Analogue Bubblebath 4 AFX Rephlex Records
Such is the enigma of Aphex Twin, it's now a matter of dispute whether many of his songs even have names. As eccentrically creative with neologisms as he is with synthesised sound, Richard D. James is best known as Aphex Twin, but the 41-year-old English electronic music innovator has worked under myriad monikers including AFX, Blue Calx, Bradley Strider, Caustic Window, GAK, Polygon Window and Power-Pill.
Naturally then, keeping track of his catalogue is quite tricky. His track titles are equally playful, acid-damaged and bizarre - chemical names, hybridised words, random sequences of letters and numbers, references to early electronic technology, the names of computer viruses, anagrams and profane exhortations are all favourites.
Occasionally, he gives his songs no titles at all. Such was the case with his fourth EP release as AFX, the acid-tinged Analogue Bubblebath 4. According to James' label Rephlex, the EP's four tracks were originally released untitled, but the artist's cult-like fan base ascribed them animal names based on the various jungle sounds they brought to mind, so that the tracks could be more readily discussed on internet message boards.
The opening six-minute track is a savage techno banger, showcasing James' sinister black-acid side more than his transcendent ambient inclinations. A relentless tribal bass beat churns through the track at 138 beats per minute, while a heavily distorted, interlocked high-hat repeatedly smacks the listener in the ears. Ominous chimes and dark synths swell and surface in the background as a humanoid shriek rips through the song on loop.
The scream also sounds a bit like the trunk-trumpet shriek of an elephant in mid stampede - thus, the song has come to be colloquially known as Elephant Song. The following three tracks are now known as Cuckoo, Gibbon and Sloth - each vaguely evocative of their totem animal. The crowd-sourced titles have taken such hold that both Amazon.com and iTunes now mistakenly list them as the EP's true song names.