The past week or so have been big news in Aphex Twin land, from the opening of his own digital superstore, at [aphextwin.warp.net](aphextwin.warp.net), packed with extra tracks and [candid bits of liner notes](https://twitter.com/disquiet/status/888441319298748416), to a [headlining gig at a Japanese music festival](http://thequietus.com/articles/22935-aphex-twin-fuji-rock-cassette), and the subsequent inevitable [price spike for a commemorative tape](https://twitter.com/BruceLevenstein/status/891819551188553728) of the concert. Lost in the tumult was this little video cover of “Rhubarb,” the third track from the *Selected Ambient Works Volume 2* album. In the video it’s being performed on the Crudman — well, on a quintet of Crudmen. The Crudman is an ingenious hack of a Walkman. The aftermarket technology allows the speed of the tape to be controlled as if it were a synthesizer module. Because the tapes in this video all have simply a sine wave tuned to C on them, the speed adjustment alters the note value of the audio emitted from the player. There are more details on the recording process at the [Crudlabs YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlqvEp44H5E), and at the [crudlabs.org](http://www.crudlabs.org) website, including (for the more gadget-literate audience) this breakdown of the device’s controls:
