Review: The Caustic Window LP- Aphex Twin

When news of the Kickstarter campaign for a test pressing of Aphex Twin aka Richard D. James' 1994 unreleased Caustic Window hit the web, the population internet lost their collective minds. And, thankfully, the test pressing was ripped to a digital format and available for streaming, because the general population would not have been able to afford its hefty price tag. The reason this was unreleased for 20 years is still mystery, but in my eyes, it's not for lack of quality.

If sent for a test pressing in '94, this would have been most likely recorded around the time of ...I Care Because You Do, and it has some of its dark ambient flavor, along with traits of Selected Ambient Works Volume II. This is an ambient album at heart, though is a little more rhythmic than some other offerings, though for the most part, this doesn't throw off the ambient, hypnotic atmosphere.I said for the most part because the tracks 'Mumbly' and 'Phlaps' take me out of the mood a little, and may draw a little too much attention to truly be ambient tracks that fit with the album. They're both great tracks by themselves, but may not work within the confines of Caustic Window.  The tracks sound simple at first, but deeper listening into the layers of each track reveal an absurd amount of complexity. I try to imagine how manipulating an analog synthesizer can result in some of the sounds heard on this album, but I wouldn't even be able to guess.

All in all, I have no idea why this was not released, because this is a great collection of music. And with more test pressings being auctioned on eBay, we might see some more unreleased Aphex Twin in the future. And since he really hasn't released anything besides bonus tracks to Analord in 5 years, I'll take what I can get. After 20 years of sitting on a shelf, it's amazing how well this album holds up and how fresh it sounds. Electronic music by any other artist in the 1990s would sound so ancient if released today, but Richard James' work was so ahead of the time, others are still trying to catch up. Hopefully we'll hear some new material soon. Rumor has it that James has a minimum of half a dozen albums worth of material waiting to see the light of day. And I'll be right there when it's released.

Out of a total of five stars, I give this:

Check in later for my thoughts on the new Phish album, Fuego, as well as Bassnectar's Noise vs. Beauty, and Heaven & Earth, the latest Yes project.

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