Acid Tape Track: The thirteenth and final track on Selection Sixteen. Hey! Whattayaknow?! More acid! A bit of the minimal vibe going on with this one, too. Continuing the driving (even has a sound that could be a car speeding by), dancey acid vibes - this one is a bit quicker on the tempo, has a bit more of a break beat, a it's bit more twisty, less straight. Dancing to this one would probably require a good amount of the unsober.

Schizm Track #2 Mix: The first track on the Anti-Greylord Protection Scheme Prelude ten inch, but also, unfortunately, the sixteenth track on the Selection Sixteen CD release. See, if you bought the double lp you got this supposedly really cool bonus ten inch. But if you bought the CD version the same tracks were just tacked on the end as "Bonus Mixes". Kinda lame, actually.

Pretty much more of the same. A screechy, howling ambient intro leads into some nice Roland 303 lines over a variation of an amen break that pretty seemlessly switches to a straight 4/4 in a couple places. More changes in this one than the last couple, though.

Schizm Track #2 Mix contains the oft sampled "Lyn Collins - Think (About It)". Although at that point I think there was equipment AND sample packs that were available with that track already cut up, ready to use.

The last release to be covered from 1999 was a joint effort with a fellow named Richard Thomas called "I Am Carnal, And I Know That You Approve". I'm going to be completely honest in saying that I really have no idea who Richard Thomas is. He's released a good deal of music as himself and with several different groups. I haven't heard any of it. I also have no idea of the what his connection or acquaintance with Tom Jenkinson may be. Lastly, I do not actually know at what point in 1999 this twelve inch was released. In snuck out very quietly and in very small quantities.

Squarepusher/Richard Thomas

I Am Carnal, And I Know That You Approve

1999

Lo Recordings

The release contains three tracks credited to both artists and one to Thomas alone. The best of the "joint" tracks is a remix of the "solo" Thomas track. That track is decent enough. It sounds like this...

Richard Thomas - I Am Carnal, And I Know That You Approve

The "joint" track, which I'm quite sure is just a Squarepusher remix, is in fact, carnal! It starts off familiar enough, with some off kilter, overlapping drum and percussion tacks mixed with a longing, lonely sounding Squarepusher synth patch. Then, at 1:20, it goes all hella sexytime! For a Squarepusher track, that shit is oozing sexuality. All hips swayin', body in sillhouette from the hot afternoon sun. Well... it works that way for me, anyway. I love how the mix gets all wacked out and confused towards the end, too. That's the climax.

Plus! It's got a cat named Luigi in the video! ..... ......

Squarepusher/Richard Thomas - Plate Core

For the first time since 1994, Tom Jenkinson/Squarepusher did not release any music in the year 2000.

Next: Old meets new in 2001

Nice work in this thread Cerebus! The first time I ever heard Squarepusher was probably back in 03 when I was recording an EP with my band at the time. We were in the studio and these kids whowere in a southern rock band or something came by to see the engineer and wound up putting Iambic 5 Poetry on the system. I'd never heard anything like it and I've been a fan since.

Keep up the great work mate, this is very helpful especially since Tom's got so much stuff out there and it's hard to know what's what.

Maaaan. Don't you hate it when you open a banana that LOOKS cool on the outside but ends up being a jacked on the inside? The one I just ate was like, half bruises and shit.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Hey thanks guitarslinger. I appreciate it. I figure a few people must be checkin' it out because the view count keeps rising. But I think I lost Timmy somewhere on page two.

Also, I just realized I'd been leaving the 5 out of the title on Iambic 5 Poetry! What the crap!? (Fixed a couple of 'em.) Yeah, that track sounds great on a good system. A lot of spacial difference between the different tracks on that one. It's absolutely one of my favorite songs of all-time.

[Edited 5/29/12 20:39pm]

2001: A Squarepusher Odyssey

Nah, not really.

