Aphex Twin - Syro
Critic Score
Based on 47 reviews
2014 Ratings: #7 / 1042
Year End Rank: #6
User Score
2014 Rank: #66
Liked by 249 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
Drowned in Sound

Syro sees a master craftsman return with renewed inspiration. And while it might not technically be James' most innovative album, it way well be his best: his most complete and engaging under the guise of Aphex Twin.

100
Mixmag

Given the expectation, possibilities and hype – and the logo-driven promo campaign – it is the ‘Random Access Memories’ of IDM.

100
Entertainment Weekly
Who knows, the whole thing may turn out to be an elaborate conceptual prank in Richard D. James’ mind, but when it’s this amazing to dance to, it hardly matters.
100
AllMusic

Low on frenetics, Syro is anchored by rotund and agile basslines that zip and glide, and it's decked in accents and melodies that are lively even at their most distressed.

100
Wondering Sound
Simply and truly better than any other new electronic music album.
100
Resident Advisor

Aphex Twin's return, Syro, bears a 2014 release date, and it might end up as the year's best album. But that feels entirely incidental—it sounds like nothing else this year, or the year before, or the year before that one.

95
Paste

Every spin through these 12 songs keeps revealing new structures and details that skipped past me until this moment. And the end result after each listen is a desire to just dive right back in from track one and look for more clues.

91
A.V. Club

Even if Syro isn’t a radical departure, it’s still a swaggering return, a reminder of just how many varieties of warped sound remain at James’ command—and just how few of his acolytes can touch that versatility. 

91
Pretty Much Amazing

Richard D. James has successfully crafted one of the most stunning records of his career, and he did so by exercising a deft amount of self-control.

90
XS Noize

Always imitated, never bettered. Syro is an exceptional album.

90
Louder Than War

Then again, he may just decide to go back to the Analord series and releasing songs under pseudonyms because, let’s face it, James has always marched to the beat of his own drum and we have happily filed behind and followed him.

90
Uncut
While there's nothing as pop as "Windowlicker" here, it's still thrilling to hear him romp deliriously through all manner of styles in the key of Apex for the bulk of these dozen tracks.
90
FasterLouder
This is without a doubt his most accessible record yet, but manages to fill that role without sacrificing the innovation and individuality that have been hallmarks of the entire Aphex discography.
90
Exclaim!

On Syro, he is willing to let his acid burbles and exquisite melodies chug along subtly. There is craftsmanship here, but its genius lies in letting the raw quality of his sound speak first rather than arranging it into something new.

90
The Line of Best Fit

As much as anything in Aphex Twin’s back catalogue, Syro is an incredibly cohesive, immersive listen. 

90
NME

‘Syro’ is amazing: bug-eyed, banging rave that sounds quintessentially Aphex while not quite sounding like anything he’s done before. It makes zero concessions to the modern day.

90
The 405

The beauty of Syro is that every second is impeccable. That's not the sound of somebody striving to be heard - it's the sound of an influencer being confident enough to take the edge off. It isn't challenging, it's playful.

90
No Ripcord
It isn't perfect, its sheer restlessness prevents it from being so, but it will undoubtedly come to be remembered as another masterpiece from possibly the greatest electronic composer to walk the earth.
87
Pitchfork

The care and virtuosity with which these tracks were assembled is immediately obvious, but nothing feels difficult; the record’s easy flow despite it all is one of its primary virtues, and there’s something new to uncover with every listen.

83
Consequence of Sound

SYRO peaks as Aphex Twin’s most accessible album since his ambient works. But a published gear list of over 130 items attests that the production is no less technical.

80
Q Magazine

Syro is an album that instantly connects.

80
Tiny Mix Tapes

Syro remains faithful to the very sounds and idiosyncrasies that brought Aphex Twin about, the way it transforms and rotates any feeling of assumption while managing to sound so deliciously typical.

80
musicOMH

Anyone hoping for radical revolution will not find it here, but a more complicated quiet evolution does seem to be underway.

80
Evening Standard
The many obsessives may convince themselves it’s as groundbreaking as his previous work but in truth this is a surprisingly retro return from a king of future music.
80
Record Collector
James’ AFX alias may well have trodden similar territories in the last decade, and Warp themselves have put out equally genre-spazzing records in the interim without fanfare, but the sound of “new” Aphex Twin is a sheer joy – and a welcome return.
80
The Arts Desk
Squelching, tricksy, sometimes abject sneeze-funk, warped and technoid, with intrusions from the abstract fringes of drum & bass.
80
DIY

Not a second goes by without something new and borderline batshit falling into view. Millions of milliseconds - each one containing a tiny fragment of something different - combine on a record that’s undoubtedly been worth the wait.

80
The Sydney Morning Herald

As is Syro. It is rare to use the phrase "easy to like" and Aphex Twin in the same sentence, even in his most composed moments, but it is useless to deny it.

