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Entertainment WeeklySep 29, 2014A startlingly accessible, possibly even pop-friendly effort. [3 Oct 2014, p.69]
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Sep 22, 2014A standout record in an already peerless discography.
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Sep 19, 2014Syro sees a master craftsman return with renewed inspiration. And while it might not technically be James' most innovative album, it way well be his best: his most complete and engaging under the guise of Aphex Twin.
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Sep 18, 2014It has none of the deliberate pratfalls or raspberries he’s prone to. Rather, it’s entirely welcoming.
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Sep 23, 2014We’re going to be talking about this album for years to come.
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Sep 23, 2014Richard D. James has successfully crafted one of the most stunning records of his career, and he did so by exercising a deft amount of self-control.
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Sep 23, 2014Even if Syro isn’t a radical departure, it’s still a swaggering return, a reminder of just how many varieties of warped sound remain at James’ command--and just how few of his acolytes can touch that versatility.
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Oct 10, 2014It isn't perfect, its sheer restlessness prevents it from being so, but it will undoubtedly come to be remembered as another masterpiece from possibly the greatest electronic composer to walk the earth.
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UncutSep 25, 2014While there's nothing as pop as "Windowlicker" here, it's still thrilling to hear him romp deliriously through all manner of styles in the key of Apex for the bulk of these dozen tracks. [Nov 2014, p.71]
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Sep 23, 2014There is craftsmanship here, but its genius lies in letting the raw quality of his sound speak first rather than arranging it into something new.
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Sep 22, 2014He wants to continue to be happy the way he is and that contentment is helping him to produce some of his finest work. For a musician, that's truly unique.
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Sep 22, 2014Richard D. James is back, and he’s still absolutely untouchable.
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Sep 18, 2014Syro is amazing: bug-eyed, banging rave that sounds quintessentially Aphex while not quite sounding like anything he’s done before.
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Sep 23, 2014The artist has presented an utterly human, mostly nonverbal defense of his aesthetic: atmospheric, occasionally funky and meandering instrumental electronic tones, lovingly crafted, with imaginative internal logics.
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Sep 22, 2014Syro contains some of his most tactile music; it’s a headphone record par excellence, an hour-long feast for the ears.
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Sep 22, 2014James has primed the Aphex Twin for its next metamorphosis--one that has promised to be more combustible than the beats that ground SYRO.
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The WireDec 2, 2014Syro feels like a perfected memory of 80s music. [Oct 2014, p.54]
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Q MagazineOct 3, 2014Syro is an album that instantly connects. [Nov 2014, p.109]
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Sep 30, 2014Imagine a mirror which distorts not just the reflection, but reality itself, and you have a fair idea of the stunning legacy to which Syro triumphantly belongs.
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Sep 29, 2014James is still at the reigns, and Syro is proof that he is still very much the king of his own tangled domain.
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Sep 26, 2014Syro stands as a quiet achievement, an un-fussy, humbling, and excellent release.
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Sep 25, 2014The skittering electro-jazz rhythms, classical melodic complexity and mind-bending liquid acid funk are so unique that the closest comparisons you can make are to other Aphex Twin albums.
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Sep 23, 2014It’s a breathless record, one that threatens to last an eternity--such is the speed and dazzling depth at which James expresses himself.
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Sep 23, 2014Syro is hardly alienating. On the contrary, it is by turns raw, intricate, and intimate.
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Sep 22, 2014Whilst it is true that Aphex Twin’s delicate and more minimalist side is neglected on Syro, save for the piano kiss-off of aisatsana (102), there are plenty of signs of James maturing and developing as an artist.
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Sep 22, 2014At times, the whirl of ideas threatens to spin out of control, but more often, as on CIRCLONT6A, they cohere thrillingly. A welcome return.
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Sep 22, 2014Admittedly, Syro will probably not win over a new generation of fans like the Richard D. James album once did, but as a continuation of everything that has made Aphex Twin compelling, it's a triumph.
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Sep 22, 2014Graying snobs once called this "intelligent dance music." Even now, few do it better.
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Sep 22, 2014Low on frenetics, Syro is anchored by rotund and agile basslines that zip and glide, and it's decked in accents and melodies that are lively even at their most distressed.
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Sep 19, 2014Overall, it’s a collection primarily concerned with the somatic rather than cerebral sides of Richard James’s music, overdosing somewhat on staccato, bouncing synth twangs and jittery drum’n’bass beats.
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Sep 18, 2014By sounding simply like a series of Aphex Twin tracks, Syro is still utterly engrossing and remains, somewhat unbelievably, on a completely different planet to almost anything else that’s been released over the last decade and a half.
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Sep 18, 2014It’s an effortless comeback, then, that almost plays like a greatest hits set.
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MagnetNov 12, 2014Syro is surprisingly listenable without drawing much attention to itself. [No. 115, p.52]
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Sep 25, 2014Syro pales next to Richard D. James' groundbreaking best, compared to the plurality of drivel penned as EDM, it'll more than suffice for another decade or until Aphex's next fix comes along. A grower not a show-er.
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Under The RadarDec 19, 2014While many moments on the new LP are arguably musically as good as much of his back catalogue, it no longer has the same visceral, evolutionary energy of something truly new. [Dec 2014, p.88]
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MojoNov 5, 2014What is missing is that impish, dangerous side, the famous contorted grin and all that it suggests: humour and horror, surprise and confrontation. [Nov 2014, p.89]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 169 out of 205
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Mixed: 23 out of 205
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Negative: 13 out of 205
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Sep 23, 2014
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Sep 23, 2014
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Sep 23, 2014