2001 was an interesting year for Squarepusher releases. First of all, starting with the My Red Hot Car EP, I immediately noticed a slight difference in the sound of the recordings themselves. Whether it was new equipment, the use of computers, the mastering and physical production of the product, or some combination of all of the above is hard to tell. But there was definitely a more, I don't know - clean seems too simple and sterile seems to harsh - but somewhere in between those two is probably a good description of the sound. The music just didn't have the same dirty, analogue, underground sound quality that a lot of it had back at the beginning.

Second to that was a clear advancement in the way Tom was composing. He didn't seem to be forcing his ideas to live seperately as often from one track to another anymore. There was much more of a mashing of disparate sounds from the past on the new tracks. Judging by what I've read about/from that era, this probably has a lot to do with the equipment he began using heavily during the year when no new music was released.

Lastly, the songs themselves, even though it felt like more ideas were often found in one song, could still sometimes be VASTLY different from one to the next. For whatever reason (maybe it was the fact that everyone had that full year to catch up with what he'd released for the seven years prior), people seemed to be taking notice of a certain type of Squarepusher track. 'My Red Hot Car' was NME's single of the week, Pitchfork's 317th best song of the 2000s, played during a scene in the movie 'Any Way The Wind Blows' and was the theme song for an MTV Italy show called 'On The Beach'. 'Tommib', from 'Go Plastic!' is featured very beautifully in Sophia Coppola's 'Lost In Translation'.

Edit: I knew I'd spelled Coppola wrong, damn it.

[Edited 5/29/12 20:38pm]

The first release in 2001...

My Red Hot Car

May 21, 2001

Warp Records

I was jazzed on this EP when it was first released and listening back to it now I still love it. It's pretty great from beginning to end and got me really excited for the (already announced) album it was proceeding, 'Go Plastic'. Unfortunately, the full-length didn't turn out to be quite as good as the EP (for me, anyway). But I'm getting ahead of myself. Lets focus on 'My Red Hot Car' right now.

My Red Hot Car (Girl): The first track on 'My Red Hot Car'. A super funky two-step number with a pretty typical 'Pusher breakdown through the middle portion of the track. It also contains the following radio ready lyrics...

You'll scream out for more

Let me tell you girl that for sure

I'm gonna give you all I've got

I'm gonna fuck you with my red hot cock

Awesome!

Track two on the EP, simply titled 'My Red Hot Car', without the (Girl), is only a slightly different track. Thirty seconds shorter, a bit more chopped up, harder to understand the lyrics and not quite as warm with the mix.

Track three, 'Hardcore Obelisk', is a straight drone track, done Squarepusher style. At the time that was something completely new for a Squarepusher release and I really enjoyed it. But there's about seven million better drone tracks out there, so if you really want to hear it it's available on the Tubes.

I Wish You Obelisk/Untitled: The fourth and fifth tracks on 'My Red Hot Car'. On the CD there's twenty-three minutes of silence before you reach the unlisted, 'Untitled' "hidden track". However, somebody has been nice enough to edit out the silence and post both tracks together on YouTube.

The first track, 'I Wish You Obelisk' is one of those tracks that has the "cleaner" sound to me. It could be an older Squarepusher song stylisitically, but the quality of the sound makes it sound new, different. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary beat wise, and the reverbed out "bong" sound is right in line with his usual bank of sounds, but that weird ass alien talking lead line thing is crazy. Not sure if it's his bass, the Roland 303 or a new piece of equipment/software, but it's clearly been run through multiple granular filters or some other kind of effects.

The second track, 'Untitled', is one of the best, most pure ambient pieces Tom has ever released. Calm, relaxing synth patches slowly rise up and wash over you (possibly mixed with the use of his bass and the volume knob), followed by some very restrained plucking of some strings. One of the very few Squarepusher songs I could fall asleep listening to.

The second release in 2001...

Go Plastic

June 21, 2001

Warp Records

A lot of people put this release in the with the handful of Squarepusher classics. It's not there for me. Too much minimalist, breakcore, drill n' bass freakouts and a lack of melody goin' on for my tastes. If that kind of thing sounds like your cup o' tea, please take the time to check out this album, or at least give the tracks a listen on YouTube. I believe the entire album is available there.

These aren't necessarily some of my favorite tracks (unless otherwise stated), but I think it's an unfair representation of Tom's music and it shortchanges anybody who is actually listening to all this stuff to not include some things that don't really frost my pickle.

Boneville Occident: The second track on 'Go Plastic'. Here's a perfect example of both his apparent new willingness to include more ideas in one track as well as the breakcore, drill n' bass freakouts and lack of melody on a lot of 'Go Plastic' tracks. It's not a terrible track overall. In fact, I quite like it from about 2:40 until the end. But he goes through four different ideas before he gets to that point.

Go! Spastic: The third track on 'Go Plastic'. In fairness, I guess the title kind of tells you what's going to happen ahead of time. Once again, I don't hate this track. It just doesn't have quite enough going on to make me love it, either. It does however contain enough parts and pieces to make a couple albums for some people.

Metteng Excuske v1.: The fourth track on 'Go Plastic'. This is an idea he would visit again to much greater affect on his next full-length. As it is here, on 'Go Plastic', it's a nice coda to 'Go! Spastic', as there is no silence between the tracks on the album.

The video is from the 'Go Plastic' video contest Warp Records held at the time of the album's release. This video was a finalist.

The Exploding Psychology: The fifth track on 'Go Plastic'. My description for the second and third tracks from 'Go Plastic' could just as easily apply to this one. Although the last two minutes of this track is pretty damn good. And I do like the use of the West Coast hip-hop/old school funk synth line, too.

The was also the winning video.

Otherwise.

Here are three tracks that I actually like from this album. Two of them are actually favorites.

I Wish You Could Talk: The sixth track on 'Go Plastic'. Aaaahhhh! That Squarepusher clanging reverb, forward moving drum programming and melancholic synth lines. Not much more to say about this one. Love it.

Tommib: The eighth track on 'Go Plastic'. A minute and twenty seconds of aching beauty. Completely out of place on this album, in my opinion. But a great track none the less. I was going to include a video somebody made incorporating scenes from 'Lost In Translation' (where it was featured) with this track in it's original form, but embedding has been disabled. Here's the link in case you'd like to check out http://www.youtube.com/wa...c9jY9kPIp4

And here's the song...

Plaistow Flex Out: The tenth and final track on 'Go Plastic'. Great way to close out an album as disjointed and full of three ideas every minute as this one. Chilled out, windows open, head bobbin' kinda joint. To this day this is the only track I've ever blown a speaker with. Right where the sub hits between 2:55 and 3:00, one of the woofers in my car went "ruummmble rummmble pffffffffffffffff". It was probably going to happen anyway, but that's what did it in.

Oh yeah. I forgot...

Next: Do You Know Squarepusher?

OK.... I got bored with Squarepusher for a minute. Not sure anybody noticed. I'm going to go off on some tangents and post some other stuff for a bit. Probably ride this sucker until the Reply button disappears. I'll get back to the 'Pusher at some point in the not too far off future.

[Edited 6/4/12 19:00pm]

Mysterious, uncategorisable, ridiculously hard to contact, when they talk about themselves - they tell lies, pressing small quantities of most of their releases, repressing almost none of them; Rephlex Records has been my single favorite label since I discovered them in 1993.

Wiki says...

Rephlex Records is a record label started in 1991 by electronic musician Richard D. James (aka Aphex Twin) and Grant Wilson-Claridge. Rephlex coined the term braindance to describe the otherwise uncategorisable output of Aphex Twin and Rephlex Records. The official definition is as follows:

Braindance is the genre that encompasses the best elements of all genres, e.g traditional, classical, electronic music, popular, modern, industrial, ambient, hip hop, electro, house, techno, breakbeat, hardcore, ragga, garage, drum and bass, etc.

