Aphex Twin - Rare Stuff, Part 2

Here we go with Part 2. Just so you know, I don't like to do transcodes but, in the case of several of these tracks, it was quite necessary. This was mostly due to damaged files or slight improvements on the quality of the existing sources. Everything I had an original copy or lossless rip of was used over MP3s, but some things just don't exist in higher quality, at least not to the public.


Aphex Twin - Rare Stuff: Disc 2

01 Polygon Window - My Teapot
This is Richard's contribution to Warp's Artificial Intelligence II compilation. Not really rare, but I've found a lot of people who had no idea it existed, so I'm posting it. On a related note, on the first Artificial Intelligence comp, Richard's contribution was credited to The Dice Man. It is the only track where he used that pseudonym because, unbeknownst to him at the time, Colin James of Meat Beat Manifesto was using that name. Polygon Window was his next choice.

02 Caustic Window - Cunt
03 Caustic Window - Phlaps
Both of these tracks are from the unreleased Caustic Window album. Not to be confused with the Caustic Window compilation which features most of the material released via EPs on Rephlex, this would have been a completely original album. Apparently test pressings were made and shared with friends, including Mike Paradinas. He is most likely the source of the info we know about it. Based off these tracks, I wish the album would have come out. Both of these were released on compilations which you can read about here and here.

04 Mike & Rich - Brivert and Muons
This is a leftover from the Mike & Rich album, Expert Knob Twiddlers, which was a goofy collaboration between Richard and Mike Paradinas, better known as µ-Ziq and the founder of Planet Mu Records. This was available as a free download a LONG time ago, and that's the source of this recording. If you go digging into the Mike & Rich album, prepare for oddball weirdness galore!

05 AFX - Bummy
This track was exclusive to the Mealtime compilation which was released on Planet Mu. It sounds like it was recorded around the same time as the Richard D. James Album.

06 Equation (Demo, Live On Ultrasound)
This one needs some explaining. Back in 1997, Richard appeared on the American radio program Ultrasound. He was interviewed and they played stuff from the Richard D. James Album, but they also played an early version of this then-unreleased track. Some of the interview is attached to the end of the track and Richard mentions that it's crappy and probably won't ever come out. This led to the track generally being referred to as Crappy, but it is indeed an early version of the Equation track from the Windowlicker single.

07 Squarepusher/AFX - Freeman Hardy & Willis Acid
Unlike the Mike & Rich project, this track is completely serious. This appeared on the Warp Records compilation, We Are Reasonable People, which was an album length release with a single's release code to celebrate Warp's 100th single release. This will be appearing on the forthcoming Warp20 box, but it's the same track. It's also the only released collaboration between Richard and Tom Jenkinson, aka Squarepusher. Supposedly there are a few more tracks stored on a DAT somewhere, but who knows. If I had to guess, Richard did the music and some editing while Tom did the beats. Really, REALLY good track!

08 Windowlicker (Original Demo)
Like the Equation demo, this is a simplified version of the main beat from Windowlicker. If my memory serves me correctly, this initially leaked on a bootleg 7" somehow related to Luke Vibert. Most people dismissed it as fake, but then Windowlicker came out and everyone was proved wrong. This was later issued as a one-sided 12" and as a CD single with the video for Windowlicker on it.

09 Windowlicker (Demo Version)
I know it's confusing, but it's important you know this is NOT the demo of Windowlicker. Hell, I don't think this is even the same song. This was released on the Japanese edition of the Windowlicker single and has sometimes been referred to as a Special Edit, but you'd be hard pressed to find any similarities between this, the original demo or the finished track. Very strange.

10 AFX - 46 Analord-Masplid
11 AFX - Naks 11 (Mono)
These tracks were issued on a split 12" with LFO in 2005. They are somehow related to a version of the game Wipeout that was issued exclusively on the PSP. I guess these are also leftovers from the Analord series, but how much you wanna bet there are a ton of those lying around Richard's home, or tank, or bank, or whatever. Oh yeah, he doesn't own the bank anymore, one less place to wonder about!

12 DJ Pierre - Box Energy (4 Remix 1)
This remix if very similar to the one on the 2 Remixes By AFX single, but this is longer and a little more out there. It was released as a free download from Rephlex during the Analord campaign.

