Analogue Bubblebath is the first release by ambient and techno musician Richard D. James, using the alias The Aphex Twin. The EP was released in September 1991 by Mighty Force Records. It is the first release in what became the Analogue Bubblebath series. The title track was described as "one of the most perfect tracks ever written" by the influential publication Mixmag, and is often called one of the best tracks in James' catalogue. The initial pressing of the EP was 1000 copies, which sold out in less than a week; it was followed by further pressings of several thousand.
Background
Mark Darby, a free party organiser and the owner of the Mighty Forcerecord shop, had been given a C90 tape of James' music by Tom Middleton and was eager to release music from it. James was very reluctant to release a record on Darby's fledgling label. Darby has stated that it took "about 3 months" to convince James to release it. James preferred to keep his music exclusively for playing at his performances, similar to the use of dubplates in sound system culture. Reportedly, James was only convinced to release a record at all because he was under the influence of acid at the time. The original record was mastered from the C90 tape onto a Betamax F1 tape. The initial pressing of 1000 records was distributed by Darby's friends, taking copies to record shops around London, and it quickly sold out. Further pressings of several thousand followed soon after.
Music
The music varies from Detroit-influenced ambient techno to intense hardcore. The track "Isopropophlex" uses samples from the arcade gameBerzerk, along with a flanged and filtered voice sample. The musician and producer Tom Middleton collaborated on "En Trance to Exit" under the pseudonym Schizophrenia. The record went on to be hugely influential. Its title track has been described as a "redrawing of ambient techno aesthetics" by Rolling Stone, while critic Simon Reynolds suggested its "hazy yet crystalline production... announced a new direction in techno". James' friend and fellow producer Tom Middleton discussed how the track is "like pure emotion in sound", while musician and DJ Ellen Allien called it "a classic tune by the best electronic producer in the world." Influential publication Mixmag called it "one of the most perfect tracks ever written". It is frequently cited as one of the best compositions in James' extensive discography. In contrast to the ambient sound of "Analogue Bubblebath", the industrial, menacing sound of "Isopropophlex" has been described as "astringent" and suggestive of "a nasty corrosive fluid". Critic Ira Robbins, writing in 1997, referred to its "aggressively sequenced dance rhythms underpin the synthesized squonks, plonks and samples" The record created a buzz in the UK about Aphex Twin, and on release won immediate acclaim, quickly earning the artist a cult following. It had playlist support from influential London radio stationKiss FM, and was played regularly by DJ Colin Dale. The tracks "Analogue Bubblebath" and "Isopropophlex" can also be found on the R&S Records compilation Classics. The EP was reissued by TVT Records in the US in 1994, on both CD and 12" vinyl format. "Isopropophlex" appears in a longer form titled "Isopropanol", and "Analogue Bubblebath" is extended by a few seconds of additional ending, entitled "Analogue Bubblebath I".
