Aphex Twin – Collapse EP

Constant quiet surface noise but not bad enough to ruin it. Great production as always and very funky little EP!

My copy unfortunately has some annoying distortion coming through on the right channel, but the record is still somewhat listenable, though on some sections it is really distracting especially at higher volumes. Before I made my purchase I was under the assumption that this was only an issue in the limited edition pressings, but no it seems the same problem also exists on some of the regular pressings as well. Buyers should probably ask for sound samples before purchasing a used copy, or if you are buying a sealed copy cross your fingers and hope for the best.

Other than that the cover art looks great with a nice glossy finish and I like the simple black labels with the white AFX logo. It doesn't say which is side A or B anywhere in the record, so it could be annoying for someone who is playing it for the first time starting it accidentally from the wrong side. The code with the extra bonus track is of course a plus.

Music itself is excellent of course. I would say it's the best we have gotten from Richard ever since his comeback with Syro. All of the tracks have a ton of depth and details to dig into and they evolve in interesting ways during their runtime, many of them having entirely different sections which could have been made out to be unique tracks on their own. My favourite one is probably "MT1 t29r2", with it's instantly recognisable starting melody, unique calm ages with interesting instrumentation and those glitchy and distorted sections that change up the track making it feel more dynamic.

Another great release from Richard, even if the vinyl pressings seem to be all over the place quality wise. The music itself is very good, but unfortunately I can't justify giving it more than two stars in my case.

This is in my opinion his best work we’ve got in the past few years. This record sounds awesome with almost zero surface noise and the bass is well balanced.

love the design of the cover, and the minimalism of the labels! my b side is a little noisy, but it’s not enough to make me return it. a nice little ep from afx❤️

Sounds great - glad to have this EP. Enjoyed every time.

yeah they must've figured something on these later pressings because mine is maybe the best sounding record I've ever heard

Five stars for the music, obviously. But I‘m done with this pressing, have had two records with the same noise/distortion on the right channel, double-checked on different systems. What a shame.

Incredible-sounding, just like Aphex Twin's Warp releases are (mostly) known for. Packaging is very creative.

Pthex is one of the best track of Richard, so why Pthex isn't on the vinyl WHY!!???

Play Bucephalus Bouncing Ball (which is awesome at 45 rpm) and then this to see how generic this is.