Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2

Release

Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2 was announced for release on 9 January 2015 on Warp's official website. The track listing, worldwide release date and a list of available release formats were published on Bleep.com alongside pre-orders of the EP. Released worldwide on 23 January, Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2 was made available as a 12-inch record pressed on 140-gram vinyl, a Digipak CD and a digital download in various digital formats, including MP3, WAV and FLAC. An alternate mix of the EP's opening track—"Diskhat ALL Prepared1mixed [snr2mix]"—was made available for stream and MP3 download on Richard D James' official Soundcloud account a day prior.

In Japan, Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2 was released on Beat Records and sold 3,627 physical copies in its first week of release. The EP was particularly successful on the independent charts in Ireland and the United Kingdom; it peaked at number 8 on both the Irish Independent Albums Chart and the UK Independent Albums Chart, as well as entering at number 7 on the UK Official Record Store Albums Chart, where it peaked at number 4 in its third week of release. Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2 placed in three separate Billboard charts in the US. It fared well on the Dance/Electronic Albums chart, entering at number 4 in its first week of release and peaking at number 1 the following week; the EP also entered the Tastemakers Albums chart at number 24 and placed at number 10 in its second week.

Reception

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2 received an average score of 64, based on 15 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Writing for The Guardian, Ben Beaumont-Thomas was highly critical of the EP and awarded it a two-out-of-five star rating. He said the EP was "even less vital" than Syro (2014) and remarked that "the breakbeat backings are now heftily blokeish where before they were disciplined and junglist. If Syro was an inquisitive artificial intelligence … then [this EP] is like the organic consciousness it was drawn from, its owner now tinkering with jigsaws in a retirement home." In his review for the NME Louis Pattison was more positive, referring to the EP as "true, manufactured pop music" due to the instrumentation being "played not by human hands, but by signals zipping around circuit boards." He further said that the EP is "occasionally quite beautiful", particularly highlighting "piano un10 it happened", and summarised that "you suspect Richard D James makes this sort of music as a challenge—to his audience, and to himself. On those terms, it succeeds admirably." Pattison rated the EP six out of ten.

Exclaim! writer Daryl Keating offered a mixed review, describing the EP as "seem[ing] like it was birthed in the wee hours—the compositional scribblings of a sleepless man. While mere scribblings from a musical genius can often still trump the best efforts of many, this is not the case here." Keating added that "parts are coherent enough to sneak into the darker corners of Ninja Tune's back catalogue", ultimately awarding Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2 a six-out-of-ten rating. Felicity Martin of Clash called Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2 "a difficult but enriching document" in her seven-out-of-ten review. She added that the EP is "compiled of often-jarring, disjointed instruments [and] has none of the polished, restless shapeshifting raviness or danceability of Syro" but praised James' engineering, referring to it as the "really interesting part of this extended play—it's not about making the robots feel human, but feeling as though you're in the room with them, whirring about around you." AllMusic's two-out-of-five star review was almost entirely negative; reviewer Andy Kellman wrote that "nothing is particularly energizing … the EP should be approached like a sequel—with low expectations." However, Kellman said that the earlier portions of the EP started "in promising fashion", particularly noting the "halting riffs, intricate layering, and vibrant, ricocheting percussion."

In an eight-out-of-ten review for Drowned in Sound Benjamin Bland referred to the Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2 as "a welcome reminder of James's ability to utilise decidedly avant-garde ideas in a manner that, although acutely alien to our idea of musical normality, is nevertheless engaging and inspiring." Bland also regarded the EP as "highly listenable, no less so than Syro in fact, recalling accessible contemporary classicist exponents of prepared piano such as Hauschka". Spin's Dan Weiss also commented on James' use of prepared instruments, drawing comparisons to Goodbye 20th Century by Sonic Youth and Music Is Rotted One Note by Squarepusher in a seven-out-of-ten review. Weiss called the EP "spacious above the obvious clutter" and surmised that "the cacaphony [sic] of those detuned, clanging metallophones is a compelling listen or three, multiplied because it's over before your ear can grasp all the tangible treasures jingling by."

Pitchfork Media selected the alternate mix of Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2's opening track, "diskhat ALL prepared1mixed 13", as the week's "Best New Track". Writer Patric Fallon finished his review by stating: "the need to know exactly what's going on gives way to that feeling of awe [Aphex Twin] so regularly produces. It's another reminder that sometimes the best music is the stuff that leaves you asking, 'How?'" In a later review of the entire EP Mark Richardson highly praised Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2 and selected it as part of the week's "Best New Music". Richardson said that "where James used to offer his electro-acoustic pieces as a showcase for lyrical melodies, about half the music here consists of crisply arranged beats with about half fully fleshed out and the others serving as sketches … Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2 is a release for established fans, people who want to know what his pieces would sound like in an altogether different setting … the greatest pleasure comes in knowing where it came from and how it came to be." Resident Advisor's Jordan Rothlein's review was also largely positive, describing the EP as "a moody set that sounds a bit like either Tom Waits instrumentals, a gamelan ensemble going pop, or maybe just some bits from Syro played back at a fraction of their original speed." Rothelin was equally critical however, writing that "though there's a certain pleasure in listening to an artist figure things out, a full 28 minutes feels like overkill."

Track listing

All tracks written by Richard D James.

The track length above is valid for CD, digital download and vinyl played on 33 rpm.

Personnel

All personnel credits adapted from Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2's album notes.