Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (1992)

December 17, 2020

The first Selected Ambient Works record was the album that introduced Aphex Twin to the wider world. If you’ve not heard it, it’s not a collection of ambient tracks per se, but more of a collection of chilled musical electronic workings. There are plenty of beats and “actual songs” here, unlike Vol. 2 which went more full on into the introspective, meandering ambient soundscapes. Here, Aphex Twin takes the sound perfected on his EPs and streamlines it into a musical journey which has stood the test of time.

This is a fairly long album but one that is now considered a classic and vital electronic music release. It was a pleasure to sit with it again recently, after so many years.