Hangable Auto Bulb | ||||
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![]() CD release cover | ||||
EP by | ||||
Released | EP1: 16 October 1995 EP2: 11 December 1995 | |||
Recorded | August–October 1995 | |||
Genre | Drill 'n' bass [1] | |||
Length | EP1: 25:05 EP2: 9:04 CD: 34:47 | |||
Label | Warp | |||
Producer | Richard D. James | |||
Richard D. James chronology | ||||
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Original covers | ||||
![]() EP1 | ||||
Alternative cover | ||||
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Hangable Auto Bulb is a series of two 1995 EPs by electronic musician Richard D. James,under his alias AFX. The two were re-released by Warp Records as a single album on 31 October 2005. They marked James's first foray into rapid drill 'n' bass style beat programming. [1]
Split across two 12" EPs,the second released eight weeks after the first and each limited to 1000 pressings,the records marked a significant change in sound from previous AFX and Aphex Twin releases. [2] Moving away from the analogue sounds of ...I Care Because You Do (1995),the tracks show James experimenting with computer-arranged breakbeat programming and timestretched samples inspired by drum and bass;this style would become known as "drill 'n' bass,and would become the dominant sound in his work up until the Analord releases of 2005. [1]
The records are influenced by the early EPs of fellow Cornish producer Plug (Luke Vibert),as well as other drum and bass movements of the day. The CD cover is by The Designers Republic. [3]
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Guardian | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Pitchfork | 8.9/10 [1] |
PopMatters | 7/10 [8] |
Release Magazine | 8/10 [9] |
In 2005 The Guardian called the reissued EPs "pioneering sonically" and stated that "this music still sounds utterly alien as James morphs the fractured volatile beats with ambient melody." [7] Mark Richardson of Pitchfork stated that the reissue's "tension,between the otherworldly yet effortlessly tuneful melodies purring along beneath drums that constantly struggle to frame them,is what the ensuing era of James' music is all about,and Hangable Auto Bulb is a hell of an intro." [1]
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Children Talking" | 5:19 |
2. | "Hangable Auto Bulb" | 6:48 |
3. | "Laughable Butane Bob" | 2:58 |
4. | "Bit" | 0:06 |
5. | "Custodian Discount" | 4:25 |
6. | "Wabby Legs" | 5:29 |
Total length: | 25:05 |
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Every Day" | 3:44 |
2. | "Arched Maid Via RDJ" | 5:20 |
Total length: | 9:04 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Children Talking" | 5:22 |
2. | "Hangable Auto Bulb" | 6:52 |
3. | "Laughable Butane Bob" | 3:02 |
4. | "Bit" | 0:11 |
5. | "Custodian Discount" | 4:30 |
6. | "Wabby Legs" | 5:35 |
7. | "Every Day" | 3:50 |
8. | "Arched Maid Via RDJ" | 5:25 |
Total length: | 34:47 |
No. | Title | Length |
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9. | "get a baby" | 2:27 |
10. | "choirDrilll" | 4:12 |
Total length: | 41:26 |
The CD lengths are slightly different from the original EPs. On some pressings, tracks 7 and 8 are erroneously reversed.
The tracks "Children Talking," "Every Day," and "get a baby" feature samples from the 1961 BBC Radio series titled "Children Talking", in which Harold Williamson traveled the United Kingdom asking children questions about aspects of their lives.
The album's title is an anagram of "Analogue Bublbath", a reference to James' previous AFX release series, Analogue Bubblebath .
Also, as on James' previous album …I Care Because You Do , a number of the track titles are anagrams or near-anagrams:
Ambient techno is a subgenre of techno that incorporates the atmospheric textures of ambient music with the rhythmic elements and production of techno. It was pioneered by 1990s electronic artists such as Aphex Twin, Carl Craig, The Orb, The Future Sound of London, the Black Dog, Pete Namlook and Biosphere.
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.
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. Following James's ambient techno debut Selected Ambient Works 85–92, Volume II features purely ambient music. James was inspired through lucid dreaming and likened the album 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 includes a variety of contrasting styles, from meticulously programmed beats inspired by jungle and drum and bass, to classical-type piano and prepared piano, ambient, and electroacoustic pieces. It features the piano composition "Avril 14th", one of James's best known recordings.
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.
Analogue Bubblebath, also released as Aphex Twin ep, is the first record by musician and producer Richard D. James. The EP was released under his alias The Aphex Twin through Mighty Force Records in September 1991. It was the inaugural release for the label, which at the time was a record shop in Exeter. The record was hugely influential on the development of electronic music, particularly techno and ambient techno. Its release has been described as a key event in the history of dance music. It is the first release in what became the Analogue Bubblebath series.
Analog Bubblebath Vol 2 is the second extended play record by the electronic music producer and musician Aphex Twin. It is the second release in the Analogue Bubblebath series.
Analogue Bubblebath Vol 3 is an EP by electronic musician Richard D. James, under the pseudonym of AFX, released in 1992 on Rephlex Records. It is the third release in the Analogue Bubblebath series, and his first release to use the AFX variation of his pseudonym Aphex Twin.
Classics is a 1995 compilation album by the electronic music artist and producer Richard D. James, more commonly known by his pseudonym of Aphex Twin.
Bradley's Beat is an EP by Richard D. James, under the alias Bradley Strider, released by Rephlex Records in 1995.
Rushup Edge is the first and only studio album by The Tuss. While credited to Karen Tregaskin, it was actually produced by British electronic music artist and producer Richard D. James. It was originally released on 25 June 2007 on CD and 3xLP through Rephlex, with it later being re-released with extra tracks on James' web store on 20 July 2017. It was James' last released project until the 2014 album Syro.
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 widespread acclaim and entered the Dance Albums Chart at No. 6 in December 1992.
Drill 'n' bass is a subgenre of drum and bass which developed in the mid-1990s as IDM artists began experimenting with elements of jungle and breakbeat music. Artists utilized powerful audio software to program frenzied, irregular beats that often discouraged dancing. The style was often interpreted as having a lightly parodic relationship with the dance styles that inspired it.
Analogue Bubblebath 5 is an unreleased EP by the British electronic music artist and producer Richard D. James, under the alias of AFX. The record was recorded in 1995 consisting of nine tracks, and had been intended for release on James' own label, Rephlex Records, as the fifth installment in his Analogue Bubblebath series. However, James decided that it was not up to par with the others in the series, so it never made it past the test pressing stage. Only 20 copies of the record were produced.
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.
Caustic Window is an album by Richard D. James under the alias Caustic Window. It was originally planned for release in 1996 but only a few test pressings were produced. One of the copies, which surfaced for sale on Discogs in 2014, was bought and digitally distributed through a Kickstarter campaign. It was eventually sold on eBay for $46,300.
"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).
Orphaned Deejay Selek 2006–08 is an extended play record by the musician and producer Richard D. James under his alias AFX. It is the first EP using that moniker since 2005's Analord. It was announced by Warp Records on 2 July 2015 and a listing appeared on Bleep.com on the same day. An announcement for the EP also appeared on the Aphex Twin Twitter account on that date. Along with Warp Records' announcement, "serge fenix Rendered 2", the first track on the EP, was made available for streaming on SoundCloud.