Aphex Twin’s new augmented reality app lets you enjoy the “festival experience” in your living room
The launch follows the release of the artist’s new EP Blackbox Life Recorder 21f / In a Room7 F760.
Image: Edd Westmacott / Alamy
Aphex Twin has launched a new augmented reality app following the release of his highly anticipated EP Blackbox Life Recorder 21f / In a Room7 F760.
Dubbed ‘YXBoZXh0d2lu’, the app translates to ‘aphextwin’ when decrypted using Base64 binary-to-text encoding. It was created by Tokyo-based spatial internet studio KALKUL, visual artist Weirdcore with Warp and Aphex Twin himself, and is said to offer an “alternate world of interactive AR bringing the artwork, music and video to life in 3D”.
All you have to do is use your smartphone’s camera to scan the album’s packaging. After which, you can choose between various immersive experiences that accompany the EP’s four tracks.
The ‘In a Room7 F760’ experience, for example, promises to “bring the festival experience of the Aphex Twin x Weirdcore AV show to your living room”, while the ‘Blackbox Life Recorder 21f [Parallax Mix]’ features “rhythmically woven AI-generated visuals’ that “elevate the original experience”.
The release was teased alongside Aphex Twin’s new EP — his first material in 5 years — earlier this year when posters displaying QR codes appeared in Los Angeles, which took fans to the AR app when scanned.
The app is available for download for free at the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
In related news, two previously unheard tracks have been uploaded to SoundCloud by user18081971, an account widely believed to belong to the electronic producer-DJ.
Per their descriptions, the new tracks – titled Short Forgotten Produk Trk Omc and 2nd Neotek Test Trac Omc — were recorded approximately between 2006 and 2007. The latter reportedly features the use of a Kawai K5M, an additive synthesizer from 1987.
Aphex Twin is also set to headline Field Day 2023 in London this weekend. Tickets are available now.
