| Richard D. James Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 4 November 1996 (1996-11-04) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 32:51 | |||
| Label | Warp | |||
| Producer | Aphex Twin | |||
| Richard D. James chronology | ||||
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| Aphex Twin album chronology | ||||
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Richard D. James Album is a studio album by the Britishelectronic music artist and producer Richard D. James under the alias ofAphex Twin. It was released on 4 November 1996 throughWarp Records. It was composed by James on hisMacintosh computer, and took longer to complete than his previous albums. It features fastbreakbeats and intricatedrum programming which draw fromjungle anddrum and bass. James' drum loops are paired with lushstring arrangements, andambient melodies reminiscent of his earlier work, as well asmodulated vocals from James.
Richard D. James Album entered theDance Albums Chart at No. 7,[1] and reached No. 62 on theAlbums Chart. In the US it charted at No. 20 onBillboard'sTop Heatseekers Albums chart. It had sold over 100,000 units by 1997, making it Warp's most commercially successful release at the time. It received critical acclaim, with much of the praise going to its production. It has since been described as one of the best albums of 1996 and the 1990s overall by music critics.
In 1995, Richard James released the twoHangable Auto Bulb EPs under his AFX moniker, experimenting with exaggerated rhythms inspired bydrum and bass in a style that came to be called "drill 'n' bass".[2] This faster style ofdrum programming was inspired by James' friendLuke Vibert, also known as Plug.[3] James stated that while he worked withtriplets and complicated beats in the past, that Vibert "got me into doing it a faster pace. He gave me the spark to do it faster, but now I'm trying to take it to all extremes".[4] This rapid, computer-based approach would become the dominant style of James's work through the end of the decade.[2] In the following year, James released the Aphex Twin EPGirl/Boy.[5]
James has stated that most of the album was composed on hisMacintosh computer[4] and that the album took longer to create than any of his previous albums.[6] Describing his approach to drum programming, he stated that "sometimes I just hit the keyboard in a way I'd like the rhythm of the tracks to sound. Then I'll spend four hours moving all the notes where I want them to go."[7] Some tracks on the album include James' vocalsmodulated on a computer; in "To Cure a Weakling Child", James manipulated his voice to sound like a child giving a lecture about their arms and legs.[4][6] For the orchestral arrangements on the album, James bought a violin at acar boot sale. He taught himself to play a note from the instrument by placing it on a table, playing a note and sampling the note.[8]
Richard D. James Album is a work ofelectronica[9][10] that has been characterised as James's "swan dive intojungle anddrill'n'bass" byVice's Dan Weiss,[11] and labeled as a work ofIDM byPitchfork,[12] working with jungle,[13]drum and bass[14][15] andambient andacid techno in some tracks.[15] Andrew Spiess ofPopMatters noted that '[w]hat makesRichard D. James Album stand out among James' previous works is the synthesis of delicate, symphonic sounds and hard, jackhammering beats," noting that the album consolidated his 1995 entry into the short-lived drill 'n' bass subgenre.[16] James has claimed the influence of jungle music came from "any of the drum 'n' bass and breakbeat artists" and that he has "always been into nicking other things [...] and making something different".[4] Patric Fallon ofStereogum noted the album heavily relies ondrum programming,sampling, and "other digital intricacies that would've been otherwise unthinkable without computers".[17] It also features lushstring arrangements and simple keyboardtextures built overquadruple time breakbeats.[18] A reviewer forSpectrum Culture wrote that the album used unstabletime signatures.[15] Steve Taylor found the record Aphex Twin's "most terrifying" one, with "weird stop-start beats,white noise and tough melodies."[19]
John Bush ofAllMusic noted that the album continued James's "forays intoacid-jungle andexperimental music,"[20] noting that the album was "more extreme than virtually all jungle being made at the time", with beats layered over slower melodies that characterised James' earlier ambient works.[13] Eric Carr ofPitchfork opined that the album was one of the "aggressive combinations of disparate electronic forms", with "almost-brutal contrast between its elements".[21]Exclaim! commented that tracks such as "Girl/Boy Song", "Yellow Calx", and "Peek 824545201" were "loosely based on jungle".[22]Spin'sWill Hermes linked the album's use of vocals, both sung and sampled, its cover artwork and title, stating that "Richard D. James might be the firstelectronica LP that not only gropes for narrative but also aspired to an abstract sort ofautobiography."[9]
Richard D. James Album was released throughWarp on 4 November 1996.[23] It was released oncompact disc,cassette andLP;[24] early copies of the album were distributed with a plastic sachet containing James' hair.[25] The American version included theGirl/Boy EP as bonus tracks.[7][26] The album entered at number 7 on theDance Albums Chart[1] and at number 62 on theAlbums Chart in the UK, on 16 November 1996.[27] It was released in the United States throughSire Records on 28 January 1997 and charted at number 20 onBillboard'sTop Heatseekers Albums chart.[28][29] By November 1997, it had sold over 100,000 copies and became Warp's most commercially successful release at the time,[30] the former of which surprised James.[31][32]
