What's left to be said about Richard James? One of the most spectacular and critically lauded producers in the world, a divisive musician and Delphic artist, nearing his thirtieth year in 'the biz' and his sound continues to innovate, experiment and enthrall. The David Bowie of electronic music - for some there is simply no parallel and every last artifact is to be feverishly collected and treasured.

A new EP that somehow extended and builds on his idiosyncratic and highly flamboyant style, the first duo of tracks, "T69 Collapse" and "1st 44" are at once playful and majestic. The first exploring the typically smiley-Cornish-acid-tekno genre with aplomb while the second implores deep subs and his galloping drum sequences to create a wobbly and cerebral track that plunges effortlessly into modern 'half-time' business, merging the best bits of techno, glitch, footwork and IDM in a truly Aphex flavoured broth.

Flip the disc and "MT1 T29r2" explores the darker and deranged sides of his persona - utilizing the Kork's MS-20 filter to maximum devastation while more peppery, skitting drum flurries explode out of the recesses of the mix. Finally, "Abundance10edit[2 R8's, FZ20m & A 909]" (phew!) sees James showing off with his world beating drum programming. Can anyone sequence beats better than AFX? No way hosay - as this final tracks sends us tumbling, flailing and spiraling into the speaker stacks like no-one else can. Still the king of electronic music? Youbetcha! Another essential addition from this acid overlord. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Every time there's a new Aphex release I'm convinced I've grown out of him and won't like it. Time and time again I've proved wrong as this producer par excellence continues to be ten steps ahead of the pack.

TRACK LISTING

Vinyl Tracklist:
A1. T69 Collapse
A2. 1st 44
B1. MT1 T29r2
B2. Abundance10edit[2 R8's, FZ20m & A 909]

CD Tracklist:
01. T69 Collapse
02. 1st 44
03. MT1 T29r2
04. Abundance10edit[2 R8's, FZ20m & A 909]
05. Pthex

Originally released in 1992 on R&S Records offshoot Apollo, "Selected Ambient Works 85-92" marks the first full length studio album by Richard D. James under his Aphex Twin name. Considered a landmark release in ambient techno, it's easy to see why it has endured. Feathery keys, dreamy production and trickling rhythms are drenched over distant samples from sources as diverse as Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory ("We Are The Music Makers"), Robocop ("Green Calx") and ethereal female vocals on opener "Xtal". Arguably some the most beautifully realised and majestic sounds of the revered musician's career.  The album provided the blueprint for every electronica, downbeat and chill-out record for years after. This is just one of those classic electronica releases that every home should have; melodic, semi-ambient and musical, this is AFX at his most accessible. Essential.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Xtal
A2. Tha
A3. Pulsewidth
B1. Ageispolis
B2. I
B3. Green Calx
B4. Heliosphan
C1. We Are The Music Makers
C2. Schottkey 7th Path
C3. Ptolemy
D1. Hedphelym
D2. Delphium
D3. Actium

After announcing his return with a suitably outlandish PR blitzkreig involving a cryptic Deep Web post, a giant blimp over London and a clandestine listening event at Warp HQ, Richard David James returns with his first Aphex Twin album since 2001's "Drukqs". As is befitting of Cornwall's most willfully perverse musical genius, though expectations are sky high, no one has any idea what to expect from "Syro". Blissful ambience? Demented drum & bass? Uncompromising acid? Glitch-fuelled IDM? Funky mollusc? Well, this LP is a complex blend of all those things (except funky mollusc) held in perfect balance by the outrageous musicality and production wizardry of Aphex Twin. Album opener "Minipops 67" offers us a gentle reacquaintance as Aphex balances beefy breakbeats with glistening melodies, sensual sine waves and the skewed and vocodered vocals which return throughout the LP. "XMAS_EVET10" and "Produk 29" follow on in a similar vein, balancing melodic fragility with the slouching funk percussion and wriggling basslines. This tranquility doesn't last for long though, with James ratcheting up the tempo and the pressure through "4 Bit 9d Api+e+6", "CIRCLONT6A" and "Syro U473t8+e" delivering the kind of skitterish and acidic machine funk he unleashed on the best of the 'Analord' series. Lurking mischievously amongst thatt mid-album bunch is the deranged breaks of "180db_", a straight up floor mover indebted to "Funky Drummer" and "Energy Flash" equally. After a brief moment of calm via the restrained beauty of "Fz Pseudotimestretch+e+3" we get thrown right back in the deep end as Aphex drops more batshit breaks on "CIRCLONT14" before indulging in some brain scrambling junglism on "PAPAT4" and "S950tx16wasr10". So far so diverse, but what about the bliss and beauty of "SAW" I hear you ask? Well, RDJ saves the best for last, closing the LP out in sublime fashion with soothing piano of the Eno-meets-Satie "Asiatsana".

