Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works Volume II by Marc Weidenbaum Page B
Authors: Marc Weidenbaum
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origin and its analog descendent? And what, in turn, about the disparity, the relative lack of variation in the analog rendition? Burhans’ accomplishment is in employing familiar tools to these new ends. Part of the beat is summoned from deep in the cello, the transcription embracing its body cavity as an echo-laden space. The violins reproduce the expected haze, the true vapor of the original, drawing from a more available well of orchestral precedents, from the romance-signifying of old-school film scores, to the tantalizing opening half minute of Gustav Mahler’s first symphony. Asked about other classical precedents he drew from, Burhans mentioned the work of contemporary classical composers John Tavener and Ingram Marshall.
## Mix Master Class Tape
The Warp label did not sit by idly as the classical world laid claim to Aphex Twin as one of its own. Quite the contrary: it actively engaged with the cross-culture exploration, primarily in the form of a relationship with the London Sinfonietta, which has performed concerts that mix recent classics from contemporary music alongside—more pointedly, intermingled with—transcriptions of works from its own catalog. An album in 2006, titled
Warp Works & Twentieth Century Masters
, collected a variety of tracks, including chamber concertos by György Ligeti, perhaps best known for the
Lux Aeterna
that appeared in Stanley Kubrick’s
2001: A Space Odyssey
. There was also a study by Conlon Nancarrow, famed for his madcap overclocked player piano works, and one of Steve Reich’s early phase pieces that explored how slight variations in pace would yield spectral minimalist patterning. There were two Aphex Twin transcriptions, one by David Horne and the other by Kenneth Hesketh, as well as two “prepared piano” works by Aphex Twin that drew on the after-market instrument-tinkering tradition of Nancarrow and John Cage, who was himself represented on the recording by some of his sonatas. Inevitably, the performances yielded a sort of creeping canon building, in which the not-so-long-ago avant-garde was held up as the standard bearer, to which the contemporary avant-garde could not hold a candle. Andrew Clements in the
Guardian
wrote of the
WarpWorks
album upon its release: “it’s still the classic scores that make the biggest impression.”
## Dissed by Stockhausen
The association between Aphex Twin’s music and the classical world was nothing new even when Alarm Will Sound began to draw up its plans. From early on, classical associations were attributed to Aphex Twin’s music, due to its complexity, and also due to the musician’s own inspirations. Karlheinz Stockhausen, who helped forge the mold of the avant-garde composer who embraces technology, however, was not impressed. In a widely circulated interview, he came across a bit like Albert Einstein in his later years: the one-time revolutionary critiquing the revolutionaries who flourished in his wake. In 1995, BBC Radio 3 gave Stockhausen some recordings to listen to, and he reportedly tried to school Aphex Twin on his use of percussive elements. He told him to “stop with all these post-African repetitions,” and admonished him for his interest in rhythmic stasis.
Still, Stockhausen’s impression was a minority one. Something was happening in the early 1990s. Labels in the classical realm were beginning to explore adventurous popular music, and indie rock labels were meeting them more than halfway. The Factory label, home to New Order and Happy Mondays, had its own classical imprint, Factory Classical, which released music by the likes of Steve Martland and Elliott Carter. K Records, founded by Calvin Johnson and home to Beat Happening, released scores to classic F. W. Murnau films by composer Timothy Brock. Composer Max Richter worked with Future Sound of London on their 1996
Dead Cities
album. The group Rachel’s tried to reimagine the chamber ensemble in the form of a rock band. And Aphex Twin himself
## Mix Master Class Tape
The Warp label did not sit by idly as the classical world laid claim to Aphex Twin as one of its own. Quite the contrary: it actively engaged with the cross-culture exploration, primarily in the form of a relationship with the London Sinfonietta, which has performed concerts that mix recent classics from contemporary music alongside—more pointedly, intermingled with—transcriptions of works from its own catalog. An album in 2006, titled
Warp Works & Twentieth Century Masters
, collected a variety of tracks, including chamber concertos by György Ligeti, perhaps best known for the
Lux Aeterna
that appeared in Stanley Kubrick’s
2001: A Space Odyssey
. There was also a study by Conlon Nancarrow, famed for his madcap overclocked player piano works, and one of Steve Reich’s early phase pieces that explored how slight variations in pace would yield spectral minimalist patterning. There were two Aphex Twin transcriptions, one by David Horne and the other by Kenneth Hesketh, as well as two “prepared piano” works by Aphex Twin that drew on the after-market instrument-tinkering tradition of Nancarrow and John Cage, who was himself represented on the recording by some of his sonatas. Inevitably, the performances yielded a sort of creeping canon building, in which the not-so-long-ago avant-garde was held up as the standard bearer, to which the contemporary avant-garde could not hold a candle. Andrew Clements in the
Guardian
wrote of the
WarpWorks
album upon its release: “it’s still the classic scores that make the biggest impression.”
## Dissed by Stockhausen
The association between Aphex Twin’s music and the classical world was nothing new even when Alarm Will Sound began to draw up its plans. From early on, classical associations were attributed to Aphex Twin’s music, due to its complexity, and also due to the musician’s own inspirations. Karlheinz Stockhausen, who helped forge the mold of the avant-garde composer who embraces technology, however, was not impressed. In a widely circulated interview, he came across a bit like Albert Einstein in his later years: the one-time revolutionary critiquing the revolutionaries who flourished in his wake. In 1995, BBC Radio 3 gave Stockhausen some recordings to listen to, and he reportedly tried to school Aphex Twin on his use of percussive elements. He told him to “stop with all these post-African repetitions,” and admonished him for his interest in rhythmic stasis.
Still, Stockhausen’s impression was a minority one. Something was happening in the early 1990s. Labels in the classical realm were beginning to explore adventurous popular music, and indie rock labels were meeting them more than halfway. The Factory label, home to New Order and Happy Mondays, had its own classical imprint, Factory Classical, which released music by the likes of Steve Martland and Elliott Carter. K Records, founded by Calvin Johnson and home to Beat Happening, released scores to classic F. W. Murnau films by composer Timothy Brock. Composer Max Richter worked with Future Sound of London on their 1996
Dead Cities
album. The group Rachel’s tried to reimagine the chamber ensemble in the form of a rock band. And Aphex Twin himself
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