Selected Ambient Works Volume II
Studio album by Aphex Twin
Released	March 7, 1994
Recorded	???
Genre	Ambient
Length	156:51
Label	Warp Records WARP021
Producer	Richard D. James
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link
Aphex Twin chronology
On (1993) Selected Ambient Works Volume II (1994) Classics (1994)

Selected Ambient Works Volume II (SAW2), released in 1994, is an ambient double album by Richard D. James under his Aphex Twin moniker. It is a follow-up to 1992's Selected Ambient Works 85-92. SAW2 Cover This is an album cover. ... A studio album is a collection of previously unreleased, studio-recorded tracks by a recording artist. ... Aphex Twin (born Richard David James on August 18, 1971 in Limerick, Ireland) is a British electronic music artist, credited with pushing forward the genres of techno, ambient, acid and drum and bass. ... is the 66th day of the year (67th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar). ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Warp Records is a pioneering independent UK record label, founded in Sheffield in 1989, notable for discovering some of the most enduring artists in electronic music. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... Aphex Twin (born Richard David James on August 18, 1971 in Limerick, Ireland) is a British electronic music artist, credited with pushing forward the genres of techno, ambient, acid and drum and bass. ... The All Music Guide (AMG) is a metadata database about music owned by All Media Guide. ... Image File history File links 4_stars. ... Aphex Twin (born Richard David James on August 18, 1971 in Limerick, Ireland) is a British electronic music artist, credited with pushing forward the genres of techno, ambient, acid and drum and bass. ... On is the title of a 1993 EP by the British electronic music artist Richard D. James, more commonly known by his recording alias of Aphex Twin. ... Classics is an acid house-techno compilation album by Richard D. James, more commonly known by his pseudonym of Aphex Twin. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A double album is an audio album of sufficient length that two units of the medium in which it is sold (especially records and compact discs) are necessary to contain the entirety of it. ... Aphex Twin (born Richard David James on August 18, 1971 in Limerick, Ireland) is a British electronic music artist, credited with pushing forward the genres of techno, ambient, acid and drum and bass. ... A moniker (or monicker) is a pseudonym, or cognomen, which one gives to oneself. ... Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (often abbreviated to SAW85-92) is an ambient techno album by Richard D. James, better known by his pseudonym of Aphex Twin. ...

Volume II differs significantly from the first volume in the series, in that the first volume is mostly beat-oriented, with complex instrumental rhythmic patterns and heavy bass frequencies. In contrast to the fast, club-inspired ambient music of its predecessor, Volume II consists of slow, moody pieces, performed much like ambient pioneer Brian Eno; in fact, "[lichen]" is reminiscent of Eno's Discreet Music. Many of the tracks feature almost no percussion, and have strong synth textures. James said that the album is "like being in a power station on acid." Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (often abbreviated to SAW85-92) is an ambient techno album by Richard D. James, better known by his pseudonym of Aphex Twin. ... putang ina. ... Rhythmic music and Rhythmic radio, also known as Rhythmic Crossover or Rhythmic Pop, is a term used to describe a certain group of radio stations and the Billboard chart that is compiled based on airplay from those radio stations. ... Bass (IPA: [], rhyming with face), when used as an adjective, describes tones of low frequency or range. ... Brian Eno (pronounced ) (born Brian Peter George St. ... Virgin release Discreet Music (1975) is an album by the British ambient musician Brian Eno. ... The term synthesiser is also used to mean frequency synthesiser, an electronic system found in communications. ... Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly called LSD, LSD-25, or acid. ...

Richard D. James has stated in interviews that the sounds in this music were inspired by lucid dreams, and that upon awaking, he would attempt to re-create the sounds and record them. He claimed that he has natural synaesthesia, which contributed to this album. Lucid dreams occur during REM sleep after the person becomes conscious and aware of dreaming within the dream. ... Synesthesia (also spelled synæsthesia or synaesthesia, plural synesthesiae or synaesthesiae)—from the Ancient Greek (syn), meaning with, and (aisthēsis), meaning sensation—is a neurologically based phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. ...

On August 3, 2006, many releases from the back catalogue of Warp Records were made available on the digital download site Beatport. Both CDs of Selected Ambient Works II are now available for digital download in their full complete forms in remastered mp3, mp4, and wav formats. As this release is based on the UK CD version and not the vinyl version, the track "[stone in focus]" is not part of the release. is the 215th day of the year (216th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Warp Records is a pioneering independent UK record label, founded in Sheffield in 1989, notable for discovering some of the most enduring artists in electronic music. ... Beatport is a U.S.-based online music store based in Denver, Colorado that specializes in dance music and remixes. ...

Track listing

Volume II originally consisted of 25 songs, all untitled except for the song "Blue Calx". Every song matches with a specific photograph taken by James himself (except for a solid blue emblem representing the first track of the second CD, "Blue Calx"). The graphics are part of an encoded tracklisting system that uses circles and pie diagrams - present in varying forms among the different releases - to represent each track (indeed, it may even be the case that the diagrams themselves are the actual track names). The lack of written titles for the tracks on this release provided impetus for fans of the album to come up with their own. Officially, however, the songs are still referred to by their track numbers. The most widely accepted track names have been used below: A song is a relatively short musical composition. ... Calx is a residual substance, sometimes in the form of a fine powder, that is left when a metal or mineral combusts or is calcinated due to heat. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... An emblem consists of a pictorial image, abstract or representational, that epitomizes a concept - often a concept of a moral truth or an allegory. ... For other senses of the word code, see code (disambiguation). ... A pie chart is a circular chart divided into sectors, illustrating relative magnitudes or frequencies. ...

