Selected Ambient Works 85-92

Much of this sounds like the background to a shower sex scene. But like. In an outdoor shower so it’s romantic.

although technically I listened, it was as if I didn't because I remember nothing.

Boy, they weren't kidding when they put the word "ambient" in the title of this. It was on, there were beats, I absorbed it all and yet retained not a millisecond of any of it. I don't really know how to have an emotional response to music like this, and I don't really suspect anyone in Aphex Twin even set out to achieve that with this record. It's got ambient in the title! It's not supposed to engage anyone! Which makes it all the more baffling that some dude thinks this record is one of 1,000 best records of all time. OF ALL TIME.

This is an wonderful album to listen to when you don't necessarily want to listen to music but don't want silence. I would like to have this entire album be the soundtrack of my life, I think. Just chill, wordless music that is upbeat.

An exhausted looking group of people sits around a large conference room table. Cheesburger wrappers, paper coffee cups, and stack after stack of glossy album art cover every inch. A balding man wearily pushes his chair away and stands. Rubbing his temples, he bellows, "Goddammit, one more! One fucking more and we can all go home!" He slumps back into his chair, hands covering his face, and pleads, "Please tell me somebody's got something." He looks into the eyes of the others around the table. From each, his gaze is returned with the thousand yard stare of someone that has endured an experience so horrific that it can never be spoken of again. But the death march is not over and no one offers to take the final step. His forehead hits the table with a limp thunk. The conference room door opens and the intern enters with more bad coffee. "Who needs cream and sugar?" A resonant 'bing' signals the arrival of the elevator. The doors slide open and the cleaning crew piles out to begin their nightly chores. The manager's ears prick up a hunting dog that's heard the rustling of game in the underbrush. He points excitedly in the direction of the people exiting the elevator. "That's it! We're saved! That's 1001!" And that's how this album of elevator music got included on this list.

I'm not into electronic music so this felt like being stuck in an endless loop of two notes. You get used to it, like the noise of an airplane engine on a 14 hour flight.

Although I have owned two Aphex Twin albums in the past (his more raucous, jungle-inflected stuff), to be honest Aphex Twin is an artist I have found easier to admire than like unquestionly. The story of Aphex Twin fascinates, partly due to Richard D. James' gleeful mythomania. Among his claims include sleeping 2 hours a night, gaining musical inspiration from lucid dreaming, scratching sandpaper instead of records, owning a tank (apparently, he actually owns an armoured car), living in a bank vault, purchasing the Michael Faraday Memorial, playing gigs in people's living rooms, and being named after a stillborn older brother. One of these legends is that this album assembles tracks he had lain down since the age of 14 on his ZX Spectrum, hence the timeframe indicated on the title. But is the music as interesting as the lore? The adjectives Aphex Twin generates seem impressive to some: experimental, challenging, innovative, unique, uncompromising. To multitudes, those terms inspire despair rather than intrigue. It appears tailor-made to accompany an Adam Curtis montage or Chris Morris' more surreal excursions; again, that thought will cause some to weep. But I am a sturdier figure. I chew up supposedly formidable works as if they were made by Wrigleys. Over this week, I have listened to Selected Ambient Works 85-92 thrice, and yes, it conjures those dread phrases "rewards repeated listenings" and "on its own terms". On the first occasion, which was not part of the reviewing process, I was, like I suspect many others would be, a trifle bored. It's an hour of ambient electronic dance music ca. 1985-1992. It sounds like an hour of ambient electronic dance music ca. 1985-1992. It didn't sound unpleasant, but unengaging and meandering. So, I continued with my assumption that Aphex Twin was not that embraceable. The second time, after the generator presented it, I found it much more alluring. The ambient nature of the album clicked, and I thought myself foolish for my prior dismissal. The third time, whilst writing this, I focused more the textures of individual tracks, and I was oft reminded of a group I adore, PiL (just checked, and the album does sample PiL's Fodderstompf). Like PiL's early work, the iciness may lead even those who appreciate difficult music to have their misgivings, but I'm not one of them. So yes, I like Aphex Twin, and I like this album a lot. By the by, Fact magazine (no, I haven't heard of it either) named this as the greatest album of the 90s. Even though this is an excellent album, can you think of a more pretentious choice?

