The Mozart of modern times (Aphex Twin in General)

Member Name: neinel

Product:	Aphex Twin in General
Date:	26/02/01 (627 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: James' divine talent for writing and producing; brilliant value for money whichever album you purchase; some of the most unique and innovative music around today; simply brilliant

Disadvantages: Not in this case.

Richard D. James is known by several different aliases including AFX, Polygon Window, Caustic Window, The Dice Man and, his most renowned, Aphex Twin. Throughout the 80's and 90's James has proven himself to be arguably the closest comparison to Mozart in modern times. How so? Just listen to his music. The majority of it contains such sophistication that it makes so-called musical geniuses like Underworld and the Prodigy sound comparable to chart trash like Aqua or the Tweenies. Aphex Twin never has, and hopefully never will, gain the commercial success his music deserves. My reason for hoping he never will is that he may turn horribly commercial and 'sell out'. He is well known inside the dance industry and has a cult following, which I would include myself in, but apart from his 1999 single "Window Licker" he has never come close to achieving fame in the usual sense of the word.

The brilliance behind James' music is the complexity and simplicity of it and the way in which he intertwines the two. He grew up taking pianos apart and fiddling with all sorts of electronic devices such as synthesisers in his Cornwall home, and thus has an incredible knowledge of how dance music works. While James is quite the technical wizard, he also has an equal talent for song writing. His tracks range from uplifting to satanically evil, mellow to hyperactive, light-hearted to emotionally fuelled. His early releases, "Selected Ambient Works", mirror their release dates very well. The collection boasts an enormous range of tracks many different styles. I would sum the collection up as ambient techno and while less sophisticated than later releases, the tracks contain a very simple and calming theme (with the few inevitable exceptions) that will probably still appeal to many.

His second release, "I Care Because You Do", marks a progression in style for the Twin. It features his now trademark penchant for sampling ever
y manner of household noise (such as Coke cans being tapped, marbles being dropped) and building complete tracks from them. It sounds more modern than "Selected Ambient Works" and I would recommend it over his earlier releases. Aphex Twin's next album, "The Richard D. James Album", was to be his most successful to date and it is little wonder when you listen to the quality of its tracks. Featured here are many cleverly laid loops, rolls, skipped beats, aurally pleasing samples and, above all, a solid vision of a great album on the Twin's behalf. The highlights in my opinion are "4", "Fingerbib", "Yellow Cal X" and "Girl/Boy Song (Redruth Mix)".

James followed up the success of his self-titled album with 1997's "Come To Daddy" EP. The EP sounds very reminiscent of the "Richard D. James Album" but James' vision and style seems to have been pushed just that bit further and the results are evident. "Come To Daddy" must rank with the scariest pieces of recorded music ever (especially when combined with the video), "Flim" is just complete musical heaven and a step back to the "Selected Ambient" days, and "Bucephalous Bouncing Ball" (from which he built around the sample of the marble or something similar falling that I mentioned earlier) is a technical work of art.

The next two years James devoted to trying to break into the charts and the result of his efforts, "Window Licker", came excruciatingly close. Whilst used by MTV, Eurosport and many other channels for adverts, the single didn't gain Aphex Twin the success he was hoping for. Many people said the main hook was brilliant but that the track was ruined by James trademark fiddling with beats and melodies. I think this only adds to the excellence to "Window Licker" but popular opinion dictates otherwise. That is why we will never see Aphex Twi
n on Top of the Pops or the Pepsi Chart Show. I would be heartbroken to see him release something new that was an obvious attempt at mainstream success as it would undoubtedly be terrible. James' raw musical talent will never be embraced by the general musical public and the only way it could is if it is bastardised beyond recognition. I can only hope he never goes down that road. Nevertheless, James doesn’t need to carry on for the money – he got paid a ‘six figure sum’ for providing the music on an advert for Pirelli tyres (the one that shows an athlete seemingly lined with Pirelli’s grip on her feet scaling mountains or something similar).

Aside from his releases, James co-owns Rephlex records - a medium sized dance label - and enjoys driving an army tank around his parents' back garden (a chance would be a fine thing!) in his spare time. A bit of trivia:

Where does the Name Aphex Twin come from?

James won't tell but an educated guess can be made. James had an older brother, Richard, who died shortly after birth. Strangely, Mrs James called her second son (Aphex Twin) Richard as well. So James viewed himself as a twin to his dead brother. The 'Aphex' is harder to pin down but NME claimed the 'A' stands for acid element in his sound and the PH for the PH value of acid.

Where does the name "Window Licker" come from?

Apparently the phrase 'window licker' is a British term applied to someone who wants what they cannot have (e.g. the two black guys in the track's video) and also people who are somewhat insane.

A final useless fact:

James normally sleeps for only two hours each night. He claims that if he sleeps any more, he does not have enough time to do everything each day (presumably writing recording, taking acid, driving his tank and managing Rephlex).

So, to sum up Aphex Twin. I can't say whether you would
like him or loathe him .If you hate all forms of dance music then there's little chance you will like him. It helps to have a basic knowledge of how dance music is created because only then does the true extent of Aphex Twin's technical wizardry become apparent (I can only puzzle over how he creates his music). James hasn't released anything since "Window Licker" and rumour has it that he won't in the near future either. If the rumour is to be believed, he is still writing and recording but will only release material after his death. Well, that's only a 40 or 50 year wait! I recommend Aphex Twin highly and people who generally fall into the non-dance category of musical tastes (such as myself) may be pleasantly surprised by his music.

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