Aphex Twin
Aphex Twin | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Richard David James |
Also known as |
|
Born | Limerick, Ireland | 18 August 1971
Origin | Cornwall, South West England, United Kingdom |
Genres | |
Occupations |
|
Instruments | |
Discography | |
Years active | 1988–present |
Labels | |
Website | aphextwin.warp.net |
Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), known professionally as Aphex Twin,[1][2][nb 1] is a British musician, record producer, composer and DJ.[3][4][5] He is known for his idiosyncratic work in electronic styles such as techno, ambient and jungle.[12] Journalists from publications including Mixmag, The New York Times, NME, Fact, Clash and The Guardian have called James one of the most influential and important artists in contemporary electronic music.[24]
James was raised in Cornwall and began DJing at free parties and clubs around the South West in the late 1980s.[25] His debut EP Analogue Bubblebath, released in 1991 on Mighty Force Records, brought James an early following; he began to perform across the UK and continental Europe.[26][27] James co-founded the independent label Rephlex Records the same year. His 1992 debut album Selected Ambient Works 85–92, released by Belgian label Apollo, garnered wider critical and popular acclaim. James signed to Warp in late 1992 and subsequently released charting albums such as ...I Care Because You Do (1995) and Richard D. James Album (1996), as well as Top 40 singles such as "Come to Daddy" (1997) and "Windowlicker" (1999); the latter two were accompanied by music videos directed by Chris Cunningham and brought James wider international attention.
After releasing Drukqs in 2001 and completing his contract with Warp, James spent several years releasing music on his own Rephlex label, including the 2005 Analord EP series under his AFX alias and a pair of 2007 releases as the Tuss. In 2014 he made available a previously unreleased 1994 LP as Caustic Window. He returned later that year with the Aphex Twin album Syro on Warp, winning the Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Album. He has since released charting EPs including Cheetah (2016) and Collapse (2018). In 2023, he released the EP Blackbox Life Recorder 21f / In a Room7 F760. "Blackbox Life Recorder 21f" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording.[28][29]
Early life
[edit]James was born on 18 August 1971[31] in Limerick, Ireland,[32] to Welsh parents.[33] He has said that he had a stillborn older brother also named Richard whose name he inherited.[34][35] In a 1997 interview James stated that this death occurred while his family had moved to Canada in 1968 for his father's mining work; it led his mother to reuse the name because "she didn't want to accept the death of the child."[36] James grew up in Cornwall,[30] where he lived in Lanner while attending Redruth School in Redruth.[30] James said he liked growing up there, "cut off from the city and the rest of the world".[30] He became interested in making sounds before writing music, and as a child he played with the strings inside his family piano and disassembled tape equipment.[37] In a 2001 interview James said that at age 11 he won £50 in a competition for producing sound on a Sinclair ZX81, a home computer with no sound hardware: "I played around with machine code and found some codes that retuned the TV signal so that it made this really weird noise when you turned the volume up."[38] However, Fact Magazine reported in 2017 that this contest story is dubious,[39] and likely based on a program published in Your Computer Magazine 1982, for which the author (G. N. Owen) was paid £6 (equivalent to £27 in 2023).[40][41] James states that he bought his first synthesizer at age 12 and after taking an interest in electronics would modify analogue synthesisers "and junk" to make noise.[37]
James began making music aged 14,[30] partially as a refuge from the "bloody awful" Jesus and Mary Chain albums played by his sister.[42] Cornwall had few record shops, but a thriving nightlife in which acid house was popular.[30] James claimed to have been making music with similarities to acid and techno for years before hearing the genres, leading him to purchase every record he could find in the styles.[43] In his late teens, James began DJing at clubs and raves, and included his own tracks in his sets.[30] He studied at Cornwall College from 1988 to 1990 and graduated with a National Diploma in engineering.[31] According to one lecturer, he often wore headphones during practical lessons and had a "kind of mystique about him ... I think some of the other students were a bit in awe of him."[31]
Career
[edit]1988–1991: Cornish free parties, Rephlex Records and first releases
[edit]In the late 1980s, James became involved in the Cornish free party scene, putting on raves at "secret coves along the coast and behind sand dunes".[44] The first party he DJed at was in a barn in 1988.[32] Parties were also known to take place at Gwennap Pit.[45] They mainly attracted local youths and travellers, with entrance donations taken in cannabis. The tight-knit community would also put on nights at small clubs in towns around the county, including St. Ives, Porthtowan, and St Austell. James would later refer to this scene as the "best he's ever been involved in".[25][30]
James started a regular DJ slot in 1989, playing alternate weeks at the Bowgie nightclub in Crantock. There he met Tom Middleton and Grant Wilson-Claridge.[46] Impressed by James's music, Middleton played a tape James had given him to a free party organiser in Exeter, Mark Darby, who eventually convinced James to release a record on his fledgling record label Mighty Force Records.[47] James was initially resistant, but while he was tripping on acid backstage at a DJ gig, Darby and Middleton convinced him to release the record. Darby later said: "I think if he had not done that trip that night there may have never been any Aphex Twin."[47] James has given a similar account: "...they made me sign the contract when I was off my face. I was tripping and they're waving this money and a pen at me. It's a bit clichéd but it's the way they got me to sign."[48] Similarly impressed by James's music, Wilson-Claridge suggested they use some money he inherited to create a record label to release it. He and James founded Rephlex Records in 1991.[30]
James's first release was the 12" EP Analogue Bubblebath, released on Mighty Force in September 1991.[49] The EP made the playlist of Kiss FM, an influential London radio station, giving it wide exposure in the dance music scene.[50] In 2015 The Guardian called the release one of the key moments in the history of dance music.[51] The record caught the ear of Renaat Vandepapeliere, the head of R&S Records, at that time one of the leading European rave labels. James visited him in Belgium, bringing a box full of cassettes of his music. From these cassettes they picked out tracks for two records, including James's first album Selected Ambient Works 85-92.[52][53]
In 1992, as word of his 12" records spread, James started performing at London techno events like the formative club Knowledge, held at the SW1 nightclub in London's Victoria, and the influential night Lost.[54][55]
Through 1991 and 1992 James released three Analogue Bubblebath EPs, two EPs as Caustic Window, the Red EP as part of the Universal Indicator collective, along with the Digeridoo and Xylem Tube EPs on the R&S label. Although he moved to London to take an electronics course at Kingston Polytechnic, he admitted to David Toop that his electronics studies were slipping away as he pursued a career in electronic music.[56]
1992–1994: Selected Ambient Works and early success
[edit]The first full-length Aphex Twin album, Selected Ambient Works 85–92, comprised material dating back to James's teen years. It was released in November 1992 by Apollo Records,[57] a subsidiary of Belgian label R&S.[58] John Bush of Allmusic would later describe the release as a watershed moment in ambient music.[6] In a 2002 Rolling Stone record review Pat Blashill noted that Aphex Twin had "expanded way beyond the ambient music of Brian Eno by fusing lush soundscapes with oceanic beats and bass lines," demonstrating that "techno could be more than druggy dance music".[59] Writing for Pitchfork in 2002, David Pecoraro called it "among the most interesting music ever created with a keyboard and a computer".[60] DJ Mag's Ben Murphy named it "a seminal record in the IDM, ambient and experimental canon".[61]
In 1992 James also released the EPs Digeridoo and Xylem Tube EP as Aphex Twin, the Pac-Man EP (an album of remixes of Pac-Man music) as Power-Pill, two of his four Joyrex EPs (Joyrex J4 EP and Joyrex J5 EP) as Caustic Window, and Analogue Bubblebath 3. "Digeridoo" reached #55 on the UK Singles Chart, and was later described by Rolling Stone as foreshadowing drum and bass.[62][63] That year, he also appeared as the Dice Man on the Warp Records compilation Artificial Intelligence with the track "Polygon Window;" the compilation would help birth the genre later known as "intelligent dance music" and help launch the career of Aphex Twin alongside Autechre and Richie Hawtin.[64] In 1993 he put out his first releases on Warp: Surfing on Sine Waves (the second entry in the label's Artificial Intelligence series)[65] and the EP Quoth, as Polygon Window. Later in the year he released the "On" EP, which entered the top 40 on the UK charts.[66] Rephlex also put out an EP by James under the alias Bradley Strider, Bradley's Robot, and two more Caustic Window records.
