RX-101
About
RX-101 is Erik Jong, from the Netherlands. During the early to mid ‘90s, Erik discovered techno music, Aphex Twin, and the more experimental output of labels like Warp, Skam, and Rephlex Records. At the same time, he began to buy analog synthesizers and drum machines, a setup concentrated on those Roland X0X techno classics - the Juno 106, TR-808, TB-303, and his favourite, the SH-101.
For several years he experimented, not too seriously, and he wasn’t very productive. But things changed in 1997: suddenly Erik was compelled by a strong desire to make music, and it became like an obsession…. For the next 2 years, Erik entered into a feverish burst of creativity, recording hundreds of tracks live from the machines, direct to cassette tape. He made a new track nearly every day, never spending more than 5 hours per track. What’s shocking is not only the quantity of tracks Erik recorded from 1997-1999, but the sheer quality of the music he produced.
The influence of Aphex Twin’s early output looms large over RX-101’s body of work, but unlike other Aphex copyists, RX-101 is not a pale imitation; like Richard James himself, RX-101 quickly developed into a master of this sound. It’s a world of heavenly analog synth sounds, glorious, emotional melodies, and otherworldly electronic atmospheres. Erik’s goal was to produce music “without any pretension or specific purpose - just for fun and just making music with feeling without directly linking a deeper meaning.” In fact, Erik hardly played his music for anyone, and didn’t send out a single demo… instead, his desire to make music simply disappeared in 1999, and his entire recorded output sat in a box of cassette tapes in his parents’ attic, almost forgotten, until now. A few years ago, Erik decided to dig out his box of tapes, digitize them, and post them to Soundcloud, which is where Suction Records discovered RX-101.
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