Latest Release
- 28 JUL 2023
- 4 Songs
- Drukqs · 2001
- Syro · 2014
- Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments, Pt. 2 · 2015
- Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments, Pt. 2 · 2015
- Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments, Pt. 2 · 2015
- Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments, Pt. 2 · 2015
- Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments, Pt. 2 · 2015
- Cheetah - EP · 2016
- Syro · 2014
- Blackbox Life Recorder 21f / In a Room7 F760 - EP · 2023
Essential Albums
- The year 1997 was electronic music’s global breakout moment. The Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy and Fatboy Slim all released landmark albums, spreading UK rave—nearly a decade after those first all-nighters in muddy fields—to a stateside audience. Daft Punk dropped their first LP, inaugurating the French Touch; Moodymann made his album debut too, proving Detroit still had plenty of gas left in the tank. And then there was Aphex Twin, whose Come to Daddy shredded every last page in the electronic rulebook. It tossed acid, jungle and ambient house into a blender and hit “puree”; the album was by turns noisy, confrontational, gleefully tongue-in-cheek and heartbreakingly beautiful. Savvy, too: At precisely the moment that once-“faceless” electronic music was generating genuine superstars, Richard D. James spoofed underground pieties and overground celebrity alike with an ingenious, Chris Cunningham-directed video for its title track that turned James and his leering visage into an unlikely icon—electronic music’s first real alternative hero. James had been at it since 1991, entrancing ravers with hits like “Digeridoo” and expanding the possibilities of IDM (or as he called it, “braindance”) with 1995’s …I Care Because You Do and 1996’s Richard D. James Album. But rather than following up with a “mature” take on his sound, Come to Daddy threw down the gauntlet with the “Pappy Mix” of its title track, mashing up drum ’n’ bass breaks with industrial sonics and the refrain “I will eat your soul,” delivered with almost cartoonish malevolence. Two additional mixes of the same song offer contrasting takes—one politer, one far weirder—but it’s the EP’s deep cuts that truly shine. The rubbery syncopations of “Bucephalus Bouncing Ball” remain among the best examples of James’ programming nous, polyrhythms bending and flexing like a Swiss wristwatch in an industrial vise; “Flim”, one of the sweetest songs in James’ catalogue, dusts the frantic grooves of drill ’n’ bass with sunshine and powdered sugar. In 2011, Skrillex cited “Flim” as his favourite song of all time—proof of Come to Daddy’s continued power to surprise.
- Richard D. James, aka Aphex Twin, always seems to make music with a wry grin on his face. When he released Aphex Twin’s seminal collection Selected Ambient Works Volume II in 1994, he declined to name any of the album’s 24 tracks. Instead, he simply numbered them from 1 through 24, giving Selected Ambient Works Volume II an air of mystery—as though someone had found a spare mix CD on the ground, and distributed it through Britain’s most influential indie label, Warp. Dedicated fans eventually decided to assign their own track titles, based on the album’s artwork—a move that speaks to the devotion and discussion that Volume II has inspired over the past few decades. It’s a classic of the ambient genre, one that James famously—and perhaps with a winking facetiousness—claimed was inspired by the sounds in his lucid dreams. He set out to recreate what he was hearing in his sleep, and the result was less like the organic new wave coming out of Japan, and more like minimalist industrial music. Instead of focusing on harmonious, naturalistic sounds, James crafted something more metallic and tonal: “Track #2 (Radiator)” softly bubbles, like someone’s playing on the pipes of an abandoned factory with a marimba mallet. “Track #15 (Shiny Metal Rods)” has a dark electric crackle—it’s techno by way of Brian Eno. Not everyone was happy with Volume II, though. James’ illustrious career as one of the UK’s most famous rave DJs, as well as Aphex Twin's previous release—Selected Ambient Works 85–92—had created an image of what his music “should” sound like. The ambient collection on Volume II was perhaps too gentle or too atmospheric for fans who wanted the hard-charging “intelligent dance music” of Aphex Twin. But James has made a career out of shapeshifting, going where his instincts take him. He may be electronic music’s consummate joker, but there's nothing trivial about his music.
Albums
Music Videos
- 2018
- 2003
- 2003
- 2003
- 2003
Artist Playlists
- Tinkerer, trickster, raver, wry experimentalist—and IDM hero.
- Distorted beats and helter-skelter sonics.
- 2016
Compilations
More To Hear
- Eclectic selections from Sophie, Die Antwoord and Aphex Twin.
About Aphex Twin
When Richard David James—best known as Aphex Twin—began releasing his bracing, boundary-pushing electronic music in 1991, everything was up for grabs. Rave culture was smashing social norms and reshaping pop music. Born in Ireland in 1971 and raised in Cornwall where he learned to take apart electronic gizmos, the mischievous producer embodied the era’s anarchic spirit. He doled out scabrous acid tracks, pioneered lightning-fast breakbeats and made some of the eeriest ambient music ever put to tape. While the electronic scene eventually settled down, James never stopped pushing boundaries. He’s spread autobiographical tall tales, dabbled in multiple aliases, toyed with robots and hybridised DJ sets and live performances into full-on noise assaults. After a hiatus between 2001 and 2014, he embarked upon a remarkably prolific stretch, switching up his style with every release. For all the imitators he’s spawned, his records could never be mistaken for anyone else’s. He’s an original—a genre of one.
- HOMETOWN
- Limerick
- BORN
- 18 August 1971
- GENRE
- Electronic