James was part of several tours in 1993. He supported the Orb on several dates, and joined the "Midi Circus" tour at venues across the UK, co-headlining with Orbital, the Orb and Drum Club.[67][68] Later in the year, he was part of the NASA "See the Light" tour with Orbital, Moby, and Vapourspace at venues across the United States.[44]
Warp released the second Aphex Twin album, Selected Ambient Works Volume II, in March 1994. It explored a more ambient sound, inspired by lucid dreams and James's experience of synaesthesia. It reached number 11 in the UK charts,[69] but was not particularly well received critically; critic Simon Reynolds later noted that "many in the Aphex cult were thrown for a loop" and that "Aphex aficionados remain divided".[70] Other 1994 releases were a fourth Analogue Bubblebath, GAK (derived from early demos sent to Warp), and Classics, a compilation album.
1995–2000: ...I Care Because You Do, Richard D. James Album and Come to Daddy
[edit]For his charting 1995 album ...I Care Because You Do,[71] composed between 1990 and 1994 in a range of styles, James used an image of his face for the cover, which became a motif on his later releases. He commissioned Western classical-music composer Philip Glass to create an orchestral version of the ...I Care Because You Do track "Icct Hedral", which appeared on the Donkey Rhubarb EP.[72] In the same year, James released his Hangable Auto Bulb EP under the name AFX, which spearheaded the short-lived drill 'n' bass style.[73][43]
Richard D. James Album, James's fourth studio album as Aphex Twin, was released on Warp in 1996. It features software synthesisers and unconventional rhythms. Will Hermes of Spin discussed James's use of jungle elements, writing that "by applying junglist strategies to his own obsessive sound creation - his gorgeous weirdo palette of modernist strings, whirring crib toys, and agitated machines - he remakes drum'n'bass in his own image".[74] In a Pitchfork list of the best albums of the 1990s, Eric Carr wrote that Richard D. James Album demonstrated "aggressive combinations of disparate electronic forms", with an "almost-brutal contrast between its elements" that has ensured its relevance.[75] In 2003 NME named it the 55th greatest album of all time,[76] and in 2009 Pitchfork named it the 40th greatest album of the 1990s.[77]
James garnered attention the following year after the release of his charting Come to Daddy EP.[78] The title track was conceived as a death metal parody. Accompanied with a successful music video directed by Chris Cunningham, James became disenchanted by its success: "This little idea that I had, which was a joke, turned into something huge. It wasn't right at all."[79] It was followed by "Windowlicker", a charting single[80] promoted with another Cunningham music video, nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Video in 2000.[5][79]
2001–2009: Drukqs, Analord and the Tuss
[edit]In 2001 Aphex Twin released Drukqs, an experimental double album featuring abrasive, meticulous programming and computer-controlled piano influenced by Erik Satie and John Cage. It features the piano composition "Avril 14th", which remains perhaps James' best known work.[81] The album polarised reviewers. James told interviewers he had accidentally left an MP3 player with new tracks on a plane, and had rushed the album release to preempt an internet leak.[82]
In 2001 James also released a short EP, 2 Remixes By AFX, with remixes of songs by 808 State and DJ Pierre. It also had an untitled third track, consisting of a SSTV image with high-pitched sounds which can be decoded to a viewable image with appropriate software. In 2002 James was nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Male.[5] In 2003 Warp released 26 Mixes for Cash, collecting many of James's remixes for other artists.
In 2005 James released a series of vinyl EPs under the AFX name, Analord, created entirely with analogue equipment. These were followed in 2006 by a compilation album of Analord tracks, Chosen Lords.[83] In 2007 James released two records on Rephlex, Confederation Trough and Rushup Edge, under the alias the Tuss, Cornish slang for "erection". Media sources speculated about James's involvement, but his identity was not confirmed until 2014.[84][85]
In 2009 Rephlex Records released digital versions (in the FLAC file format) of the 11 Analord EPs. Each of them (except for Analord 10) had bonus tracks, totalling 81 minutes of new music between them all. Richard later disbanded Rephlex Records, removing the website entirely.
This same year, James began working with the visual artist Weirdcore for graphics for his live shows, debuting at Bloc Festival in Minehead.[86] Weirdcore has continued to work with James on live graphics and music videos.
In 2010 James said he had completed six new albums, including a new version of the unreleased Melodies from Mars.[87] In September 2011 he performed a live tribute to the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki; he performed his remix of Penderecki's "Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima" and a version of "Polymorphia".[88] The following month, he performed at the Paris Pitchfork Music Festival.[89]
2014–present: Caustic Window, Syro, and return as Aphex Twin
[edit]In 2014 a test pressing of a 1994 album recorded under James's pseudonym Caustic Window appeared for sale on Discogs. The album was once intended for sale on James's label Rephlex, but went unreleased. With the consent of James and Rephlex, fans organised a Kickstarter campaign to purchase the record and distribute copies.[90]
Syro, the first album released under the Aphex Twin name since Drukqs in 2001, was released through Warp on 23 September 2014. It was marketed by a teaser campaign including graffiti, a blimp flown over London, and an announcement made via a .onion address accessible through the darknet browser Tor.[91]
In November 2014 James released a set of 21 tracks, Modular Trax, on the audio platform SoundCloud. The tracks were later removed.[92] Over several months in 2015 James anonymously uploaded 230 demo tracks, some dating to the 1980s, to SoundCloud.[93] He said he had released the demos to relieve his family of the pressure to release his archives after he dies.[94] He has continued to occasionally release tracks on the account.[95]
On 23 January 2015 James released Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2,[96] created with robotic instruments including the Disklavier, a computer-controlled player piano.[97] On 8 July 2016 he released the Cheetah EP, backed by a music video for "CIRKLON3 [Колхозная mix]", the first official music video for an Aphex Twin track in 17 years.[98] On 17 December, James performed in Houston, Texas at the Day for Night festival, his first American appearance in eight years. A 12-inch vinyl was sold exclusively at the festival, containing two 10-minute tracks, entitled Houston, TX 12.17.16 [Day For Night].[99][100] On 3 June 2017 James performed at the Field Day festival and released a limited edition EP, London 03.06.17.[101] The performance was livestreamed on NTS Radio's Youtube channel. On 19 June 2017 a Michigan record store sold an exclusive Aphex Twin record comprising two tracks released on SoundCloud in 2015, entitled 3 Gerald Remix / 24 TSIM 2.[102] On 27 July, Aphex Twin opened an online store with expanded versions of previous albums and new tracks.[103] On 29 July, at the Fuji Rock Festival, a tape limited to 500 copies was released.[104]
Aphex Twin released an EP, Collapse, on 14 September 2018.[105] The EP was announced on 5 August in a garbled press release written in broken English and visually distorted with the same Aphex Twin 3D graphic found in London, Turin and Hollywood.[106] A promotional video for the Collapse EP was to be broadcast on Adult Swim, but was cancelled after failing the Harding test. It was made available online instead, and the video for "T69 Collapse" was uploaded to YouTube.[107][108]
During James' September 2019 tour two 12-inch records were released at performances at Printworks, London, and Warehouse Project, Manchester, entitled "London" and "Manchester" on James' warp.net site. Official recordings of the sets were released on 15 September and 26 December 2019 on Youtube.
Speculations of James's return started after a mysterious website featuring the Aphex Twin logo inside of the word "London" was discovered by fans. Its title alluded to 19 August 2023, the same day that the Field Day festival takes place on in London, teasing a possible performance.[109][110] His return was confirmed on 24 January 2023, when Aphex Twin was announced as a headliner for the festival.[111] Over the next few weeks, several other performances were announced for Europe.[112][113] At a performance at Sónar on 16 June, an exclusive 12-inch vinyl was released entitled Barcelona 16.06.23.[114] During this festival, large QR code displays with Aphex Twin branding were spotted. This, coupled with posters found in Los Angeles,[115] led to the discovery of an augmented reality app named YXBoZXh0d2lu. It was created to tease James' upcoming EP. On 21 June James announced the EP Blackbox Life Recorder 21f / In a Room7 F760, which was released on 28 July.[116]
After the release of the EP, the app was updated again. Using the app to scan the front cover, inner sleeves, trifold insert and vinyl label of Blackbox Life Recorder 21f / In a Room7 F760 reveals a variety of artwork and visuals, such as a 3D version of the cover, and makes the EP's songs playable in the app.[117] On 19 August, James performed at Field Day and released another exclusive vinyl EP, London 19.08.2023.[118] NTS Radio released a 360-degree video recording of the set on 27 August.[119] On 2 September, at a performance at Forwards Bristol, a cassette combining the Barcelona and London releases was released, Bristol 02.09.23.[citation needed]
On 18 June 2024, James announced an expanded edition of Selected Ambient Works Volume II would be released later in the year.[120] The re-issue was confirmed to be releasing on digital, triple CD, 4xLP standard and box set editions and double cassette formats.[121] This re-issue included two bonus tracks, "th1 [evnslower]" and "Rhubarb Orc. 19.53 Rev", as well as the 19th track being released on all formats. The tracks were gradually released onto streaming platforms, with "#19" releasing on the day of the announcement, "th1 [evnslower]" releasing on 4 September 2024[122] and "Rhubarb Orc. 19.53 Rev" being released on 2 October 2024.[123] Selected Ambient Works Volume II (Expanded Edition) officially released on 4 October 2024.
Musical style and influences
[edit]Writing for AllMusic, John Bush describes James as a "pioneer of experimental techno" who has "constantly pushed the limits of what can be accomplished with electronic equipment, resulting in forward-thinking and emotionally engaging work that ranges from sublime, pastoral ambience to manic head-rush acid techno".[6] In a 1996 review, The Independent's Angela Lewis called him a "maverick of 1990s electronica [who] exemplifies the finest traditions of British pop mischief".[124] According to Fact magazine, James has "carved out his own space in the history of electronic music" across several genres, with his unique melodies being "the reason he's talked about as not just an electronic innovator but as the sphere's definitive artist".[7] In 2014 review in the Financial Times, Ludovic Hunter-Tilney described James as a "musical maverick" noted for "yoking different elements together in unpredictable formulations" and blending "hard beats and uncanny tones; difficult abstraction and populist melodies".[125] Music publications have described James variously as "the Mozart of" both techno and ambient.[129] Writing in The Guardian in 2001 Paul Lester identified James's lineage as "electronic greats" including Karlheinz Stockhausen, John Cage, Kraftwerk, Brian Eno, and Derrick May.[19]
I could just lock myself away for days and get inspired by myself. That's my favorite way to do it. It's more like a pure form of motivation when it's all on your own. But you have to wait until you're really bored and you've got nothing to do. That's when it comes out. That's when I reckon it gets good.
