Aphex Twin - Xylem Tube EP

To me, this is one of the greatest tracks from a dance pioneer in pioneering times.
I remember still coming to terms with Digeridoo and all its' ground-breakingly stunning brilliance, and then this monster emerged from the deep like some all encompassing cloak of darkness. Never before in electronic music had I heard such organic beauty and it truly changed the way I accepted new sounds.
I remember being handed this one at Central Station Records on my weekly pilgrimage and flipping straight to the black side, where all R&S gems are found, and I shut my eyes to listen to Polynomial-C. Whoaa!!! I put the needle back to the beginning and listened again. And again. I looked around to make sure I was still in the shop and I wasn't dreaming. I felt like I was floating in the clouds.
This was the most beautiful thing my ears had ever heard and still amazes me today, 16 years on.
I would actually go as far as to say that this release is very high up in my top 5 dance tracks ever.
If you ever get the opportunity to pick this up, do so. You will never, ever regret it. Whether it is your style of music or not, the sheer depth of brilliance will blow you away.
Guaranteed. Nuff said.

This record is as a whole a massive ep with 4 absolute killer tracks. Polymonial c has deffinately the absolute power of early intelligent rave and is probably one of the bes 'emotional' breakbeat electronic tracks ever made. Richard D. James clearly set an exemple for people like Mike Paradinas and Bogdan Rascinsky with this 'let's dance eternity away crying like a baby and happy like a child'- vibe. Not only is it a great dancetrack combining classic chords with technoclaps and breabeat shuffles, it's also a great listening experience becaus of great ambiance balancing on different synths and effects.

Xylem Tube is a truly superb piece of electronic music history. It came at a time when I used to ask if Aphex Twin had any new tracks out yet. As soon as he pulled it out from behind the counter, I knew it was something special. That logo (the first time i had seen it) and that sleeve. I loved R&S records as they always had the best tracks. The sleeves ALWAYS had a mistake on them (check out the starfish with the line running through the middle of the bottom left arm) but they got the track names correct this time. From the second the needle hit the firstv note of Polynomia, I thought YES! and new I had just bought my favourite record that year. Didgeridoo had blown me away but Xylem tube had something else. Its 150 fathoms deep sound (not just Polynomia) and rhythms were so organic. It has a life of its own . So hard and beautiful at the same time. If there was a long dark corridoor with a ceiling as high as St. Pauls Cathederal which led to the gates of hell, Its soundtrack would be Dodeccahedron (on the vinyl, the sleeve has it wrong as usual). It is dark and brooding with sounds that can only be described as a demented human voice sampled from an insane asylum. The strings are very beautiful and give the track a classical music feel. It shows you the skill and musical knowledge of Mr. James, not just blown away by PCP fuelled, turbo thrusting, mach10, M60 sub-machine gun warped mindfu*k. Probably my favourite EP by AFX of all time. I was there at the start and to this day, as written by somebody else reviewing this record, this is RDJ in a moment of pure unadulterated genius and i recommend this record whole heartedly. If you don't like it, you should go and buy a Take That tribute album.

This record along with Digeridoo are two of the most unique tricknological experiments in Techno-ology ever recorded and put out on vinyl. They are must-owns in every way. I try to direct fledgling listeners of techno toward these releases as much as I can with the instruction of "listen intently and realize this is your college course in what makes techno innovative and daring". Besides Polynomial-C which IS that good, I find that every friggin' track on this release is worth careful study. I don't have the record in front of me now so I can't immediately identify the track (I think B-2), but a friend of mine at work was mimicking the hard rock band Mastodon when I bought this release (the price was like $4.00 for each - this and Digeridoo... The price WAS right, Bob!) and it was only natural that the low groaning under-the-ice sample MUST have been the Mastodon! Or was it the under-the-LaBrea-tarpits sample? I don't know. It doesn't matter - if you have any course to buy this record, DO IT! JUST DO IT! You will never suffer buyers' remorse EVER with this one! EVER! It's THAT GREAT! And very unique, too.

A2 and B2 on this EP are superb. A2 is an early gabber tune with high bpm and harsh, snarling basslines. It samples a Tampax ad and fucks and distorts it up. B2 is a dark, superb slice of typical Aphex of the time. Containing a sample that sounds like a groan of despair and a great heavy breakbeat. My favourite slice of Mr James.

To echo everyone else, Polynomial-C is simply one of the greatest tracks ever written. From the moment it starts the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on end. It completely absorbs you. When I was younger I always imagined hearing this at 3 in the morning, out in the countryside, almost like you were detached from reality. Then I saw Aphex Twin's set at the Glade Festival this year and I didn't need to imagine it anymore. The roar of approval as that instantly recognisable melody trickled into the speakers showed how special this tune is for so many people.

Polynomial-C is without a doubt one of the most amazing pieces of music I have ever heard. If you ever wondered what music would sound like if it was produced underwater, this it the track.

Aphex twin's genius was definitely at a high when he was producing this material, the rest of the tracks on the EP take a couple of listens, but equally excellent music.

This was the first Aphex twin record I bought and my first introduction to him as well, I still play this out on the radio and gigs, every time I drop it, and it always gets the trainspotters murmuring....

An essential Aphex Twin release

I have to agree with everything that V-agent says above. This is one of the greatest works of electronic music I have ever heard. 2 tracks of restrained brilliance and beauty ("Polynomial C" and "Dodeccaheedron") alternate with two manic bashers in "Tamphex" and "Phlange Phace".

I remember the elation I felt in the early nineties when a new Aphex release would appear in my local shop. There was always a sense of mystery and otherworldness about him, and Xylem Tube is no exception. Everything he did at that time was brilliant, and it all made me feel like I was witness to something that no human was meant to hear, Straight out of Area 51. There was also that special feeling that you get when you hear something so monumental that very few people know about, since at the time, Aphex was not really very widely known.

This record and Digeridoo are the essentials of the R&S catalog.

This is Richard D. James most spectacular release to this day. It is the most unusual release from him, as well as R&S, containing the most beutiful track he ever wrote: 'Polynomial C"
At one point he was possessed by genius and did not have to try to be strange - he was, he simply does not possess this genius anymore. His work these days is a dissappointment.
The overall ambiance of this work will leave you feeling like you have come back from exploring a liquid metal gas giant.
One of the greatest works in the history of Electronic music.