Rephlex has released the music of many notable and influential electronic artists, among them Mike Paradinas, the founder of Planet Mu Records, synth pop revivalist and electro pioneer Ed Upton, prolific dance musician Luke Vibert, and electronic musician and virtuoso bass player Squarepusher. The label has also remastered and re-released the early works of its acid heroes 808 State and The Future Sound of London, and relaunched the career of electronic duo producers Black Devil with a re-release of their first record.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

That really says nothing, so here are some of my favorite Rephlex Records tracks from the last twenty years...

1991

Brad Strider is Richard D. James, who is also known as Aphex Twin, AFX, Caustic Window, The Tuss and a bunch of other names, both confirmed and not so confirmed. It's his label; why wouldn't the first release be from him under an alias?

I bought it a decade ago on ebay for $125, the second most I've ever paid for a record. I was very pleased (to say the least) to see that it's available of ebay right now for $130. This twelve inch is a trip - it has oversized labels and was released with a "see-through chalk paper sleeve". Also, there was a re-pressing of this with a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT song on the b-side, with no mention ever made to that effect. The songs are simply Bradley's Beat Part One and Two. Also, none of the pressing show what speed to play it at.

Rephlex Cat 001 EP

[Edited 6/4/12 19:34pm]

1992

CAT 002 & 003 have never been released. They were, supposesdly, going to be EPs from Q-Chasitc and Soit PP, two more Richard D. James aliases. There are rumored test pressing of CAT 002, but they've never been heard by anyone if they do really exist. Instead, the only place any music from those "artists" was ever released was on...

The Philosophy Of Sound And Machine was a compilation CD released on the record label Applied Rhythmic Technology (ART) in cooperation with Rephlex. The album is unique due to the Aphex Twin tracks, which were produced under various aliases. It is not uncommon for the compilation to fetch very high prices on eBay.

Track listing

1. Future/Past: "Nebula Variation" - 5:50
2. Q-Chastic: "CAT 002" - 3:58 ( sample (help·info))
3. Soit-P.P.: "n.IASP" - 5:03
4. Redcell: "Bio-Dimension" - 5:54
5. Neuropolitique: "Artemis (Mayday Mix)" - 5:54
6. The Kosmik Kommando: "Remember The Feeling" - 6:25
7. Cmetric: "Debris" - 8:40
8. Balil: "The Whirling Of Spirits" - 5:52
9. Esoterik: "Pursuit" - 5:08
10. Future/Past: "T.R.Y. 2004 Funk" - 5:20
11. Twelve Days Of Night: "Trance" - 6:08
12. Balil: "Small Energies" - 6:08
13. Blue Calx: "Blue Calx" - 7:15

• Q-Chastic, Soit-P.P. and Blue Calx are all aliases of Richard D. James.[1]
• The Soit-P.P. track features the same drum programming as an Aphex Twin track "Ptolemy" off Selected Ambient Works 85-92.
• "Blue Calx" was later released on the Aphex Twin album Selected Ambient Works Volume II.
• Redcell and Cmetric are both aliases of B12. The two songs featured here would later appear on B12's debut album, Electro-Soma.
• Balil is an alias of Plaid. The two songs featured here were later released on the Plaid rarities compilation Trainer.

1992

Cat 003 & Cat 004; Caustic Window; Joyrex J4 and Joyrex J5 EPs

Caustic Window is, surprise! Also Richard D. James. Nearly every track from the (eventual) four Caustic Window EPs were collected on the full-length 'Caustic Window Compilation'. These first two EPs are some of the music that changed a wee Cerebus' life forever back in 1993. At that time, nothing sounded like this stuff...

One of the songs that has never been repressed or otherwise re-released since the original J4 EP is Rich's cover, remake, remix, or whatever it is, of Hot Butter's 'Popcorn Song'. It was originally done without permission. Here's both of them...

1992

Also on Cat 004 EP, Joyrex J4

Italic Eyeball

Cordialatron

1992

CAT 005 EP, Joyrex J5

Astroblaster

On The Romance Tip

Joyrex J5

1992

Also from CAT 005, Joyrex J5

The other never repressed or otherwise re-released track from Caustic Window was untitled at the time of it's release, but later became known as 'R2-D2'. The reason it was never re-released is pretty obvious, it samples the fuck out of Star Wars, and Uncle George does not look kindly upon such things.

