Aphex Twin Richard D. James Album CD

Aphex Twin: Richard D. James.
Personnel: Aphex Twin (synthesizer).
Perhaps inspired by the experimental drum'n'bass being created by Squarepusher (a recent signee to his Rephlex label), Richard D. James' third major-label album as Aphex Twin was his first to work with jungle -- though, to his credit, he had released the breakbeat EP Hangable Auto Bulb almost a year earlier. Contemporaries Orbital and Underworld were beginning to incorporate moderate use of drum'n'bass in their work as well, but this album was more extreme than virtually all jungle being made at the time. The beats are jackhammer quick and even more jarring considering what is -- for the most part -- laid over the top: the same fragile, slow-moving melodies that characterized Aphex Twin's earlier ambient works. Most overtly disturbing is "Milkman," the first straight-ahead vocal track from Aphex Twin; the song is a child-like ode that gradually deteriorates into a bizarre fantasy concerning the milkman's wife. With all the Aphex Twin's curious idiosyncracies, though, Richard D. James Album is a very listenable record and a worthy follow-up to I Care Because You Do. [The American issue features the English EP "Girl/Boy."] ~ John Bush
In a career filled with re-invention, Aphex Twin comes full circle, with an album named after his real-life identity, RICHARD D. JAMES. James performs his usual boundary-jumping, genre-crashing magic, constantly changing gears and never standing still. Melodies are drawn from an infinite variety of sonic sources and juxtaposed with harsh, stuttering breakbeats and placid keyboards in ever-changing permutations.
James manages to coax a wide range of emotion from his synthesizers, from the whimsical, playful melodic line which introduces "4." to the harsh beat and angular accompaniment of "Cornish Acid." "Peek 824545201" throws down a skittish, slithering beat, while "Corn Mouth" is a jumble of techno shrapnel. "To Cure A Weaking Child" makes haunting use of sampled voices of children, reassembling them into words and repeated phrases. Drums and keyboard sounds meld into one another freely and playfully. James further showcases his ability to recycle traditional sounds into altogether new forms with the string arrangements of "Goon Gumpas" and "Girl/Boy Song," but nowhere is this gift utilized more effectively than in "Logan Rock Witch," whose goofy rhythm and church organ support a chiming, sparse, guitar-like melody line.Rolling Stone (1/23/97, pp.62-63) - 3.5 Stars (out of 5) - "...combining jolting beats, pristine melodic fragments and random noises into elegant--if at times unnerving--futuristic pop....manipulates his infinite palette of tweaked synth tones like a classical composer arranges a string section..."
Spin (2/97, p.88) - 7 (out of 10) - "...in bringing dreaded Meaning to a genre born to deny it, James again removes all bets on what DJ music might become....This is the touching sound of another shut-in boy genius disappearing down his own ear canals in an effort to connect with the world..."
Entertainment Weekly (1/31/97, p.58) - "...his quirkiest, most personal work....If machines could joke or cry, this is how they would sound."
- Rating: A-
NME (Magazine) (12/21-28/96, pp.66-67) - Ranked #20 in NME's 1996 critic's poll.