Aphex Twin's new Cheetah EP: a sweet talkin' design

How nice is the artwork for Aphex Twin's new Cheetah EP? Its Harlow-ish typeface is a refreshing change from the cold computer text overload of Syro. The design seems to be a pastiche of Sweet Talker, a speech synthesis gadget for the ZX Spectrum.

The EP is out next month. The track listing is as follows: CHEETAHT2 [Ld spectrum], CHEETAHT7b, CHEETA1b ms800, CHEETA2 ms800, CIRKLON3 [Колхозная mix], CIRKLON 1 and 2X202-ST5. The track titles (and the website text) are clear references to the Cheetah MS800, "the most difficult instrument to program on the planet", and the Cirklon sequencer, which was used on Syro.

There are references to the Cheetah on his user48736353001 Soundcloud page. No point in linking to that now: it's empty. But here's Cheetah3 Teac from that massive Aphex Twin track dump from the start of last year... it'll be interesting to compare this to the EP.



And finally, back to my original point. My first computer was a Spectrum, so massive props to the ever-reliable Designer's Republic for this promotional work on Cheetah. Very nicely done.

Further Fats: Chosen Words - D Is For Design (2010)