Music From the Merch Desk (2016 – 2023)

by Aphex Twin

People might scoff at this 2h36m collection of Aphex Twin tracks, but his b-sides are better than a lot of people's a-sides.

This is no different.

From a Guardian review:

'Several tracks contain odd bits of Aphexian lore. The very jolly, extremely flanged hyperpop of T13 Quadraverbia N+3, is named for a cherished 1989 effects unit, and takes us back in spirit to James’s early days as a “bedroom bore” working in Lannerlog, his Heath Robinson-esque homebrew studio in his parents’ house in Lanner, when he was still only dreaming of changing the face of modern electronic music. And the regal drum’n’bass Spiral Staircase (AFX Remix) is the result of him secretly entering a magazine competition in 2004 to rework a track on pal Wagon Christ’s new album. He won but gave the prize to the runner-up. This track, like many others here, shows that Aphex Twin was always an artist with one foot in Düsseldorf and another straddling the Chicago/Detroit divide – but importantly with a spirit that was rebelliously Cornish and a heart floating across the surface of an imaginary Mars.'