How Aphex Twin Spurned the 90s Dance Mainstream (“Windowlicker“) | New British Canon

For most of the 90s, Aphex Twin ran counter to what was happening in mainstream dance music. He was messing with low-key ambience during the forceful Eurodance of “Rhythm is a Dancer.” Moved to harsh industrial noise as Europe was smitten by the dreamy trance of Robert Miles’ “Children.” And when Prodigy and Chemical Brothers ruled the roost, Aphex Twin was attempting to rupture drum and bass with rapid stuttered software-programmed beats. The Aphex Twin story is similarly antagonistic, filled with fabrication, half-truths and provocation pried from the man himself. Did he own a tank, live in a bank and do a DJ set using solely sandpaper and a food mixer? Quite possibly, but picking through everything he’s said for the presence of truth is a foolish exercise. The legend is more fun than the bedroom-based music geek reality. This is New British Canon and this is the story of “Windowlicker.” #aphextwin #electronicmusic #musicdocumentary Fact-checking by Serenity Autumn. 00:00 Introduction 01:20 Richard D. James: How Aphex Twin Came to Be 07:11 Selected Ambient Works 85-92 12:51 The First Three Albums with Warp Records 21:13 “Come to Daddy“ & “Windowlicker“ 31:09 The Lasting Impact of Aphex Twin Bibliography Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture by Simon Reynolds, 2013, Faber & Faber Aphex Twin on the nature of electronic music (1995) Arte ( “Words from Loaded interview room“ John Perry, Loaded Magazine “The Aphex Twin - Interview“ John Robb, Volume, 1992 “Aphex Twin: Double trouble“ Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, May 1992 “’I surround myself with equipment and just follow my feelings on the machines…’“ Tony Marcus, Mixmag, Dec 1992 “Double Exposure“ Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, Jan 1993 “The Aphex Effect“ Dave Robinson, Future Music, Apr 1993 “Machine Soul: A History Of Techno“ Jon Savage, The Village Voice, Summer 1993 “Aphex Twin“ Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, Nov 1993 “Aphex Twin: The Mozart of Techno“ Ben Thompson, Mojo Magazine, Jan 1994 “Aphex Twin: Armed and Fairly Dangerous“ Stuart Maconie, Q, Mar 1994 “Aphex Twin: ’Phex And Drugs And Rock’N’Roll“ David Stubbs, Melody Maker, Mar 1994 “Perfect Sound Forever“ Mark Sutherland, NME, Mar 1995 “Lucid Dreaming“ Rob Young, The Wire, Apr 1995 “True Lies“ Tony Marcus, Mixmag, May 1995 “Life as a tankboy“ Richard D James, Details Magazine, Jul 1995 “Richard D James Interview“ Marc Weidenbaum, Eponymous Rex, 1996 “They thought I was the only one“ Junglizt, Junglizt Records, 1996 “Getting away with it“ Mixmag, Oct 1996 “Is the Aphex Twin completely mad?“ Richard Hector Jones, Jockey S---, Oct/Nov 1996 “Aphex Twin: The Clink, London“ Ian Watson, Melody Maker, Nov 1996 “Aphex Twin: Teddy or Not“ Stephen Dalton, NME, Nov 1996 “Interview From the Back of the Fridge“ Zebra Magazine, 1997 “Interview“ Bob Gourly, Chaos Control, 1997 “Interview“ Marc Widenbaum, The Pulse Magazine, Mar 1997 “The Aphex Follies“ Tamara Palmer & Jennifer Kabat, URB Magazine, Spring 1997 “Future Sounds“ Richard Martin, Williamette Week, Aug 1997 “APHEX TWIN“ Jason Gross, Perfect Sound Forever, Sep 1997 “Interview“ Theresa Stern, Sep 1997 “The Aphex Twin“ Ben Thompson, Seven Years of Plenty, 1998 “Face the music“ John O’Reilly, The Guardian, Mar 1999 “Richard D. James - Interview“ Meredith Danluck, Index Magazine, 2001 “Tank Boy: Aphex Twin“ Paul Lester, The Guardian, Oct 2001 “Don’t Fear The Aphex: The Weird Genius of Richard James“ Barney Hoskyns, Rock’s Backpages, Oct 2001 “You think his records sound like cutlery being chucked down the stairs?“ John O’Connell, The Face, Oct 2001 “Selected Ambient Works 85-92 Aphex Twin Review“ David M Percoraro, Pitchfork, Feb 2002 “Hey, Who’s That Face in My Song?“ Leander Kahney, Wired, May 2002 “The Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s: 20-01“ Various, Pitchfork, Sep 2010 “Strange Visitor: A Conversation With Aphex Twin“ Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork, Sep 2014 “25 Questions for Aphex Twin: „Do you still own your tank?”“ Heiko Hoffmann, Groove, Dec 2014 “Aphex Twin: 10 strange myths and the truth behind them“ Chris Kelly & John Twells, Fact Mag, Apr 2017 “Aphex Twin — Windowlicker. Story behind the video“ George Palladev, Medium, Mar 2018 “Aphex Twin’s Mask Collapses“ Andrew Nosnitsky, Crack, Nov 2018 “Aphex Twin’s best songs – ranked!“ Geeta Dayal, The Guardian, Feb 2019 ““Windowlicker” Turns 20“ Christopher R Weingarten, Stereogum, Mar 2019 Soundtrack Luar - Citrine () Jesse Gallagher - The Golden Present Luar - Anchor () You can also follow me here: Twitter: Facebook: Or support me on Patreon: