Aphex Twin

What is there to say about Aphex Twin? Richard D James is pretty much an icon for more than one generation of electronic music listeners, and few people question the idea that he might be 'the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music,' as one piece once put it.

Producing his first idiosyncratic takes on acid techno and other turn-of-the'80s dance music as a teenager in rural Cornwall, James's stuff from that period is already instantly recognisable. This lead to the creation of the Rephlex label with his friend Grant Wilson-Claridge, initially as an outlet for these tunes.

Since then he's moved through lush listening techno, barely-there ambience, abstracted hyper-jungle and John Cage-style composition, all generally stamped with patented Aphex melodies. Recent work, under the Analord name, is a return to vintage drum machines, synths and sequencers to create weird, haunting techno.

Although such things as proper Aphex live shows (using computers and in the past even analogue gear) have been known to occur, these days you're more likely to see one of James's laptop DJ sets. Very good they are too, taking in techno, electro, jungle, gabber, noise and usually a few of his own tracks.

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