Blog An Aphex Twin crash course from DJ Homewrecker

The vibe at Nattspil (211 King St.) at any given time is tough to predict. Sometimes the sign-less downtown bar offers a cozy respite, and sometimes it's crowded with the strenuously stylish. Madison's DJ Homewrecker will make the atmosphere even more shifty on Wednesday night, when he spins a tribute to Aphex Twin that will span the British analog-electronic master's work in acid house, wrenchingly beautiful ambient music, and much in between. Homewrecker, whose real name is Tom Feiza, says he'll be narrowing down Wednesday's playlist from 100 possible tracks (he's not sure if he'll be attempting live mixes or just flat-out playing everything). Beyond a couple of discs I've picked up along the way—Chosen Lords and Selected Ambient Works 85-92—I'm not especially well-versed in the artist otherwise known as Richard D. James myself, so I called up Feiza to ask which Aphex tracks he thinks are the most essential to a tribute like this.

"Stone In Focus," from Selected Ambient Works, Vol. 2

Tom Feiza: It's just amazing how something that's so repetitive can continue to spark so much emotion. It's the song I want to play at my funeral. Not to be morbid, but it's this really passionate, powerful song.

"Heliosphan," from Selected Ambient Works, 85-92

TF: I don't know what it is about that song. I really like the timbre of the instruments he used. The sounds of the chords and the pads that he used and the melody are so mellow and relaxed. And it really coincides with an abrasive rhythm.

"Cuckoo," from the Analogue Bubblebath series

TF: That's more of a four-on-the-floor dance beat, 140 beats per minute or something like that, so it's definitely got that driving, almost techno beat to it, with the kick-drum on every quarter note. He uses interesting sound effects on that song: A lot of reverb and a lot of birds chirping and owls and funny sound effects. That's funny. It's got this techno beat with some great rhythms and melodies going along with it but with these funny sound effects with these high reverbs going on. It's almost like being in a biosphere, with all the animal sounds.

"I Am Self-Employed," from Analord 06

TF: Those were kind of the expanded releases of Chosen Lords. It's a real simple breakbeat track. It's just got two parts and keeps alternating. It's got some acid lines in it. But what I really think locks into it is just the chord progression and the melody. The notes he uses to create the chord progression aren't your standard tonics and dominants. He uses kind of odd keys of the scale. Then on the melody part, he must be doing some kind of modulation to the synthesizer to give it a real distinct sound, with very long sustained notes. They almost sound like they're being chopped and repeated, yet they still have this long release and this long, sustained feeling. I'd be really curious to see how he did that.