Tech: Ageispolis By Aphex Twin
This week we take a dive into the Richard D. James’s low end atomic bomb detonation of a break beat track “Ageispolis”. Although James may be more known these days for his historically god like level of technical knowhow and the frantic nature of his programming, his early work retains a dripping thickness, stark simplicity and all the mysticism of a Tibetan monk’s tumo meditation practice. Let’s take a listen.
Mickey Mcleod @nosocialmediatospeakof
Ageispolis is the fourth track off of what countless people and publications consider to be one of, if not the most, influential electronic albums in music: Selected Ambient works 85-92. Richard D. James’s early work as Aphex Twin tends to focus on simplified melodic concepts and really deviant drum programming, arranging and mixing. You almost get the sense when revisiting this older work that there was a kind of curious exploration of sound and technique happening real time. As we will explore, some of James’s staple editing techniques, stylistic choices and and quirky programming tricks are at a genesis point in Agesipolis . Agesipolis was also the twenty-first king of the Agiads Dynasty in ancient Sparta. Now that we’ve heard the track, let’s get started with the breakdown…
First, for all my greek history nerds out there:
Agesipolis succeeded his father Pausanias, while still a minor, in 394 BC, and reigned fourteen years. Upon the death of Pausanias, Agesipolis and his brother, Cleombrotus I, were both placed under the guardianship of Aristodemus, their nearest relative. Agesipolis came to the crown just about the time that the confederacy (partly brought about by the intrigues of the Persian satrap Tithraustes), which was formed by Thebes, Athens, Corinth, and Argos, against Sparta, rendering it necessary to recall his colleague, Agesilaus II, from Asia; and the first military operation of his reign was the expedition to Corinth, where the forces of the confederates were assembled.
We start off with this plucky little saw tooth wave melody that is just covered in a cheap digital plate reverb. Like the reverb to original signal ratio is probably equal parts. And it’s soooo digital, probably a 90’s lexicon brand reverb, just lovely. Shortly after the intro, analog drums fade in with a level of compression that I don’t think any other producer at that time would use. The entire drum signal is just squashed to shit. Now that we have drums, here is where James is either purposefully teasing us or he just fucks up as I’m sure this was a live to tape recording (back in the day this how they recorded material): He gives us a taste of the coming synth pads, but only for one bar and this is the only point in the track this happens.
Soon after the pads melody fully follows in and I think this is a great example of why so many people gravitate towards Jame’s melody writing. These chords although simple in nature, posses an etherial quality, not quite dissonant, just magical. And paired with the pad sound, running melody line and reverb, we are instantly transported into the realm of Aphex Twin. Now there is an interesting technique that James introduces at around the 1:17 mark right when the baseline comes in, and revisited later on. It’s actually something that you hear a lot in golden and classic era hip hop. If you listen to the kick drum pattern for a moment, he layers an even more compressed sub bass hit on the four (meaning the last kick drum of the one bar kick pattern). Simultaneously, four of the sixteen hi hat notes are taken out so that we only hear the single remaining long hi hat note. From a production standpoint this technique’s purpose is not only to add variation but to add a sense of motion. You feel a sense of stop and start, like falling slightly off balance but quickly regaining it. Simple tricks like this are a staple in James’s music.
At this point, the compression is almost at comical levels. I’m listening to it like “did my MacBook Pro speakers just blow out”? But that’s kind of another staple. He’s never conformed to what would be considered any conventional normality of a mix, in fact he’s pushed the boundaries of what is considered to be even listenable. Here is a sample of the track Ventolin (video version) off of James’s 1995 record I Care Because You Do. He specifically programmed a high pitch frequency filter oscillation just to intentionally fatigue the listeners ears off. I know, right?
And here is another example from his 1996 record Richard D.James. Listen to how sharp and destructive the drum and shaker loops are mixed in Corn Mouth.
Once things settle in and the recognisable components of the track are all getting to know each other in the mix, James starts to arrange, in only the way he can. Alternate drum sequences come in and out, hi hat patterns subtly change shape, we get triplets, some congo’s are introduced. And all the while there really is no shift in melodic structure at all. No changed chords, no variations in the melody or bassline. Like a familiar dream, morphing with newly formed versions of itself. But here James gets weird. He gives us a fat as hell drum break, into the same beat but now with the bass loop but only for sixteen bars. Then strips the kick, subs and bass away with all of their warm gooey low end, just to leaves us with the atmospherical washed out high end elements of the track. And in some egregious act of listener engagement disrespect, brings back just the drums, pads and melodie, without the bassline we just heard. If this sounds confusing that’s because it is. Why would you take away all the melodic parts of the track that we’re becoming so entranced with, then slowly start to bring back those elements just tear everything away again? Well, that’s part of the mystique of Aphex Twin. He giveth and he taketh away. It’s like he’s taking to me saying” oh, you like this melody? here you go, relax and take it in man, get loose. Just kidding. now listen to this drum loop for a second… ok i’ll give you the melody back. Actually, just kidding again! Now listen to THIS arrangement and now i’m going to end the song. “
Luckily However, in Agesipolis, we do get the spiritual fulfilment of all these song elements gloriously colliding together again, at last, in the outro. And that’s how it ends, with a whisper of a song that could have been. Ive always notice that this track has a run time of over 5 minutes but to me, that time passes by quite more quickly and I find myself going back for multiple listens before moving on further through the album. Maybe it’s the teased outro that brings me back or possibly because it’s the first track on the record that has a real groove, but in that ending moment, this fabricated world finally makes sense again and through the passage of time I gain wisdom, inner strength and understanding. I’m sure that’s all that Richard ever really wanted for me anyway.
You can purchase Selected Ambient Works 85-92 from Bandcamp here, please support artists and use streaming services as an exploratory tool only :)