James had no formal music training and is largely self-taught.[19] Prior to becoming a producer, James spent his teens modifying analogue synthesisers and became "addicted to making noises," only later becoming "interested in listening to other people's stuff".[37] James states that he spent his initial years "ignorant of music, apart from acid and techno, where I bought just about everything".[37] He claimed to have been independently making music similar to acid and techno before encountering the styles, and subsequently became enthusiastic about them.[43] He has cited 808 State's 1988 debut album Newbuild as a major early inspiration.[131] In a 1993 interview, James identified voluntary sleep deprivation as an influence on his productions at that time.[37] He also claimed to have recorded over one thousand unreleased tracks.[37] He later said he experienced synaesthesia and utilised lucid dreaming as a means of developing compositional ideas.[132] Some of James's early work was compared to Brian Eno's ambient releases, but James claimed not to have heard Eno before he began recording.[133]
In a 1993 interview, Simon Reynolds noted that James had only recently explored avant-classical and left-field rock artists including Cage, Stockhausen, Eno, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, and Can, and had spent a couple of years "catching up" on other genres outside techno and house.[37] In 1997 James described himself as a fan of "old tape and avant-garde music" such as Stockhausen's "Song for the Youth" and the work of American composer Tod Dockstader.[130] He also named works by Erik Satie, Drexciya, Ween, Serge Gainsbourg, and Les Baxter among his favorite albums.[134] When James began programming faster, jungle-inspired breakbeats in the mid-1990s, he named friends and fellow musicians Luke Vibert and Tom Jenkinson as influences.[130] In a 2014 interview, James said of jungle that "I still think it's the ultimate genre, really, because the people making it weren't musicians," and noted that "for years, I could listen to jungle and nick things from them, but they didn't know I existed."[135] Along with Vibert and Jenkinson, James helped to spearhead the short-lived drill 'n' bass style, which exaggerated elements of drum and bass, on his Hangable Auto Bulb EP (1995).[73][43] Acknowledging another influence, James's Rephlex label released Music from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, a compilation of music recorded by the pioneers of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.[136] In 2019 he described Kraftwerk as a major influence.[137] Although he said he disliked "rock and roll", he appreciates Led Zeppelin (as a source of "great breakbeats"),[138] and Pink Floyd (for their psychedelic music).[138] Asked in 2011 about an artist he would like to work with, James named Kate Bush.[139]
Rephlex Records, which James co-owned with Grant Wilson-Claridge, coined the word "braindance" to describe Aphex Twin's music.[140] According to the label: "Braindance is the genre that encompasses the best elements of all genres, e.g. traditional, classical, electronic music, popular, modern, industrial, ambient, hip-hop, electro, house, techno, breakbeat, hardcore, ragga, garage, drum and bass, etc."[141] According to Pitchfork's Paul Cooper braindance "escaped the mind/body binary opposition of electronic music" while retaining its club roots.[142]
James's music has often been characterised as an example of the "intelligent dance music" that began in the 1990s.[13][6][143] IDM is mentioned on the home page of the Intelligent Dance Music (IDM) mailing list at Hyperreal.org about the music of Aphex Twin and the Artificial Intelligence Series released by Warp Records.[144] The series features James's recordings as Polygon Window and early productions from artists including Autechre, Black Dog, Richie Hawtin's FUSE project and Speedy J. The term spread to the United States and internet message boards. James responded to the IDM term in a 1997 interview:
I just think it's really funny to have terms like that. It's basically saying, "this is intelligent and everything else is stupid." It's really nasty to everyone else's music. (laughs) It makes me laugh, things like that. I don't use names. I just say that I like something or I don't.
Image and pseudonyms
[edit]James's face, grinning or distorted, is a theme of his album covers, music videos and songs. James said it began as a response to techno producers who concealed their identities:
I did it because the thing in techno you weren't supposed to do was to be recognised and stuff. The sort of unwritten rule was that you can't put your face on the sleeve. It has to be like a circuit board or something. Therefore I put my face on the sleeve. That's why I originally did it. But then I got carried away.
The cover of ...I Care Because You Do features a self-portrait painted by James, and that of Richard D. James Album has a close-up photograph. His face is superimposed on the bodies of other people in the music videos for "Come to Daddy" and "Windowlicker". Near the end of the second track of the "Windowlicker" single (known as "Formula"), a photo of James's face is a steganogram which is revealed as a spectrogram.[145] Another image of James and collaborator Tom Jenkinson is embedded (in SSTV format) with text in the third track of 2 Remixes by AFX, "Bonus High Frequency Sounds".[citation needed]
James has recorded as AFX, Blue Calx, Bradley Strider, the Universal Indicator, Caustic Window, Smojphace [disputed – discuss], GAK, PBoD (Phonic Boy on Dope), Polygon Window, Power-Pill, Q-Chastic, Dice Man, the Tuss, Soit-P.P and user18081971.[146][147][148][149] In a 1997 interview, he said: "There's really no big theory. It's just things that I feel right in doing at the time and I really don't know why. I select songs for certain [names] and I just do it. I don't know what it means."[150] In 2001 he commented on the speculation connected to many anonymous electronic artists: "A lot of people think everything electronic is mine. I get credited for so many things, it's incredible. I'm practically everyone, I reckon—everyone and nobody."[79]
Influence and legacy
[edit]Writing in The Guardian in 2001 journalist Paul Lester described James as "the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music".[127] Rolling Stone described James as a "hugely influential electronic musician whose ambient washes of sound and freakishly twisted beats have gone on to inform artists of all genres."[143] AllMusic's John Bush wrote that "unlike most artists who emerged from the '90s techno scene, James established himself as a genuine personality, known for his cheeky grin and nightmare-inducing music videos as much as his groundbreaking albums and EPs," which helped to "expand his audience from ravers and critics to rock fans, with numerous non-electronic musicians citing him as an inspiration".[6]
In 2001 Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk cited Aphex Twin (particularly "Windowlicker") as an influence on their 2001 album Discovery. Bangalter said he liked it because "it wasn't a big club beat, but it also wasn't a laid back, quiet one".[151] Artists including Steve Reich,[152] Wes Borland of Limp Bizkit,[153] Skrillex,[154] Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park,[155] Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante,[156] Matty Healy of the 1975,[157] Kevin Parker of Tame Impala,[158] and Nick Zammuto of the Books[159] have expressed admiration for Aphex Twin or cited him as an influence.
James influenced Radiohead's transition to electronic music for their 2000 album Kid A.[160] In 2013, the Radiohead singer, Thom Yorke, said Aphex Twin was his biggest influence: "He burns a heavy shadow ... Aphex opened up another world that didn't involve my fucking electric guitar ... I hated the Britpop thing and what was happening in America, but Aphex was totally beautiful, and he's kind of my age too."[161] In 2002, asked if he would tour with Radiohead, James said "I wouldn't play with them since I don't like them".[138] However, he said in 2011 that his dislike of Radiohead had been exaggerated by the press and that he had contacted Yorke to explain this.[162]
In 2005 Alarm Will Sound released Acoustica: Alarm Will Sound Performs Aphex Twin, featuring acoustic arrangements of James's electronic tracks.[163] The London Sinfonietta performed arrangements of Aphex Twin songs in 2006.[164] Animator David Firth sampled Aphex Twin in his animated series Salad Fingers.[165] In 2012 Fact named Selected Ambient Works 85–92 the best album of the 1990s.[166]
Personal life
