Tracks ripped from a DAT tape from 1994
Joyrex, 17th November 2008:
I'd rather not release them [tracks in full length] until I have Richard's permission (since I don't want to get into any legal trouble with all this, as they ARE copyrighted tracks).
I guess now is a good time as any to reveal the story behind these tracks since enough time has passed since their coming into existence outside the Llanerlog Studios and ultimately, into my hands.
These tracks were hastily taped off of a DAT Richard had lying around in his house during a party (this was when Richard lived with several people, before the bank days), and Richard unfortunately had a bit too much and was asleep/unconscious, and one of the party goers decided to tape off one of his DATs to ironically, impress a girl!
Having pulled off such a feat, the reaction from the girl in question was unfortunately "not impressed" and the cassette sat in a drawer for several years, no one really knowing what it was until a mate of a mate happened across it, played it, and realized what it was (the Ventolin track probably helped). Fast forward to about 3 or 4 years ago, and a kind soul decided to bestow this upon me in the form of a MD - and I've sat on it all this time, only making mention of it in the past couple of years.
Keep in mind that this is just an MD of tracks - Richard probably has hundreds of these tapes, with ideas or completed songs he can revisit if the need arises (the tracks off the 2001 reissue of SOSW were just two tracks Richard pulled off DATs he had that were marked "Polygon Window" - no real thought went into choosing them, as WARP just wanted to make the reissue a bit more special for the fans.
Why bring it up now? Well, I always intended on including that in the eventual Aphex Discography on WATMM, but that's still progressing slowly, and really there's no reason to sit upon it any longer, and as I've mentioned before, Richard himself is aware of my possessing it, and at one time had given me permission to release several tracks (this was at the time the company hosting WATMM decided to go tits up and take the money and run). I lost the PM's detailing what was OK and what wasn't, and I hope that some form of OK is given, as I don't want to just release this stuff - I do respect the copyright these tracks have on them, but by the same token I do want everyone to hear them as some of the tracks are very good, I think.
This has nothing to do with publicity for WATMM, as I haven't created a thread about these tracks, nor announced them to the world, etc., so any naysayers can end that line of thinking.
I have gotten an offer to digitally clean these up, as I would like to hear them in the best quality possible.
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Joyrex, 10th June 2008:
Well, my wish was Granted (ha, pun intended), and Rephlex got in touch with me:
"Hi, hope u r well
someone just informed us via watmm , joyrex(?) was planning to release a load of afx old unrel trx, - don’t do that! they will come out with a load more on a boxset or something at some point, best quality. If they r bootlegged prior to this it will scupper any plans. Wot say thee?
Cheers
Best regards
Grant & Richard"
And yes, I did verify it was indeed Rephlex who sent the email. So, out of respect, I will not be releasing these to the public per their wishes. I do certainly hope that these will indeed come out in some form soon (realistically, I can see a few of the tracks, but not all of them are up to par for releasing). I would ask anyone else in possession of these tracks not to distribute them out of anger or spite, and respect the artist's wishes. Although unreleased, they are copyrighted, and are protected under international copyright laws of your applicable country.
