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SAW 1 is widely considered his best release and a milestone in electronic music. I think it's damn near perfect, myself. When he started getting into the borderline industrial and hard IDM sound of Drukqs, I think his creativity went into hibernation ( until The Tuss) and he was more concerned with the more BPM the better, the wierder and oddly disjointed the better type mentality... which can be effective some place else, but not with James.
But, I agree the more dissonant stuff is better on that album.
SAW II isn't great, either.. allot of that album just doesn't work.
Post by Laggy.RETURNS on Jul 27, 2010 21:01:48 GMT -5
I haven't listened to SAW in years. Almost dumbfounded by all the support for this album, I decided to go back and listen to some tracks. It's better than I'd remembered, I'll give you that.
But to me, while it sounds really pretty and all, it's still relatively boring.
And where is this coming from that it is widely believed to be his best album? Maybe it's just a matter of regional and cultural differences because anyone I've ever met who listens to aphex twin would consider Drukqs his best work. I'm pretty confident it's by far his most popular album.
And to suggest Drukqs is anything BUT creative.... I don't even know what to say to that. I'm not sure we're listening to the same album here
Do some research... you'll find that I'm not alone in my opinions. In the most askewed alternate universe, Drukqs is widely considered his best ... maybe.
With Drukqs, he seemed to be trying to do something Download did and does better, and came off just uninspired and in large "wierd for wierd's sake".
I know there are people who really like Drukqs, and that's totally cool... I just don't see it in any way near Rich James' best, under any of his psuedonyms.
Just for the record, I'd give Drukqs a 2 / 5 rating. It just never has been my favorite... at all.
Selected Ambient Works 1 is definitely my favorite of his. Beautifully crafted and absolutely perfect arrangements. The bass tickles your brain in the deepest crevasses. I love that lofty, kind of higher pitched bass sound he utilizes on a lot of SAW.
Next up in the queue. I will say that without those filler tracks on Drukqs, I don't think I could be able to handle it. Those harder tracks are INTENSE. A total mindfuck, just like laggy said.
Do some research... you'll find that I'm not alone in my opinions. In the most askewed alternate universe, Drukqs is widely considered his best ... maybe.
With Drukqs, he seemed to be trying to do something Download did and does better, and came off just uninspired and in large "wierd for wierd's sake".
I know there are people who really like Drukqs, and that's totally cool... I just don't see it in any way near Rich James' best, under any of his psuedonyms.
Just for the record, I'd give Drukqs a 2 / 5 rating. It just never has been my favorite... at all.
I don't think anything he does is weird for weirds sake. I think it's just him.
It's very easy to look at an album like Drukqs and think the musician just threw a bunch of stuff up against a wall because it sounds messy/noise. While in reality it's all very deliberate and measured.
Doesn't necessarily make it good though. If you guys like that type of freaky, hard IDM, I'd say Download is a necessity. It's the blueprint of that very style, along with mid 90s Autechre, and as good as that style would ever get ( but I'm sure more are familiar with Autechre).
Edit: BUT ,if you guys haven't notified, I'm pretty critical when it comes to electronic music.
Hard Normal Daddy and Music Is Rotted One Note are my favorite Squarepusher. Tri Repattae is Autechre's best, no doubt.
As for Download, it's all good, but for the mood we're talking about, Eyes of Stanley Pain and III are the best examples. Earlier material was more just experimental, and most recently it's much more accessible and danceable, while still creative and experimental in parts.
I opened this thread expecting to want to come in here and strangle something. Instead, this is the best page on the board. I see Richard James, Autechre, and Squarepusher.
For what it's worth, while I think SAW 85-92 is probably the best, the album I'm most likely to put on and listen to on a daily basis is RDJ.
