Selected Ambient Works Vol. 2

Rolling Stone (5/13/99, p.79) - Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's." Rolling Stone (6/30/94, p.72) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...it's the absence of beats that makes the music so strange and haunting, and when the beats do surface, they serve to accent a tone rather than sustain a tempo..." Spin (9/99, p.148) - Ranked #56 in Spin Magazine's "90 Greatest Albums of the '90s." Spin (3/94, p.76) - "...undeniable proof that techno was blossoming into a new form of electronic composition...it's the restraint of James' music that paradoxically induces such an unrestrained emotional response in the listener...it's like he's playing acoustic instruments from the distant future or an alien civilization..." Q (1/94, p.84) - Included in Q's list of `The 50 Best Albums Of 1993' - "...[a] brilliant collection of experiments...always fascinating and somehow other-worldly, this is music as enjoyable as it is innovative and of its time..." Alternative Press (5/02, p.104) - Included in AP's '10 Essential Pioneering Electronic Albums'. Option (8/94, p.90) - "...His accomplishment here is monumental; this solo electronic album is so unusual that it needs to be stated up front that it sounds like no other recording in the genre, ever..." Melody Maker (1/1/94, p.76) - Ranked #10 in Melody Maker's list of the `Albums Of The Year' for 1993 - "...Creating a soundscape like a vast, depopulated techno world, the Twin's scurrying swathes of electronics recall Eno, Kraftwerk, Terry Riley--none of whom he'd heard of until years after this stuff. Awesome...."

Selected Ambient Works, Vol. II is a more difficult and challenging album than Aphex Twin's previous collection. The music is all texture; there are only the faintest traces of beats and forward movement. Instead, all of these untitled tracks are long, unsettling electronic soundscapes, alternately quiet and confrontational; although most of the music is rather subdued, it is never easy listening. While some listeners may find this double-disc album dull (both discs run over 70 minutes), many listeners will be intrigued and fascinated by the intricately detailed music of Aphex Twin. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine