"minipops 67 20.2''" (also known unofficially as "the Manchester track") is a track by the British

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

ian Richard D. James, credited under the pseudonym

Aphex Twin Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), known professionally as Aphex Twin, is a British musician, composer and DJ active in electronic music since 1988. His idiosyncratic work has drawn on many styles, including techno, ambient music, ambi ...

. It is the opening track and lead single from Aphex Twin's sixth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, ''

Syro ''Syro'' () is the sixth studio album by the British electronic music artist and producer Aphex Twin, Richard D. James under the alias of Aphex Twin. It was released on 19September 2014 through Warp Records. It was James's first album under th ...

'' (2014). Released as a single on 4 September 2014 on

Warp Records Warp Records is a British independent record label that specialises in Electronic music, electronic, indie rock and experimental music. It was founded in Sheffield in 1989 by Steve Beckett, Robert Mitchell and Robert Gordon. It has released recor ...

, James debuted "minipops 67 20.2 at a show in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

seven years prior to its release and the song was made available on several bootlegs. The track received positive reviews after its premiere broadcast on

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and its official

download In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar systems. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote ...

release.

Background and recording

"minipops 67 20.2 is one of the older compositions on ''

'', which Richard D James estimated as being recorded in 2007 or 2008, according to ''

the Fader ''The Fader'' is a magazine established in 1999 as an outlet for Cornerstone Agency, a marketing and public relations firm established by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. History and work It is owned by T ...

''. The song's title is a reference to

Korg Mini Pops The Mini Pops were a number of early analog drum machines from the Japanese musical equipment company Korg during the late 1960s and the 1970s. The machines were based around a number of preset rhythm patterns, such as waltz, samba, rhumba, bossa ...

, a 1967

drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

used by James during ''Syro''s recording sessions.

Release and reception

"minipops 67 20.2 premiered on

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reed Lowe (born 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence through pr ...

programme on 4 September 2014. Following its original broadcast the track was released as a

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...

official

SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

account and

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel, accompanied by a portion of the single's press release in

broken English Broken English is a term often used to describe non-standard, non-traditionally spoken or alternatively-written version of the English language. This term is often considered derogatory and has been used to invalidate non-standard or "low pre ...

. The single, which was James' first single release under the Aphex Twin pseudonym since 1999's " Windowlicker", was made available as a digital download from various online retailers including Bleep.com,

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

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and

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

. The single cover art, which is similar to the artwork for ''Syro'', details statistics and user activity on Aphex Twin's YouTube channel from February to September 2014. Upon its release, "minipops 67 20.2 received warm critical acclaim. Writing for

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All Songs Considered ''All Songs Considered'' is a weekly online podcast and radio program hosted by Robin Hilton. It was created in January 2000 by NPR's ''All Things Considered'' then-director Bob Boilen and produced by Robin Hilton beginning in 2001. At first, ...

, Otis Hart referred to the track as "signature AFX" and said "the synths bounce erratically … The warped vocal sighs are disorienting, yet blissful. There's nothing poppy about it, yet it somehow sticks in your head."

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

writer Patric Fallon awarded "minipops 67 20.2 the "Best New Track" accolade and called it "analog maximalism", comparing its composition to James' previous releases, including "the plinky, translucent synths of '' Selected Ambient Works''" (1992), the "vocal abstractions" of '' Richard D James Album'' (1996) and the "excitable dissonance" of ''

Drukqs ''Drukqs'' (stylised as ''drukQs'') is the fifth studio album by the British electronic music artist and producer Richard D. James under the alias of Aphex Twin. It was released in October 2001 through Warp Records. It is a double album that ...

'' (2001). ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

''s Daniel Krepps referred to "minipops 67 20.2 as "melodic" and reminiscent of James' earlier

ambient Ambient or ambiance or ambience may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ambiancé'', an unreleased experimental film * ''Ambient'' (novel), a novel by Jack Womack Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgr ...

material, and noted that during his 13-year hiatus as Aphex Twin "his talents haven't dulled in the least." Chris DeVille of

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

praised the song, describing that it "bears traces of

Caribou The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only represe ...

s liquid bounce and

Burial Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

s high-minded skittering, while the vocals reflect

Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician who is the vocalist and main songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. He plays guitar, bass, keyboards and other instruments, and is noted for his falsetto. ''Rolling Stone'' desc ...

s alien moaning."

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. History ''Consequence of Sound'' was founded in Septem ...

noted that "minipops 67 20.2 "finds Aphex Twin triumphantly returning to form."

Live performances

Richard D James debuted "minipops 67 20.2 at a performance at

The Warehouse Project The Warehouse Project is a series of club nights organised in Greater Manchester, England, since 2006. Unlike most other clubs, it has a limited seasonal approach rather than running all year. Each year's season runs from September through to N ...

, England on 7 December 2007.

Bootleg recording A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. Making and distributing such recordings is known as ''bootlegging''. Recordings may be copied and traded ...

s of the performance titled the song "the Manchester track", which was its unofficial title prior to its inclusion on ''Syro''.

Track listing

;Digital download #"minipops 67 20.2 –

Chart positions

References

External links

* * {{authority control 2014 songs 2014 singles Compositions by Aphex Twin Warp (record label) singles