AFX* – Hangable Auto Bulb EP.2

A singular release that encapsulates the career of one Richard D. James quite well. I hearing about "the new Aphex Twin releases" that were due out in the fall of 1995 on an internet that was still primarily text based. They had such an odd name. "Hangable Auto Bulb?!" I thought, "What does THAT mean." This was at a time when living in the US meant we either waited months if not years for a something to be released domestically or paid an eye watering for an import copy. As an Orbital fan, I had wrestled with that unfortunate phenomenon for years. In the case of the HAB EPs, our options were ...neither, really. I'm quite sure the promo material at the time and what was leaked on the internet never covered how many copies were actually pressed. What I observed was that no one I knew stateside had a copy nor had heard it. There were a few rumblings from European fans who said the EPs were difficult to find even over there, and were always expensive on the used market. Also, in general people who had heard both seemed to favor the second release.

Years ed and the twentieth century waned. The mp3 format emerged to become the dominant media for a burgeoning music piracy scene. First there were FTP sites with strict ratios, then peer to peer apps like Napster and AudioGalaxy. Musical democracy had arrived, but at what cost? All the fans who had been deprived a chance to own or hear the Hangable Auto Bulb series could now satisfy their curiosity ...in crappy 128k mp3s of someone's pop-ridden vinyl rip. Still, it was far better than the "absolutely nothing" we'd endured for years at that point.

I being distinctly underwhelmed with the first HAB EP and being struck by the second. Leaving the first installment and its six tracks alone for a second, the comparatively limited two songs on the second EP were both among the best things that RDJ had ever produced up to that time. Even with the lousy source martial and the crappy analogue output of my late 90s sound card, I could tell there was genius at work.
Vinyl versions continued to be utterly elusive and when a copy of either EP would show up on eBay, there'd be a bidding war over it in short order.

For years, Aphex fans who weren't lucky enough to own the physical copies made due with whatever mp3s we could find. I finding some 256K mp3s that were sourced from better vinyl rips in the mid 00s. They were a significant sonic improvement. In 2004, Warp launched their Bleep online mp3 store, which sold DRM-free music. This was considered a radical move at the time. I no longer recall precisely when, but at some point in the first year of its operation, Bleep put up both HAB EPs in 256K mp3s. The files were sourced from the original DAT cassettes and quite reasonably priced.

RDJ was not pleased that his fans were able to legally buy his music, so he threw a fit and forced Warp to removed the mp3s from the Bleep store. Quite the Dick move there, Richard. All this took place before I was able to purchase my own copy. After much rummaging on SoulSeek, I found the Bleep version of the mp3s in the wild. They did indeed sound much better.

Fully a year later, around the 10th anniversary of the original releases, RDJ decided that yes he did indeed like making money off his music and agreed to a CD re-issue with the tracks from both records on one release. Feeling both pleased and annoyed (a common state for AFX fans) I bought it for under $10. All this would be fine, except... There's been no vinyl re-issue. The HAB EPs are a case where one really DOES want vinyl versions. Not for any of the usual reasons bandied about for owning wax, mind. This isn't about the tangible nature of vinyl or high frequency roll-off. The original records were pressed at 45 RPM. Richard's hyperactive proto-breakcore madness (and let's be honestest here, wankery) sounds so much more interesting when "screwed" at 33RPM. I had a DJ mix from a guy in the UK where he played most of the 8 HAB tracks in one set all at 33RPM mixed in with broken beat downtempo. As is almost always the case with slowed down vinyl, the music took on a fantastic, hypnotic dub quality. It's been a sound I've wanted to replicate for 20 years at this point.

As I said at the outset, the two HAB EPs sum of the career of one Richard David James entirely too well: They're wildly mixed in quality with stratospheric highs and some impressive lows. They're needlessly, cruelly rare, and hideously expensive on the used market. The fevered ego and frankly bell-end personality of their author has kept them out of the hands of most fans for decades at this point. Yet they are essential to any fan or collector. The vinyl versions will turn 30 years old next year. Do you think RDJ and Warp will be arsed to bless us with proper 45RPM vinyl represses?

I think only 500 of these were pressed so not sure how 900+ have a copy. Wonder if the the total numbers were ever officially revealed?

PLEASE REISSUE THE 2 EPS. PLEASE - the 2 Hangable records are amazing and are tragically expensive and should be available to those that want to spend and the artist and label. Thanks. Long overdue.

I'm of the opinion that Everyday sounds better at 33. Wasn't till I heard the cd that I realised it was a 45

Every day - unbelievable track. lol at 85 EUR prices.

'Arched Maid via RDJ' sounds remarkably like a Russ Abbott's 'Atmosphere'... It also has a really great warbly solo on it.