Aphex Twin And His Impact On Popular Culture (DOCUMENTARY) 

Why’d you open with Gangnam Style?

You guys should listen to ATOM(tm). He is simply eons ahead of Aphex Twin Richard D James. More than 180 albums of pure electronic music, of so many forms, it makes Aphex sound like a primary school student. Also this cult worship nonsense is so lame - Aphex himself, like all us electronic music producer was influenced by the dominant culture and all the future predications of. It's very hard to find an Aphex Twin song as a jingle, but we find many examples of Daft Punk and Bjork being used to sell electric cars and ladies perfumes.

@@AudioPervert1 is ATOM(tm) you?

@@AudioPervert1 Hi Richard 👋

I've heard RDJ on the BBC recently and MTV2 a bunch back in the day. I remember he was even on the commercial for "music is my antidrug" which i found particularly amusing. His music is all over the place if you know it.@@AudioPervert1

Aphex Twin like many artists is capable of transcending age groups I believe. Whilst scouring for footage for this documentary I came across videos of parents putting their crying babies to sleep by playing Rhubarb. I think the ability to do such a thing could be another documentary itself. But also a way for different age groups and groups to connect with one another and find connections. As everyone can understand music that doesn't contain lyrics!

I'm 46 and discovered him around the time of Surfing on Sine Waves (I think). I absolutely worshipped at the church of Aphex for many many years. His music has been as important an influence on me as any other artist I can name.

The olden days - the golden years of trance

I'm 60, and have appreciated Aphex from the beginning 🤩

I'm 60 as well. I dj'd on the same bill as him late 90's.ll unfortunately he was going thru an unlistenable phase so his set was ear burning hahahaha.

Im sure that Tesco may become a pilgrimage spot

“on” is a great track!/I like the 2nd track off the new ep “in a room7 F760”/I love Syro it’s like a SAW3 tbh/I love “boxing day”/“w32DEADCODE.A” off Analord

Do you like 'Rushup edge' by the Tuss? One of my absolute faves

ouch that sounds painful

musical savant who defies categorization and convention. For someone cult worshipping yes. Same big accolade were given to Pink Floyd or Van Halen. If you hear 100 albums by ATOM (tm) aka Senor Coconut - Aphex sounds like primary education (electronic music wise)

@@AudioPervert1 what are you talking about

U can be sure he's not only schooled he can school others.

His sense of rhythm is incredible in particular. Richard's music immediately caught me because it reminds me of 90s SEGA video game soundtracks, or OSTs before 2002.

​@@AudioPervert1O.K. virgin.

Thank you it makes me happy to hear that. I encourage anyone to jump at the opportunity to discuss their favourite topic or cover it in a project format should the opportunity arise in the educational environment, it was great fun to develop something I was interested in on school hours! :)

TDR are goats

@@datAero that they are but they didn't design the aphex logo.

@@ichbinfist.6924 ur right !

true but be is a blabbermouth

Timeless

im jealous 😂 i hope i get to see aphex and bjork in my lifetime before they pass the face of the earth❤

what an experience that must've been. so much synchronicity, and wonder. I hope you were dancing!

this comment is so awesome

still don’t know a lot of people that know or like afx/only when I’m at the record store does maybe like 1 person know hahaha

Did your friend come out the closet?

?there were a lot of important composers inbetween bach 1700s and Debussy 1900s

If people like his music, they like his music. It ain’t deep, they just like the sound of it innit

@@JONNYTUBSTER i'm innit to win it

I only knew about Orbital and The Future Sounds of London before I discovered Aphex. Those two bands might have helped prepare my mind for Aphex Twin. But I think being a fan of Tool, NIN, Manson, are what really made me able to understand his sound, because my intro to AT was the Come To Daddy video late one night on MTV... When I first heard NIN as a teen, I didn't even hear it as music, because I only heard live shows my cousin had on VHS, and the sound was horrible... But I was intrigued enough to get my older brother's NIN (The downward spiral) out and listen... I finally really heard the beats and sounds and my brain understood it as music instead of a wall of sound that I heard on that VHS... Before all of this I only listened to the Classic Rock music my parents played in the car... So NIN was key for preparing my ears for Come To Daddy....

Thank you so much! It means alot especially coming from someone who I used to watch alot! Hope you enjoyed the video :)

❤

Thank you again Milly! :)

To me the whole point of music is to convey things that can't be captured by language, so talking about it, for the most part, seems redundant. I find most people talk about it as a means to bolster their social standing.

Absolutely, aphex twin is deep without even trying be deep. He is not pseudo-intellectual , he doesn’t use shallow boring concepts and words in his music which would diminish the depth and beauty of his music, that’s why he’s timeless and what he does is high art. I think Aphex Twin is the best musician we’ve encountered since the end of Mozart/Beethoven/Wagner era.

@@vrilmaxxed Agreed. So many music snobs have been sleeping on Aphex because it's "electronic" music but I truly believe he's one of the most brilliant composers of the past century. His work will be studied for centuries to come and he'll be held in the same regards as the great orchestral composers that came before.

