3 out of 5

Label: Warp Records

Produced by: Richard D. James

The 2010s output of Richard D. James – one might call it a return, but certainly the creator had been toiling on tracks nonstop – has been an interesting journey. It’s hard being one of the GOATs of the industry, of course, and electronic music is kind of especially weird in this regard: you can trace generations back to a sound that 90s/00s Aphex Twin typified, but even more than being a “face” of the scene, RDJ’s compositions were just that good, and when you dig further into his offerings, it underlines that fact. The stuff holds up. And when we get to the end of that initial era, with Drukqs, you can already hear him trying to find new ways to challenge himself, gathering up the influence of his influencees, and hop-stepping across them while swaddling it all in his own style. It didn’t seem to be a challenge of creation (see above), moreso: how / when do a sequence of tracks get cut to be an “album?”

That’s been the interesting part of Syro – his 2014 release – and beyond. That did seem to come with a semi-decisive sound that guided it, and the drip of EPs we’ve gotten in the years since have poked at the Aphex legacy from different directions, still, in my mind, trying to figure out what releases look like in a streaming, Soundcloud-dumped world.

Blackbox Life Recorder 21f / In a Room7 F760 feels like another sidestep in that process, somewhat kowtowing to a more general sound that feels like James doing an impression of the kids in the current electro scene, who would’ve only discovered Rephlex-style IDM some years back. This doesn’t mean breakbeats and glitch, but rather something a bit more melodic, using a standard BPM as a springboard to massage in some nuance.

I’ll read into this unnecessarily: a blackbox life recorder might be a device taking in input, but we have no idea how its inner workings work, and can only observe the output. The album artwork, featuring a stamped Aphex logo on surreal cubes that are suggestive of various electronics, feels aligned with that: RDJ hears all you artists out there, doing your own things, and this is what it sounds like to his ears.

The result of that is, er, interesting. The title track is warm, and poppy, but a little stagnant, until some fun percussion breakdowns kick in, displaying that “stamp.” Even better is the “parallax mix” of this track, though, which feels like it dispenses with any of the limitations I’m mentioning and RDJ sharpens its edges into an older-school acid track of his own design – some closer to Classics-era tunes. Zin2 Test5 is brief enough to almost be just a base sample; the other song of the title, In a Room7 F760, leans into synthwave kitsch with its fuzzy, dancey beat, reminding of the artist’s general playfulness; here, again, James kind of works between the lines instead of redrawing them, and sticks with the beat while cycling through some toolbox enhancements atop. It’s fun.

While sonically something of a minor release, I think the concept here is notable, with the tracks sounding like true Aphex remixes of songs plucked from elsewhere in the scene. It’s not showy, nor is it out-of-step – these sound like modern tunes as a result, but with a reflective touch added.