Selected Ambient Works Volume II

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Selected Ambient Works Volume II
Studio album by Aphex Twin

Publication
(s)

March 7, 1994

Label (s) Warp Records WARP21
Sire
Warner Bros. Records

Format (s)

CD , LP , MC

Genre (s)

Electronic music
ambient

Title (number)

23 (CD)
25 (LP, MC)

running time

156: 32 (Europe, CD)
151: 58 (worldwide, CD)
166: 40 (LP, CD)

production

Richard D. James ( Aphex Twin )

chronology
Selected Ambient Works 85-92
1992 		Selected Ambient Works Volume II Ventolin (EP)
1995

Selected Ambient Works Volume II (mostly abbreviated as SAW2 ) is the second studio album by Aphex Twin and is the successor to the album Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (1992). The album, which was released in 1994, was number 11 in the British album charts for three weeks.

Overview

Volume II differs from its predecessor SAW85–92 in that it consists of longer textual ambient compositions, if at all with only minimal beats and speech samples. It is therefore similar to Brian Eno's ambient works . Richard D. James described the album as "being in a power distributor on acid " and also said that the notes on the record were inspired by his lucid dreams and that he tried to recreate them when he woke up and record. He is also a synaesthetist , which also contributed to this album.

Artwork

The album consists of 25 individual pieces, all of which are untitled with the exception of Blue Calx . The booklet accompanying the album features a series of images that represent the title of each track and a blue emblem for the title Blue Calx . The abstract images contain colored pie charts that show which tracks belong to which vinyl side and the approximate length of the tracks. (For example, the first vinyl page is shown here as mustard yellow.) Officially, the tracks were simply named after their number, but fans have renamed the compositions - based on the pictures for the tracks (so track 3 was named "Rhubarb" (Eng. Rhubarb). Several of the images were changed on the US edition of the album; they were either blurred or replaced by others. Track 19 simply left an empty square. Therefore, the track names for these pieces are sometimes changed.

Due to the limited playing time of an audio CD, track 19 has been removed from the CD version. This has now become the standard, even for online versions of the album. This track was published on a compilation album by Astralwerks - the title is simply # 19 . Track 4 from the first disc is also missing on the original US version. The vinyl edition came on the market in two versions: A normal black vinyl printing with colored inserts and a limited edition in brown vinyl and with monochrome photos .

reception

The critics of allmusic and Rolling Stone gave the album 4 out of 5 points, the Spin magazine gave it 8 out of 10 points. The professional music critic Robert Christgau gave the album a B- .

Chart positions

The album was number 11 on the UK album charts for three weeks.

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
Selected Ambient Works Volume II
  UK 11 03/19/1994 (3 weeks)

Remixes

  • Track 2 was later released on the remix album 26 Mixes for Cash (2003), titled SAW2 CD1 TRK2 (Original Mix) . The piece was actually recorded for Aphex Twins Peel Session in 1995.
  • Track 7 was remixed with the LFO song Simon from Sidney by Pram . This happened for the compilation album Warp 10 + 3: Remixes . Four Tet also remixed the first track on the album, also known as Cliffs , for this album .
  • Cover versions of Blue Calx and Track 1, played on acoustic instruments by the classic Ensemble Alarm Will Sound , appeared on their album Acoustica in 2005 .

Track list

CD 1, vinyl and MC sides 1 to 3

  1. Untitled - 7:27 aka Cliffs
  2. Untitled - 6:34 known as: Radiator
  3. Untitled - 7:44 Genres: Rhubarb
  4. Untitled - 4:34 is missing from the US version, known as: Hankie
  5. Untitled - 8:55 Genres: Grass
  6. Untitled - 3:31 aka Mold
  7. Untitled - 8:51 known as: Curtains
  8. Untitled - 5:08 known as: Blur
  9. Untitled - 6:54 known as: Weathered Stone
  10. Untitled - 9:58 aka Tree
  11. Untitled - 7:18 known as: Domino
  12. Untitled - 2:38 aka White Blur 1

Playing time: 79:32 (UK-CD, LP and MC), 74:58 (US-CD)

CD 2, vinyl and MC sides 4 to 6

  1. Blue Calx - 7:20
  2. Untitled - 8:00 am known as: Parallel Stripes
  3. Untitled - 5:34 known as: Shiny Metal Rods
  4. Untitled - 4:45 known as: Gray Stripe
  5. Untitled - 2:05 known as: z Twig
  6. Untitled - 7:17 known as: Window Sill
  7. Untitled - 10:08 is missing from the CD versions, known as: Stone in Focus
  8. Untitled - 5:57 known as: Hexagon
  9. Untitled - 4:15 Genres: Lichen
  10. Untitled - 7:09 known as: Spots
  11. Untitled - 7:30 am known as: Tassels
  12. Untitled - 11:27 aka White Blur 2
  13. Untitled - 5:41 known as: Matchsticks

Playing time: 77:00 (CD), 87:08 (LP, MC)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll. Fireside, New York, ISBN 978-0-7432-9201-6 , p. 24.
  2. ↑ In the original: "... like standing in a power station on acid ..."
  3. ↑ a b David Toop : Lost in space . In: The Face . EMAP. March 1994. Archived from the original on June 3, 2008. Retrieved November 14, 2009.
  4. ↑ Phobiazero: The Aphex Twin Community: Selected Ambient Works Volume II . AphexTwin dot NU. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
  5. ↑ Warp Records: Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works Vol II . Warp dot net. Retrieved February 6, 2010.
  6. ↑ https://www.allmusic.com/album/mw0000111038
  7. ↑ Jon Wiederhorn: Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works Volume II. In: Rolling Stone Magazine. June 30, 1994, archived from the original on February 22, 2008 ; accessed on October 26, 2014 (English).
  8. ↑ http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=aphex+twin
  9. ↑ Charts UK

Web links