Richard D James Album

Richard James, i.e. Aphex Twin creates a masterpiece in his autobiographical "Richard D. James album". The album, released in 1996 was his fourth and most widely popular to date. Throughout the album he uses electronic sounds and pulsating rhythms, and nonmusical samples to express his feelings on childhood innocence to darker themes as evidenced by occasional ominous melodies.
His songs are raw and innovative, utilizing complex arrays of ambient sounds with fast-paced drums to create a truly avant-garde style of music. James' music is classified loosely under the "Hard" techno and Acid genres, and the drums and quick rhythmic pulse in many of the RDJ album tracks makes it difficult to refute the label. However, amidst the quick drum rushes and strange sounds James creates a strange elegance that is at times soothing. He has been deemed one of the most important musicians in electronic music for the ironic complexity and solidarity of his music.
Aphex Twin's RDJ was originally supposed to be ten songs, but was expanded to fifteen in the U.S. and Canada. It was hugely popular and received widespread critical acclaim. Certain tracks in particular were strong.
"How to cure a Weak Child", and "Boy/Girl song" James captures feelings of childhood innocence in the track titles suggest using electronic sounds, fast-paced snare drum samples, synthesizers and sampled vocals to string together a fun, happy sound.
"Cornish Acid" is a strong track that undoubtedly is meant to convey something about his Cornish background and upbringing. He expresses these feelings through quick beats and turbulent rhythms that are typical of many tracks on the album.
In "Beetles", James literally samples the sound of a burning beetle off of a sidewalk while interspersing vocal and electronic samples.
"Yellow Caix" uses a handful of computer sounds, and a simple melody over complex drums with an ominous overtone as the song withers away.
"4" immediately hits the listener with a combination of jagged beats and fast drum samples and orchestral overtures that build and subside allowing emphasis to shift from the somber orchestral melody to the more flowing drum rhythms. His song ends like all the others with an unrelated, electronic solo at the end.
"Fingerbib" begins at a slower rate than other tracks on the album, but uses a simple alternating rhythmic arrangement to set up an anxious, nervy melody to end the song. It has a solid and concentrated structure despite the obvious differences in rhythms and melody which makes it one of the standout tracks on the RDJ album.
Stylistically, James takes after the tradition of "electronishe music" and relies only on sounds generated electronically. Also like the elder electronic music artists, James practices the ideas of "musique concrete" and manipulates sound to create his songs. He samples human voices, physical instruments, and environmental sounds over his tracks while using techniques such as sampling, distortion, and looping to create his music. He also taps into more modern concepts of electronic music utilizing data from video games to create sounds for some of the songs in the album.
Overall, James takes an innovative approach and uses a diverse array of sounds to create his music. His chaotic drums, synthesized melancholic sound, and carefully chosen samples mold together to form a truly unique style that still maintains a distinct coherent identity.

From stuttering stops to blistering beats and flashes of noises ranging from synthesiers to recorded voices Aphex Twins 1996 effort, "Richard D. James Album", is an album that will keep you listening through and through no matter how many times you have listened to it, and depending on your musical tastes may take some getting used before you fully appreaciate the genius of the music on here. Prime examples of some of the insane music you hear on this album would be on tracks such as, "Corn Mouth", "4", etc. This album still holds up today because of the fact that it was and is ahead of its time in the realm of the electrnoica music genre and paving the way for artists such as, Radiohead to fully incorporate the use of combining electrnoic music elements with standard musical instruments. So what are you waiting for if you want to hear some of the most insane greatest electrnoic music around than this album if for you.

