Aphex Twin - Didgeridoo EP (1992)

Aphex Twin. Is there any more revered figure among both EDM fans and indie hipsters in all of dance music? He's invented genres (well, he's the only one in Drill ' N Bass, but still), sold millions of albums, and garnered rave reviews from basically everyone. But was his first steps into a more techno based sound in the early 90's any good?

First up, Didgeridoo is a great song, and is possibly the most unique piece of EDM I've ever heard. It draws heavily from the native music of the Aboriginal people of Australia, and adds a dash of modernism in the form of acid breaks and weird synth bird chirps to create a strange track that manages to be both dancable and ambient at the same time. How Aphex Twin got acid to imitate a didgeridoo is unreal, and it works to create a mystically menacing sonic soundscape that entrances.

Analogue Bubblebath is the complete opposite of Didgeridoo. It's far simpler, a mix of relaxing breaks and floating synths, evoking the scene of a sunny nautical journey, with horns sounding in the distance. Flaphead starts the inorganic techno that Twin would become famous for later on, throwing around some harsh beats and abrasive acid, but still somehow manages to stay interesting over seven minutes. Isoprophlex is basically the same thing, but worse.

Really, Aphex Twin tries really hard to make evil music, doesn't he? I think of lot of his later stuff comes off as second rate industrial beats. It's not awful, but please, get back to your early 90's stuff, Selected Ambient Works, Didgeridoo, Analogue Bubblebath, Polygon Window.

Now that my short rant is over, the Didgeridoo EP is still a good pickup, especially for the first two songs.

Here's a link to Didgeridoo:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAkFBQ6sIcc