1992

Deviation...

Anybody remember that completely mental electronic Pac-Man jam from the early 90s? That was Rich, too, working under the Power-Pill alias (of course, why wouldn't he).

Power-Pill - Pacman (Power-Pill Mix)

Power-Pill - Pacman (Ghost Mix)

1992

CAT 007 EP, the first music released by Rephlex Records that was not produced by Richard D. James.

Kosmik Kommando - The Kosmik Kommando EP

Kosmik Kommando is Mike Dred.

Mike Dred is the general pseudonym of experimental techno DJ, producer, and sound engineer Michael C. Cullen, b. 1967, of Lowestoft, UK. He has been a leading DJ since 1983, a producer since 1988, a sound designer since 1992, and is considered an important figure in the development of acid techno and innovative usage of the Roland TB-303, associating him with fellow artists Tom Middleton, Aphex Twin, and Matthew Herbert.

He is also known as The Kosmik Kommando, Universal Indicator, Chimera, Machine Codes, Space Avenger, and DJ Judge Dred. He was the first artist other than Richard D. James to release a project on Rephlex. His clear vinyl "Kosmik Kommando EP" was the 3rd release and was given a catalogue number CAT007 on account of his interest in James Bond. In addition, the Universal Indicator records released on Rephlex are amongst the most collectible recordings in the history of techno music. Mike Dred established the Machine Codes record label in 1993 and also recorded for R&S Records and R&S Records offshoot Diatomyc. He has also collaborated extensively with the electro-acoustic artist Peter Green (not to be confused with his namesake, the blues-rock guitarist Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac fame) and has produced a one-off collaboration with techno producer Dr. Fernando.

Acclaim

Beyond the techno scene, Mike Dred received an MSc with Distinction in Sound Design from the University of Edinburgh in 2005. Mike Dred was the first DJ producer to get sponsored by the Arts Council of Great Britain and the National Lottery. His works are often used for educational purposes and a selection is part of the prestigious Music Performance Research Centre (MPRC) collection at the Barbican Centre, London. UK.^[1] The publication ' The Rough Guide to Techno', described Mike as “The Jimi Hendrix of the 303” and “Full on Acid Genius”.

As well as presenting new developments in electronic and computer music, Mike has also given lectures on Sound Design and Synthesis. Mike is the inspiration behind Electroacoustic Music being represented on a more popular level. His works with Peter Green dating from 1995 educated & inspired the likes of Richard D. James a.k.a. Aphex Twin to discover the genre culminating in the signing of LPs by Robert Normandeau, Senior Lecturer in Acoustics and Electroacoustics at the Universite de Montreal, Canada and experimentalist Pierre Bastien from France. This helped further establish Rephlex Records as the premier UK electronic label. Mike Dred and Peter Green’s early sonic experiments prompted Dave Robinson, then Editor of Future Music (November 1995, Issue 37), to write: "We boldly call ourselves Future Music. But how often do we bring you something so forward-looking, yet at the same time so contemporary that it might - just might set the agenda for the next post-techno, post-analogue phase?"

Mike Dred is on the * SPNM composer short list for 2005 to 2008 using his given name Michael Cullen.

1992

CAT 007, Kosmik Kommando - The Kosmik Kommando EP

Remember The Feeling

Untitled

1992

CAT TB 303, Universal Indicator, Blue

This is what the Universal Indicator is, scientifically speaking.

This is what Universal Indicator is, musically speaking.

Upon there initial release back in 92-95, nobody knew who these releases were being produced by. From Wiki...

Universal Indicator is the group name for Rephlex Records artists, Richard D. James (as Martin Tresidder [1]) and Mike Dred (aka The Kosmik Kommando). The name is a reference to the signature acid techno sound found on all the releases. 5 projects were released, and a compilation CD was mixed by Mike Dred. All the albums are different colours used on the UI spectrum. They were released in the following order: Blue, Red, Yellow, Green. Blue and Yellow were produced by Dred while Red and Green are often attributed to by James, though never officially.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That's right, almost twenty years later and there is still no conformation that Rich produced those tracks. It's still a mystery, kind of.