Notes

There were several editions of SAW2 available for purchase. The most complete, with all 25 tracks, were the Limited Edition UK vinyl, which was pressed on brown vinyl and limited to a press run of 10,000 copies and the UK cassette edition, released simultaneously with the vinyl and CD. Both of these are out of print. The second most complete versions are the regular vinyl release and the Warp Records (UK) CD release, which has every track except for "[stone in focus]", omitted due to the capacity limit of the CD format. The third most complete version is the Sire Records (US) CD release, which also omits "[hankie]". The only hard-copy digital form of "[stone in focus]" can be found on the Astralwerks compilation Excursions In Ambience: The Third Dimension. On this compilation, it has been given the name "#19" and appears as track number 10. [1] Astralwerks is an New York based record label which releases primarily electronic music. ...

The names for the tracks listed, as aforementioned, are interpretations of the photographs on the labels for the vinyl copies and inlay for the double CD release. On the Sire Records (US) editions, various photos were altered, either by showing unblurred photographs or by changing the image altogether. The image representing "[stone in focus]" was removed entirely on the US version, leaving behind an empty white box. Chemical structure of the vinyl functional group. ... A Compact Disc or CD is an optical disc used to store digital data, originally developed for storing digital audio. ...

"Blue Calx" originally appeared on the Applied Rhythmic Technology compilation album The Philosophy Of Sound And Machine under the artist name Blue Calx, which was released in cooperation with Rephlex Records. The Philosophy Of Sound And Machine was a compilation CD released on the record label Applied Rhythmic Technology (ART) in cooperation with Rephlex. ... Rephlex Records is an influential record label started in 1991 by acclaimed electronic musician Richard D. James (aka Aphex Twin) and Grant Wilson-Claridge, without the intention of making large profits. ...

The front cover for this album features the textual Aphex Twin logo that was used on the earlier Xylem Tube EP, albeit in a broken, incomplete form. The Xylem Tube EP is an early EP by electronic music artist Richard D. James, commonly known by his pseudonym of Aphex Twin. ...

Remixes

• SAW2 CD1 TRK2 (Original Mix) (aka "[radiator]"), available on the compilation album 26 Mixes for Cash. Originally recorded for Richard's Peel Session in 1995.

• SAW2 CD1 TRK7 (aka "[curtains]" aka "[ropes]"), jointly remixed with LFO's Simon from Sidney, remixed by Pram for the Warp 10th anniversary compilation 10+3 Remixes.

• SAW2 CD1 TRK1 (aka "[cliffs]"), remixed by Four Tet for the Warp 10th anniversary compilation 10+3 Remixes.

• SAW2 CD1 TRK1 (aka "[cliffs]"), SAW2 CD1 TRK3 (aka "[rhubarb]"), SAW2 CD2 TRK5 (aka "[z twig]") and SAW CD2 TRK8 (aka "[lichen]") remixed by Wisp on "Selected Ambient Works 2: Reworked", released April 30th 2004 on TavCOM Records.

26 Mixes for Cash is a compilation album of remixes produced by Richard D. James (better known by his recording alias of Aphex Twin) for various artists, plus four original tracks. ... “Peel Sessions” redirects here. ... LFO is an English techno group on the Warp Records label. ... Pram are an electronica band, formed in Birmingham, England in the 1990. ... Warp Records is a pioneering independent UK record label, founded in Sheffield in 1989, notable for discovering some of the most enduring artists in electronic music. ... Kieran Hebden spins records in the Grog Shop in Cleveland, Ohio Four Tet is the name used by Kieran Hebden for his electronic music-oriented solo efforts to differentiate from his work with post-rock band Fridge. ... Warp Records is a pioneering independent UK record label, founded in Sheffield in 1989, notable for discovering some of the most enduring artists in electronic music. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Notes of interest

Numerous tracks from Selected Ambient Works Volume II are used in the ambient comedy series Blue Jam and Jam. Chris Morris advertising Blue Jam. Blue Jam was an ambient radio comedy programme produced by Chris Morris. ... Jam is a British comedy television series created by Chris Morris. ...

The album is referenced by name in the song Pretentious Jenny by band Visually Impaired Placenta.

Track number 3, "rhubarb" was used as the soundtrack for 'Q&A', a film used by the BBC on Digital TV test transmissions. Also, "rhubarb" and "stone in focus" are featured several times in the animated flash series Salad Fingers and Spoilsbury Toast Boy, respectively, both of which are by animator David Firth. image= Salad Fingers plays with Horace Horsecollar in Episode 6. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

"Rhubarb" "Curtain" "Window Sill" and "Radiator" were featured on a BBC Documentary about the philosophy of "Time".

"Rhubarb" was featured on the 2007 award winning Canadian documentary "Sharkwater".

External links

• The SAW II GRAPHICAL F.A.Q
• Complete Aphex Twin discography
• Selected Ambient Works Volume II at the Warp Records discography (features audio clips).
• Brown Vinyl scans
• More pictures of the brown vinyl edition
• Information on Excursions In Ambience: The Third Dimension