"Avril 14th" | |
---|---|
Instrumental by Aphex Twin | |
from the album Drukqs | |
Released | 22 October 2001 |
Genre | Contemporary classical |
Length | 2:05 |
Label | Warp |
Songwriter(s) | Richard James [1] |
Audio sample | |
"Avril 14th" |
"Avril 14th" is a piano instrumental by the English electronic musician Richard David James, released under his name Aphex Twin on his 2001 album Drukqs . It was recorded using a Disklavier, a computer-controlled piano.
Whereas most of James's music is electronic, "Avril 14th" is a piano composition. [2] It was recorded using a Disklavier, a piano with a mechanism that reads MIDI data and plays the keyboard without human input. [3] The clicking of the mechanism is audible on the recording. [2] According to the Fact writer Scott Wilson, "The result is something that sounds human but not quite." [3] Another Fact writer, Al Horner, described it as a "a butterfly-fragile float" of "piano calm". [3] Several critics likened it to the works of Erik Satie. [4] [2]
Reviewing Drukqs in 2001, Pitchfork wrote that tracks including "'Avril 14th' ... rove dangerously close to the Windham Hill new age aesthetic of the 80s". [4] It surprised some listeners expecting more electronic work, though Fact wrote in 2017 that it was "a perfect embodiment of Aphex and the line he constantly treads between the mechanical and the human". [2] As of April 2017, "Avril 14th" had been streamed 124 million times on Spotify, 106 million more than Aphex Twin's 1999 single "Windowlicker". [3]
"Avril 14th" has been used in films including Marie Antoinette (2006), Four Lions (2010), and the international trailer for Her (2013). [3] For Four Lions, James rerecorded the track with a minor edit. [3] In 2007, "Avril 14th" was sampled for a song used in the SNL digital short "Iran So Far". As NBC had not obtained the rights to use the track, the short was removed from YouTube. [5]
The American rapper Kanye West used elements of "Avril 14th" for his 2010 track "Blame Game". According to James, after he was sent an early version of "Blame Game" with a heavily timestretched sample of "Avril 14th", he offered to rerecord it at a different tempo, but West's team said it belonged to them and tried to avoid paying for its use. [6] The final version of "Blame Game" used a rerecorded version of "Avril 14th" rather than a sample, and James received credit. [7]
On December 4, 2018, James released two alternative versions of "Avril 14th" on his webstore, subtitled "reversed music not audio" and "half speed alternative version". A third version, subtitled "doubletempo half speed", was removed from the store the same day. [8] [9]
Richard D. James Album is the fourth studio album by the British electronic music artist and producer Richard D. James under the alias of Aphex Twin. It was released on 4 November 1996 through Warp Records. It was composed by James on his Macintosh computer, and took longer to complete than his previous albums. It features fast breakbeats and intricate drum programming which draw from jungle and drum and bass. James' drum loops are paired with lush string arrangements, and ambient melodies reminiscent of his earlier work, as well as modulated vocals from James.
"Windowlicker" is a track by the British electronic music artist and producer Aphex Twin. It was released on 22 March 1999 through Warp Records. The artwork for the single was created by Chris Cunningham, with additional work by The Designers Republic. Cunningham also directed the song's music video, which was nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Video.
Selected Ambient Works Volume II is the second studio album by the British electronic music artist and producer Richard D. James under the alias of Aphex Twin. It was released on 7 March 1994 through Warp Records. Its title follows James's debut Selected Ambient Works 85–92. Unlike that record, most of the tracks are purely ambient music, without the earlier volume's ambient techno beats. James said the music was inspired through lucid dreaming, and likened it to "standing in a power station on acid."
Drukqs is the fifth studio album by the British electronic music artist and producer Richard D. James under the alias of Aphex Twin. It was released in October 2001 through Warp Records. It is a double album that explores two broad styles: rapid, meticulously programmed beats inspired by drum and bass, and mellower classical-style piano, ambient, and electroacoustic pieces. It features the piano composition "Avril 14th", one of James's best known recordings.
Come to Daddy is an EP/mini-album by the British electronic music artist Aphex Twin. The EP's lead single, and the first track on the EP, "Come to Daddy "—often simply called "Come to Daddy"—is one of Aphex Twin's best-known songs; it peaked at number 36 on the UK Singles Chart.