Easily, easily, easily one of the best albums ever made.

Absolutely love this. Sounds like its from the future and ancient at the same time. It's incredible he was 14 making some of these tracks

Great album with classic beeps and boops

OH MY GOD, 1001 ALBUMS GENERATOR, WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO TO ME? This is nonsense of the highest degree. I just forced my way through Nightmares on Wax, and this is what you serve up next.?! Give me a break that this is "before you die" critical listening. Music for a rave is great for ravers the same way that an album of dogs barking is great for dogs - I am neither, and am uninterested in both. No.

Takes me way back when we used to sit in me mates treehouse and smoke stuff we shouldn't have. Glourios sounds and moods that take you somewhere else ambient as a masterpiece. Aphex is the king

Underwhelming, but good for programming. I've been told the album was historically significant for electronic music, but it wasn't that exciting by today's standards.

Want to fill a room with a series of random drums, clicks, and keyboard that is completely unremarkable? Then this is the album for you!

Excellent classic electronica. Wide variety of beats and moods. Fun to hear some stuff that ends up getting sampled by others later. Also makes me want to listen to some Orbital...

Lovely great trippy swooshing noises. Less aggressive then a lot of his work. Beautiful stuff.

First time listen. This blew me away.

Somehow I thought Aphex Twin was super heavy so I was not looking forward to this (I have a headache). But it's lovely and chill. Despite the title, none of the tracks sound like they could have come from the mid 80s. It's a super modern excursion into electronica that feels exactly like it would have shaken things up in 1992. Yes, it's another influential album and it's very much of its age, but it still holds up. This album makes me want to go and hang out in a park.

finally a good electronica album... omfg it's soooo good

It's good, but it shouldn't have been included on the list over SAW II. But after omitting Mezzanine, I'm convinced these people don't understand electronic music at all.

I love the story that these songs were recorded on homemade equipment when he was 14 and the sound quality is bad because his cat damaged the original cassette! Nice ambient pieces, the sampling is subtle, the hooks are catchy as they would need to be if you're going to build a whole song around them (I prefer 4-5 minutes vs 8-9!). It reminds me of a chill version of the techno that was coming out in the late 80s.

Selected Ambient Works indeed. It does its job as advertised.

What even is this? This is terrible. Boring and repetitious. I'll never listen to this on purpose again.

Putting aside the fact that I’m not really sure a lot of this classifies as “ambient” music - some of it is very busy and attention grabbing rather than something that hangs in the ethereal back drop - I like this record, always have, especially the tracks that are on the more ambient side.

without knowing the chronology, the earliest-sounding (or at least the most 80ish) track is "Delphium" Sometimes pretty, sometimes spooky (Hedphelym), as it stands I think I appreciate it more than the Moby album from this list but less than the Boards of Canada one. Definitely won't try listening to this on the bus again, but I think it might be valuable for writing/studying to in the future. HL: “Xtal”, “Heliosphan”, “Hedphelym”, “Ageispolis” July 4, 2023

Gosh, this is really good. I dig on some ambient tunes, both electro and otherwise. Metric Systems, Sarah Neufeld et al have really drunk from the Aphex fountain. This made me feel safe and at home, while taking me many places in space and time as well. Gotta love the history of these jams.

This seminal album is by the OG of Electronica. There are some great hooks and melodies buried in these tracks and many of them have gone on to become classics. I think the title is misleading though as its more Electronica Lite rather than Ambient music

Is it true that Richard, the Aphex Twin guy is the spawn of productivity lovers David Allen and Stephen Covey? ----- The main goal of ambient music is to fade into the background and be forgotten. This album does a fine job of that. The only memorable things about Aphex Twin are the album covers which give me NIGHTMARES. The thought of being stoned out of my mind and floating through some warehouse rave with this guy spinning is really attractive (is that still a thing?), though these days, crossing things off my to-do list is just as fulfilling. Richard Marx -er Richard James, the freaky guy in the blue bikini, was ahead of his time, there are literally loads of playlists and channels on Spotify, XM, Soundcloud, etc. with titles like "deep meditation" to get shit done. Go ahead, turn this on and start powering through all the albums you still have yet to rate.