80
Spectrum Culture

Syro is less of a “comeback” and more of a reappropriation, the kind of progressive album that, through its conglomeration and shattering of today’s conventional musical ideas, seeks to unify, distort and elaborate on the entire electronic scene rather than reinvent it.

80
The Observer
At times, the whirl of ideas threatens to spin out of control, but more often, as on CIRCLONT6A, they cohere thrillingly. A welcome return.
80
The Telegraph

Aphex Twin's first album in 13 years, Syro, is welcome reminder of Richard D James's unfettered imagination.

80
The Independent
Overall, it’s a collection primarily concerned with the somatic rather than cerebral sides of Richard James’s music, overdosing somewhat on staccato, bouncing synth twangs and jittery drum’n’bass beats.
80
God Is in the TV

While this album may not be as much of a OhmyGodwhatthebloodyfuckwasthat as Drukqs was, it’s still a welcome return and for those who have not encountered his work before (tut tut), perhaps a good place to start.

80
XLR8R

Admittedly, Syro will probably not win over a new generation of fans like the Richard D. James album once did, but as a continuation of everything that has made Aphex Twin compelling, it's a triumph. Nobody else can fabricate music as impossibly dense, funky, and nuanced as this without losing sight of the big picture.

80
NOW Magazine

Syro showcases the more melodic, accessible aspects of his sound, but it's still so defiantly weird that it never seems like pandering.

80
PopMatters

Unburdened of revolutionary duties, Syro is an excellent expression of James’ quirky and obsessive talent, full stop. It is as deep and satisfying as it is unpretentious. 

80
The Guardian

Syro is still utterly engrossing and remains, somewhat unbelievably, on a completely different planet to almost anything else that’s been released over the last decade and a half.

80
Clash
Tighter than ‘Drukqs’ and a more immediately engaging collection than could have been predicted, this Big Deal is one that stands up to the amazing hype and comes away not too shabby at all.
80
Slant Magazine

Imagine a mirror which distorts not just the reflection, but reality itself, and you have a fair idea of the stunning legacy to which Syro triumphantly belongs.

80
Rolling Stone

Per usual, James makes halls of mirrors; ghost voices and silver ambience crest over beats you can imagine destroying a stadium while you fumble with your headphones. 

80
Time Out London

Ultimately, ‘Syro’ reminds us exactly how far James’s imitators are from getting anywhere close to his versatile virtuosity.

80
Sputnikmusic

It seems to exist in its own little vacuum; both like and unlike anything that Richard D. James has released thus far.

70
FLOOD Magazine

Despite the heaviness of the electronic and production methods at hand, Syro doesn’t feel weighted down by anything; James has simply done it again.

65
Crack Magazine

It's the album you point someone towards if they want to know where to start with Aphex Twin without being scared off. But also, as that statement implies, Syro is an extremely good record.

60
The Needle Drop
After 13 years of studio album silence, Aphex Twin makes a mild return.
60
Mojo
The difference is that, 10 years and countless Aphex imitators later, these old tricks now sound a bit tired – easy, even. What’s missing is that impish, dangerous side, the famous contorted grin and all that it suggests: humour and horror, surprise and confrontation.
60
Under the Radar

Production technology has progressed immeasurably in the last 13 years, a truth seemingly lost on Syro, and the comforting analogue warmth that the record exerts is initially appealing but grows tiresome too quickly. This record never puts Aphex Twin's legacy into question, yet it may ponder his continuing relevance.

thamostonres
85

this is my 500th review give me like now

RemisReviews
91

Richard pulls off another great full-length album, although the DrukQs song titles strategy is back with it too. No seriously, what the fuck does fz pseudotimestretch+e+3 [138.85] mean? I guess it's just Richie being Richie, I mean that's what he does the best.

REVIEW REPOST #087. I repost my old reviews, which got no attention, with updated thoughts. Posted this review 2 years ago, but I'm posting it again.

Syro is the 6th and newest full-length LP from the legendary IDM, Ambient, and Acid ... read more

UltimateLifeFrm
80

1hr of Aphex Twin is something I can't refuse.

Syro is the 6th studio album from the British electronic musician, released in September 2014. It was recorded throughout various from the mid-late 2000s until the early 2010s through various equipment setups.

At this point, I've become a casual listener of Aphex Twin's music over the last few months. His music is just so addictive to me ever since discovering his track "Windowlicker" last September, which has been on repeate a lot ... read more

kron6733
80

This album feels underrated, i dunno why lmao

Bendave2303
75

aphex: YOOOOOO WASSSUPPPP MA TWIN
His twin: Im going to touch you lil bro
Aphex: WAIT WAITWAIT NO NO NO
like the meme

KIKOULANOUILLE
80

easiest 80 I've ever given fr

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Added on: August 21, 2014