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Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), best known as Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born British musician, composer and DJ. He is known for his idiosyncratic work in
electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...
styles such as
techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...
, ambient, and
jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''ja� ...
. Journalists from publications including ''
Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was prin ...
'', ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'', '' Fact,'' '' Clash'' and ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' have called James one of the most influential or important artists in contemporary electronic music. Raised in
Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
, James began
DJing A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...
at
free parties Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, having the ability to do something, without having to obey anyone/anything * Freethought, a position that beliefs should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism * Emancipate, to procure ...
and clubs in the area in the late 1980s. His debut EP ''
Analogue Bubblebath ''Analogue Bubblebath'', also released as ''Aphex Twin ep'', is the first record by musician and producer Richard D. James. The EP was released under his alias The Aphex Twin through Mighty Force Records in September 1991. It was the inaugu ...
,'' released in 1991 on Mighty Force Records, brought James an early following; he began to perform across the UK and continental Europe. James co-founded the independent label
Rephlex Records Rephlex Records was a record label launched in 1991 in Cornwall by electronic musician Richard D. James (aka Aphex Twin) and Grant Wilson-Claridge. The label coined the term ''braindance'' to describe the output of Aphex Twin and fellow artists ...
the same year. His 1992 debut album ''
Selected Ambient Works 85–92 ''Selected Ambient Works 85–92'' is the debut studio album by Aphex Twin, the pseudonym of British electronic musician Richard D. James. It was released on 9 November 1992 through Apollo Records, a subsidiary of Belgian label R&S Records. Th ...
'', released by Belgian label
Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label= Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label ...
, garnered wider critical and popular acclaim. That year, he also appeared on the influential
Warp Records Warp Records (or simply Warp) is a British independent record label founded in Sheffield in 1989 by record store employees Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell and record producer Robert Gordon.Southern, Richard (2003) "Label of Love: WARP", X-RAY, ...
compilation ''
Artificial Intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...
''. James signed to Warp in 1993 and subsequently released charting albums such as '' ...I Care Because You Do'' (1995) and '' Richard D. James Album'' (1996), as well as
Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "cont ...
singles such as " Come to Daddy" (1997) and " Windowlicker" (1999); the latter two were accompanied by
music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
s directed by Chris Cunningham and brought James significantly wider international attention. After releasing '' Drukqs'' in 2001 and completing his contract with Warp, James spent several years releasing music on his own Rephlex label, including the 2005 '' Analord'' EP series under his AFX alias and a pair of 2007 releases as the Tuss. In 2014, he made available a previously unreleased 1994 LP as Caustic Window. He returned later that year with the Aphex Twin album '' Syro'' on Warp, winning the
Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Album The Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards — a ceremony that was established in 1958 — to recording artists for quality albums in the dance music and electronica genres. Honors in several cate ...
. He has since released charting EPs including ''
Cheetah The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...
'' (2016) and '' Collapse'' (2018).


Early life

James was born on 18 August 1971 in
Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...
, Ireland, to Welsh parents. He has said that he had a stillborn older brother also named Richard whose name he inherited. In a 1997 interview with ''
Alternative Press Alternative press may refer to: Individual publications * ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine Alternative journalism * Alternative media ** Alternative media (U.S. political left) ** Alternative media (U.S. political ri ...
'', James stated that this death occurred while his family had moved to Canada in 1968 for mining work; it led his mother to reuse the name because "she didn't want to accept the death of the child." James grew up in
Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
, where he lived in Lanner while attending Redruth School in Redruth. James said he liked growing up there, "cut off from the city and the rest of the world". He became interested in making sounds before writing music, and as a child he played with the strings inside his family piano and disassembled tape equipment. According to James, at age 11 he produced sound on a
Sinclair ZX81 The ZX81 is a home computer that was produced by Sinclair Research and manufactured in Dundee, Scotland, by Timex Corporation. It was launched in the United Kingdom in March 1981 as the successor to Sinclair's ZX80 and designed to be a low-co ...
, a home computer with no sound hardware: "I played around with
machine code In computer programming, machine code is any low-level programming language, consisting of machine language instructions, which are used to control a computer's central processing unit (CPU). Each instruction causes the CPU to perform a ve ...
and found some codes that retuned the TV signal so that it made this really weird noise when you turned the volume up." James states that he bought his first synthesizer at age 12 and after taking an interest in
electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
would modify analogue synthesisers "and junk" to make noise. James began making music aged 14, partially as a refuge from the "bloody awful"
Jesus and Mary Chain Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
albums played by his sister. Cornwall had few record shops, but a thriving nightlife in which acid house was popular. James claimed to have been making music with similarities to acid and techno for years before hearing the genres, leading him to purchase every record he could find in the styles. Simon Reynolds. ''Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture''. Soft Skull Press, 2012. In his late teens, James began DJing at clubs and raves, and included his own tracks in his sets. He studied at
Cornwall College The Cornwall College Group (TCCG; kw, Kolji Kernow) is a further education college situated on eight sites throughout Cornwall and Devon, England, United Kingdom, with its head office in St Austell. Campuses There are eight campuses withi ...
from 1988 to 1990 and graduated with a National Diploma in engineering. According to one lecturer, he often wore headphones during practical lessons and had a "kind of mystique about him ... I think some of the other students were a bit in awe of him."


