Selected Ambient Works Volume II

I'd been intrigued by the reviews I'd read of Aphex Twin's music, but don't think I'd heard as much as a note of it before I bought my first CD of his (the Donkey Rhubarb EP). This more than exceeded my indistinct expectations and indeed knocked my socks off, so I was eager to hear more. Next up, purchased in mid '97 or so when I was still in Italy, was Selected Ambient Works Volume II.

Described by its creator as "like standing in a power station on acid," it is certainly hair-raising and potentially disorienting, although, when not in quite the right frame of mind for it, it's also not without its longueurs. Unlike my other Aphex Twin discs this one is still in reasonably good condition, as the right frame of mind only came along relatively infrequently, and then less often again as the decades wore on. When I play it nowadays, I'll tend to skip past quite a few of the tracks and stick to my old favourites.

With all the tracks but one being Untitled, I find it hard to recall which tracks those old favourites are. The opener - 'Untitled [Cliffs]' is definitely one; and the third, seventh and eleventh tracks 'Untitled [Rhubarb]', 'Untitled [Curtains]' and 'Untitled [Domino]' are among the others. Despite my vaguely mixed feelings about Volume II, I'm sure I'd buy Volume III in a heartbeat if there were ever to be one!

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