[edit]James has made "wild and essentially unverifiable claims" about his personal life in interviews, including the claim that he inherited the name of a dead older brother.[135] He has described himself as "just some irritating, lying, ginger kid from Cornwall who should have been locked up in some youth detention centre. I just managed to escape and blag it into music."[19] In a 1993 interview, he claimed to only sleep two to three hours per night.[37] In the mid-1990s, James bought a disused bank in the Elephant & Castle area of London, where he claimed to live in a converted bank vault.[34] He falsely claimed in a 2001 interview to have bought the steel structure in the centre of the Elephant Square roundabout, though this is in fact the Michael Faraday Memorial which houses an electricity substation for the London Underground.[167] In the 1990s, James bought a 1950s armoured car, complete with a working machine gun, which he claimed to drive around Cornwall in lieu of a car.[168][34]
In a 2010 interview with Fact, James said he is living in Scotland after relocating from London.[169] As of 2014[update], he lives in a village near Glasgow in Scotland with his two sons from his first marriage[143] and his second wife, Anastasia,[135] a Russian art student.[170] His sister Julie James is a Welsh Labour politician who was appointed the Welsh Minister for Climate Change in 2021.[171][172] In a 2014 interview, James mentioned that he finds it challenging to live in a small village: "You have to speak to everybody, and everybody knows your business. For someone like me, who's a little bit autistic or something, it can be quite intense." He also mentioned he does not own a smartphone.[173]
Awards
[edit]Year | Awards | Category | Work | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1998 | MTV Video Music Awards | Best Special Effects | "Come to Daddy" | Nominated |
D&AD Awards | Pop Promo Video with a budget over £40,000 | Yellow Pencil | ||
Direction | Yellow Pencil | |||
MTV Europe Music Awards | Best Video | Nominated | ||
1999 | "Windowlicker" | Nominated | ||
Prix Ars Electronica | Digital Music | Himself | Won | |
Online Music Awards | Best Electronic Fansite[174] | Nominated | ||
2000 | Brit Awards | Best British Video | "Windowlicker" | Nominated |
D&AD Awards | Direction | Yellow Pencil | ||
Editing | Yellow Pencil | |||
NME Awards | Single of the Year | Won | ||
Best Dance Act | Himself | Nominated | ||
2002 | Nominated | |||
Brit Awards | British Male Solo Artist | Nominated | ||
Shortlist Music Prize | Album of the Year | Drukqs | Nominated | |
2005 | Antville Music Video Awards | Best Video | "Rubber Johnny" | Nominated |
2014 | Rober Awards Music Poll | Best Male Artist | Himself | Nominated |
Comeback of the Year | Nominated | |||
Best Electronica | Won | |||
2015 | Grammy Awards | Best Dance/Electronica Album | Syro | Won |
International Dance Music Awards | Best Full Length Studio Recording | Nominated | ||
IMPALA Awards | Album of the Year[175] | Nominated | ||
Mercury Prize | Album of the Year | Nominated | ||
Libera Awards | Nominated | |||
Creative Packaging Award | Won | |||
Marketing Genius | Syro album release campaign | Nominated | ||
2016 | Brit Awards | British Male Solo Artist | Himself | Nominated |
2018 | Rober Awards Music Poll | Best EP | Collapse | Nominated |
Best Art Vinyl | Best Art Vinyl[176] | Nominated | ||
UK Video Music Awards | Best Dance Video | "T69 Collapse" | Nominated | |
Best Visual Effects in a Video | Nominated | |||
Best Animation in a Video | Nominated | |||
2019 | Classic Pop Reader Awards | Video of the Year | Nominated | |
Brit Awards | British Male Solo Artist | Himself | Nominated | |
Libera Awards[177] | Marketing Genius | Collapse | Won | |
Video of the Year | "T69 Collapse" | Nominated | ||
2024 | Grammy Awards | Best Dance/Electronic Recording[178] | Blackbox Life Recorder 21F | Nominated |
Discography
[edit]Studio albums as Aphex Twin
- Selected Ambient Works 85–92 (1992)
- Selected Ambient Works Volume II (1994)
- ...I Care Because You Do (1995)
- Richard D. James Album (1996)
- Drukqs (2001)
- Syro (2014)
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ James has recorded under a wide number of lesser known aliases, including AFX, Caustic Window, Polygon Window, and the Tuss.
References
[edit]- ^ Byford, Sam (3 July 2015). "Aphex Twin returns again, this time as AFX". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
Richard D. James goes by a lot of pseudonyms, most famously Aphex Twin and next most famously AFX
- ^ "AFX - Information". Warp. Archived from the original on 8 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
Richard D. James is known most prominently as Aphex Twin. Second among his aliases, ahead of relatively less used tags like Polygon Window, Caustic Window, and the Tuss, is AFX.
- ^ Monroe, Jazz; Hussey, Allison; Ismael Ruiz, Matthew (21 June 2023). "Aphex Twin Announces EP, Shares New Song "Blackbox Life Recorder 21f": Listen". Pitchfork. Condé Nast. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
Aphex Twin has shared 'Blackbox Life Recorder 21f,' the first official release from the producer born Richard D. James in five years.
- ^ Bemis, Alec (6 May 2003). "The Madman of Electronica". Slate. Slate Group. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
Aphex Twin, aka Richard D. James, is a reclusive electronic musician and producer known for his legendary mischievousness...
- ^ a b c "Brits Awards – Aphex Twin". Archived from the original on 5 August 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
- ^ a b c d e Bush, John. "Aphex Twin | Biography & History". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 24 October 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
- ^ a b "The 50 best Aphex Twin tracks of all time". FACT Magazine. London: The Vinyl Factory Group. 14 April 2017. Archived from the original on 4 July 2018. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
- ^ Clay, Joe (20 September 2014). "Aphex Twin: Syro". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- ^ Brake, David (22 June 2021). "Down the Rabbit Hole: Entering the Universe of Aphex Twin". Passion of the Weiss. Los Angeles. Archived from the original on 22 June 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ a b "Album of the week: Aphex Twin". Dummy Mag. London. Archived from the original on 3 October 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
- ^ "Sound Portraits: The Creativity Of Aphex Twin". Electronic Beats. 27 April 2018. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- ^ [6][7][8][9][10][11]
- ^ a b Green, Thomas H. (12 December 2019). "Aphex Twin: Inside the Mythology of the MDMA Mozart". Mixmag. London: Wasted Talent Ltd. Archived from the original on 1 July 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
He's often called the most important electronic musician of his generation
- ^ Sanneh, Kelefa (4 November 2001). "Old-Fashioned Sounds From Masters of Electronica". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
- ^ Jones, Lucy (17 June 2014). "Aphex Twin's 'Caustic Window' album: Was It Worth £40K?". NME. London. Archived from the original on 20 October 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
- ^ "Fact or Fiction: 7 Stories About Aphex Twin". Four/Four Magazine. Dublin. 11 May 2017. Archived from the original on 18 August 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ "It's Aphex Twin Day at FACT!". FACT. London: Vinyl Factory Publishing Ltd. 14 April 2017. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ "Aphex Twin Interview". Clash. London: Clash Media Group. 2 May 2006. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ a b c d Lester, Paul (5 October 2001). "Tank boy". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 10 June 2008. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
- ^ Skala, Jemima (13 September 2018). "Reviews/Aphex Twin – Collapse EP". The Skinny. Edinburgh: Radge Media Ltd. Archived from the original on 16 January 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Baltin, Steve (28 August 2014). "Is Aphex Twin the Most Important Electronic Music Artist of All Time?". Insomniac. Los Angeles: Insomniac Holdings LLC. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Cohen, Ian (23 September 2014). "Everything You Wanted to Know About Aphex Twin But Were Afraid to Ask". Grantland. Los Angeles: ESPN Inc. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Sani, Niko (10 April 2020). "Aphex Twin Releases New Tracks Under Alleged Alias". edm.com. New York: Maven. Archived from the original on 27 February 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
- ^ [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]
- ^ a b Marcus, Tony (December 1992). "Deeply Dippy: Aphex Twin & Mixmaster Morris". Mixmag. London: Disco Mix Club Limited. Archived from the original on 14 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
- ^ Barr, Tim (2000). Techno: the rough guide. London: Rough Guides Ltd. p. 13. ISBN 9781858284347.