Career


1988–1991: Cornish free parties, Rephlex Records and first releases

In the late 1980s, James became involved in the Cornish
free party A free party is a party "free" from the restrictions of the legal club scene, similar to the free festival movement. It typically involves a sound system playing electronic dance music from late at night until the time when the organisers d ...
scene, putting on raves at "secret coves along the coast and behind sand dunes". The first party he DJed at was in a barn in 1988. Parties were also known to take place at Gwennap Pit. They mainly attracted local youths and travellers, with entrance donations taken in
cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...
. The tight-knit community would also put on nights at small clubs in towns around the county, including St. Ives,
Porthtowan Porthtowan ( kw, Porth Tewyn, meaning ''cove of sand dunes'') is a small village in Cornwall, England which is a popular summer tourist destination. Porthtowan is on Cornwall's north Atlantic coast about west of St Agnes, north of Redruth, w ...
, and St Austell. James would later refer to this scene as the "best he's ever been involved in". James started a regular DJ slot in 1989, playing alternate weeks at the Bowgie nightclub in
Crantock Crantock ( kw, Lanngorrow) is a coastal civil parish and a village in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village is approximately two miles (3 km) southwest of Newquay. Crantock dates back to 460 AD when a group of Irish hermits founded an ...
. There he met
Tom Middleton Tom Middleton (born 18 August 1971) is a British electronic recording artist, sound designer, composer, music producer, remixer and DJ. His solo albums include '' Lifetracks'' (2007), ''Glasstracks'' (2011) and ''Sleep Better'' (2018). Middleto ...
and Grant Wilson-Claridge. Impressed by James' music, Middleton played a tape James had given him to a free party organiser in Exeter, who eventually convinced James to release a record on his fledgling record label Mighty Force Records. James was initially resistant, but while he was tripping on acid backstage at a DJ gig, Darby and Middleton convinced him to release the record. Darby later said: "I think if he had not done that trip that night there may have never been any Aphex Twin." James has given a similar account: "...they made me sign the contract when I was off my face. I was tripping and they're waving this money and a pen at me. It's a bit clichéd but it's the way they got me to sign."Alt URL
/ref> Similarly impressed by James' music, Wilson-Claridge suggested they use some money he inherited to create a
record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...
to release it. He and James founded
Rephlex Records Rephlex Records was a record label launched in 1991 in Cornwall by electronic musician Richard D. James (aka Aphex Twin) and Grant Wilson-Claridge. The label coined the term ''braindance'' to describe the output of Aphex Twin and fellow artists ...
in 1991. James' first release was the 12" EP ''
Analogue Bubblebath ''Analogue Bubblebath'', also released as ''Aphex Twin ep'', is the first record by musician and producer Richard D. James. The EP was released under his alias The Aphex Twin through Mighty Force Records in September 1991. It was the inaugu ...
'', released on Mighty Force in September 1991. The EP made the playlist of
Kiss FM Kiss FM, Kiss Radio or variants may refer to: Asia-Oceania * Various Kiss FM-branded stations in the Philippines ** 95.1 Kiss FM, Lucena, Quezon ** 102.3 Kiss FM, Tagbilaran, Bohol * Kiss92 FM, Singapore * KISS 969, Sri Lanka * Kiss Radio Taiwan ...
, an influential London radio station, giving it wide exposure in the dance music scene. In 2015, ''The Guardian'' called the release one of the key moments in the history of dance music. The record caught the ear of Renaat Vandepapeliere, the head of
R&S Records R&S Records is an independent record label founded in 1983 in Ghent, Belgium. R&S represents the initials of Renaat Vandepapeliere and Sabine Maes, the couple that created the label. R&S Records has had several subsidiaries, most notably Apollo R ...
, at that time one of the leading European rave labels. James visited him in Belgium, bringing with him a box full of cassettes of his music. From these cassettes they picked out tracks for two records, including James' first
album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...
''Selected Ambient Works 85-92''. In 1992, as word of his 12" records spread, James started performing at London techno events like formative club Knowledge, held at the SW1 nightclub in London's
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
, and the influential night Lost. In 1991 and 1992, James released three ''
Analogue Bubblebath ''Analogue Bubblebath'', also released as ''Aphex Twin ep'', is the first record by musician and producer Richard D. James. The EP was released under his alias The Aphex Twin through Mighty Force Records in September 1991. It was the inaugu ...
'' EPs, two EPs as Caustic Window, the ''
Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...
'' EP as part of the
Universal Indicator __FORCETOC__ A universal indicator is a pH indicator made of a solution of several compounds that exhibits several smooth colour changes over a wide range pH values to indicate the acidity or alkalinity of solutions. Although there are several ...
collective, along with the ''
Digeridoo The didgeridoo (; also spelt didjeridu, among other variants) is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgeridoo was developed by ...
'' and '' Xylem Tube'' EPs on the R&S label. Although he moved to London to take an
electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
course at Kingston Polytechnic, he admitted to
David Toop David Toop (born 5 May 1949) is an English musician, author, curator, and Emeritus Professor. From 2013 to 2021 he was professor of audio culture and improvisation at the London College of Communication. He was a regular contributor to British ...
that his electronics studies were slipping away as he pursued a career in electronic music.


