1. Aphex TwinSelected Ambient Works
I know that if you make electronic music saying ‘I like Aphex Twin’ is a bit like putting ‘I like reading’ on your CV. However, this has to go on despite it being very obvious and the fact that I probably listen to Amber more than I listen to this – having both seems a bit excessively Warpy.
I was given this for my birthday by a girl in my class when I was 15 or 16. At the time I was a guitar player and at first I was not sure about it at all, but luckily I didn’t have that many CDs so I stuck with it and it grew on me. Bit-by-bit I stopped wanting to work out how classic guitar tones were recorded and started wanting to work out how he made those alien noises, and could I do that with enough effects pedals? This got me into Warp records, which got me into bleep, which got me into jungle and techno and God bless this record. If that wasn’t enough, and it is, also, later at university I took that same girl out to see AFX play at the NIA centre in Manchester and we got together at that show and now she’s my wife. This reads like a Reddit thread, I know, but there it is, the greatest symmetry in my life. Also, she likes reading but doesn’t put that on her CV.
Plus, despite all the good things that this album has going for it, there’s more. I have a healthy collection of vinyl, a few cleaners, nice needles and have strong opinions on which way the inner sleeve should be oriented but the truculent part of me really enjoys the fact that the record most precious to me in all the world is a CD.
