A few years ago, as a classical music fan, I set out on a mission to find some electronic music that I actually enjoyed listening to. Gradually, I learned that aside from the three usual pillars of composition — melody, harmony, and rhythm — there is a fourth that is underserved by practically every other genre of music: timbre. Electronic musicians are masters of sound sculpting as a musical atom. They can create new worlds from scratch.

Aphex Twin didn't really catch my ear, but Tipper sure did. Listening to his albums, I found myself completely enveloped in his immaculately sculpted aural biomes. When I closed my eyes, I could almost see the grumbling synth rivers, the shimmering vibrato branches, the chirping electric crickets. It was sublime in the classic sense of the word.

I would be disappointed if someone listened to Peripherals[1] or Gulch[2] and still came away thinking that electronic music was repetitive and boring!

(I bring this up because I think Aphex Twin is in a similar orbit of masterful sound design, though his style is too dissonant for my ear.)

[1]: https://soundcloud.com/tippermusic/2-peripherals

[2]: https://soundcloud.com/tippermusic/gulch-teaser