I put this album on the big speakers in the other room while I worked on Friday. It was great background sound whilst I plugged away. It’s now Sunday night and I was prepared to mail in my *** rating. However, I decided to listen and skip around one last time before moving on to the next album on the list. Surprisingly, I did more listening than skipping. The beats are varied, present, but not in your face. I’ve dabbled in electronic/ambient/trance music before. I am quite impressed this came out in 1992. 1992 blows my mind because a lot of it sounds current and innovative for today.

The 1001 albums app made a mistake: the album's title should here read: "Selected Ambient Works *Volume II*". That's the one that's a keeper, even if the first volume is quite an interesting release in itself for all fans of EDM/IDM (especially because of its three highlights "Xtal", "Tha" and "Heliosphan"). So, yes, *85-92* is fine. But out of the two volumes, the second one fares better as an integral and complete artistic statement. In fact, its dark and mesmerizing experimental sounds haven't aged a day. That's where you recognize a true masterpiece in the electronic genre. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selected_Ambient_Works_Volume_II Number of albums left to review: 670 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 161 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 76 (including this one) Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 93

A totally unexpected treat. I was expecting gloom and fug and got synapse-snapping electronics and good humour.

This album is perfect to have on in the background whilst studying or working. Great lo-fi beats and sounds like something a 24/7 YouTube channel would be playing. Not sure if I can pick a best and worst, the whole album is pretty cohesive.

It's ok, nothing too crazy. I wouldn't listen to it ever again though.

Never heard of this guy or his album... but I'll give it a whirl. Did a bit of background searching on the album, found there's a lot of people got a full hard-on for this stuff, disecting it and the brilliance of it all. Personally, it opens well, so ok, it's ambient music, ok I get that, but more than half way through the album you realise it's the same baseline and haunting synth strap. So in summary, grand if you've dropped a tab and off tripping, off in a wee colourful spaced out wonderland with this album randomly reminding you of your heartbeat with the baseline drum beat... other than that, I can think of no occasion I'd ever want to listen to this, or to go tripping out of my head either... I prefer music played by musicians on actual instruments, not something created on a laptop by a computer programmer.

Maybe it's groundbreaking but it's also mind-numbingly boring.

Much of it sounds like background music for the Discovery Channel show How Its Made.

Maybe this stuff was interesting or innovative in the cultural and artistic hellscape that was the 90s. Here in 2024, it’s just boring noises.

I heard someone say it's something you'd listen to if you didn't want music and didn't want silence and that does a good job summing it up. A publication said this was the BEST album of the 90s and that is so far from the truth.

.....

Qu'est-ce que tu nous as encore préparé, Robert... Cet album est tellement dépourvu d'intérêt qu'il doit se sentir comme un poisson dans l'eau dans cet incompréhensible générateur d'idioties. Robert, sache que je vais faire de la place dans mon emploi du temps pour surveiller tes moindres faits et gestes pendant les prochaines semaines…

I am aware that this is insanely influential and a sacred cow among music nerds, but today it just sounds like somebody messing around with FL Studio presets. Ambient music is really hit or miss for me. I can't tell you with I loved Jean-Michel Jarre's "Oxygéne" and why this album completely flew over my head. Best part was when he used the goofy ass Looney Tunes "BOING!" sound effect in "Green Calx".

This album was so long and after the first few songs was pretty boring. It’s really only sufficient use is background music and even then there are more enjoyable options. Not a fan of this one. 1.3/10

I thought Aphex Twin was the cutting edge of left field electronic dance music. This sounds a bit like background music for a moderately successful tv show. It probably sounded more out there at the time but I think things have moved on since then.

Perfect album it you don’t want to actually listen to anything and simply have some music on in the background.

I mean it's literally ambient music - I don't get it. 2/10.

Not my bag this I'm afraid, listened to it but had to skip some tracks. "Pulsewidth" is a good track and "I" appealed....a bit but not one for me I'm afraid.

