Cheetah (EP)
Cheetah | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
EP by | ||||
Released | 8 July 2016 | |||
Genre | Techno[1] | |||
Length | 33:49 | |||
Label | Warp | |||
Producer | Richard D James | |||
Aphex Twin chronology | ||||
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Cheetah is an extended play by British electronic musician Richard D. James, released under the pseudonym Aphex Twin on 8 July 2016 on Warp.[2] The name is a reference to Cheetah Marketing, a British manufacturer of microcomputer peripherals and electronic musical instruments in the 1980s (such as the MS800 namechecked in two of the EP's track titles).
Release[]
In 2015, Richard D. James uploaded several tracks with names like "Cheetah3 Teac" and "CHEETAHT7" to his SoundCloud 'user18081971' account; these have since been removed.[3]
A flyer teasing the EP release was sent to various record shops in the UK in early June 2016. The flyer parodies the luxurious writing style of 1970s adverts.[4][5] The album was announced on 9 June, with James tweeting a link to a website for the EP.[2][6]
The Cheetah EP was made available on vinyl, CD, cassette and a digital download in various digital formats, including MP3, WAV and FLAC.[7]
A video for "CIRKLON3 [Колхозная mix]" was released on 21 June. The video was James' first since the Chris Cunningham-directed video for "Windowlicker" in 1999 and was directed by 12-year-old Ryan Wyer. James and Warp commissioned Wyer to direct the video after James discovered Wyer's "epic1:40d Gaming" YouTube channel.[8]
Reception[]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 74/100[9] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Consequence of Sound | B[10] |
Exclaim! | 6/10[11] |
NME | 3/5[12] |
Pitchfork | 8.2/10[13] |
PopMatters | 8/10[14] |
Pretty Much Amazing | B+[15] |
Spin | 7/10[16] |
At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, Cheetah received an average score of 74, based on 11 reviews.[9] Writing for Exclaim!, Daryl Keating gave the album muted praise, calling it "fine but unremarkable, especially when pitted against the behemoths of his back catalogue."[17]
Accolades[]
Publication | Accolade | Year | Rank | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Pitchfork | The 20 Best Electronic Albums of 2016 | 2016 | N/A |
Track listing[]
All tracks were written & produced by Richard D James.[19]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "CHEETAHT2 [Ld spectrum]" | 5:53 |
2. | "CHEETAHT7b" | 6:43 |
3. | "CHEETA1b ms800" | 0:27 |
4. | "CHEETA2 ms800" | 0:37 |
5. | "CIRKLON3 [Колхозная mix]" | 8:13 |
6. | "CIRKLON 1" | 7:17 |
7. | "2X202-ST5" | 4:39 |
Total length: | 33:49 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
8. | "CIRKLON3 (concentrate edit)" | 2:37 |
Total length: | 36:26 |
"2X202-ST5" is contained on the CD, cassette and digital download editions and is included as a download available with the vinyl and cassette editions.[6]
Personnel[]
Credits adapted from Cheetah liner notes[19]
- Richard D. James – producer, writer
- Beau Thomas – mastering
- The Designers Republic – artwork
Charts[]
Chart (2016) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA)[20] | 63 |
Irish Albums (IRMA)[21] | 48 |
Italian Albums (FIMI)[22] | 97 |
New Zealand Heatseeker Albums (RMNZ)[23] | 5 |
Scottish Albums (OCC)[24] | 11 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[25] | 63 |
UK Albums (OCC)[26] | 14 |
US Billboard 200[27] | 140 |
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[28] | 1 |
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b Simpson, Paul. "Cheetah - Aphex Twin". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
Similar to the Analord EP series, 2016's Cheetah contains some of Richard D. James' most stripped-down techno tracks.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Aphex Twin Announces New EP Cheetah". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
- ^ "Aphex Twin's Cheetah EP Appears Imminent". Stereogum.com. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "New Product information: Cheetah EP". Cheetah-ep.com. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
- ^ "Aphex Twin - Cheetah EP - Warp - Bleep". Bleep.com. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
- ^ Twells, John. "Watch Aphex Twin's new video, directed by a 12-year-old". Factmag.com. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Cheetah [EP]". Metacritic. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
- ^ Bray, Ryan (8 July 2016). "Aphex Twin - Cheetah EP". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
- ^ Keating, Daryl (7 July 2016). "Aphex Twin Cheetah". Exclaim!. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
- ^ Pattison, Louis (5 July 2016). "Aphex Twin - 'Cheetah' Review". Nme.com. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
- ^ Sherburne, Phillip (7 July 2016). "Aphex Twin: Cheetah Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
- ^ Gu, Marshall (14 July 2016). "Aphex Twin Cheetah". PopMatters. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
- ^ "Review: Aphex Twin, Cheetah EP". Prettymuchamazing.com. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
- ^ Weiss, Dan (July 2016). "Review: With 'Cheetah,' Aphex Twin Isn't Just Back, He's Prolific Again". Retrieved 9 July 2016.
- ^ "Aphex Twin Cheetah". Exclaim!. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
- ^ "The 20 Best Electronic Albums of 2016". Pitchfork. 7 December 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Cheetah [sleeve] (Media notes). Aphex Twin. Warp. WAP391.CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
- ^ "CHART WATCH #377". auspOp. 16 July 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
- ^ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 28, 2016". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
- ^ "Album – Classifica settimanale WK 28 (dal 2016-07-08 al 2016-07-15)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
- ^ "NZ Heatseeker Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 18 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
- ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
- ^ [EP&cat=a "Swisscharts.com – Aphex Twin – Cheetah [EP]"]. Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
- ^ "Aphex Twin Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
- ^ "Aphex Twin Chart History (Top Dance/Electronic Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
- 2016 EPs
- Aphex Twin EPs
- Warp (record label) EPs