Glass

Philip Glass

Aphex Twin “Icct Hedral“

When I was listening to “Icct Hedral“ by Aphex Twin, I immediately thought of a techno rave in an empty storehouse. I thought that with a little bit more bass this song would probably be played in the Berghain. People would take drugs and dance surrounded by several LED lights to Apex Twin. The easy melody, the artificial sound, the electronic genre of the song make it perfect to vibe to. At first, I quite liked the song, however after a few minutes I got quite bored. The same melody is played throughout the entire time and just a few new notes or sounds are added. While the monotony of the melody is quite good to dance to, it is just as boring when listening to it at home. I definitely feel the need to add that I was absolutely creeped out by the music cover.

            A huge contrast to the techno vibe Apex Twin created portrays Philip Glass with his orchestration of the piece. I did not feel like I just joined a rave, but I rather felt like I was attending a professional ballet. It felt very dramatic and impressive by the first impression. Some transitions from a classic orchestra to an opera-like piece were really nice. Some new instruments were added and it sometimes changed in tone. In the end I thought I heard an organ?  That felt very dramatic. However, having heard the whole piece, I still got bored at some point and lost focus. The melody stayed the same throughout the whole piece and I kinda wished it would be switched up by the end.

            What I found most interesting is how the same piece of music can sound so different and basically serve a completely different genre by changing up the instrumentation and the edit. If I would have listened to these piece independently and would not have known that they are basically the same, I wouldn’t have guessed that. I would assume that the people listening to the one by Aphex Twin are very different from the ones listening to the orchestration by Glass. This piece of music in both editions, although I got bored in the end, caught my attention and I secretly moved my head to Apex Twin