Richard D. James, under his most prominent moniker of Aphex Twin, played his first show in eight years on Saturday at Houston’s Day for Night Fest and from all accounts (including the video below) he made the absolute most of the rain-soaked set. And such a blistering, tour-de-force show would’ve been enough for Mr. James. But he rarely, if ever, does the bare minimum. He also went and dropped a new record (seen above) in what for now is a limited run of 500 copies. There’s no name to the thing and each side (which both stretch out for 10 minutes) are also without any titles. So this time we don’t even get unpronounceable track names with an Aphex Twin release. Just a untitled 12″ vinyl, in short supply, that isn’t so easy to find right now.
But the search is well worth it if you are able to locate uploads of the 20-minute effort. The A-Side, in particular, demands a listen. The track is a slowly mutating techno juggernaut that begins with rubbery bass notes and light clouds of static and ends with a machine gun spray of programmed drums. In between there are some classic Aphex Twin flourishes where the work contorts in ways that would leave a gymnast flabbergasted. Even with his most public moment in some time, we’re no closer to figuring Richard D. James out.
AllFreshSounds 