Music
Classic tracks by electronica maverick Richard D James, selected by Special Request, Lapalux, Caterina Barbieri and more.
Few artists attain the status of myth in their own lifetimes, but Richard D James – aka Polygon Window, aka Caustic Window, aka The Tuss, aka AFX, aka Aphex Twin – is certainly one of them.
Emerging from Cornwall at the dawn of the 1990s, Aphex has released electronic music in a dizzying panoply of styles while always remaining a couple of steps ahead of the pack. An Aphex Twin tune might be melancholy and barely-there, like much of 1994's Selected Ambient Works II, or it might be a terrifying collision of death metal and drum'n'bass – see 1997's Come To Daddy. It might feature strange, ringing chimes that sound like a haunted piano (like aisatsana [102], from 2014's Syro), or warbling one-note drones that resemble a didgeridoo (specifically, 1992 single Didgeridoo). Yet somehow – however it sounds – you can somehow discern the mischievous hand of Richard D James at the controls.
In September 2019, Aphex Twin played his first London show for over two years as part of Red Bull Music Festival London. To celebrate, we asked artists from across the bill to name a song by Aphex Twin – or one of his many pseudonyms – that in some way resonates with them. Read on for picks from Lapalux, Caterina Barbieri, Special Request, Loraine James and more.
Bucephalus Bouncing Ball
Picked by: Lapalux
My dad used to take me to the local library when I was a kid and hire CDs, because you could hire 10 for the same price as one brand new CD from a shop. He let me pick five, and the Come to Daddy album by Aphex Twin was one of them. I would listen to this record on repeat studying every little detail and wondering how it was all made. Bucephalus Bouncing Ball to me was particularly outstanding because of the use of the bouncing ball rhythmic effect scattered throughout the start of the track, which blew my mind back then. It’s followed by this sparse but lush melodic interlude and before you know it you're back into complete glitchy, abstract madness. The whole record for me was so formative. I still listen to it in a nostalgic awe.
Alberto Basalm
Picked by: Impey
For me, Alberto Balsalm finds a perfect balance between the melodic and the rhythmic, the contrast in sound palette from the rounded synthy melody paired with the raw metallic percussion samples. There are a few interesting sound sources in this one too, varying from the opening of an ammunition box lid for the 'squeak', as well as the snipping of scissors used for the hi-hat line. To know this tune is as old as I am is also pretty nuts. Timeless music.
Rhubarb
Picked by: Caterina Barbieri
Rhubarb brings back memories from my first high-school trips, when I was listening to Aphex for hours on the bus, looking through the window at the moving landscapes. I always liked to think that Cornwall’s landscapes might have had a strong influence on Aphex’s music, especially in regard to his unique ability to convey these ecstatic, melancholic, immersive feelings towards nature through sound. I can relate to that so much myself and always felt very inspired by this specific aspect of music!
Laughable Butane Bob
Picked by: Weirdcore
It’s almost impossible to narrow it down to one track, but I’d say Laughable Butane Bob from the Hangable Auto Bulb EPs for various reasons. Firstly as it came at a time, 1995, when I’d been into experimental techno/Warp stuff and such like for a couple of years but was really longing for less repetitive beats and more complex and unpredictable musical structures. Both Hangable Auto Bulb EPs totally rocked my world as they delivered far more than I could have wished for. It was funny/qwerky and you can dance to it – if you set you mind to it.
This was also the opening track to Richard's live set at Big Love in 1996, which was a very inspiring gig for me. On a personal level, when I was asked to do the T69 Collapse video, the vibe felt to me like revamped/up-to-date Laughable Butane Bob, which one of the reasons why I went for a revamped '90s vibe for the video.
xmas_evet10 120 (thanaton3 mix)
Picked by: Loraine James
I remember setting some time aside to listen to Syro in full, and this was/is still my favourite track of the album. The build up to around the six-minute mark breaks out into dreamy synths that always emote happy and freeing emotions.
15 Sekonda
Picked by: Special Request
Picking a favourite Aphex track is like picking a favourite child. It shouldn’t be done. I oscillate between a revolving list of about 12 of them, but recently it’s been Sekonda, from the Soundcloud dump. It holds magic in it, and feels ever so psychedelic in the original sense, without being showy. A high watermark.
Baby Ford – Normal (Helston Flora Mix)
Picked by: Joe Muggs, journalist and author
It's vital to remember that for all the mindfuck and trickery, Aphex makes dance music. He is an old raver, his childhood friends were ravers and b-boys, his first released tracks were made for raves, and his entire oeuvre shows a deep understanding of the black American music that predates rave: house, hip hop, electro, and above all FUNK. And this 1998 remix for Baby Ford is the quintessential AFX funk: all the acid gloops, all the fidgets, all the cuts and scratches are all in pursuit of the groove, and it remains eminently playable for dancefloors 21 years on.
Vordhosbn
Picked by: Afrodeutsche
I grew up in Devon in the '80s but didn't find Aphex until the late '90s. I was listening to a lot of jungle in the ‘90s, so probably wasn’t aware that I was listening to a lot of Aphex Twin. Most of the music I was listening to came from cassette mixtapes, recorded from free parties – I was used to music being shared in this way. I think that’s why I find it hard remembering track titles since most tapes didn’t have tracklists.
Vordhosbn is an absolute favourite, given to me on a birthday compilation by a very close friend of mine. His works are beautiful, rolling patterns layer after layer. Each time I listen, I follow a different part. Curve's Falling Free (Aphex Twin Mix) is another favourite – beautiful and dark, but bleepy enough to make me dance like I've lost my shit. Or the the GAK EP, especially GAK 2 and 3 – jacking yet acidy, moody with dark optimism! I love hearing them through every system I play on – top buzz!
Polygon Window - Quino-Phec
Picked by: Mira Calix
From the album Surfing on Sine Waves, released in 1993. I loved it when it came out, and I love it now. It’s simple and haunting, a melody that just more or less repeats, that seems to drift in and out of focus. I think it’s Richard at his best – somewhat otherworldly, not of a particular place or time, not doing much, not showing off, just simply doing it well. Perhaps the most romantic thing he’s ever written. A classic in my book.
Avril 14th
Picked by: Nabihah Iqbal
I love it because it's simple and complex at the same time, and every harmony and transition sounds so beautiful. It's just a meticulous track and I appreciate it because of that. It makes you feel good in a calm way.
Picked by: Emma Jean Thackray
I was making a mix CD for my best mate at school, who’s birthday was April 14th, and I stumbled across this track on Limewire aged about 14/15ish. There was something so striking to me about this track that I would have it on repeat for hours at a time, just trying to get inside it.
I couldn’t afford music magazines to read interviews, so there was always a huge barrier between my favourite artists and me. Because I didn’t have a way to read about music from the artists themselves, the only way I could understand something was to figure everything out for myself. In those days as a teen I would transcribe everything I heard, writing out scores and making midi replications of music that struck me, everything – from Debussy to Dream Theatre to Miles Davis.
I did the same thing with Avril 14th of course, but I could never truly replicate what Aphex Twin did. Something was so special about the sound of the piano and it intoxicated me. I now know it’s a midi controlled acoustic piano, which is why the warm piano sounded so subtly strange, just slightly inhuman. A sound that is normal on the surface for those that don’t listen too hard, but disturbing underneath, hinting at a whole other parallel universe for those that listen a little deeper.
Picked by: Flora Yin-Wong
It's got this nostalgic feeling even the first time you hear it, I think. I'm not like a huge Aphex nerd but I think this often comes to mind for me as something quietly beautiful. Just love sad music lol, but it also has this innocence and pensiveness that resonates for many moods.