All things considered Aphex has delivered an album overflowing with an abundance of melody, tone and texture which combines the finest moments of "SAW", "Surfing On Sine Waves", "Analords" and "I Care Because You Do". It's been a long time, but the master is back.

TRACK LISTING

1. Minipops 67 [120.2][source Field Mix]
2. XMAS_EVET10 [120][thanaton3 Mix]
3. Produk 29 [101]
4. 4 Bit 9d Api+e+6 [126.26]
5. 180db_ [130]
6. CIRCLONT6A [141.98][syrobonkus Mix]
7. Fz Pseudotimestretch+e+3 [138.85]
8. CIRCLONT14 [152.97][shrymoming Mix]
9. Syro U473t8+e [141.98][piezoluminescence Mix]
10. PAPAT4 [155][pineal Mix]
11. S950tx16wasr10 [163.97][earth Portal Mix]
12. Aisatsana [102]

As ever Aphex's music is pulling in different directions on this 1996 CD, with tracks underpinned with glitchy chopped up beats and overlaid with lush, emotional synth work. Includes the single "Girl / Boy Song".

With recordings made between 1990 and 1995, "I Care Because You Do" brings together another fine collection of Cornish electronic experiments, including the single "Ventolin", and features a scary Richard D James distorted 'devil face' sleeve.

TRACK LISTING

Acrid Avid Jam Shred
The Waxen Pith
Wax The Nip
Icct Hedral (Edit)
Ventolin (Video Version)
Come On You Slags!
Start As You Mean To Go On
Wet Tip Hen Ax
Mookid
Alberto Balsalm
Cow Cud Is A Twin
Next Heap With

Originally out in 1997, these tracks showcase Richard D James at his scariest, most inventive and mellowest, delivering the possessed title track (which came accompanied by one of Chris Cunningham's more nightmarish videos), melodic "Flim", breaktronic "Come To Daddy" remix and jazz-breaks meets nursery rhymes "Bucephalus Bouncing Ball".

TRACK LISTING

12" Tracklisting:
1 Come To Daddy (Pappy Mix) 4:21
2 Flim 2:57
3 Come To Daddy (Little Lord Faulteroy Mix) 3:50
4 Bucephalus Bouncing Ball 5:43

CD Tracklisting:
1 Come To Daddy, Pappy Mix 4:22
2 Flim 2:57
3 Come To Daddy, Little Lord Faulteroy Mix 3:50
4 Bucephalus Bouncing Ball 5:44
5 To Cure A Weakling Child, Contour Regard 5:10
6 Funny Little Man 3:58
7 Come To Daddy, Mummy Mix 4:24
8 IZ-US 2:57

Originally released in 1992 on R&S Records offshoot Apollo, 'Selected Ambient Works 85-92' marks the first full length studio album by Richard D. James under his Aphex Twin name. Considered a landmark release in ambient techno, it's easy to see why it has endured. Feathery keys, dreamy production and trickling rhythms are drenched over distant samples from sources as diverse as Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory ('We Are The Music Makers'), Robocop ('Green Calx') and ethereal female vocals on opener 'Xtal'. Arguably some the most beautifully realised and majestic sounds of the revered musician's career.  The album provided the blueprint for every electronica, downbeat and chill-out record for years after. This is just one of those classic electronica releases that every home should have; melodic, semi-ambient and musical, this is AFX at his most accessible. Essential.

STAFF COMMENTS

Martin says: Richard James was a pioneer, making human, wasted and warped electronica at a time it had not even occurred to anybody else. Of course it is very much of it's time, as any technology based entity will be, but it transcends such considerations by being unspeakably brilliant. 'Xtal', with it's rave inspired, dreamy female vocals drifting over it's soft staccato propulsion just might be one of the exquisite pieces of electronic music ever committed to anything. Every home should have one.

TRACK LISTING

1. Xtal
2. Tha
3. Pulsewidth
4. Ageispolis
5. I
6. Green Calx
7. Heliosphan
8. We Are The Music Makers
9. Schottkey 7th Path
10. Ptolemy
11. Hedphelym
12. Delphium
13. Actium