The influence of Aphex Twin in the words of those he inspired
Richard D. James, known best by his alias Aphex Twin, epitomises experimental genius. The Cornish eccentric set off in the mid-1980s as a pioneering ambient music producer following in the footsteps of Brian Eno. His debut album, Selected Ambient Works 85-92, released in 1992, garnered his first glimpse of critical and popular acclaim. This debut has become one of the most iconic and seminal electronic albums of all time but only embodies the very tip of a colourful and immersive iceberg of unparalleled influence.
During a 2001 interview with The Guardian, James 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”. At Far Out, we think James did himself a wild disservice in this humble statement, but don’t just take our word for it.
While James’ work has been confined to instrumental electronic production, his influence transcends the electronic genres. Among his keenest admirers are rock musicians that discovered, through James’ material, a license to explore experimental production styles. The Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke is perhaps James’ most outspoken admirer in the rock world.
In 1998, following Radiohead’s tour in support of OK Computer, Yorke had become fatigued and somewhat disillusioned with traditional rock music. He took a break from the road and studio to garner inspiration and recuperate mentally. During this period, he sought shelter from rock by listening mostly to electronic music by the likes of Aphex Twin, Autechre and Squarepusher.
Inspired, Yorke returned to the studio with Radiohead and recorded one of the most progressive and creatively inspired post-rock albums of all time, Kid A. Sadly, James wasn’t much of a fan, but, after all, he does live on a strict diet of instrumental electro void of lyrics.
In a 2013 interview with Dazed, the Radiohead frontman described James as one of his biggest modern influences. “He burns a heavy shadow,” he said. “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.”
In a similar alt-rock vein, Kevin Parker, the mastermind behind the Australian neo-psychedelia project Tame Impala, once revealed that Aphex Twin would be his dream collaboration. “It would probably be someone really, really kind of fucked up. Like Aphex Twin or Squarepusher or someone like that,” Parker told Pitchfork in 2010.
Adding: “You know, someone that would scare me, but I’d be able to see how they do all their really insanely headcase stuff, and I’d be able to learn from it [laughs]. So I would have to say Aphex Twin, although it would scare the shit out of me.”
With his impact on modern rock music so vast and immeasurable, James’ experimental ideas haven’t just shaken the ground in Australia and the UK. Over in the US, John Frusciante of Red Hot Chili Peppers is another noteworthy fan of IDM textures. When discussing his instrumental electronic solo album, Maya, in a 2020 appearance on RA’s Exchange podcast, Frusciante highlighted Aphex Twin’s work of the mid-1990s as particularly inspiring.
Frusciante said: “With the Richard D James Album, where he was at in his progression at the time with …I Care Because You Do, I really like [the tracks] for having that cold machine-like quality to them. They’re beautiful, and at the same time, there’s a characteristic to them that I would describe as non-expressive and machine-like that I found very inspiring.”
Traversing to more predictable pastures, James has had a monumental impact on his peers in the electro realm. With a wildly varied oeuvre bridging tranquil ambient to experimental drum and bass and ear-splintering, genre-transcending dins like ‘Ventolin’, James laid the groundwork for modern production through his most prolific spell in the 1990s.
The Godfather of Ambient Production, Brian Eno, once famously said: “Avant-garde music is a sort of research music. You’re glad someone’s done it, but you don’t necessarily want to listen to it. It’s similar to the way I’m very happy people have gone to the North Pole. It extends my concept of the planet to know it exists, but I don’t want to live there, or even go there actually. But it’s a boundary condition.”
In the case of Aphex Twin, however, Eno is most content to brave the blinding whiteness of the tundra. The former Roxy Music synth player expressed his love for Warp Records and its noteworthy proponents in a 2010 conversation with Clash. “Well… I love Warp Records, and I always have done,” he said. “I like their… I like the kind of people they represent. I like the Warp’ spectrum’ if you like. Got quite a lot of Warp albums… And sort of the next few projects I’m thinking about, seem to me like good projects for Warp to release.”
Asked to name his favourite Warp artists, Eno continued: “I like Aphex Twin. It’s funny, I think… Well, of course, the other one that we were talking about this morning is Battles, who I’m very keen on; I’ve seen them play several times.”
Elsewhere, the likes of Skrillex, Kanye West, Bjork, Calvin Harris, DJ Shadow, Pharrell Williams, Billie Eilish and Daft Punk are among those to have expressed gratitude for James’ contributions to music.
In 2001, Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk praised James and his Aphex Twin classic ‘Windowlicker’ as a guiding influence on the electro duo’s 2001 album, Discovery. “It wasn’t a big club beat, but it also wasn’t a laid-back, quiet one,” he told SonicNet of the 1999 single.
Perhaps one of the most intriguing slices of endorsement James has received from an industry peer is that from Steve Reich. The American composer is revered most for his innovative work in the field of minimal music in the late 1960s. Although he evaded pop music throughout his career, Reich is deemed a vital pillar in musical evolution.
In a 2014 interview with the NME, the composer reflected on his recent collaboration with Aphex Twin, remembering his first impression of the enigmatic producer. “I’d heard of Aphex Twin, but I’d never heard a note of his music until I met him in Poland in 2011.
“To me, he was Richard James, and I found him a very bright, interesting and intelligent man,” Reich said. “We talked a lot about soundwaves and his rework of my piece, ‘Pendulum Music’. He created a 14-microphone version of the work embedded in these mirrored balls and it was quite a thing. He was able to control the feedback of the microphones because of his great dexterity and wonderful ears. He was also able to tune the feedback and keep it melodically interesting, and that’s quite a feat. I had a good time working with him. We had ideas bouncing off each other. He was a very bright and a very serious guy. I was really impressed by him.”
Reich later gave James’ catalogue a thorough listen and began to understand the full scope of his genius. “I went back and listened to two of his works after I met him and again was impressed by the variety of the work,” he said. “Some of it sounded spooky, some of it not at all. He’s obviously a very strong individual. I can’t compare him to any composer and I don’t think of him in terms of anyone I’ve ever heard before. The little I’ve heard of DJs who remix my music, or just DJs in general, he is nothing like that at all. He’s definitely his own man and an extremely strong musical personality.”
“This is a guy who is the real deal. He was really interesting and a pleasure to meet, and I hope that we have the chance to work together again,” Reich concluded.
Watch footage from Aphex Twin’s 2012 performance at the Barbican Hall, London, below. Central to the performance was an audiovisual display inspired by Steve Reich’s ‘Pendulum Music’.