1992–1994: ''Selected Ambient Works'' and early success

The first full-length Aphex Twin album, ''Selected Ambient Works 85–92'', comprised material dating back to James' teen years. It was released in November 1992 by Apollo Records, a subsidiary of Belgian label R&S. John Bush of
Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
would later describe the release as a watershed moment in ambient music. In a 2002 ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' record review Pat Blashill noted that Aphex Twin had "expanded way beyond the ambient music of Brian Eno by fusing lush soundscapes with oceanic beats and bass lines," demonstrating that "techno could be more than druggy dance music". Writing for ''Pitchfork'' in 2002, David Pecoraro called it "among the most interesting music ever created with a keyboard and a computer". ''
DJ Mag ''DJ Magazine'' (also known as ''DJ Mag'') is a British monthly magazine dedicated to electronic dance music and DJs. Founded in 1991, the magazine is adapted for distribution in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Lat ...
's'' Ben Murphy named it "a seminal record in the IDM, ambient and experimental canon". In 1992, James also released the EPs ''
Digeridoo The didgeridoo (; also spelt didjeridu, among other variants) is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgeridoo was developed by ...
'' and '' Xylem Tube EP'' as Aphex Twin, the '' Pac-Man'' EP (an album of remixes of '' Pac-Man'' music) as Power-Pill, two of his four ''Joyrex'' EPs ('' Joyrex J4 EP'' and '' Joyrex J5 EP'') as Caustic Window, and '' Analogue Bubblebath 3''. "Digeridoo" reached #55 on the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, and was later described by ''Rolling Stone'' as foreshadowing drum and bass. That year, he also appeared as the Dice Man on the
Warp Records Warp Records (or simply Warp) is a British independent record label founded in Sheffield in 1989 by record store employees Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell and record producer Robert Gordon.Southern, Richard (2003) "Label of Love: WARP", X-RAY, ...
compilation ''
Artificial Intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...
'' with the track "Polygon Window;" the compilation would help birth the genre later known as " intelligent dance music" and help launch the career of Aphex Twin alongside
Autechre Autechre () is an English electronic music duo consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both from Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1987, they are among the best known acts signed to UK electronic label Warp Records, through which all of Au ...
and
Richie Hawtin Richard "Richie" Hawtin (born June 4, 1970) is a British-Canadian electronic musician and DJ. He became involved with Detroit techno's second wave in the early 1990s, and has been a leading exponent of minimal techno since the mid-1990s. He beca ...
. In 1993, there followed his first releases on Warp: '' Surfing on Sine Waves'' (the second entry in the label's ''
Artificial Intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...
'' series) and the EP '' Quoth'', as Polygon Window, and later in the year the " On" EP, which entered the top 40 on the UK charts. Rephlex also put out an EP by James under the alias Bradley Strider, '' Bradley's Robot'', and two more Caustic Window records. James was part of several tours in 1993. He supported
the Orb The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential 19 ...
on several dates, and joined the "Midi Circus" tour at venues across the UK, co-headlining with Orbital, the Orb and
Drum Club Drum Club was a 1990s electronic music duo of former promoters and DJs Charlie Hall and Lol Hammond. They released several albums and singles on record labels such as Big Life and Butterfly Records. Their 1993 single "Sound System" reached #63 ...
. Later in the year, he was part of the NASA "See the Light" tour with Orbital, Moby, and Vapourspace at venues across the United States. Warp released the second Aphex Twin album, '' Selected Ambient Works Volume II'', in 1994, which explored a more ambient sound, inspired by
lucid dreams A lucid dream is a type of dream in which the dreamer becomes aware that they are dreaming while dreaming. During a lucid dream, the dreamer may gain some amount of control over the dream characters, narrative, or environment; however, this is n ...
and James' experience of synaesthesia. It reached number 11 in the UK charts, but was not particularly well received critically; critic Simon Reynolds later noted that "many in the Aphex cult were thrown for a loop" and that "Aphex aficionados remain divided". Other 1994 releases were a fourth ''Analogue Bubblebath,'' '' GAK'' (derived from early demos sent to Warp), and '' Classics'', a compilation album.


1995–2000: ''...I Care Because You Do'', ''Richard D. James Album'' and ''Come to Daddy''

For his charting 1995 album '' ...I Care Because You Do,'' composed between 1990 and 1994 in a range of styles, James used an image of his face for the cover, which became a motif on his later releases. He commissioned Western classical-music composer Philip Glass to create an orchestral version of the ''...I Care Because You Do'' track "Icct Hedral", which appeared on the '' Donkey Rhubarb'' EP. In the same year, James released his '' Hangable Auto Bulb'' EP under the name AFX, which spearheaded the short-lived
drill 'n' bass Drill 'n' bass is a subgenre of drum and bass which developed in the mid-1990s as IDM artists began experimenting with elements of breakbeat, jungle, and drum and bass music. Artists utilized powerful audio software programs and deployed frenzie ...
style. '' Richard D. James Album'', James' fourth studio album as Aphex Twin, was released on Warp in 1996. It features software synthesisers and unconventional rhythms. Will Hermes of '' Spin'' discussed James' use of
jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''ja� ...
elements, writing that "by applying junglist strategies to his own obsessive sound creation - his gorgeous weirdo palette of modernist strings, whirring crib toys, and agitated machines - he remakes drum'n'bass in his own image". In a ''Pitchfork'' list of the best albums of the 1990s, Eric Carr wrote that ''Richard D. James Album'' demonstrated "aggressive combinations of disparate electronic forms", with an "almost-brutal contrast between its elements" that has ensured its relevance. In 2003, ''NME'' named it the 55th greatest album of all time, and in 2009 ''Pitchfork'' named it the 40th greatest album of the 1990s. James garnered attention the following year after the release of his charting '' Come to Daddy'' EP. The
title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album or film in which it appears. In the Korean music industry, the term is used to describe a promoted song on an album, akin to a single, regardless of the song's title. Title track may a ...
was conceived as a death metal parody. Accompanied with a successful music video directed by Chris Cunningham, James became disenchanted by its success: "This little idea that I had, which was a joke, turned into something huge. It wasn't right at all." It was followed by " Windowlicker", a charting single promoted with another Cunningham music video, nominated for the
Brit Award The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
for Best British Video in 2000.


2001–2009: ''Drukqs'', ''Analord'' and the Tuss

In 2001 Aphex Twin released '' Drukqs'', an experimental double album featuring abrasive, meticulous programming and computer-controlled piano influenced by Erik Satie and John Cage. It features the piano composition "
Avril 14th "Avril 14th" is a piano instrumental by the electronic musician Richard D. James, under his pseudonym Aphex Twin, released on his 2001 album '' Drukqs''. It was recorded using a Disklavier, a computer-controlled piano. Composition Whereas mos ...
", which remains perhaps James's best known work. The album polarised reviewers. James told interviewers he had accidentally left an MP3 player with new tracks on a plane, and had rushed the album release to preempt an
internet leak An internet leak is the unauthorized release of information over the internet. Various types of information and data can be, and have been, "leaked" to the Internet, the most common being personal information, computer software and source code, a ...
. In 2001, James also released a short EP, '' 2 Remixes By AFX'', with remixes of songs by 808 State and
DJ Pierre Nathaniel Pierre Jones, better known by his stage name DJ Pierre, is an American DJ and performer of house music based in Chicago. He helped to develop the house music subgenre of acid house, as member of Phuture, whose 1987 EP '' Acid Tracks'' ...
. It also had an untitled third track, consisting of a SSTV image with high-pitched sounds which can be decoded to a viewable image with appropriate software. In 2002, James was nominated for the
Brit Award The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
for Best British Male. In 2003, Warp released ''
26 Mixes for Cash ''26 Mixes for Cash'' is a compilation album of remixes produced by Richard D. James (under his recording alias Aphex Twin), mainly for other artists between 1990 and 2003. It was released on 24 March 2003 by Warp Records. Background Despite bec ...
'', collecting many of James's remixes for other artists. In 2005, James released a series of vinyl EPs under the AFX name, '' Analord'', created entirely with analogue equipment. These were followed in 2006 by a compilation album of ''Analord'' tracks, '' Chosen Lords.'' In 2007, James released two records on Rephlex, '' Confederation Trough'' and ''
Rushup Edge Rushup Edge is a ridge in the Derbyshire Peak District of England. The ridge's highest point is Lord's Seat at , while Mam Tor lies beyond its eastern end, at the western end of the Great Ridge. Lord's Seat is the site of a round barrow. G ...
'', under the alias the Tuss, Cornish slang for "erection". Media sources speculated about James's involvement, but his identity was not confirmed until 2014. In 2009 Rephlex Records released digital versions (in the FLAC file format) of the 11 Analord EPs. Each of them (except for Analord 10) had bonus tracks, totalling 81 minutes of new music between them all. Richard later disbanded Rephlex Records, removing the website entirely. In 2010, James said he had completed six new albums, including a new version of the unreleased '' Melodies from Mars''. In September 2011, he performed a live tribute to the Polish composer
Krzysztof Penderecki Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (; 23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was a Polish composer and conductor. His best known works include ''Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', Symphony No. 3, his '' St Luke Passion'', '' Polish Requiem'', ' ...
; he performed his remix of Penderecki's " Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima" and a version of " Polymorphia". The following month, he performed at the Paris
Pitchfork Music Festival The Pitchfork Music Festival is an annual summer music festival organized by ''Pitchfork Media'' and held in Union Park in Chicago, Illinois. Starting in 2011, the festival announced a branch staged in Paris at Grande halle de la Villette. The fe ...
.


2014–present: ''Caustic Window'', ''Syro'', and return as Aphex Twin

In 2014, a
test pressing A white label record is a vinyl record with white labels attached. There are several variations each with a different purpose. Variations include test pressings, white label promos, and plain white labels. Test pressings Test pressings, usu ...
of a 1994 album recorded under James's pseudonym Caustic Window appeared for sale on
Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...
. The album was once intended for sale on James's label Rephlex, but went unreleased. With the consent of James and Rephlex, fans organised a Kickstarter campaign to purchase the record and distribute copies. ''Syro'', the first album released under the Aphex Twin name since ''Drukqs'' in 2001, was released by Warp on 23 September 2014. It was marketed by a teaser campaign including graffiti, a blimp flown over London, and an announcement made via a .onion address accessible through the
darknet A dark net or darknet is an overlay network within the Internet that can only be accessed with specific software, configurations, or authorization, and often uses a unique customized communication protocol. Two typical darknet types are social ne ...
browser Tor. In November 2014, James released a set of 21 tracks, ''Modular Trax'', on the audio platform
SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming s ...
. The tracks were later removed. Over several months in 2015, James anonymously uploaded 230 demo tracks, some dating to the 1980s, to SoundCloud. He said he had released the demos to relieve his family of the pressure to release his archives after he dies. He has continued to occasionally release tracks on the account. On 23 January 2015, James released '' Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2'', created with robotic instruments including the
Disklavier Disklavier is a brand of reproducing pianos manufactured by Yamaha Corporation. The first Disklavier was introduced in the United States in 1987. The typical Disklavier is a real acoustic piano outfitted with electronic sensors for recording and ...
, a computer-controlled
player piano A player piano (also known as a pianola) is a self-playing piano containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism, that operates the piano action via programmed music recorded on perforated paper or metallic rolls, with more modern im ...
. On 8 July 2016, he released the ''
Cheetah The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...
'' EP, backed by a music video for "CIRKLON3 �олхозная mix, the first official music video for an Aphex Twin track in 17 years. On 17 December, James performed in
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...
, Texas at the Day for Night festival, his first American appearance in eight years. An untitled 12-inch vinyl was sold exclusively at the festival, containing two 10-minute tracks. On 3 June 2017, James performed at the Field Day festival and released a limited edition EP, ''
London 03.06.17 ''London 03.06.17'' (alternatively titled ''London 03.06.17 ield day') is an extended play by English electronic musician Richard D. James, released under the pseudonym AFX on 3 June 2017 on Warp Warp, warped or warping may refer ...
''. On 19 June 2017, a Michigan record store sold an exclusive Aphex Twin record comprising two tracks released on SoundCloud in 2015. On 27 July, Aphex Twin opened an online store with expanded versions of previous albums and new tracks. Aphex Twin released an EP, '' Collapse'', on 14 September 2018. The EP was announced on 5 August in a garbled press release written in broken English and visually distorted with the same Aphex Twin 3D graphic found in London, Turin and Hollywood. A promotional video for the ''Collapse'' EP was to be broadcast on
Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...
, but was cancelled after failing the Harding test. It was made available online instead, and the video for "T69 Collapse" was uploaded to YouTube.


Musical style and influences

Writing for
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
John Bush describes James as a "pioneer of
experimental techno An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...
" who has "constantly pushed the limits of what can be accomplished with
electronic equipment The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
, resulting in forward-thinking and emotionally engaging work that ranges from sublime, pastoral ambience to manic head-rush acid techno". In a 1996 review, '' The Independent's'' Angela Lewis called him a "maverick of 1990s electronica hoexemplifies the finest traditions of British pop mischief". According to ''Fact'' magazine, James has "carved out his own space in the history of electronic music" across several genres, with his unique melodies being "the reason he's talked about as not just an electronic innovator but as the sphere's definitive artist". In 2014 review in the ''
Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...
'', Ludovic Hunter-Tilney described James as a "musical maverick" noted for "yoking different elements together in unpredictable formulations" and blending "hard beats and uncanny tones; difficult abstraction and populist melodies". Music publications have described James variously as "''the Mozart of''" both techno and ambient. Writing in ''The Guardian'' in 2001, Paul Lester identified James's lineage as "electronic greats" including
Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th and early 21st-century ...
, John Cage, Kraftwerk, Brian Eno, and Derrick May. James had no formal music training and is largely self-taught. Prior to becoming a producer, James spent his teens modifying analogue synthesisers and became "addicted to making noises," only later becoming "interested in listening to other people's stuff". James states that he spent his initial years "ignorant of music, apart from acid and techno, where I bought just about everything". He claimed to have been independently making music similar to acid and techno before encountering the styles, and subsequently became enthusiastic about them. He has cited 808 State's 1988 debut album '' Newbuild'' as a major early inspiration. In a 1993 interview, James identified voluntary sleep deprivation as an influence on his productions at that time. He also claimed to have recorded over one thousand unreleased tracks. He later said he experienced synaesthesia and utilised
lucid dreaming A lucid dream is a type of dream in which the dreamer becomes aware that they are dreaming while dreaming. During a lucid dream, the dreamer may gain some amount of control over the dream characters, narrative, or environment; however, this is n ...
as a means of developing compositional ideas. Some of James's early work was compared to Brian Eno's ambient releases, but James claimed not to have heard Eno before he began recording. In a 1993 interview, Simon Reynolds noted that James had only recently explored avant-classical and left-field rock artists including Cage, Stockhausen, Eno, Steve Reich,
Terry Riley Terrence Mitchell "Terry" Riley (born June 24, 1935) is an American composer and performing musician best known as a pioneer of the minimalist school of composition. Influenced by jazz and Indian classical music, his music became notable for ...
, and Can, and had spent a couple of years "catching up" on other genres outside techno and house. In 1997, James described himself as a fan of "old tape and avant-garde music" such as Stockhausen's " Song for the Youth" and the work of American composer Tod Dockstader. He also named works by Erik Satie,
Drexciya Drexciya was an American electronic music duo from Detroit, Michigan, consisting of James Stinson (1969–2002) and Gerald Donald. Career The majority of Drexciya's releases were in the style of dance-floor oriented electro (music), electro, p ...
,
Ween Ween is an American rock band from New Hope, Pennsylvania, formed in 1984 by Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo, better known by their respective stage names, Gene and Dean Ween. Generally categorized as an alternative rock band, the band a ...
, Serge Gainsbourg, and
Les Baxter Leslie Thompson "Les" Baxter (March 14, 1922 – January 15, 1996) was a best-selling American musician and composer. After working as an arranger and composer for swing bands, he developed his own style of easy listening music, known as exotica a ...
among his favorite albums. When James began programming faster,
jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''ja� ...
-inspired
breakbeats Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that tends to use drum breaks sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as hip hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat hardcore, and UK ...
in the mid-1990s, he named friends and fellow musicians
Luke Vibert Luke Vibert (born 26 January 1973) is a British electronic musician and producer, also known for his work under several aliases such as Plug and Wagon Christ. Raised in Cornwall, Vibert began releasing projects in the 1990s across varied genre ...
and Tom Jenkinson as influences. In a 2014 interview, James said of jungle that "I still think it's the ultimate genre, really, because the people making it weren't musicians," and noted that "for years, I could listen to jungle and nick things from them, but they didn't know I existed." Along with Vibert and Jenkinson, James helped to spearhead the short-lived
drill 'n' bass Drill 'n' bass is a subgenre of drum and bass which developed in the mid-1990s as IDM artists began experimenting with elements of breakbeat, jungle, and drum and bass music. Artists utilized powerful audio software programs and deployed frenzie ...
style, which exaggerated elements of drum and bass, on his '' Hangable Auto Bulb'' EP (1995). Acknowledging another influence, James's Rephlex label released '' Music from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop'', a compilation of music recorded by the pioneers of the
BBC Radiophonic Workshop The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was one of the sound effects units of the BBC, created in 1958 to produce incidental sounds and new music for radio and, later, television. The unit is known for its experimental and pioneering work in electroni ...
. In 2019, he described Kraftwerk as a major influence. Although he said he disliked "rock and roll", he appreciates
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
(as a source of "great breakbeats"), and Pink Floyd (for their psychedelic music). Asked in 2011 about an artist he would like to work with, James named
Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single " Wuthering Heights", becoming the first female ...
. Rephlex Records, which James co-owned with Grant Wilson-Claridge, coined the word "braindance" to describe Aphex Twin's music. According to the label: "Braindance is the genre that encompasses the best elements of all genres, e.g. traditional, classical, electronic music, popular, modern, industrial, ambient, hip-hop, electro, house, techno, breakbeat, hardcore,
ragga Raggamuffin music, usually abbreviated as ragga, is a subgenre of dancehall and reggae music. The instrumentals primarily consist of electronic music. Similar to hip hop, sampling often serves a prominent role in raggamuffin music. Wayne Smi ...
,
garage A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include: *Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicle ...
, drum and bass, etc." According to ''Pitchfork's'' Paul Cooper braindance "escaped the mind/body binary opposition of electronic music" while retaining its club roots. James' music has often been characterised as an example of the " intelligent dance music" that began in the 1990s. IDM is mentioned on the home page of the Intelligent Dance Music (IDM) mailing list at Hyperreal.org about the music of Aphex Twin and the Artificial Intelligence Series released by
Warp Records Warp Records (or simply Warp) is a British independent record label founded in Sheffield in 1989 by record store employees Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell and record producer Robert Gordon.Southern, Richard (2003) "Label of Love: WARP", X-RAY, ...
. The series features James' recordings as Polygon Window and early productions from artists including
Autechre Autechre () is an English electronic music duo consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both from Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1987, they are among the best known acts signed to UK electronic label Warp Records, through which all of Au ...
, Black Dog,
Richie Hawtin Richard "Richie" Hawtin (born June 4, 1970) is a British-Canadian electronic musician and DJ. He became involved with Detroit techno's second wave in the early 1990s, and has been a leading exponent of minimal techno since the mid-1990s. He beca ...
's FUSE project and Speedy J. The term spread to the United States and internet
message boards An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least temporar ...
. James responded to the IDM term in a 1997 interview:


Image and pseudonyms

James's face, grinning or distorted, is a theme of his album covers, music videos and songs. James said it began as a response to techno producers who concealed their identities: The cover of '' ...I Care Because You Do'' features a self-portrait painted by James, and that of '' Richard D. James Album'' has a close-up photograph. His face is superimposed on the bodies of other people in the music videos for " Come to Daddy" and " Windowlicker". Near the end of the second track of the "Windowlicker" single (known as "Equation"), a photo of James's face is a steganogram which is revealed as a
spectrogram A spectrogram is a visual representation of the spectrum of frequencies of a signal as it varies with time. When applied to an audio signal, spectrograms are sometimes called sonographs, voiceprints, or voicegrams. When the data are represen ...
. Another image of James and collaborator Tom Jenkinson is embedded (in SSTV format) with text in the third track of ''2 Remixes by AFX'', "Bonus High Frequency Sounds". James has recorded as AFX, Blue Calx, Bradley Strider, the Universal Indicator, Caustic Window, Smojphace, GAK, PBoD (Phonic Boy on Dope), Polygon Window, Power-Pill, Q-Chastic, Dice Man, the Tuss, Soit-P.P and user18081971. In a 1997 interview, he said: "There's really no big theory. It's just things that I feel right in doing at the time and I really don't know why. I select songs for certain
ames Ames may refer to: Places United States * Ames, Arkansas, a place in Arkansas * Ames, Colorado * Ames, Illinois * Ames, Indiana * Ames, Iowa, the most populous city bearing this name * Ames, Kansas * Ames, Nebraska * Ames, New York * Ames, Ok ...
and I just do it. I don't know what it means." In 2001, he commented on the speculation connected to many anonymous electronic artists: "A lot of people think everything electronic is mine. I get credited for so many things, it's incredible. I'm practically everyone, I reckon—everyone and nobody."


Influence and legacy

Writing in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' in 2001, journalist
Paul Lester Paul Lester is a British music journalist, author and broadcaster from Elstree, North London. Career He began his career as a freelance journalist, for ''Melody Maker'' in the early 1990s, as well as ''City Limits'', ''20/20'', '' Sky Magazin ...
described James as "the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music". ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' described James as a "hugely influential electronic musician whose ambient washes of sound and freakishly twisted beats have gone on to inform artists of all genres."
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
's John Bush wrote that "unlike most artists who emerged from the '90s techno scene, James established himself as a genuine personality, known for his cheeky grin and nightmare-inducing music videos as much as his groundbreaking albums and EPs," which helped to "expand his audience from ravers and critics to rock fans, with numerous non-electronic musicians citing him as an inspiration". In 2001,
Thomas Bangalter Thomas Bangalter (; born 3 January 1975) is a French musician, record producer, singer, songwriter, DJ and composer. Son of French music composer and artist Daniel Vangarde. He is best known as one half of the former French house music duo Daft ...
of Daft Punk cited Aphex Twin (particularly " Windowlicker") as an influence on their 2001 album ''
Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discover ...
''. Bangalter said he liked it because "It wasn't a big club beat, but it also wasn't a laid back, quiet one". Artists including Mike Edwards of
Jesus Jones Jesus Jones are a British alternative rock band from Bradford-on-Avon in Wiltshire, formed in late 1988, who continue to record and perform, as of 2021. Their track " Right Here, Right Now" was an international hit, and was subsequently global ...
, Steve Reich,
Wes Borland Wesley Louden Borland (born February 7, 1975) is an American rock musician. He is best known as the current guitarist and backing vocalist of the rap metal band Limp Bizkit, the lead vocalist and guitarist of the alternative and industrial rock ...
of Limp Bizkit,
Skrillex Sonny John Moore (born January 15, 1988), known professionally as Skrillex, is an American DJ and music producer. Growing up in Northeast Los Angeles and Northern California, he joined the post-hardcore band From First to Last as the lead si ...
,
Mike Shinoda Michael Kenji Shinoda (; ja, 篠田 賢治, Shinoda Kenji; born February 11, 1977) is an American musician, singer, rapper, songwriter and record producer. He co-founded the rock band Linkin Park in 1996 and was the band's collaborative vocal ...
of Linkin Park,
Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates elements of alternative rock, funk ...
guitarist
John Frusciante John Anthony Frusciante (; born March 5, 1970) is an American musician, best known as the guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers across three stints since 1988. He has released 11 solo albums and 7 EPs, ranging in style from acoustic guitar to e ...
, Kevin Parker of
Tame Impala Tame Impala is the psychedelic music project of Australian multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker. In the recording studio, Parker writes, records, performs, and produces all of the project's music. As a touring act, Tame Impala consists of Parke ...
, and
Nick Zammuto Nick may refer to: * Nick (given name) * A Glossary of cricket terms#nick, cricket term for a slight deviation of the ball off the edge of the bat * British slang for being arrested * British slang for a police station * British slang for stealin ...
of the Books have expressed admiration for Aphex Twin or cited him as an influence. James influenced Radiohead's transition to electronic music for their 2000 album ''
Kid A ''Kid A'' is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 2 October 2000 by Parlophone. It was recorded with their producer, Nigel Godrich, in Paris, Copenhagen, Gloucestershire and their hometown of Oxford. After th ...
''. In 2013, Radiohead singer
Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been descri ...
named Aphex Twin as his biggest influence, saying: "He burns a heavy shadow ... Aphex opened up another world that didn't involve my fucking electric guitar ... I hated the
Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the ...
thing and what was happening in America, but Aphex was totally beautiful, and he's kind of my age too." In 2002, asked if he would tour with Radiohead, James said "I wouldn't play with them since I don't like them". However, James said in 2011 that his dislike of Radiohead had been exaggerated by the press and that he had contacted Yorke by e-mail to explain this. In 2005,
Alarm Will Sound Alarm Will Sound is a 20-member chamber orchestra that focuses on recordings and performances of contemporary classical music. Its performances have been described as "equal parts exuberance, nonchalance, and virtuosity" by the ''Financial Times' ...
released '' Acoustica: Alarm Will Sound Performs Aphex Twin'', featuring acoustic arrangements of James's electronic tracks. The
London Sinfonietta The London Sinfonietta is an English contemporary chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble has headquarters at Kings Place and is Resident Orchestra at the Southbank Centre. Since its inaugural concert in 1968—givi ...
performed arrangements of Aphex Twin songs in 2006. Animator David Firth sampled Aphex Twin in his
work Work may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community ** Manual labour, physical work done by humans ** House work, housework, or homemaking ** Working animal, an animal t ...
. In 2012, '' Fact'' named ''Selected Ambient Works 85–92'' the best album of the 1990s.


Personal life

James has made "wild and essentially unverifiable claims" about his personal life in interviews, including the claim that he inherited the name of a dead older brother. He has 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." In a 1993 interview, he claimed to only sleep two to three hours per night. In the mid-1990s, James bought a disused bank in the
Elephant & Castle The Elephant and Castle is an area around a major road junction in London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark. The name also informally refers to much of Walworth and Newington, due to the proximity of the London Underground stati ...
area of London, where he claimed to live in a converted
bank vault A bank vault is a secure space where money, valuables, records, and documents are stored. It is intended to protect their contents from theft, unauthorized use, fire, natural disasters, and other threats, much like a safe. Unlike safes, vaults a ...
. He falsely claimed in a 2001 interview to have bought the steel structure in the centre of the Elephant Square roundabout, though this is in fact the Michael Faraday Memorial which houses an electricity substation for the
London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...
. In the 1990s, James bought a 1950s armoured car, complete with a working
machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...
, which he claimed to drive around Cornwall in lieu of a car. In a 2010 interview with '' Fact'', James said he is living in Scotland after relocating from London. , he lives in Scotland with his two sons from his first marriage and his second wife, Anastasia, a Russian art student. His sister Julie James is a
Welsh Labour Welsh Labour ( cy, Llafur Cymru) is the branch of the United Kingdom Labour Party in Wales and the largest party in modern Welsh politics. Welsh Labour and its forebears won a plurality of the Welsh vote at every UK general election since 192 ...
politician who was appointed the Welsh
Minister for Climate Change A list of ministers of climate change or officials in charge of cabinet positions with portfolios dealing primarily with climate change and issues related to mitigation of global warming. A Australia Austria B Belgium C Canada D Denm ...
in 2021.


Awards

{, class=wikitable , - ! Year !! Awards !! Category !! Work !! Result , - , rowspan="4", 1998 , MTV Video Music Awards , Best Special Effects , rowspan="4", " Come to Daddy" , , - , rowspan=2,
D&AD Awards Design and Art Direction (D&AD), formerly known as British Design and Art Direction, is a British educational organisation that was created in 1962 to promote excellence in design and advertising. Its main offices are in Spitalfields in London. I ...
, Pop Promo Video with a budget over £40,000 , , style="background:#FFBF00", Yellow Pencil , - , Direction , style="background:#FFBF00", Yellow Pencil , - , rowspan="2",
MTV Europe Music Awards The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an a ...
, rowspan=2", Best Video , , - , rowspan="3", 1999 , " Windowlicker" , , - , Prix Ars Electronica , Digital Music , rowspan=2, Himself , , - , Online Music Awards , Best Electronic Fansite , , - , rowspan="5", 2000 ,
Brit Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
, Best British Video , rowspan="4", " Windowlicker" , , - , rowspan=2,
D&AD Awards Design and Art Direction (D&AD), formerly known as British Design and Art Direction, is a British educational organisation that was created in 1962 to promote excellence in design and advertising. Its main offices are in Spitalfields in London. I ...
, Direction , style="background:#FFBF00", Yellow Pencil , - , Editing , style="background:#FFBF00", Yellow Pencil , - , rowspan="3",
NME Awards The ''NME'' Awards is an annual music awards show in the United Kingdom, founded by the music magazine '' NME'' (''New Musical Express''). The first awards show was held in 1953 as the ''NME'' Poll Winners Concerts, shortly after the founding ...
, Single of the Year , , - , rowspan=2, Best Dance Act , rowspan="3", Himself , , - , rowspan="3", 2002 , , - ,
Brit Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
, British Male Solo Artist , , - ,
Shortlist Music Prize The Shortlist Music Prize, stylized as (shôrt–lĭst), was an annual music award for the best album released in the United States that had sold fewer than 500,000 copies at the time of nomination. First given as a cash prize in 2001 under ...
, Album of the Year , '' Drukqs'' , , - , 2005 , Antville Music Video Awards , Best Video , " Rubber Johnny" , , - , rowspan=3, 2014 , rowspan=3, Rober Awards Music Poll , Best Male Artist , rowspan=3, Himself , , - , Comeback of the Year , , - , Best Electronica , , - , rowspan="7", 2015 , Grammy Awards , Best Dance/Electronica Album , rowspan="6", '' Syro'' , , - ,
International Dance Music Awards The International Dance Music Awards or IDMAs is an annual awards ceremony held in Miami Beach, Florida, United States as a major part of the Winter Music Conference. The awards have been held every year since the conference's creation in 1985 e ...
, Best Full Length Studio Recording , , - , IMPALA Awards , Album of the Year , , - ,
Mercury Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the B ...
, rowspan="2", Album of the Year , , - , rowspan="3", A2IM Libera Awards , , - , Creative Packaging Award , , - , Marketing Genius , ''Syro'' album release campaign , , - , 2016 ,
Brit Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
, British Male Solo Artist , Himself , , - , rowspan="5", 2018 , Rober Awards Music Poll , Best EP , rowspan=2, '' Collapse'' , , - ,
Best Art Vinyl Best Art Vinyl is an annual award that began in 2005. It celebrates artists and designers of vinyl record cover art. The nomination process begins in November and the winners are announced in January, and are exhibited at venues across the United K ...
, Best Art Vinyl , , - , rowspan="3", UK Video Music Awards , Best Dance Video , rowspan="4", "T69 Collapse" , , - , Best Visual Effects in a Video , , - , Best Animation in a Video , , - , rowspan=4, 2019 , Classic Pop Reader Awards , Video of the Year , , - ,
Brit Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
, British Male Solo Artist , Himself , , - , rowspan=2, A2IM Libera Awards , Marketing Genius , '' Collapse'' , , - , Video of the Year , "T69 Collapse" ,


Discography

Studio albums as Aphex Twin * ''
Selected Ambient Works 85–92 ''Selected Ambient Works 85–92'' is the debut studio album by Aphex Twin, the pseudonym of British electronic musician Richard D. James. It was released on 9 November 1992 through Apollo Records, a subsidiary of Belgian label R&S Records. Th ...
'' (1992) * '' Selected Ambient Works Volume II'' (1994) * '' ...I Care Because You Do'' (1995) * '' Richard D. James Album'' (1996) * '' Drukqs'' (2001) * '' Syro'' (2014)


See also

*
List of ambient music artists This is a list of ambient music artists. This includes artists who have either been very important to the genre or have had a considerable amount of exposure (such as those who have been on a major label). This list does not include little-known ...


Notes


References


External links


Aphex Twin
at
Warp Records Warp Records (or simply Warp) is a British independent record label founded in Sheffield in 1989 by record store employees Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell and record producer Robert Gordon.Southern, Richard (2003) "Label of Love: WARP", X-RAY, ...
* * *
SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming s ...
page
Aphex Twin
{{Authority control 1971 births Living people Ambient musicians Braindance musicians British electronic musicians British techno musicians Intelligent dance musicians British experimental musicians English record producers People from Lanner, Cornwall Rhythm King artists Sire Records artists Warp (record label) artists Tracker musicians TVT Records artists People educated at Cornwall College Grammy Award winners for dance and electronic music Alumni of Kingston University Irish emigrants to the United Kingdom Musicians from Cornwall