Exactly a year ago, with no prior announcement, Richard James, as Aphex Twin, released 'Music From The Merch Desk (2016–2023)' through Warp Records, where it was made available to listen through various streaming services. It was a compilation of 38 tracks released only on vinyl at his concerts, and the album's artwork came from a bootleg T-shirt, which was later resold as official merchandise. The first release that would make up 'Music From The Merch Desk' came from an Aphex Twin concert at Day For Night in Houston, where he performed on 17 December 2016. A 12-inch vinyl record with white artwork, Aphex Twin and Warp Records logos, and the text 'Houston, TX 12.17.16', was sold as merchandise at the concert. The record had two tracks, and while originally untitled, they were later named as 'no stillson 6 cirk' and 'no stillson 6 cirk mix2'. On 3 June 2017 James headlined at Field Day 2017, and another 12-inch vinyl record was sold at the concert, which came in a green unmarked sleeve in an Aphex Twin branded bag, and it contained 11 tracks. The record had sold out by 2pm. An official webstore that hosted James' music was opened on 20 July 2017, and in addition to releasing 'London 03.06.17' and other bonus tracks from the release, a digital 4-track EP titled 'Orphans' was made available. In 2019 James was announced to be performing at Printworks on 14 September, and another vinyl record was sold at the concert, containing songs from 'Orphans' and a new track titled 'Soundlab20', and when he later performed at The Warehouse Project a week later, a four-track vinyl record was made available as merchandise. On 16 June 2023, James performed during the Sónar festival in Barcelona, and a 10-inch vinyl record with two tracks was released at the festival, containing 'rfc pt8' and 'afxfm e'. Finally, on 19 September, he performed at 2023's Field Day festival, and a limited five-track 12-inch in a pink record sleeve was sold as merchandise. As 'Music From The Merch Desk' sneaked out with little publicity, and was only available to stream, it might have been missed by fans, and so here it is to fill that gap in your collection.
Track listing
01 no stillson 6 cirk [Houston, TX 12.17.16]
02 no stillson 6 cirk mix2 [Houston, TX 12.17.16]
03 42DIMENSIT3 e3 [London 03.06.17]
04 MT1T1 bedroom microtune [London 03.06.17]
05 T18A pole1 [London 03.06.17]
06 T03 delta t [London 03.06.17]
07 em2500 M253X [London 03.06.17]
08 T23 441 [London 03.06.17]
09 42DIMENSIT10 [London 03.06.17]
10 T20A ede 441 [London 03.06.17]
11 MT1T2 olpedroom [London 03.06.17]
12 T47 smodge [London 03.06.17]
13 sk8 littletune HS-PC202 [London 03.06.17]
14 T13 Quadraverbia N+3 [London 03.06.17]
15 T16.5 MADMA with nastya [London 03.06.17]
16 T17 Phase out +3 [London 03.06.17]
17 15T63 neotek 2h949 +3 [bonus beats] [London 03.06.17]
18 T08 dx1+5 [London 03.06.17]
19 T69T07 stasspa+3 [London 03.06.17]
20 T05 tx16w marion MT***,e [sketches] [London 03.06.17]
21 T46 se70 rinseout2 [sketches] [London 03.06.17]
22 ZT01 [sketch1] [London 03.06.17]
23 21TXT1+4 ds8 flngchrods[sketch0.1b] [London 03.06.17]
24 Spiral Staircase (AFX Remix) [London 14.09.2019]
25 4x Atlantis Take 1 [London 14.09.2019]
26 Nightmail [London 14.09.2019]
27 Soundlab20 [London 14.09.2019]
28 pretend analog extmix 2b,e2,ru [Manchester 20.09.2019]
29 rozzboxv2mam+4 [Manchester 20.09.2019]
30 umil 25-01[a] [Manchester 20.09.2019]
31 midi pipe2c edit, +3 [Manchester 20.09.2019]
32 rfc pt8 [Barcelona 16.06.2023]
33 afxfm e [Barcelona 16.06.2023]
34 korg funk5 [London 19.09.2023]
35 korg 1b ru,ec,e [London 19.09.2023]
36 SOOG e [London 19.09.2023]
37 body pads [London 19.09.2023]
38 dgitne tst1e [London 19.09.2023]
