Surfing On Sine Waves [Remastered] - Polygon Window > Reviews > Aphex Twin's back catalogue

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Average
Lyrics	Not applicable
Quality and consistency of tracks	Mixed
How does it rate alongside the competition	Average
Value for Money	Satisfactory

Advantages:	Classic .  Cult .  A  few good tracks .
Disadvantages:	Weak compared to other Aphex Twin releases .  Bland techno .

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

Aphex Twin is one the most respected electronica artists ever.
He has brought so much to the I.D.M, experimental and even musique concrète scene that it would be fair to consider placing the "-master" suffix in front of his name, Richard D. James.

Polygon Window was Aphex Twin's nickname back in 1993; you can add Power Pill (1992), Caustic Window (1992-93-97-98) and AFX (1990-91-95-97-2000-03-05) to the patchy lists of self-appointed names.
Under his exotic Polygon Window alias, he would release 2 major works, both in 1993: Surfing on Sine Waves and the Quoth Ep.
Both of these are fresh but somewhat lacking works, typifying Richard's Analogue Bubblebath series (1990-91 to 1995) as well as his AFX-ish style; in other words, not his best work.

Latter on, Richard would move onto more composite and genre-defying releases. But his Polygon Window era was a product of old school I.D.M-esque design; or more specifically, primitive techno.
Surfing on Sine Waves does however contain some very nice material, as well as being a huge classic. It can be seen as a minor (but important) bridge between Selected Ambient Works 85-92 and Selected Ambient Works vol. 2.

The drab short-budget Yamaha feel to the opening track, Polygon Window, has a mysterious charm to it. That being said, it does not go anywhere it isn't supposed to, strictly tied to a 4/4 loop of tedious design. Still, Polygon Window manages to capture Richard's sound at it's most basic; an interesting atmospheric track, purely ambient in nature.
It is while casting backdrop drones that Aphex Twin sheds light on his own peculiar index of sounds, pointing in the direction of his previous 1992 album; the only difference being that Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (Warp Records) is a far better release.

Audax Powder is a killer track, one of the best; a wavering of maniac trance vibes echoing over a sea of plutonium-soaked acid-bathed drum sequences. Although the time signatures are depressingly banal, Twin's intend is to submerge us into old school electronica territory.
Audax Powder is the most evocative track on S.O.S.W and demonstrates Richard's sheer understanding of the genre. Really neat.

Quoth is similar to tracks that Aphex Twin would release on the latter Classics album in 1995. I do not like this track. It plays like a long forgotten techno mix-tape, shameless in it's simplicity. It is nothing more than replication of subterranean gabber beats. Bland.
If it Really is Me, 4th track, relies upon the same principle. It is built upon a techno thump, cheesy disco-like claps, a few piano lines and a couple of lukewarm pads. Uninteresting.

Supremacy 2 is hard to evaluate; divisive in it's make-up. It features springboard-ish bleeping in contrast to a huge dusty 4/4 hammering. This fluctuates into various patterns of 4/4, all rather bland. The thing is, there is just some kind of odd charm about this track; the true conservative Aphex Twin fan will most certainly notice this.

UT1-dot is a deformed techno track. The great thing about UT1-dot is it's use of backdrop drones and moonlight-like undulations. A nice track if you can forget the techno front position, and concentrate on these digital midnight ballads.
The seventh track does not have a title. It is like a continuation upon the UT1-dot concept; interesting background in contrast with horrendous forefront techno.

Quixote is a 6-minute piece in which Aphex seems to twist a dreamlike pleasantness into a bent out of shape nightmare. The only problem is the terrible use of soft-gabber 4/4 lines; intrusive and rather dull.

Portreath Harbour, on the other hand, is an excellent piece. A kind of hip-hop and electric bell collage. It sounds very similar to latter Aphex Twin material.
Redruth School is a very short track of very much the same stuff. This time though, you will be able to hear an extremely strong dark ambient style, a premature and introductive track to Richard's Selected Ambient Works vol. 2 album (Warp Records, 1994).
The last track, Quino-phec, is even closer to Selected Ambient Works vol.2, as it consists of a couple of harmonies dancing together, without beats or drums, solo-like and graceful.

Surfing on Sine Waves is like a formative disorganized work, appearing bizarrely between two important releases: the two Selected Ambient Works albums. It does not seem to make any sense. But that's probably the basis of S.O.S.W's charm.
It sounds like an insightful look at latter material, a sign of things to come; but it also features the same thumping and unnecessary technoid fabric that would spoil the latter Classics (Warp Records, 1995).

However you chose to look at it...
...S.O.S.W still is a classic.

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(Written by myself - no violation, no lifting, no breach of copyright)