Mike and Rich – Expert Knob Twiddlers

Classic 1994 collaboration unearthed and expanded...

From all the noise over at camp Mu, you could be forgiven for thinking we’ve got a brand new Aphex Twin and µ-ziq album on our hands. Unfortunately that’s not the case. Well, not quite. It’s actually just the classic 1994 album; re-edited, re-mastered and with the tracklist jumbled up so it feels a bit different. Plus some bonus tracks and alternate mixes of ‘Vodka’ and ‘Jelly Fish’.

But it’s not really about what new stuff you get here, this re-issue is a celebration of a historic collab that almost certainly wasn’t treated as a big deal at the time. The mythology is only strengthened by how tongue in cheek the whole record is. Take ‘Reg’ for example, a hodgepodge of musical elements tossed together. There’s something joyous in listening to two electronica heavy weights pissing about. That’s essentially what this record is and that doesn’t detract from it’s quality or it’s relevance, in fact quite the opposite.

Of course this is not the only time either producer has been silly or humorous (check Aphex’s ‘Milkman’ for example), but with this record there’s a playfulness to the way the music is put together that is quite special. That’s not to say there is a lack of artistic merit either; for all Richard D James goes on about fancy synths, he does fine work with shitty ones while presumably drunk. The burp noises on ‘Upright Kangaroo’ seem like solid evidence of a fair few tinnies consumed.

This album might not make sense to you if you’re not an Aphex or Planet Mu head – but let’s face it, who isn’t at least pretending to be these days. For those who remember it from the first time around, ‘Expert Knob Twiddlers’ is well worth revisiting and you even get a few extras thrown in for good measure.

8/10

Words: Jack Dolan

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