Awful and annoying

No

Been a while since I've listened to Aphex Twin, but I'll welcome any excuse to go back. This is a long compilation style album spanning his work from 85-92, which is wild considering he was only 14 in 1985. Not really what I typically associate with the term "ambient," but who really cares. Opens with Xtal that has a dancey vibe and vaporous atmosphere with fuzzy edges and warm bleeding synth lines. It's a similar sound that Burial applies; however, far brighter in overall tone. Tha descends deeper into tunnel-dwelling territory driven by a distant heartbeat bass and drum machine click that sounds like it is emanating from an adjacent room. All the while, angelic synths grace in and out along with distant incoherent shimmering vocal samples. The effect is nearing transcendent -- beautiful. Has a similar structure to some more modern Four Tet work. Ageispolis has a nice hip-hop inspired beat carried largely by the thump of a warm 808. Were it not for the aural + bleeping synths, this would feel right at home backing a Beastie Boys song. Went heads down on work for a bit there, but came back to for the deeply unsettling Hedphelym. Stomping bass with warbling synths going in and out of tune create an eerie vibe. While I didn't have the ability to give a fully focused review, I absolutely love this album. While there isn't a central thread tying everything together, the individual songs and textures are wonderful throughout. High 4 to soft 5 depending on the day... Erring on the high side today -- Like a 9.2 or something.

Ενα απτα αγαπημενα μου αλμπουμ ολων των εποχων.

A masterpiece of electronic and ambient music that stands up to any album in 2024. 5/5

Beautiful album.

The GOAT. It’s incredible how these sounds and textures were produced in the 80s.

Aphex Twin? On a lazy sunday? You spoil me. I know this album already, and will be giving it a score I think it's deserved since I first listened to it after having a DnB and Skrillex inspired Dubstep phase. One of the albums that inspired me to form more of a catalogue than what I and others in my niche already knew. 9.5/10

Ok, my strong feeling here is that if you're going to put Aphex Twin in this list, this is the wrong album. 'Selected Ambient Works Vol 2' is a lucid dreamscape. The tracks eschew traditional titles and each have vague pictures attached via a cryptic key. 'drukqs' is a twisted, chaotic jungle pushed to its breaking point and intercut with strange prepared piano tracks. 'The Richard D James Album' is a dark humor-tinged and deeply experimental but with enough pop qualities that he thought he could get on Top of the Pops. Aphex Twin is deeply weird and a fascinating artist. This album doesn't do his legacy justice. It's arguably the safest album though. It's probably the only Aphex Twin release you could put on at a party. Others would have your friends either too focused on the music to socialize or looking everywhere for an excuse to leave, depending on their styles. 'SAW 85-92' is still a great album though. The style of chilled out ambient techno was pretty different than anything out there. It's techno but not to dance to. It's ambient but more engaging. If the title is to be believed, Richard James started writing these ages around age 14. He was heavily involved with the music scene of Cornwall, whose dramatic landscapes often seep into the music. He would later be surrounded by various myths, some surely made up by James himself. He recorded in a disused bank vault, he bought an old tank to keep on his front lawn, he DJed with sandpaper, he went deaf and played music by smelling the grooves on records (that one was obviously one of his stranger jokes). Do yourself a favor and listen to some of Aphex Twin's later work in addition to this. Love it or hate it, it's definitely interesting. There's never been another artist quite like him. I'm giving this one 5 stars on the strength of his entire discography, since I only have one album to rate.

Very influential, quite enjoyable

One of my all time favorites. The follow up album is even better.

Selected Ambient Works 85-92 is the debut album from Aphex Twin, the on-stage moniker for Richard D. James. This is a brilliant work of electronic music, and the beginning of perhaps the longest and most influential career in electronic music. If the title is accurate, some of these tracks were composed when James was fourteen. These songs feature techno rhythms and structures - the album was on many "best of dance albums" from the year and the decade - but played into an ambient sound space. The result is beautiful dance music, of a meditative sense and feel. Through his career, James played in a incredibly wide range of styles of electronic music; he is one of the artists credited with adding breadth to the genre.

why didn't i listen to Aphex Twin before?

