analyzing but I’ll listen and read. Maybe post useless one-liners about how much I like something.
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Low-key and modest DIS member here, I don’t really post much but I am a very keen Aphex Twin fan (very keen meaning he’s been my number one artist of the last 25 years), so I’ll be on board for this.
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This is your moment
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I will try my best. I’m already trying to remember the timeline of thoughts and memories, it’s a bit like rewinding and stop/starting an old VHS tape in my head. Though at the moment it’s just a bit of a blur.
One thing I will say, not only was the music on another level (well most of the time) but I was always quite fascinated with him. This eccentric, funny but also sometimes pretty sinister weird dude who hid away in the darkest corners of Cornwall (or in a vault of a bank 
)
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I once spent 15 minutes trying to work out what the most satisfying period of silence between two tracks was in context of an hour long record. AI does it quickly. Humans do it right.
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crying IN your face
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I wish the milkman would deliver my milk
IN the morning
horrible song sorry
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Haven’t had a Aphex deep dive in a long time. Can’t believe that the soundcloud dump was 10 years ago. Where has that time gone?
Can I take on three listening clubs at one time?? Lets see…
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Take that back
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To Cure A WeaklINg Child.
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HeliosphIN
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sorry i’m late
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SELECTED AMBIENT WORKS 85-92
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