The Smojphace EP has the distinction of being the first Aphex Twin release I actually bought at the time it came out. Having spent the two years prior immersing myself in his discography, when news of a new Aphex Twin single dropped in 2003 I was ready to snap it up from my local HMV. And there’s no denying it, the Smojphace EP was something of a disappointment, but then my expectations were unrealistically high, having had my brain rearranged by Drukqs and then trying to assimilate the history of 90s dance music into my febrile teenage mind.
Thus a single containing a remix of Run the Place Red, by The Bug & Daddy Freddy and two beatless noise tracks was not exactly what I was looking for. That being said, the Bug remix is an absolute monster: a ragga-dancehall breakcore carve-up that would surely run any place you can think of as red as scarlet. Daddy Freddy’s unhinged vocals are gradually subsumed by the malevolent bass and unrelenting layers of breakbeats, which themselves are obliterated by white noise as the track reaches its climax.
Fair play, it’s a banger but not a track I’ve returned to many times since 2003. Noteworthy for being the only Aphex track I can think of with ragga MC-ing, and a reminder that Rephlex Records went through something of a ragga/breakcore phase in the early 2000s.
Ktpa1 and Ktpa2 are pure noise tracks, most likely created with a technique called “no input mixing” where the output of a mixer is plugged back into the input, creating an unpredictable feedback loop. The result is pure texture with no sense of progression, nor soundstage to orient oneself and, after listening to each piece to write this I’ll probably never revisit them. Some may find pleasure in an ASMR-type buzz but I see their inclusion on the EP as pure mischief-making. I’ve got nothing against people enjoying a pure sound thrill, but that’s all it is; online comments I’ve seen drawing comparisons to experimental ambient tracks from SAW2 are sorely misguided.
Rating: 2/5, come for the ragga-breakcore, maybe don’t stay for the noise.
George's Music Blog 