As you'll know if you caught Aphex Twin headlining at Printworks London in September 2019, his sets run the length and breadth of electronic music, mixing his own productions and modular synth improvisations with a dizzying selection of tracks spanning from old-skool hardcore and jungle to the latest cutting-edge electronic music.
Dig into some of the curios from Aphex Twin's headline set in the Spotify player above – or read on for details on a few stand-out tracks from the set.
Renegade Soundwave – Ozone Breakdown
Beloved not just by Richard D James but by fellow giants like The Prodigy and Chemical Brothers, Renegade Soundwave – aka Londoners Danny Briottet, Carl Bonnie and Gary Asquith – were early pioneers of the hardcore rave sound. Using a basic Akai S900 sampler, they mashed up dub, techno and punk aesthetics into a breakbeat-driven sound that still sounds great today.
Gescom – D1
The exact personnel involved in any given Gescom record is purposefully unclear, but one thing that you can say with some confidence is that they in some way involve the hand of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, better known as Aphex Twin's Warp Records compatriots Autechre. Gescom typically come with a slightly different vibe to Autechre, somewhat less cerebral, with more attention given to tough acid and electro rhythms – although as D1 proves, it's possible to make something that's body-moving but laden with technical idiosyncrasy.
DJ Doktor Megatrip – Joy
Released under the name DJ Doktor Megatrip, Joy is in fact the work of Psychic TV, the veteran industrial band headed up by former Throbbing Gristle member Genesis P-Orridge. Falling some distance from Psychic TV's mid-'80s industrial rock sound, Joy was an attempt to jump on the rave bandwagon that paid off in spades, its gurgling acid melodies and thunking beat bringing a dose of offbeat weirdness to the underground rave scene on its release in 1988.
ZULI – Trigger Finger
The first half of Aphex's set was packed with hardcore rave and techno, classics and deep cuts – but around the mid-section he started reaching for some more contemporary tracks, proving that he's still got a keen ear for new sounds. Take Trigger Finger. A 2018 production by the Cairo-based rap beatmaker ZULI, it's a bold fusion of junglist drums, sliced-up vocals and jolts of distortion that conjures up an atmosphere both sinister and laden with nervous adrenaline.
AQXDM – Infrared
This was unreleased when Aphex dropped it in the rave, but now it's got an official release – and praise be that it's finally out there. Transatlantic duo AQXDM – known individually as Aquarian and Deapmash – debuted last year with a single on Bedouin Records, and now return with this confirmed banger, a restrained but intense eight minutes of heads-down techno laden with atmospheric effects and a sense of dazed euphoria.
Aphex Twin – Stone In Focus
This one isn't on Spotify, and is pretty hard to get hold of physically – it was included on vinyl editions of quietly dreamy Aphex's Selected Ambient Works II. Perhaps for that reason, it's one of the most highly treasured tracks for Aphex Twin aficionados, and its outings in live performances are greeted with much excitement in comments sections. On the night, Aphex played it as a brief interlude from the chaos as couples smooched in the front row – but you can hear it in full above.
Now listen to Afrodeutsche perform live at Printworks on Red Bull Radio.
The critic Marc Weidenbaum discusses Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works in a special edition of Peak Time in the player below.
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