Analord is a series of eleven 12" vinyl records by the electronic music artist Richard D. James, most of which are released under the alias AFX. The series, released in 2005, marked James's return to primarily analogue equipment following his computer-oriented programming work in the late 1990s. After their release, James "distilled" the 3½-hour, 42-track series into the 10-track compilation album Chosen Lords (2006), effectively his first full-length release since the 2001 album Drukqs.
Incredibad is the debut studio album of the American comedy troupe The Lonely Island, released on February 10, 2009, through Universal Republic Records. Composed of writers and childhood best friends Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone, the album consists of hip hop-inspired comedy songs and skits with a satirical slant on traditional hip hop culture.
The discography of Richard D. James, a British musician, consists of six studio albums, four compilation albums, 14 extended plays, seven singles, and 12 music videos, all released under his best known alias Aphex Twin. James has also released one studio album under the alias Polygon Window, one studio album under the alias Caustic Window, and one collaborative album with Mike Paradinas. Three compilation albums and 35 extended plays were released under other aliases.
Richard David James, known professionally as Aphex Twin, is a British musician, composer and DJ active in electronic music since 1988. His idiosyncratic work has drawn on many styles, including techno, ambient, acid, and jungle, and he has been described as a pioneering figure in the intelligent dance music (IDM) genre. Journalists from publications including Mixmag, The New York Times, NME, Fact,Clash and The Guardian have called James one of the most influential and important artists in contemporary electronic music.
Selected Ambient Works 85–92 is the debut studio album by the British electronic music artist and producer Richard D. James under the alias of Aphex Twin. 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.
"Blame Game" is a song by American hip-hop recording artist Kanye West from his fifth studio album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010). The song features recording artist John Legend and was produced by West, DJ Frank E, and Mike Dean. The song features a hip hop skit provided by comedian Chris Rock. It uses the piano composition "Avril 14th" by Aphex Twin. Lyrically, the song contains West's thoughts on past break-ups and explores themes of unrequited love, heartbreak, and spousal abuse. Midway through the song, Rock delivers an extended monologue as the new boyfriend of West's past lover.
Melodies from Mars is a collection of unreleased tracks by Richard David James, better known under his pseudonym Aphex Twin. Although James did not admit authorship until 2010, it was known to fans as an unofficial Aphex Twin album because at least two of its tracks are alternate versions of tracks featured on the subsequently released Richard D. James Album (1996). Some tracks also bear resemblance to those on Analogue Bubblebath 5. These tracks are thought to mark the beginning of a new phase in James's career, when he started composing music using computer software rather than on synthesizers and analogue equipment.
"New Slaves" is a song by American rapper Kanye West from his sixth studio album, Yeezus (2013). The song features additional vocals from Frank Ocean. It was produced by West and co-produced by Benjamin Bronfman, while Mike Dean, Noah Goldstein, Travis Scott, Sham Joseph, and Che Pope contributed additional production. West, Bronfman, and Dean co-wrote the song with Ocean, Cyhi the Prynce, Malik Yusef, Rhymefest, Elon Rutberg, Sakiya Sandifer, King Louie, and Anna Adamis, with Gábor Presser receiving credit due to a sample of his composition. In May 2013, the song was previewed by Hudson Mohawke at the Polish Free Form Festival and formally announced by Virgil Abloh. West debuted it with video projections of him rapping on buildings worldwide in locations like Los Angeles, London, and Amsterdam.
Syro is the sixth studio album by the British electronic music artist and producer Richard D. James under the alias of Aphex Twin. It was released on 19 September 2014 through Warp Records. It was James's first album under the Aphex Twin name since Drukqs (2001).
"minipops 67 [120.2]" is a track by the British electronic musician Richard D. James, credited under the pseudonym Aphex Twin. It is the opening track and lead single from Aphex Twin's sixth studio album, Syro (2014).
Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2 is an extended play record by the British electronic music artist and producer Aphex Twin. It was released on 23 January 2015 on Warp. It is meant as a companion piece to his fifth studio album, Drukqs (2001).
Collapse EP is an EP by the British electronic music artist Richard D. James under the pseudonym Aphex Twin. It was released on 14 September 2018 on Warp. The record received universal acclaim from music critics, who praised James for returning to his signature "Aphex Twin" sound.
In 2015, Richard D. James, who releases music under aliases including Aphex Twin, anonymously uploaded hundreds of demos and unreleased tracks to the music sharing site SoundCloud. James said he released the music to relieve his family of the pressure to release his archives after he dies. He added more tracks in 2020.
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