- ^ Reynolds, Simon (2013). Energy Flash : a Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture (2nd ed.). London: Faber & Faber. p. 165. ISBN 9780571289141.
- ^ "2024 GRAMMYs: See The Full Winners & Nominees List | GRAMMY.com". grammy.com.
- ^ LeJarde, Arielle Lana (11 November 2023). "Aphex Twin, James Blake, Flowdan nominated at 2024 Grammy Awards · News ⟋ RA". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Snapes, Laura (13 September 2016). "The Wheal Thing: Aphex Twin's Alternative Cornish Language". The Quietus. Archived from the original on 22 December 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
- ^ a b c Murray, Janet (12 June 2007). "College days". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 26 June 2008. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
- ^ a b Davis, Sarah (20 December 1997). "Jock on his Box". Music Week. London: Record Retailer Pub Ltd. p. 7. Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Alt URL
- ^ "Tragedy became Sliding Doors moment for politician". BBC News. BBC. Archived from the original on 17 June 2022. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
- ^ a b c "Aphex Twin: 10 strange myths and the truth behind them". Fact. 14 April 2017. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
- ^ Warren, Emma (19 March 2006). "Aphex twin, Chosen Lords". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Archived from the original on 20 September 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
- ^ Micallef, Ken (May 1997). "This does not compute". Alternative Press. 11 (106): 37–39 – via Lanner Chronicle.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Reynolds, Simon (21 June 2010). "A Classic Aphex Twin Interview. Simon Reynolds Talks To Richard D. James". The Quietus. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
- ^ O'Connell, John (October 2001). "The Further Adventures of the Aphex Twin". The Face (magazine). Archived from the original on 24 December 2022. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
- ^ Kelly, Chris; Twells, John (14 April 2017). "10 strange Aphex Twin myths and the truth behind them". Factmag.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
- ^ G. N. Owen (June 1982). "Organic Tunes". Your Computer Magazine. Leamington Spa, Warwickshire: Quadrant House. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
- ^ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
- ^ Stubbs, David (2018). Future Sounds: The Story of Electronic Music from Stockhausen to Skrillex. Faber & Faber. ISBN 9780571346974. Archived from the original on 22 December 2023. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
- ^ a b c d Reynolds, Simon (4 July 2013). Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture. Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-28914-1.
- ^ a b Davis, Erik (March 1994). "Monsters of Techno". Spin. Palm Coast: Camouflage Associates.
- ^ Peel, John (21 March 1999). "Cornwall". Sounds of the Suburbs. Episode 4. Event occurs at 2:10. Channel 4.
- ^ "Rephlex Records: Recalling Aphex Twin & Grant Wilson-Claridge's label". Orbmag.com. 7 May 2018. Archived from the original on 18 April 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
- ^ a b Darby, Mark. "The Mighty Force from the Bubblebath to Fog City!". Record Collector (Interview). London: Diamond Publishing Ltd. Archived from the original on 4 April 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
- ^ James, Richard D. (May 1995). "True Lies". Mixmag (Interview). Interviewed by Marcus, Tony. London: EMAP. Archived from the original on 17 March 2021. Retrieved 17 June 2021. Alt URL
- ^ Darby, Mark. "Mark Darby". Alpha Radio. Archived from the original on 7 November 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
- ^ Turenne, Martin (April 2003). "Aphex Twin: The Contrarian". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
- ^ Vine, Richard (14 June 2011). "A history of dance music: Aphex Twin's first single Bubblebath released by Mighty Force records". The Guardian. London: Guardian News & Media Limited. Archived from the original on 24 April 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
- ^ Khawaja, Jemayel (26 August 2014). "In Order to Dance: The Story of R&S Records". Vice UK. Vice Media. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
- ^ Fintoni, Laurent (12 February 2017). "Paul White salutes the world-building genius of Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works 85-92". Fact. London: Vinyl Factory Publishing Ltd. Archived from the original on 28 August 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
- ^ Weidenbaum, Mark (2014). Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works, Volume 2. New York/London: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 45. ISBN 9781623567637.
- ^ Darton-Moore, Theo (2 May 2017). "That Time When // Spatial". Stray Landings. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
- ^ Toop, David (March 1994). "Lost in Space". The Face. Archived from the original on 16 May 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
- ^ "Selected Ambient Works 85-92, Apollo Records Bandcamp". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on 14 February 2019. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
- ^ Robinson, Dave (April 1993). "The Aphex Effect". Future Music. Bath: Future Publishing. pp. 22–23. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
- ^ Blashill, Pat (19 November 2002). "Selected Ambient Works 85–92". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 12 June 2008. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
- ^ Pecoraro, David (20 February 2002). "Selected Ambient Works 85–92". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 20 September 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
- ^ Murphy, Ben (3 January 2019). "How Aphex Twin's 'Selected Ambient Works 85–92' Refined Dance Music". DJ Mag. London: Thrust Publishing Ltd. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
- ^ Bashe, Patricia Romanowski (8 November 2001). Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll: Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll. Touchstone. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-7432-0120-9. Archived from the original on 22 June 2008.
- ^ Hobbs, Mary Anne (6 December 2005). "Mary Ann Hobbs - Radio 1's experimental show (tracklisting)". BBC. Archived from the original on 23 August 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
- ^ Cardew, Ben (3 July 2017). "Machines of loving grace: how Artificial Intelligence helped techno grow up". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
- ^ O'Neil, Tegan (16 April 2015). "Warp's Artificial Intelligence compilation predicted the sounds of today, yesterday". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
- ^ "On: The Aphex Twin". Official Charts. The Official UK Charts Company. Archived from the original on 28 February 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
- ^ Fyfe, Andy (January 2016). "A Cosmic Dog". Record Collector. London: Diamond Publishing Ltd. pp. 54–60. Archived from the original on 4 May 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
- ^ Savage, Jon (July 1993). "Machine Soul". The Village Voice. Voice Media Group. Archived from the original on 29 April 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
- ^ "Selected Ambient Works Volume II". Official Charts. The Official UK Charts Company. Archived from the original on 15 August 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
- ^ Reynolds, Simon (September 1999). "The Greatest Albums of the '90s". Spin. Vol. 15, no. 9. p. 148. ISSN 0886-3032.
- ^ "...I Care Because You Do". Official Charts. The Official UK Charts Company. Archived from the original on 23 August 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
- ^ Weidenbaum, Marc (15 April 1997). "Eponymous Rex". Disquiet. Pulse! magazine. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
- ^ a b "Drill'n'bass | Music Highlights". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
- ^ Hermes, Will (February 1997). "Aphex Twin: Richard D. James". Spin. Vol. 12, no. 11. p. 88. ISSN 0886-3032.
