Aphex Twin added an especially welcome piece to his waxing and waning, vaguely quasi-semi-anonymous SoundCloud account, user18081971, today: a reworking of one of his most popular pieces, “Avril 14th,” which has spawned a Kanye West sample, several film-soundtrack appearances, and a funny April Fools joke. This version, “avril altdelay,” is a hint of the melody subsumed in deep echoes, the piano keys a little stunted, like it’s an old bar-room upright that’s seen too many spilled beers and too few visits from a professional tuner. The melody is broken up by waves of repetition as the piece refracts into the distance. So remote is the original that this reworking brings to mind some of Aphex Twin’s takes of other musicians’ records, back at a time when, in response to a remix request, he’d return something with barely a passing resemblance to the source material. That isn’t the case here. For one thing, there’s no sonic violence intended, just deviation and derivation. For another, lovers of the original will enjoy re-experiencing it as a loose collection of hints and indications.
Track originally posted at soundcloud.com/user18081971.