Aphex Twin
Aphex Twin (born Richard D. James, 1971) is a UK-based electronic music artist working notably in the techno and ambient music styles.
Born to Welsh parents in 1971, James spent his childhood in Cornwall. He experimented with electronics from an early age, winning a competition to make a Sinclair ZX Spectrum play a tune by setting the connected television's volume to full and alternating the colours on the screen, producing different pitches of noise.
He became a DJ and musician on the local rave scene, taking on the monicker "Aphex Twin" from the name of a manufacturer of signal processing equipment combined with the word "twin"; this was because the original Richard James, his brother, died at a young age before Richard D. James' birth. James uses his middle initial to distinguish himself from his late brother.
He was a founding partner in the Rephlex Records label in 1991 and released his first records on this label, as well as Mighty Force and R&S Records of Belgium. James soon moved to London and released a slew of albums and EPs on the Warp Records label. He was also responsible for a number of disturbing music videos in collaboration with director Chris Cunningham.
Aphex Twin is credited with pushing forward the genres of techno, ambient, IDM, drum and bass (specifically drill n bass) and has created a vast amount of music, much of it unreleased. Recent experimentation on his album drukqs included use of a prepared piano in the style of composer John Cage.
He owns a 1950s armoured scout car (a Daimler Ferret Mark 3), a submarine, and lives in a converted bank. He is also a notable amateur photographer, having done his own artwork direction for many of his albums. Aphex Twin continues to create records at the boundaries of the accepted norms of music.
Discography
Albums
- Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (1992)
- Selected Ambient Works Vol. 2 (1994)
- ...I Care Because You Do (1995)
- Richard D. James Album (1996)
- drukqs (2001)
EPs and Singles
- Digeridoo (1992)
- Xylem Tube EP (1992)
- On/On Remixes (1993)
- Ventolin/Ventolin EP (1995)
- Donkey Rhubarb (1995)
- Girl/Boy EP (1996)
- Come to Daddy (1997)
- Windowlicker (1999)
Promos and Compilations
- Words & Music (promo interview) (1994)
- Classics (1994)
- 51/13 Singles Collection (Australia-only release) (1996)
- Cock 10/54 Cymru Beats (drukqs promo) (2001)
- 26 Mixes For Cash (2003)
Aliases
Richard D. James has also released a large amount of material under various aliases:
AFX:
- Analogue Bubblebath (1991)
- Analogue Bubblebath 2 (1991)
- Analogue Bubblebath 3 (1993)
- Analogue Bubblebath 3.1 (1997)
- Analogue Bubblebath 4 (1994)
- Analogue Bubblebath 5 (1995 unreleased)
- Hangable Auto Bulb (1995, the title is an anagram for "Analogue Bubblebath")
- Hangable Auto Bulb 2 (1995)
- 2 Remixes By AFX (2001)
- "Smojphace" EP (2003)
- Mangle 11 (Circuit Bent V.I.P. Mix) (appears on Rephlexions compilation album - 2003)
Brad Strider:
Caustic Window:
GAK:
- GAK (1994)
Global goon: (confirmed with rephlex, see here: http://www.globalgoon.com/biography.php : )
- Goon (1995)
- Cradle of History (1998)
- Vatican Nitez (2001)
- Family Glue (2004)
Polygon Window:
- Surfing On Sine Waves (1993, re-released 2001)
- Quoth (1993)
Power Pill:
- Pac-Man (1992)
Q-Chastic:
- Q-Chastic EP (1992 unreleased)
In the Universal Indicator series:
- Universal Indicator: Red (1991)
- Universal Indicator: Green (1995)
- Universal Indicator: Yellow (????)
- Universal Indicator: Blue (????)
- Universal Indicator: Ultraviolet (????)