Along with...I Care Because You Do (1995),Richard D. James Album was reissued on vinyl on 18 September 2012 by record label 1972.[33] Warp announced their own re-issue of the album on 180-gram vinyl for 8 October 2012.[34]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [13] |
| Entertainment Weekly | A−[35] |
| Future Music |  [36] |
| Muzik | 4.5/5[37] |
| NME | 8/10[38] |
| Pitchfork | 8.4/10[39] |
| Rolling Stone | [40] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [41] |
| Spin | 7/10[9] |
| The Village Voice | B+[42] |
Richard D. James Album received acclaim from music critics. In the United Kingdom,The Independent's Ben Thompson wrote that "The intuitive sense of melody [James has] been striving so hard to suppress over the last few years has come to the fore too, and the result is the most magicalpop record of the year: the year in question being AD 2001."[43]NME reviewer Ted Kessler praised its sense of "fresh musical perception" and called it "a record that's absorbed the rhythmic advances made by drum'n'bass in places ... yet scribbles furiously over its roots with sparkly chemical melodies and splintered clanging".[38] Martin James ofMuzik remarked on the album's "Squarepusher-esque rhythmical assaults" and deviation from previous Aphex Twin records, finding thatRichard D. James Album "succeeds because you get the feeling that this time round, he's laughing with you rather than at you."[37] InFuture Music, Andy Jones summarised it as sounding "like a list of sparky ideas all taped as one-offs ... From genius to sheer madness. Sometimes unlistenable but never dull."[36]
In North America,Pitchfork's Ryan Schreiber stated that "TheRichard D. James Album is 43.5 minutes of pure electronic genius" and "just when your brain starts to comprehend a rhythmic pattern, the beat shifts, turns left and crushes your torso under the steering wheel."[39]Rolling Stone's Jason Fine commented that "Aphex Twin coaxes great emotional resonance from his machines" and combines "jolting beats, pristine melodic fragments and random noises into elegant – if at times unnerving – futuristic pop." However, he also commented that "not all ofRichard D. James goes down easy."[40] Marc Widenbaum ofPulse! called the album, "quite simply, the strongestart-pop record to appear sinceLaurie Anderson'sMr. Heartbreak", defined by a "series of lovely tunes atop a decisive, rhythmically fascinating girding of rapid-fire, turn-on-a-dime percussion."[7]Entertainment Weekly writerDavid Browne called it James' "quirkiest, most personal work" and said that "4" and "Girl/Boy Song" revealed "a new warmth and wistfulness".[35] Mark Jenkins ofThe Washington Post gave the album a negative review, referring to the music as "sloppy", "offhand", "a noisy mess" and sounding "like a private joke".[44]
Richard D. James Album was placed in numerous best-of lists.NME placed the album at number 20 on their list of the best albums of 1996.[45]The Wire also listed the album among their top 50 albums of the year for 1996.[46] In 2003Pitchfork listed their top albums of the 1990s, withRichard D. James Album ranking at 40.[21]Pitchfork stated thatRDJ is not "easily dated by [its] technology", and doesn't "sound stale compared to modern variations."[21] Also in 2003,NME ranked it 55th in their list of the top 100 albums of all time.[47]Slant Magazine placed the album at number 91 on their list of the top 100 albums of the 1990s, describing it as "more fascinated by textures than almost any other electronic album ever crafted".[48] In 2015Spin placed the album at number 71 on their list of the best albums of the past 30 years.[49] In the same year,Exclaim! listedRichard D. James Album on their list of Essential Richard D. James albums.[22] The review opined that the album was "not necessarily a release that you immediately fall in love with", but that it was "endlessly rewarding".[22]Evening Standard named it among "the most influential electronica albums of the past 20 years."[10] In 2019,Reverb called the album "perhaps the best-known IDM release of all time" and a "highwater mark" for the genre.[50]
All tracks are credited as being written and produced by "Me" (Richard D. James).[51]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "4" | 3:37 |
| 2. | "Cornish Acid" | 2:14 |
| 3. | "Peek 824545201" | 3:05 |
| 4. | "Fingerbib" | 3:48 |
| 5. | "Carn Marth" | 2:33 |
| 6. | "To Cure a Weakling Child" | 4:03 |
| 7. | "Goon Gumpas" | 2:02 |
| 8. | "Yellow Calx" | 3:04 |
| 9. | "Girl/Boy Song" (NLS mix) | 4:52 |
| 10. | "Logan Rock Witch" | 3:33 |
| Total length: | 32:51 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 11. | "Milkman" | 4:09 |
| 12. | "Inkey$" | 1:24 |
| 13. | "Girl/Boy" (£18 Snare Rush mix) | 1:57 |
| 14. | "Beetles" | 1:31 |
| 15. | "Girl/Boy" (Redruth mix) | 1:37 |
| Total length: | 43:29 | |
Credits from the back cover of the album.[51]
| Chart (1996–1997) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UKAlbums Chart (CIN)[27] | 62 |
| UKDance Albums Chart (CIN)[1] | 7 |
| USTop Heatseekers (Billboard)[54][55] | 20 |
| Chart (2023) | Peak position |
| UK Dance Albums (OCC)[56] | 39 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | — | 30,000[32] |
| United States | — | 50,000[32] |
| Summaries | ||
| Worldwide | — | 100,000[30] |
| As Aphex Twin |
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| AsAFX | |||||||||
| AsThe Tuss | |||||||||
| AsPolygon Window | |||||||||
| AsBradley Strider | |||||||||
| AsCaustic Window | |||||||||
| AsGAK | |||||||||
| Collaborations | |||||||||
| Unreleased | |||||||||
| Related articles | |||||||||
