Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works Vol 2

If you've been paying close enough attention for the last five months, you'd know that this is my second Aphex Twin post. The main reason I'm posting songs from another Aphex Twin album really is pretty simple, the two records I've now posted sound absolutely nothing alike. Whilst Drukqs was more of an exercise in scattered beat IDM and was much more of a brutal, fast paced record. This record, as the name may sudgest is an ambient electronic work and it deserves as much attention as any of D. James more upbeat releases.

It's always amazed me that each track here almost form together despite this in fact being a collection of unrelated pieces. Perhaps that has something to do with the general soundscapes the music creates. I'd hate to sound tacky and cliqued here but this music really does almost seem like painting a picture of another world. The ambiance also seems to give off a wide variety of emotions. Whilst there are some tracks that would make fantastic sound tracks to nightmares or a psychological horror movie, others just give off a completely relaxing if slightly melancholy vibe. For some reason I think "Rhubarb" would be the perfect sound track to a stoner being told their mum is dead. I'm not really sure why. What really closes the deal is that this is a two disc set. James managed to keep this up for the course of two whole hours, never really giving you a chance to lose interest.

Rhubarb
Parallel Stripes
Hexagon

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