I haven’t shared a Trash Theory video in a minute, with their latest focusing on Aphex Twin spurning the 1990s dance mainstream. I love dance, ambient, and experimental music, making Aphex Twin an obvious enjoyment factor for me. Nevertheless, as said by Trash Theory:

For most of the 90s, Aphex Twin ran counter to what was happening in mainstream dance music. He was messing with low-key ambiance 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 attempted 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 sandpaper and a food mixer solely? 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.

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