The Richard D. James Album is Aphex Twin's 1990's magnus opus; a musical odyssey with as much to offer on the first listen as on the hundredth. Looking past the racing drum beats, the screeching synths, and the distorted samples, the Richard D. James Album is as much a tribute to the history of electronic music as a prophecy of its future.
The album commences with the track "4" which pits a string melody against fast drum samples and various computer generated sounds. The pleasant and soothing sounds of this first song betray the eerie beauty thematic of the album and belie the significantly more harsh noises and tracks heard later. The third track, "Peek 824545201" is an excellent example of this principle. Aphex Twin blends and sequences the noise of a squealing computer modem with a collection of beeps, whirs, and various other electronic sounds to achieve a truly unique sonic harmony; as much an entrancing alien soundscape as a futuristic, machine-made dance tune.
All songs on the album showcase Aphex Twin's perfectionist mastery of electronica, but not all are as complex as "4" or "Peek 824545201." "Fingerbib" achieves the same strange elegance of the other mentioned tracks with significantly less instrumentation. "To Cure a Weakling Child," "Beetles," and "Milkman" take the album in a drastically different direction, using sampled vocals to give songs a variety of different feels. "To Cure a Weakling Child" combines the voice of an adolescent with very fast drum samples and computer noises to create the playful sound continued in the next track, "Goon Gumpas," which uses almost entirely either real instruments or computer representations of real instruments. "Milkman" is a much stranger song. The beginning of the song sounds like computer generated gibberish, but has been revealed to be an encoded (extremely violent and vulgar) statement in English by astute listeners using software to decode the segment. The rest of the song consists of Aphex Twin gently repeating somewhat inappropriate lyrics that become increasingly distorted and pitch-shifted over fast drum hits. "Beetles" is perhaps the creepiest song on the album: Aphex Twin quietly and somberly laments that "Beatles under my carpet, under my feet, they come out in the heat" over slow synthesizer sounds.
The crown jewel of the album is the masterpiece "Yellow Calx." The three-minute-long song is comprised of extremely intricate drum samples meshed with a few different computer noises over which a very simple melody plays. The haunting nature and mechanical precision of the song is recurrent in many of Aphex Twin's works, but "Yellow Calx" stands out as one of his best for reasons that can only be heard, not explained.
Taken as a whole, the Richard D. James Album is deeply rooted in the tradition of electronic music. Aphex Twin, like historical artists composing in the style of "elektronische musik," relies heavily on sounds generated entirely by electronic means. "Peek 824545201," for example, contains many sounds of pure electronic origin, not relying on any "real" sounds. Like historical "musique concrète," Aphex Twin also manipulates recorded sound to create his music. He distorts, loops, and samples the human voice on multiple tracks, and he samples physical instruments and children's toys on the album as well.
Looking forward, the album introduces new concepts in electronic music. In interviews Aphex Twin has claimed that he used data from 1980's video games to generate some of the computer sounds used on the album. Some of the track titles are borrowed from keywords in an old version of the BASIC programming language. These atypical uses of computers in making electronic music add an intriguing element to Aphex Twin's work. His songs are rich not only sonically, but in the variety of ways in which he creates sounds.
The Richard D. James Album is an essential addition to anybody's record collection. Aphex Twin's music is aurally superb, but the album offers much more. It provides a window into the underpinnings of the history of electronic music. It can be analyzed and altered to reveal secrets and messages encoded in the music. It showcases the creativity and variety not only of sound, but of the process of making sound. The Richard D. James Album is the perfect subject of an afternoon of relaxed listening, a semester of scholarly investigation, or as the inspiration to create new and interesting music in new and interesting ways.

4 1/2

Still a crowning achievement in hyper-intelligent programming, these astute electronic splurges are a pinnacle of melody and manic beat making at its most intelligent.

I consider this album to be a masterpiece from a sick genius. The composition and arrangement of the tracks may not be noticed to the casual listener, or at first listen; but repeat listening will prove that the violent, fast-tempo drums may shroud the often beautiful string arrangements and complex patterns beneath. The tracks: 4, Peek 824545201, To Cure a Weakling Child, and Girl/Boy Song are my most favorites. Their titles are often appropriate, conveying the feel of each track. For those that like or love this album, or Aphex Twin in general, I would highly recommend the album: Acoustica: Alarm Will Sound Performs Aphex Twin. This is an album of Aphex Twin tracks covered by an acoustic orchestra! Absolutely wonderful accompaniment to the Aphex Twin fans collection!