[Above image credit: AFP Photo/Charley Gallay]
Something out of the electronic music history book from a maestro, ‘Polynomial C’ has it all – a captivating melody in haste that is punctuated frequently, which is soaked in simplistic harmonic goodness and feels otherworldly. The piece is then elevated by a driving breakbeat with inverted pedals occasionally making an appearance. In typical Aphex Twin fashion, reversed percussion pulls the breakdown back up, gently working the beat back in, with a countermelody becoming another layer to this intricate piece of music. These layers then peel away leaving the bare bones of the drums to see out the tune which comes to a sudden end, with no resolving cadence. I personally like to interpret this as an example of the attitude which is associated with rave culture.