- ^ Carr, Eric (17 November 2003). "Staff Lists: Top 100 Albums of the 1990s". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 20 April 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
- ^ "2003 NME 's 100 Best Albums Of All Time". Archived from the original on 30 September 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
- ^ "Top 100 Albums of the 1990s". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 29 February 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
- ^ "Come to Daddy". Official Charts. The Official UK Charts Company. Archived from the original on 10 April 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
- ^ a b c "Index Magazine – Richard D James". Index Magazine. 14 January 2001. Archived from the original on 5 June 2002. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
- ^ "Windowlicker". Official Charts. The Official UK Charts Company. Archived from the original on 10 April 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
- ^ "How Aphex Twin's piano lullaby 'Avril 14th' became a runaway pop culture hit". FACT Magazine: Music News, New Music. 14 April 2017. Archived from the original on 19 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
- ^ "Synths, drukqs and rock'n'roll". The Sydney Morning Herald. 9 January 2004. Archived from the original on 12 June 2008. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
- ^ "AFX: Chosen Lords". Pitchfork.com. Archived from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
- ^ Pattison, Louis (26 May 2007). "Dancing in the dark". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 18 June 2008. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
- ^ "Selected Aughties Works: The 5 Best Tracks From Aphex Twin's Quiet Period". Pitchfork.com. 26 September 2014. Archived from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
- ^ Dazed (27 September 2017). "Meet the anonymous artist behind Aphex Twin's insane visuals". Dazed. Archived from the original on 2 November 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
- ^ "Aphex Twin Says He's Got Six Albums Completed | News". Pitchfork.com. 29 October 2010. Archived from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
- ^ Carrie Batten (12 September 2011). "Video: New Compositions From Aphex Twin and Jonny Greenwood". Pitchfork.com. Archived from the original on 31 March 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
- ^ "Photos: Pitchfork Music Festival Paris [Friday]". Pitchfork.com. 29 October 2011. Archived from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
- ^ "Caustic Window: Caustic Window LP". Pitchfork.com. Archived from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
- ^ Bowe, Miles (18 August 2014). "Aphex Twin Announces New Album SYRO Via Deep Web". Stereogum. Archived from the original on 2 February 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
- ^ "Aphex Twin Gives Away 21-Track Modular Synth Album Plus a Bundle of Demos and Studio Experiments". Factmag.com. 10 November 2014. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
- ^ music, Guardian (8 May 2015). "Aphex Twin archive removed from SoundCloud". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 22 April 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
- ^ "Cover story: Aphex Twin's mask collapses". Crack Magazine. Archived from the original on 14 December 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
- ^ "Aphex Twin Shares New Songs". Pitchfork. 8 April 2020. Archived from the original on 11 April 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ "Aphex Twin Announces Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2 EP". Factmag.com. 9 January 2015. Archived from the original on 9 January 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- ^ "If This Aphex Twin Archive Is Fake, We Don't Want to Know What Real Is". Pitchfork.com. 27 January 2015. Archived from the original on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
- ^ "Watch Aphex Twin's First Music Video in 17 Years". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
- ^ Cosores, Philip (17 December 2016). "Aphex Twin releases surprise 12-inch vinyl at Day For Night Festival". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on 17 January 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
- ^ Twin, Aphex, AFX - Houston, TX 12.17.16 [Day For Night]. Aphex Twin., archived from the original on 26 November 2023, retrieved 2 November 2023
- ^ NTS (4 June 2017). "Aphex Twin Live at Field Day 2017 (alt. audio)". Archived from the original on 21 September 2021 – via YouTube.
- ^ "New Aphex Twin record on sale at Todd Osborn's Technical Equipment Supply shop in Michigan". Resident Advisor. Archived from the original on 28 June 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
- ^ "Aphex Twin Launches New Streaming Site With Rarities, Unreleased Tracks, More". Pitchfork.com. 20 July 2017. Archived from the original on 20 July 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
- ^ Aphex Twin - Aphex Mt. Fuji 2017, 29 July 2017, archived from the original on 2 November 2023, retrieved 2 November 2023
- ^ "Warp Records on Twitter". Twitter. Archived from the original on 23 April 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
- ^ "Warp Records on Twitter: "..."". Twitter. Archived from the original on 9 August 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
- ^ "Aphex Twin's TV premiere cancelled after failing epilepsy test". NME. 7 August 2018. Archived from the original on 7 August 2018. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
- ^ "Aphex Twin – T69 Collapse". 7 August 2018. Archived from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2018 – via YouTube.
- ^ Arcand, Rob (20 January 2023). "Aphex Twin Teases First Show Since 2019". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 21 January 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
- ^ "19.08.23". Archived from the original on 20 January 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
- ^ Arcand, Rob (24 January 2023). "Aphex Twin to Headline London's Field Day Festival". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 24 January 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
- ^ James, Richard D. [@AphexTwin] (7 February 2023). "BEST KEPT SECRET. HOLLAND" (Tweet). Retrieved 6 April 2023 – via Twitter.
- ^ James, Richard D. [@AphexTwin] (21 March 2023). "FORWARDS, BRISTOL" (Tweet). Retrieved 6 April 2023 – via Twitter.
- ^ Aphex Twin - Barcelona 16.06.2023, 24 June 2023, archived from the original on 2 November 2023, retrieved 2 November 2023
- ^ Koe, Crystal. "Aphex Twin's new augmented reality app lets you enjoy the "festival experience" in your living room". MusicTech. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
- ^ Young, Alex (21 June 2023). "Aphex Twin announces new EP". Consequence. Archived from the original on 21 June 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
- ^ Stock, Olivia (18 August 2023). "Aphex Twin releases new augmented reality app, YXBoZXh0d2lu". DJ Mag. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
- ^ Aphex Twin - London 19.08.2023, 19 August 2023, archived from the original on 2 November 2023, retrieved 2 November 2023
- ^ "You can now watch Aphex Twin's full set from Field Day 2023". Mixmag. Archived from the original on 2 November 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
- ^ Torres, Eric. "Aphex Twin Announces Selected Ambient Works Volume II Expanded Edition". Pitchfork. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
- ^ Duran, Anagricel. "Aphex Twin announces 30th anniversary box set of classic 'Selected Ambient Works Volume II'". NME. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
- ^ Lindert, Hattie. "Aphex Twin's 'th1 [evnslower]' gets first official release". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
- ^ Yopko, Nick. "Aphex Twin Reimagines Track From 1994 Album, "Selected Ambient Works Volume II": Listen". EDM. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
- ^ Lewis, Angela. "Pop & Jazz: Aphex Twin plays the Nia Centre, Manchester". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
- ^ Hunter-Tilney, Ludovic (19 September 2014). "Aphex Twin: Syro – review". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 19 July 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
- ^ Thompson, Ben (January 1994). "Aphex Twin: The Mozart of Techno". Mojo. London: EMAP. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
- ^ a b Lester, Paul (5 October 2001). "Tank boy". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 10 June 2008. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
- ^ "Armed And Fairly Dangerous". Q. London: EMAP. March 1994. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021.
