''Hangable Auto Bulb'' is a series of two 1995 EPs by electronic musician Richard D. James, under his alias AFX. The two were re-released by

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 ...

as a single album on 31 October 2005. They marked James's first foray into rapid

drill 'n' bass Drill 'n' bass is a subgenre of drum and bass which developed in the mid-1990s as intelligent dance music, IDM artists began experimenting with elements of jungle music, jungle and breakbeat hardcore, breakbeat music. Artists utilized powerful ...

style beat programming.

Overview

Split across two 12" EPs, the second released eight weeks after the first, and each were limited to 1000 pressings. The records marked a significant change in sound from previous AFX and

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 ...

releases. Moving away from the analogue sounds of '' ...I Care Because You Do'' (1995), the tracks show James experimenting with computer-arranged

breakbeat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that uses drum breaks, often sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as Florida breaks, hip-hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat ...

programming and timestretched samples inspired by

drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...

; this style would become known as "

, and would become the dominant sound in his work up until the '' Analord'' releases of 2005. The records were influenced by the early EPs of fellow Cornish producer Plug (

Luke Vibert Luke Vibert (born 26 January 1973) is a British electronic musician and producer, also known for his work under several aliases such as Plug and Wagon Christ. Raised in Cornwall, Vibert began releasing projects in the 1990s across varied genre ...

), as well as other

movements of the day. The CD cover is by

The Designers Republic The Designers Republic is a British graphic design studio based in Sheffield, England, founded in 1986 by Ian Anderson and Nick Phillips (graphic designer), Nick Phillips. They are best known for electronic music logos, album artwork, and an ...

Reception

In 2005 ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' called the reissued EPs "pioneering sonically" and stated that "this music still sounds utterly alien as James morphs the fractured volatile beats with ambient melody." Mark Richardson of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' stated that the reissue's "tension, between the otherworldly yet effortlessly tuneful melodies purring along beneath drums that constantly struggle to frame them, is what the ensuing era of James' music is all about, and ''Hangable Auto Bulb'' is a hell of an intro."

Track listing

12" EPs

CD

2017 digital bonus tracks

The CD lengths are slightly different from the original EPs. On some pressings, tracks 7 and 8 are erroneously reversed.

Samples

The tracks "Children Talking," "Every Day," and "get a baby" feature samples from the 1961

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

series titled "Children Talking", in which Harold Williamson traveled the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

asking children questions about aspects of their lives.

Anagrams

The album's title is an

anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into the phrase "nag a ram"; which ...

of "Analogue Bublbath", a reference to James' previous AFX release series, ''

Analogue Bubblebath ''Analogue Bubblebath'', also released as ''Aphex Twin ep'', is the first record by the British musician and producer Richard D. James. The EP was released under his alias The Aphex Twin through Mighty Force Records in September 1991. It wa ...

''. Also, as on James' previous album ''

…I Care Because You Do ''...I Care Because You Do'' is the third studio album by the British electronic music artist and producer Richard D. James under the alias of Aphex Twin. It was released on 24 April 1995 through Warp Records and contains material recorded be ...

'', a number of the track titles are anagrams or near-anagrams: * of

: "Laughable Butane Bob" * of Analogue Bublbath '' ic': "Hangable Auto Bulb" * of Richard David Jame '' ic': "Arched Maid Via RDJ" * of Caussttic Ouinnddo '' ic' (correctly spelled " Caustic Window"): "Custodian Discount"

References

External links

More info on ''Hangable Auto Bulb EP''

More info on ''Hangable Auto Bulb EP.2''

Complete AFX discography
* {{Authority control Aphex Twin EPs 1995 EPs Warp Records EPs Albums with cover art by The Designers Republic