I don’t care how long you’ve been listening to electronic music, or how old, or young you are, this is a must listen to album for any fan of electronic music. This is a “know your roots” type album, and I think that’s why this is such a great album that should be on everyone’s list if they are new to electronic music. These tracks are already 30+ years old, and it has definitely stood the test of time, and this is a album that I know I’ll probably be going back to every now of than in 20 years from now.

very good sound

Epic

Me and this album have many memories, chilling with friends, post party early mornings, late night gatherings. Sheer ambient bliss. It’s not for everyone but for me it’s my go to album to find that zen place.

Very cool. Been getting some good ones lately. With ambient and electronic, I feel like you either have it or you don’t and this has it.

yes yes yes, so amazing.

An absolute classic, and an electronic music album for the ages.

Wonderfully inventive. Amazing how modern the sounds are for the time. Beautiful composition and chill vibe. Aphex Twin walked so that 21st century music could run.

Just lovely.

An outstanding debut into the world of ambient techno. A surprise and a revelation.

Just amazing. 5. Can listen to it in so many ways. If seminal was an album.

Great Ambient/Space Music….9/10

Com tempo e maturidade, fui capaz de ter inteligência par curtir a criatividade da construção sonora com as camadas eletrônicas. Assim, o disco se tornou um dos meus preferidos.

WAUW Wat een trip is dit album zeg, sowieso EINDELIJK een elektronisch album! En wat voor een is dit meteen zeg... Tuurlijk is dit een bekend album, maar ik heb het eerlijk gezegd nog nooit echt geluisterd en ik ben nu ontzettend blij dat ik dat heb gedaan. Het is een echte trip en hoewel niet elk nummer even goed werkt vind ik het wel echt een vernieuwend album. Ik heb het album geluisterd op mn speakers in de woonkamer en die hebben ook wel echt bijgedragen aan het luisterplezier. Elke toon komt zo mooi binnen en het is als een soort elektronisch jazz album bijna. Bedenk dat dit album uit 1992 kwam en dat sommige nummers als in 1985 gemaakt zijn!!!! Dit zou nu nog steeds een vernieuwend album zijn als het uitkwam. En hoewel ik zeg dat niet alles werkt vind ik het in zn geheel zo ontzettend vet en interessant dat dit voor mij gewoon 5 sterren is. Fantastisch en ik kijk nu al uit naar meer elektronische albums! FAVO: Xtal, Tha, Pulsewidth, Ageispolis, Heliosphan, We Are the music makers, Schottkey 7th path, Ptolemy, Delphium, Actium

Love her

פצצתי

I listened to this album around a year ago when doing a short-lived YouTube review show. I liked it at the time, but I feel like I enjoyed it much more this time around. It is that super mellow type of electronic music. IDM feels like such a pompous descriptor (intelligent dance music) but I guess this is was it probably comes under. The music is meditative and is that auditory Ritalin that I also found with Boards Of Canada. I definitely need to listen to this more often.

I fuckin love this album

Great album. Very detailed if you choose to listen closely but also just has a great overall atmosphere. Could be played running, on a long drive or at a club. This album really is just weaves its way into a life soundtrack very easily. Equal parts club and ambient. Alien and analog. I don't know why I write reviews but highlights for me are: Pulsewidth, Xtal, Tha, I, Heliosphan, Hedphelym and Actium but it's a good overall album listening experience.

Sjukt bra blippblopp-album. Han lyckas få till väldigt intressanta trummor, fina melodier och framförallt ett mycket unikt sound. Just denna platta tycker jag har ett speciellt sound som är svårt att beskriva. Omslaget passar iallafall känslan. Väldigt fint. Aphex Twin är en av de bästa inom elektronisk musik och det var kul att lyssna på denna skiva en gång till.

Belter of a record. Constant companion throughout the stoner years. Still listened to now. Proudest moment of fatherhood yet when daughter 1 returned home with a vinyl copy from Rough Trade. We raised her good.