13 Wagon Christ - Sci-Fi Staircase (Tahnaiya Russell Remix)
As the story goes, there was a competition for people to create a remix of this Wagon Christ tune. Richard, under the above pseudonym, secretly entered this mix and won the competition. Not trying to steal the prizes from someone more deserving as he didn't need them, they were given to the runner up, but Richard's mix is the one everyone remembers. Totally bonkers!


Come back tomorrow for Melodies From Mars!

Aphex Twin - Rare Stuff, Part 1

Before I start this post, I'd like to say R.I.P. to Jim Carroll. Only 60? Damn.

So I'm following through with the threat, and posting some Aphex Twin rarities. This is the first of three posts, all of which will appear this week. The second will be a continuation of this Rare Stuff post and the third will be an unreleased Aphex album. There is a lot of additional Aphex stuff that I could share, but it's really difficult to determine the facts about some of the releases. I may post that stuff eventually, but for now I'm limiting it to these three posts. Hope you enjoy!


Aphex Twin - Rare Stuff: Disc 1
Part One
Part Two

01 Analog Bubblebath 2, Track 2
02 Analog Bubblebath 2, Track 3
These two tracks are from the unreleased Analog Bubblebath 2 12". The first track on it is listed as Digeridoo (Aboriginal Mix), although it doesn't appear to be different from the standard version of that track, so I didn't bother posting it. By the way, I have spelled Analog how it's spelled on the release, although I'm sure it's supposed to be Analogue.

03 Q-Chastic - CAT 002
04 Soit-P.P. - n.IASP
These two are from The Philosophy Of Sound and Machine compilation which was released on Richard's label, Rephlex. Q-Chastic has a long, confusing history among Richard's fans, mostly because a lot of people suspected these tracks were him initially but it was a long time before it was confirmed. On top of that, there is supposedly a Q-Chastic double 7" EP that remains unreleased and does not feature the track listed above. People have claimed that EP has leaked but it most certainly HAS NOT.

05 Caustic Window - Popcorn
06 Caustic Window - R2D2
These tracks were released on the initial Caustic Window EPs but were not reissued on the Caustic Window compilation. This is most likely due to copyright issues from sampling, as Popcorn samples a recording of the synthesizer tune of the same name, and R2D2 features samples of R2D2. You can find more about them here and here.

07 Power-Pill - Pac-Man
Yes, this is definitely Richard. If you think about it, it's not a huge stretch for him to record something like this. There is an EP of remixes of the track, but this version and a slightly shorter edit are the only ones Richard produced. Makes you wonder how he can put this out but can't get clearance for a small sample of R2D2.

08 AFX - Analogue Bubblebath 3
This track brings up an awful lot of understandable confusion. It is not on any of the Analogue Bubblebath releases and has nothing in common with any of the tracks from the third release. Instead, this dark ambient track appeared on the Trance Europe Express compilation. Nice and spooky, which goes well with the next tracks because...

09 SAW2, TRK4 (Hankie)
10 SAW2, TRK19 (Stone In Focus)
Both of these tracks are from Selected Ambient Works II. "Hankie" didn't appear on the US release of SAW2 but is available on all imported copies. As for "Stone In Focus", it is the missing track from most versions of SAW2. The only versions of the album upon which it appears are the vinyl and cassette editions. The only other place this saw release was on a compilation named Excursions In Ambience: The Third Dimension, which is also the only digital release of the track.

11 Words (Processed)
This is the final track on an American promotional release named Words & Music. It features tracks from SAW2 and brief interview clips with Richard. For the most part, it's not terribly interesting, especially since the interview bits are so short, but the last track is a new recording created from the interview bits. It's safe to call this ambient, and it's excellent!

12 Aphex Airlines
Okay, this one has a crazy story behind it. Virgin Airlines commissioned Richard to make a soundtrack for one of their commercials. This is what he turned in. It sounds like a plane crashing and burning! Virgin, having paid for the track fair and square, issued it on their Ambient 4: Isolationism compilation. I don't know if this story is completely true, but that's the beauty of Aphex. So many stories, so many of them crazy and unbelievable, but you never know!


Make sure you come back tomorrow for Part 2!