Aphex Twin — Xtal

The opening track from Richard D. James's foundational Selected Ambient Works 85–92 is broadly charting today, tracked across 71 country and platform charts after a brief dip. Xtal is the gateway into one of electronic music's most consequential records — a somnambulist dreamscape, as DJ Mag's Ben Murphy described the album, built on fuzzy melodies and a blurred, wordless female vocal that Wikipedia likens to shoegaze touchstones Seefeel and My Bloody Valentine. Its title nods to the quartz oscillator that synchronizes a processor's clock — a fittingly precise reference for a producer who treats ambient techno as engineering. James's catalog has long been a sync favorite, threaded through Darren Aronofsky's filmography per Far Out. On Spotify alone, the track has logged over 94 million streams.