First listened to and liked as a stoned teenager. Then probably didn’t listen to it for 20 years or so, and hasn’t really left my regular play list since. It’s hard to describe but I just find it kind of dreamlike, intensely relaxing, a bit like a warm hug really. Ageispolis in particular must be one of my favourite songs ever (that baseline!). My issue is that I’ve never found anything else like it to add to the playlist. Aphex Twin’s other work is obvs quite the opposite, maybe Boards of Canada’s frost album gets a bit close. All help welcome!

I don't remember when I heard this first but feels like it has always been around. Still chills me out after all these years, you can't ask for more than that. Ambient Techno doesn't quite do it justice, it's just the future. I like the idea he created a few songs to clear the raves he was DJing at but not sure that would work with this. Up there with Sabre as as a game changer for my listening tastes, genius.

Could listen to this all day, and feel good the whole time.

set the bar for electronic music

My kinda music. Loved this. A very nice long bus journey to work. Perfect accompaniment for reading Flash comics. Really enjoyed.

bangers. on bangers. on bangers. peak edm. love it.

Nowhere near as terrifying as some of his other work, this collection of ambient tracks are the perfect entry point for the genius that is Aphex Twin. The glitch is still here, it's just not a worm burrowing into your skull, it's a butterfly landing on your ear. Best Tracks: Xtal; Ageispolis; Ptolemy

Classic album. While I am a bigger fan of Selected Works II, this one is still a great listen from time to time. 4.5/5

Genius. Reliable sends me elsewhere

These tracks were recorded be Richard D James when he was between the ages of 14 and 21. A lot of it on homemade equipment. It's a new take on the ambient idea that features a beat instead of just a background soundscape. This is also one of the pivitol albums of electronic music. Each track has an organic feel to it and it feels almost otherworldly, paying homage to the electronic pioneers that came before but taking it to a whole new place. My favorite track is Ageispolis. I love the bass melody and the trick beat that almost makes it sound like the track is slowing down when the tone drops. That being said, the whole album is a masterpiece to me without a weak moment on it. Each track is unique enough to keep the interest going and once I start with the opening notes to Xtal, I have to play the whole thing.

I've been listening to this album for a while, but I watched a YouTube doc on Aphex Twin in the last year that did a lot to help me understand the significance of this album. It really is one of those foundational works that helps change the direction of a genre. I don't like the label Intelligent Dance Music, but I do like a lot of the music that has been released under that moniker. This album is the genesis of that movement, and an excellent work in its own right 5/5

My love. Favourite

Vuonna 92 julkaistuksi teokseksi... hehh.... aika paljon edellä aikaansa.. ehkä 3v... EI VOI LLA ALBUMI YHTÄ KYMMENKUNTA VUOTTA EDELLÄ::: muistakaa..... Does not sound like the best of 2000s.. Everyone catched up..

I've always enjoyed how unique this album sounds and feels. Varied and uncomfortable. The dissonance on Hedphelym is truly unsettling.

Probably one of the most influential best records my earholes have ever been fortunate enough to receive sonically.

the only album my da ever forbade me from playing on the stereo because 'it's not real music, it's just noise, it's doing me head in, would you not just put on some of them radiohead lads again, at least there's a bit of a melody in their stuff' Love you da but there’s more to music than the Fureys

This is some pretty good lofi music

AWESOME!!!!!!

Nice to come back and meet this. I'd give this six out of five stars every day of the week. By coincidence, I've been listening to an IDM essentials playlist on Spotify, and was idly musing to myself yesterday that one out of every four songs seems to be courtesy of Apex or derivatives therein (Polygon Window, for example.) Let's ignore the presumptions, both loaded and imagined, behind the name, and acknowledge a basic fact: whatever the IDM label represents, it exists (not "it was created") thanks to this album. Up there with In A Silent Way, the Breaking and Entering OST, Music Has The Right To Children, and 76:14 as the albums I'd give my first born away in order to keep. (My first born is 17. If you knew him, you'll understand that this isn't quite as drastic as it sounds :)

Ich wußte garnicht wie geile smoothe Ambient Sachen er gemacht hat