Melodies from Mars

Melodies from Mars
Studio album (unreleased) by Aphex Twin
Released	Unreleased
Recorded	1995 (redone in 2007)
Genre	Electronic
Length	45:25
Producer	Richard D. James
Aphex Twin chronology
Donkey Rhubarb (EP) (1995) Melodies from Mars (1995) Hangable Auto Bulb (1995)

Melodies from Mars is a collection of unreleased tracks by Richard David James, better known under his pseudonym Aphex Twin. Although James has never admitted authorship of this supposedly unofficial album, at least two of its tracks are alternate versions (possibly demo versions) of tracks featured on the subsequently released Richard D. James Album (1996). According to Mike Paradinas, the collaboration album Mike & Rich was partially inspired by Melodies From Mars. Some tracks on the album also bear resemblance to those of Analogue Bubblebath 5. The Aphex Twin Community claims that "Men in black suits" (Rephlex) asked them to remove MP3 excerpts of this album from their web site. This appears to lend credence to the theory that Melodies from Mars is indeed a work by Aphex Twin. It is commonly believed that Melodies from Mars was given to some of Richard's friends on cassette tapes. Other than these tapes, the only place to find this music is through online P2P file-sharing.

There is an alternate version of the album, illegally released by Unreal Records solely to Russia, circulating the internet. It is missing the below mentioned version of "Logan Rock Witch." The song title remains, but the audio is to "Untitled 7".^[1]

In an interview with Another Man, Richard stated "I’ve got six [albums] completed ... one is Melodies from Mars, which I redid about three years ago."^[2] This suggests that the album may eventually be released at some point in the future.

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Track 1"	3:19
2.	"Fingerbib (Demo)"	4:16
3.	"Track 3"	2:20
4.	"Track 4"	4:14
5.	"Track 5"	5:14
6.	"Track 6"	3:52
7.	"Track 7"	4:04
8.	"Logan Rock Witch (Demo)"	4:21
9.	"Track 9"	4:33
10.	"Track 10"	5:12
11.	"Track 11"	2:55
12.	"Track 12"	1:30

• The version of "Fingerbib" on Melodies from Mars is longer than the version on Richard D. James Album.
• Versions of tracks 6 and 7 were used in the beginning of David Firth's animation ALAN^[3]
• The version of "Logan Rock Witch" is different than the version on Richard D. James Album.
• A version of track 10 was used in David Firth's claymation short Hollowhead.^[4]
• David Firth has acoustically covered Untitled 10.
• Track 12 features samples of plucked strings from "Girl/Boy Song" (track 9 on Richard D. James Album), though it does not develop into anything closely resembling the final track.

Personnel

• Richard D. James – synthesizer, producer

References

1. ^ "Illegal Distribution". http://www.discogs.com/Aphex-Twin-Melodies-From-Mars-Unreleased/release/1878914. 
2. ^ "Interveiw With RDJ". http://www.self-titledmag.com/home/2010/10/28/aphex-twin-says-he-has-six-albums-done-including-melodies-from-mars-and-some-field-recordings/. 
3. ^ "ALAN at fat-pie.com". http://www.fat-pie.com/alan.htm. 
4. ^ "Hollowhead at fat-pie.com". http://www.fat-pie.com/hollowhead.htm. 

External links

• Melodies from Mars on discogs.com, with pictures
• Unofficial release of Melodies from Mars on discogs.com, with pictures