Hear Me Out: ‘Richard D James Album’ is Aphex Twin’s best album to date
Few artists in electronic music’s vast and wieldy history enjoy such a lauded reputation as Aphex Twin. Spearheading the so-called IDM (intelligent dance music, always a silly term) wave alongside Warp Records labelmates Squarepusher and Autechre, Cornish DJ and acid-house devotee Richard D James cemented himself as the leading figure in the new wave of experimental, ambient techno that dominated the 1990s, whether he intended to or not.
With such a sprawling and diverse scope of work behind him, it’s difficult to select the best album. From Selected Ambient Works 85-92‘s heady atmospheres to Syro‘s gelatinous funk, James’ discography is a wildly eclectic mosaic of electronica’s many different hues and flavours. There’s the myriad of acclaimed records under his other aliases, including AFX, Polygon Window and The Tuss, and the most recognised releases aren’t even albums at all, Windowlicker and Come to Daddy, both EPs that have seared themselves as the long-standing, public perception of Aphex Twin down to their infamous music videos.
1996’s Richard D James Album, however, is the LP which crystalises his artful idiosyncrasies and establishes a masterful fusion of disparate sonic elements. Wryly poking fun at the derisory critical accusations that IDM was ‘faceless’ and impersonal, James adorns the cover with his grinning mug, a visual motif that he’d deploy for the rest of his career, and titles several of its tracks with Cornish locations and references. Such details are clues to the album’s inviting character, promising aural insight into the deepest inner workings of James’ mind.
Aphex Twin’s signature drum processing is fully realised in its delirious frenzy on Richard D James Album. While James would craft harsher blasts of meticulously complex arrangements on Drukqs, the processed crushing of jungle, breakbeats, and drum ‘n’ bass are married on a greater level of disquiet harmony with the melodic washes on this record, the caustic drill always managing to keep a beat amid its spasmodic unpredictability. Album opener ‘4’ illustrates this beautifully, a soaring cut of artificial strings and elasticated breaks that harnesses a cinematic stir beneath its digital flaunt.
Long fascinated by the creative possibilities of the human voice, as heard to thrilling effect on later cuts like ‘Afx237 v.7’ and ‘minipops 67 [120.2][source field mix]’, it’s Richard D James Album that ignites this obsession on the playful ‘To Cure A Weakling Child’. Talking to the German publication Sonic Press, James shared: “That’s me, actually. I changed my voice on the computer to make it sound like a child’s voice. I’m giving a lecture about my arms and legs.” Coupled with its wistful synths and dreamy production, the track serves as a significant signal to future vocalisation trickery.
A skewed mirth courses throughout Richard D James Album. While Aphex Twin’s never been known for lacking a sense of humour, ‘Come to Daddy’s abrasive assault on a pastiche of heavy metal and his recent big-screen visuals with digital artist Weirdcore show tounges are firmly in cheek, a uniquely jovial farce hovers on cuts like ‘Goon Gumpas’. Its jaunty innocence taps feel spiritually connected to the ‘weakling child’ in a strange conceptual way and shows James’ unrealised career as an expert children’s TV show composer.
With Aphex Twin forever straddling the line between somatic urgency and intellectual exercises, as much an appreciator of illegal free raves as he is Barbican art-performances, Richard D James Album nestles itself between the two, a personal and gripping slice of off-kilter electronica which still stands as his most coherent and unique to date.
