Aphex Twin // Flim (Come to Daddy EP 1997)
[This is, according to a Skrillex facebook post, Skrillex’s favorite song - Skrillex fans marveled at the idea that there is an electronic song worth listening to that doesn’t feature a bass drop. That’s essentially the context for the paragraphs below]
I’ve written about my admiration of the track’s drum programming, how each little pause, hesitation, and stutter is so perfectly placed, and how the drums plant ideas in my head about innocence, awkwardness, burgeoning confidence, and growth. I’m projecting pretty heavily there, but Aphex Twin makes the drums feel, and he knows exactly what to do with the bass that goes with it. There is bass in “Flim”, and its role in the track is key, even if it never overwhelms the space; it supports the drums and engages in a dialog with them, but the approach is subtle and precise and intimate, a whispered conversation instead of a shout across the rooftops.
Someone on YouTube has slowed down “Flim”. At least one person created a dubstep remix of the song in response to the Skrillex Facebook post, but it’s since been removed. More of these will follow. And some people will even like the drop version better. Their ears may work differently from mine, but they are not wrong. Meanwhile, I put on my “accurate” headphones and turn up “Flim” as loud as I can bear, and I picture myself sitting across from Richard James in his bedroom as he works over this material on his computer. It’s an illusion, of course, but I like to imagine that I’m hearing what James was hearing right at that moment, that the glass between us is completely transparent. And maybe that’s what Skrillex hears, too, even if some of his fans couldn’t.
- Mark Richardson, Resonant Frequency: Permission to Avalanch (Pitchfork)
I don’t have anything real to add, but this piece made me listen to the song and the song is wonderful. Check it out, and read the whole piece because Richardson talks about Beats by Dre headphones without being a condescending asshole which is refreshing when you read enough about headphones.
