Selected Ambient Works Volume II

Selected Ambient Works Volume II was released in 1994 by Aphex Twin as a follow-up to the earlier Selected Ambient Works 85-92. However, this album completely ditches the ambient techno sound from before, and instead, there are 25 tracks full of ambiance, with little or no percussion.

These tracks officially don’t have names, instead they are represented by 25 pictures in the insert of the vinyl release. For the sake of ease, the tracks are labeled here with descriptions of what’s in the pictures.

In an issue of The Face, Richard discusses how this album was influenced by his lucid dreams:

This album is really specific, because 70 percent of it is done from lucid dreaming… To have lucid dreams is to be conscious of being in a dream state, even to be capable of directing the action while still in a dream. I’ve been able to do it since I was little, I taught myself how to do it and it’s my most precious thing. Through the years, I’ve done everything that you can do, including talking and shagging with anyone you feel that takes your fancy. The only thing I haven’t done is tried to kill myself. That’s a bit shady. You probably wouldn’t wake up, and you wouldn’t know if it had worked, anyway. Or maybe you would.