- ^ [126][127][10][128]
- ^ a b c Gross, Jason (September 1997). "Aphex Twin". Perfect Sound Forever. Archived from the original on 11 June 2008. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
- ^ Guttridge-Hewitt, Martin (17 May 2017). "808 State Are Three Decades in and Still Looking to the Future". Vice. Archived from the original on 20 July 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
- ^ Anderson, Don (1999). "Aphex Twin: Mad Musician or Investment Banker?". Space Age Bachelor. Archived from the original on 10 September 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2011.
- ^ "They thought I was the only one". Junglizt. 1996. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
- ^ Gross, Jason (September 1997). "Aphex Twin's Favorite Music". Perfect Sound Forever. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
- ^ a b c Sherburne, Philip. "Strange Visitor: A Conversation with Aphex Twin". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 21 August 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
- ^ Sweet, Matthew (17 March 2002). "Queen of the wired frontier". The Observer. London. Archived from the original on 11 May 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
- ^ Warwick, Oli. "Aphex Twin on the Rephlex years". Resident Advisor. Archived from the original on 3 September 2019. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
- ^ a b c Perez, Arturo (16 March 2002). "Interview: Aphex Twin". Kludge Magazine. Archived from the original on 1 May 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
- ^ Verdú, Daniel (16 June 2011). "Odio al público". El País. Archived from the original on 22 May 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
- ^ Oldham, James (12 September 2005). "Various Artists : The Braindance Coincidence". NME. Archived from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
- ^ "What is braindance?". rephlex.com. Archived from the original on 2 March 2001. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
- ^ Cooper, Paul (4 October 2002). "Astrobotnia Parts 1, 2 & 3". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 7 April 2008. Retrieved 16 April 2008.
- ^ a b c Vozick-Levinson, Simon. "Aphex Twin on New 'Syro' LP: 'I'm Feeling Really Horny About It – and Very Smug'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 15 June 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
- ^ Brian R (18 June 2014). "The Intelligent Dance Music Mailing List – Hosted by Hyperreal.org". Hyperreal.org. Archived from the original on 13 May 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
- ^ "The Aphex Face". bastwood.com. Archived from the original on 17 June 2008. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
- ^ Kreps, Daniel. "Aphex Twin Drops Six New Songs on His Secret SoundCloud". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 9 April 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
- ^ Beta, Andy (29 September 2014). "Richard D. James: 10 Essential Releases". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
- ^ Anderson-Rich, Louis. "10 ICONIC APHEX TWIN MOMENTS". Mixmag. Archived from the original on 23 June 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
- ^ Hinton, Patrick. "9 KILLER TRACKS FROM 9 APHEX TWIN ALIASES". Mixmag. Archived from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
- ^ "Interview by Jason Gross". Perfect Sound Forever. September 1997. Archived from the original on 11 June 2008. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
- ^ "Daft Punk Interview: Discover New Worlds". SonicNet. Archived from the original on 13 April 2001. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
- ^ Lucy Jones (23 October 2014). "Steve Reich Interview: On Radiohead, Aphex Twin And 'The Rite of Spring'". NME. Archived from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
- ^ "Kerrang! Sonisphere 2014 Podcast: Wes Borland – YouTube". 4 July 2014. Archived from the original on 22 September 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2014 – via YouTube.
- ^ Answer Code Request (10 December 2015). "I stopped doing interviews because of The Guardian". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 July 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
- ^ Mike Shinoda - What's in My Bag?, 8 October 2018, archived from the original on 22 September 2021, retrieved 23 September 2019
- ^ "Aphex Twin Inspired John Frusciante's Next Acid House Record". Telekom Electronic Beats. 1 April 2016. Archived from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
- ^ The 1975: 'Being Funny In a Foreign Language' Interview. Apple Music. Event occurs at 33:37. Retrieved 14 October 2024 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Tame Impala". Pitchfork. 23 June 2010. Archived from the original on 25 October 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
- ^ Guardian Staff (27 January 2006). "Clogs and the Books interview each other". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 16 November 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
- ^ Zoric, Lauren (22 September 2000). "I think I'm meant to be dead ..." The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2007.
- ^ "Uni of Yorke Class 1: FlyLo, the Gaslamp Killer & FaltyDL". Dazed. 21 January 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
- ^ Chaciński, Bartek (7 September 2011). "Rozmowa z Aphexem Twinem". www.polityka.pl (in Polish). Archived from the original on 24 November 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
- ^ Richardson, Mark. "All-acoustic interpretations of pieces by Aphex Twin". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 15 July 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
- ^ Llewellyn, Kati; Solarski, Matthew (13 September 2006). "London Sinfonietta Tackles Aphex Twin, Squarepusher". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 21 June 2008. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
- ^ "Re: Salad Fingers". Semantikon.com. Archived from the original on 3 May 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
- ^ "The 100 Best Albums of the 1990s – FACT Magazine: Music News, New Music". Factmag.com. 3 September 2012. Archived from the original on 11 March 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
- ^ O'Connell, John (October 2001). "Untitled". The Face. EMAP. Archived from the original on 15 June 2008. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
- ^ James, Richard D. (1995). "Life as a Tank Boy". Details Magazine. Archived from the original on 26 August 2018. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
- ^ "Aphex Twin: 'I've got six albums completed'". Fact. 28 October 2010. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
- ^ Spex October 2014, p. 26: Aphex Twin: Ein Backup für Millionen (German interview)
- ^ "Tragedy became Sliding Doors moment for politician". BBC News. 4 August 2021. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
- ^ Eede, Christian (5 August 2021). "Wales' new Climate Change Minister is Aphex Twin's sister". DJ Mag. Archived from the original on 5 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
- ^ Vozick-Levinson, Simon (3 September 2014). "Aphex Twin Gives a Rare Interview About His New LP". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 20 August 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
- ^ "Google Groups". Groups.google.com. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
- ^ "IMPALA: 23 albums up for European Independent Album of the Year AwardV". Vut.de. Archived from the original on 3 August 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
- ^ "Best Art Vinyl Awards 2018". ArtVinyl.com. Archived from the original on 22 July 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
- ^ "A2IM Announces 2019 Libera Award Nominees". BroadwayWorld.com. Archived from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
- ^ "2024 GRAMMYs: See The Full Winners & Nominees List". Grammy.com. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
External links
[edit]- Aphex Twin at Warp Records
- Aphex Twin discography at Discogs
- SoundCloud page: Aphex Twin
- Aphex Twin
- 1971 births
- Living people
- British ambient musicians
- Braindance musicians
- British techno musicians
- Intelligent dance musicians
- British experimental musicians
- English record producers
- British electronic dance music DJs
- People from Lanner, Cornwall
- Rhythm King artists
- Sire Records artists
- Warp (record label) artists
- Chiptune and tracker musicians
- TVT Records artists
- People educated at Cornwall College
- Grammy Award winners for dance and electronic music
- Alumni of Kingston University
- Irish emigrants to the United Kingdom
- Musicians from Cornwall
- Irish people of Welsh descent