Musical_Guru's Full Review: Selected Ambient Works Vol. 2 by Aphex Twin
SAW II is a complete anomaly in the Aphex Twin/Richard D. James canon, so anyone who was open-minded enough to explore his other works will have to be open-minded all over again to tackle this one. It will be very rewarding, however, in the most quiet and atmospheric way you can imagine.
That is to say that this album personifies the idea of music as atmosphere. It is not melodic, but it is beautiful music nonetheless...the music is so hypnotic and light that it seems almost like you are hearing musical air. It is not anything like Eno's ON LAND, which sounded much like the low sound of purring engines or airplanes at a great distance. Essentially, this is an exercise in thin electronic tones, sometimes arranged in droning patterns, sometimes seeming like a single note is being played endlessly for eleven minutes. Usually there is a thin set of layers of these sounds. There is also a generous dusting of sound effects, from samples of the human voice to mere static. This is dark music, in more sense than one: it is not gloomy, per se, but it is not lighthearted or happy either. These are sleepy, thoughtful sounds. Moreover, it is "dark" in the sense that it functions very well in physical darkness. My two favorite places to play it are: in a darkened room, with only a lava lamp or very dim lighting; and, alone in my car at night, driving around at a lumbering pace in secluded areas at 3 or 4 am.
Overall, this is rough music, as it is very static and restrained, but as far as ambience in the most literal sense, this album is unsurpassed. Perhaps, though unlike anything else he's ever done, this is Richard D. James's best work.
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