Comparing Warp’s two big flagships from the label’s early days, Aphex Twin and Autechre, it is a little surprising to see how different their productivity has evolved. Autechre released »NTS Sessions« in 2018, a large collector’s box containing eight hours of music, followed by two new albums in 2020. Five years ago Aphex Twin released his half-hour EP »Collapse« and then took a break from releasing new material. Not to mention the long hiatus he took from publishing at the start of the millennium.
This is now followed by another EP with four tracks and a playing time of 15 minutes. However, the dearth does not do any harm. And yet »Blackbox Life Recorder 21f/In A Room7 F760« seems almost airy compared to the heavily interlaced and condensed breaks on »Collapse«. The rocking beat that opens the title track is almost startling. He sticks to the rhythm, it’s Aphex Twin after all, but not for too long. Without you really noticing, accents shift, the mood gradually changes, and the music almost slips away as you listen. On the remaining three tracks, Aphex Twin similarly pushes the sounds and beats through the soundtracks with a vengeance. Without completely changing the character of the music, he keeps it in constant motion. It doesn’t take you by the hand completely; a little listening can’t hurt so that you can follow it better and more willingly. Then you run – stumble, fly? – along all the more enthusiastically.
