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The long echo of Aphex Twin’s ‘Xtal’.

“Selected Ambient Works 85-92, which began with the transcendent “Xtal.””

RESIDENT ADVISOR ON SHED · 27 MARCH 2017

‘Xtal’ opens Selected Ambient Works 85–92. Five reviews compare later records with that album or its opening track; Tara Clerkin recalls her first listen.

Each comparison is something a critic wrote, dated, and linked where the review is online. It is not a claim about who shaped whom.

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PITCHFORK ON VENETIAN SNARES · 18 SEPTEMBER 2002
“a graceful, Selected Ambient Works-inspired slice of lazy heaven”
2370894 by Venetian Snares, 2002
PITCHFORK ON BLONDES · 10 JULY 2013
“like a lost treasure from Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works 85-92”
Swisher by Blondes, 2013
PITCHFORK ON AKASHA SYSTEM · 11 DECEMBER 2019
“Selected Ambient Works 85-92, in which bold drums and riffs dissolved into pure atmosphere”
Echo Earth by Akasha System, 2019
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LOUD AND QUIET ON SKY H1 · 29 NOVEMBER 2021
“Early Aphex Twin casts a long shadow over much of Azure”
Azure by Sky H1, 2021
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PITCHFORK ON JACQUES GREENE · 31 JANUARY 2022
“strongly reminiscent of Aphex Twin’s classic “Xtal.””
Fantasy by Jacques Greene, 2022
TONE GLOW ON TARA CLERKIN TRIO · 28 MAY 2026
“floored by music… Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works 85-92”
Somewhere Good by Tara Clerkin Trio, 2026
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