Selected Ambient Works 85–92 (1992)

Selected Ambient Works 85–92 is the debut album by the British electronic music artist and producer Aphex Twin, whose real name is Richard D. James. It was released on 9 November 1992 through Apollo Records, a subsidiary of the Belgian label R&S Records. The album consists of ambient techno James recorded on cassette as early as 1985, when he was 13–14 years old. It received acclaim and entered the Dance Albums Chart at No. 6 in December 1992.

Selected Ambient Works 85–92 is considered a classic, defining work of electronica. Music journalists have credited it with expanding the scope of ambient music and introducing techno to fans of indie music. The website AllMusic described it as "a masterpiece of ambient techno". Selected Ambient Works 85–92 has appeared on best-of lists; in 2012 the UK magazine Fact named it the greatest album of the 1990s.

Background

James began experimenting with musical instruments, such as his family's piano, at an early age. He later created music using a ZX Spectrum home computer and a sampler, and began reassembling and modifying his own synthesisers. James said he composed ambient music the following year. In an interview with Q in 2014, James said the ambient track "i" emerged from these early recordings. As a teenager, James gained a cult following as a DJ at the Shire Horse Inn in St Ives, Cornwall, with Tom Middleton at the Bowgie Inn in Crantock, and on Cornish beaches.

James's first release was the 12" EP Analogue Bubblebath, released on Mighty Force in September 1991. It was played on the influential London radio station Kiss FM, giving it wide exposure in the dance music scene. It gained distribution in continental Europe, and was heard by Renaat Vandepapeliere, the head of R&S Records, at that time one of the leading European rave labels. James visited him in Belgium, bringing a box full of cassettes of his music. From these cassettes they picked tracks for two records, including Selected Ambient Works 85–92.

Composition

According to James, Selected Ambient Works 85–92 was recorded between 1985 and 1992, beginning when he was 13/14, using homemade equipment constructed from synthesisers and drum machines. The website AllMusic described the sound quality as poor due to it being recorded onto a cassette that was damaged by a cat. The album differs from ambient music by musicians such as Brian Eno. According to The Independent, it pays homage to the "refracted minimalism" of the composers Philip Glass and Karlheinz Stockhausen. James said the songs "were just tracks that my mates selected; ones that they like to chill out to".

Commentators categorised Selected Ambient Works 85–92 as ambient techno, intelligent dance music (IDM), electronica and ambient. According to AllMusic's Anthony Tognazzini, the album draws from the club rhythms of techno and acid house, but adds melodic elements "of great subtlety, beauty, and atmospheric texture". Ben Murphy of DJ Mag described its synthesis of elements from techno, house, hip-hop, hardcore and ambient, and characterised it as a "somnambulist dreamscape that melted heavenly shoe-gaze melodies into slow-burn beats and ice-clear techno, often with a suggestion of menace lurking at the peripheries". He likened the "fuzzy melodies and blurred female vocal" of the opening track, "Xtal", to the shoegaze artists Seefeel and My Bloody Valentine. Kris Needs of Record Collector said the album "demonstrated a mysterious, calmer side" of James's music in contrast to his abrasive earlier releases, calling attention to the presence of "unearthly, gorgeous melodies" on much of the album. Barney Hoskyns described the album as a "schizoid mix of sonic assault and melodic melancholia". Rolling Stone's Pat Blashill said the album combined "lush soundscapes with oceanic beats and bass lines". Jon Savage wrote that it "trashed the boundaries between acid, techno, ambient, and psychedelic".

David M. Pecoraro of Pitchfork wrote: "Despite the simplicity of his equipment and approach, the songs here are both interesting and varied, ranging from the dancefloor-friendly beats of 'Pulsewidth' to the industrial clanks and whirs of 'Green Calx'." In The Guardian, Geeta Dayal wrote that "Ageispolis" progresses in a "grand, cinematic sweep". Simon Reynolds described its melody as "Satie-esque" with an "incongruously strident, unrelenting beat". "Tha" features a "murk" beat and "underwater" sound, according to Dayal. Writing for Slant Magazine, Sal Cinquemani noted the use of "diffusive synth chords" throughout, and the "pop sensibility" on tracks such as "Pulsewidth" and "Ptolemy".

"Green Calx" uses a sample from the 1987 film RoboCop; "Xtal" samples "Evil At Play" by Steve Jeffries, Mary Carewe and Donald Greig; and "We Are the Music Makers" samples dialogue from the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. They were probably sampled using James's Casio FZ-10M, which allows the user to record and load sounds via floppy disk.