The mixed Mike Dred CD compilation wasn't released until six years after the last Rephlex twelve inch (Green). That same year, 2001, Mike Dred also released the final twelve inch in the series, but he did so on a different label.

1992

CAT TB 303, Universal Indicator, Blue

Dark Angel

Thoughts Of You

Definitely A Head Doer

Pause...

Cerebus is annoyed right now because there are exactly ZERO videos on YouTube for the next release he wants to post songs from; Synectics - The Purple Universe. So much is there now that it's off-putting when something you want to hear isn't already available. Cerebus is going to grab the CD and see if it would be worth it to rip some songs, create videos and post them on the Tubes.

And please do lol

Timmy84 said:

And please do lol

Well OK then! I actually just finished uploading the last video about five o'clock, made & ate dinner, and now I'm ready.

Probably going to just make a list of shit I want/need to upload in the future, though. Making the videos is too damn time consuming.

Cerebus said:

Timmy84 said:

And please do lol

Well OK then! I actually just finished uploading the last video about five o'clock, made & ate dinner, and now I'm ready.

Probably going to just make a list of shit I want/need to upload in the future, though. Making the videos is too damn time consuming.

I feel ya... I went through the same prob (not anymore).

Still messin' around with Rephlex, we venture into...

1993

CAT 006 Synectics, The Purple Universe

This was released in a clear plastic case with a solid purple tray, a purple cd and a single page purple paper insert. In very tiny print at the very bottom of the inside of the insert were the composers names. No other information was provided. Not even song titles. The front side of the insert is what you see in the video.

The two guys responsible for it, Marco Repetto and Stefan Riessen, have released a fairly large amount of music under many different aliases, but also created a handful of record labels responsible for another couple hundred releases combined.

This particular release was something different for Rephlex at the time. It was more chilled out - even ambient in places. Kind of, ambiet acid house. Rich was always a fan of the early 808 State and FSOL stuff, and this release is in that same vein.

[Edited 6/5/12 18:36pm]

1993

CAT 006 CD, Synectics, The Purple Universe

Zycoon

Free Sphere

Natural

If anybody is really interested, which I doubt, there's two more videos from this album on my YouTube channel.

1993

CAT 008 and 008 CD, CAT 00897, CAT 008 LP - AFX in his third Analogue Bubblebath

The first release by Rich on Rephlex under his AFX/Aphex Twin moniker.

As you suspect by the name of this release, there were two previous Analogue Bubblebaths, but neither of them were released on Rephlex (AB1 is an all-time classic front to back, AB2 contains Digeridoo, one of Rich's most well known early tracks).

This release exists in many formats and configurations. So many that's it's annoying. I'll give a short version rather than try and explain it all..

There was an original CD and vinyl EP version back in 1993. From one to the other, those vinyl and CD versions had some different tracks on them, but they were mostly short filler, noise type pieces. Then, the CD was re-configured and re-released in 1998 with some completely new tracks as well as some edited versions of the tracks on the first version. At that time there was a NEW vinyl EP released as Analogue Bubblebath 3.1 (CAT 00897) which contained four of the tracks from the reconfigured version of the CD with a fifth track after a lock groove on the b-side that has only ever been available on that release. I'm really hoping that one is on YouTube. Lastly, the reconfigured 1998 version of the CD was released as a heavyweight double twelve inch in 2002 with the same configuration (CAT 008 LP).

The original CD release, CAT 008 CD, shipped in a bubble wrap sleeve with a sticker attached. It looked like this...

The 1998 version of the CD shipped in a clear, slimline jewel case. Some of them supposedly came inside of a larger bubble wrap envelope, but I enver saw one of those. They looked like this...

For all intents and purposes, all songs/pieces were untitled. They have titles now, but they're just as ridiculous as not giving them titles to begin with.

[Edited 6/5/12 19:20pm]