In 1997, Aphex Twin picked his favourite records of all time
When he released his earliest musical endeavours under the Aphex Twin name, specifically his debut album Selected Ambient Works 85-92, there was very little else in the world that sounded like what Richard D James was creating. For that matter, there still isn’t, and every release has somehow displayed a different side to the warped mind of the Cornish electronic musician, with plenty of people throwing the term ‘genius’ around to describe his pioneering achievements.
Raised in Redruth, his remote upbringing drew him towards messing around with electronics from a young age. There’s plenty of myth surrounding James and his life, with stories of dubious origin circulating about his past and present, one of which being how he allegedly modified a Sinclair ZX81 home computer chip to play sound when he was 11 years old and won £50 in a competition as a result. Things like this only add to the mystery, but if he was indeed achieving feats of engineering like this at that age, then the ‘genius’ tag is certainly warranted.
Wafts of possible bullshit aside, by 1997, he was already four albums deep into his career – that is if you only want to look at the mainline Aphex Twin releases, as there are plenty of other miscellaneous releases to his name prior to this point. Regardless of the fact, critics and fans knew exactly what he was capable of delivering, and even if every release was drastically different to the last, listeners knew to expect greatness every time.
But if little else really sounded like what he was making, then where was his inspiration coming from? In 1997, he revealed a list of his favourite records of all time for Perfect Sound Forever, and the list was as far-reaching as one might expect. Some of his picks included helpings of the acid house and hip-hop breaks that he founded his sound on, with Detroit acid techno crew Drexciya making the cut with their The Quest compilation, as well as compilations like Return of the DJ and Best of Acid 1 that showcase some of the earliest influences on James’ sound.
He also makes room for some of his contemporaries in fellow Cornishman Luke Vibert, with his Big Soup trip-hop project, and the drill and bass extraordinaire Squarepusher’s 1997 EP Big Loada, which contains not only some of the most deranged amen breaks ever heard, but some lethal bass playing from the project’s driving force, Tom Jenkinson.
Then there’s two records that showcase a variety of music from around the world, with exotica trailblazer Les Baxter’s The Exotic Moods of Les Baxter, as well as the Mr Bongo-curated compilation, Batucada, which James describes as music from South America with “really fast rhythms with screaming and shouting with no songs.”
For good measure, there are modern classical picks in the form of Erik Satie and Tod Dockstader, and then the two outliers of the list, which includes two albums from experimental rock oddballs Ween, and an unspecified Serge Gainsbourg album that features the controversial ‘Lemon Incest’, a duet he wrote and performed with his daughter, Charlotte.
It’s a fascinating list that showcases all aspects of James’ work, personality and influence, and we’ve done our best efforts to compile some of them below despite a lack of availability on streaming services and James’ lack of specificity in some instances.
Aphex Twin’s favourite records:
- Drexciya – The Quest
- Erik Satie – Trois Gymnopédies
- Various Artists – Return of the DJ
- Squarepusher – Big Loada
- Luke Vibert – Big Soup
- Various Artists – Batucada: The Sound Of The Favelas
- Various Artists – Best of Acid 1
- Ween – The Pod
- Ween – Pure Guava
- Les Baxter – The Exotic Moods of Les Baxter
- Serge Gainsbourg – [unspecified compilation featuring ‘Lemon Incest’]
- Tod Dockstader – Luna Park