​@@vrilmaxxedno point of comparison between that. People really feel superior (disconnected) these days! 😂

Thank you again Jonny! I'm glad we met through this project!😼

No problem, thank you for your kind words and I'm glad you enjoyed it! :)

Why compare?, but since you're comparing I want to add that I've listened to Senor Coconut every now and then and I don't see how you can say he's ahead of Aphex Twin. Aphex Twin has been innovating in music forms that were never heard before him (Drill & Bass for example, sure, Jungle existed but Drill & Bass is the most extreme form of Jungle, even more than Breakcore and he was the pioneer of it along with his friend Luke Vibert) and he took analogue machines to their extreme capability in the early to mid 90's. Senor Coconut's music sounds pretty simple (and that's not bad, I like it) most of the time and if you listen to Aphex Twin's music you always catch details and different rhythm sections and sometimes everything in one single track. Even Luke Vibert sounds even more interesting to me than Senor Coconut and he's truly a multi genre Savant imo. But to each their own I guess and I respect your opinion.

😂😂😂😂

I think it's frankly amazing to see the turn out that this video has had so far indeed especially seeing how far around the world it's reached! A lot of it can be attributed to word of mouth since the Aphex community is so tight knit but also the video being pushed via the algorithm by Trash Theory's video. Funny enough I've been subscribed to him for two years as I had originally watched his Prodigy video and I see him as an inspiration. So when I got the news that his Aphex video released last Saturday me and my friends all put our heads together collectively and came to the conclusion that this would essentially make an Aphex content weekend so the algorithm would continue to push anything related to it! Also happy belated birthday! I'm sure this mass of Aphex content must've been a big birthday surprise for you! And also thank you for sharing your live gig stories to! I think it's frankly astounding how many people listened to him and continue to, during the making of this I got to talk to a few people who live locally to me about their time seeing him at Glastonbury and also my media studies teacher who I was completely unaware that she was a fan of his (particularly the RDJ album). Besides providing a new video for everyone it's also allowed me to make new friends and taught me a lot about this community and how large it actually is! Thank you again for your time. - Finn 7\

@@FinnBourchier thanks for the belated birthday wishes, my birthday was on the 3rd August, however, I was actually referring to Richard’s… It’s great community. It spans three generations now. Goes to show how far ahead of his time he’s always been. I used to try and convert disciples back when I was younger and arrogant enough to try and force him onto anyone I came in contact with. I just wanted to share the love. To let people get affected by his music the way I had. Because he literally changed my life forever the moment I heard his music. I was too naive back then to understand that the polarising nature of some music is because it challenges the status quo. It’s not supposed to be loved by everyone. Some people don’t like to be challenged by music. But Richard’s music never challenged me. It changed me. Instantly. It challenged where I thought the limitations of music lay. It opened up music for me. But those who are challenged by it, man, they fkn HATE it. lol. But the balance has shifted now. The world is finally catching up. I’ve realised I was preaching to the wrong people all those years ago. They were were only babies, or not even born yet. And I never had to preach the word of afx acid. Because his music has and will always speak for itself. Just more people understand what it’s saying now. And, I can honestly say, the afx community is the only community I know of that is getting far more welcoming and less toxic the older it gets and the more younger generations discover him and become a part of it. It’s always been tight knit, but it was also extremely toxic and problematic at times. People are very passionate about it. That kind of element is inevitable in communities whose members possess such passion. And it’s still an element to this day. But it used to be far worse. And again, I think we were just waiting for you guys to catch up as brothers and sisters in arms and now, I’m happy to say, the positive and loving members outweigh the negative toxic gatekeepers. They’re kinda loud when they pop up screaming their vitriol, but we’re all too busy sharing the love now to pay them any mind… And as a final note, on that side of the community, they kinda thrived when he was on hiatus. And I’m certain most of them thought they were acting the way they assumed Richard would. And one of the things that brought out the gatekeepers more than anything was noobs. And they were relentless. But Richard was never like them. He was socially awkward around anyone but his close knit circle. He appreciated the fans but hated the toxic and pedestal placing elements. And he didn’t know how to deal with it. One of the main reasons he lay low for so long. But when he came back. After the WATMM Caustic Window crowd funding, he felt the love. And he’s loved back ever since. More than We ever could’ve dreamed he could. He put the gatekeepers in their place. And I’m so happy for him now. When you see the size of his crowds at his headline sets, and you see that crowd filled with people in their teens to those in their 50’s and 60’s, all with the same look of sheer absolute joy beaming on their faces, you know it’s not just the drugs. They’d be just as ecstatic without the substances. And he deserves it. His legacy will only ever strengthen more as the years pass. And as for those of us who couldn’t understand why more people couldn’t grasp the sheer genius and brilliance of his material, well, we fkn new it all along. Validation is a beautiful thing…;)

@@FinnBourchier and man, the Trash Theory video probably boosted your video’s recommendations, but only a little. Any content about Rich filters through to us. But we share the decent content. A lot. While the majority of us aren’t toxic, we are ALL sticklers for accuracy and quality and we scrutinise EVERYTHING. And bro, your video more than stands up to scrutiny. Your view count has only just begun to grow.

I have an original FACE magazine copy of the exact interview, I may do a video on the March 1993 issue as a whole anyway as it's very interesting! Finding the interview online originally is what got me interested in contacting Professor Toop to learn more.

But let’s keep it just between us for the time being.✌️

The RU-vid algorithm is simply finding Aphex Twin's most loyal troops I'd say. And thank you for sharing your story about your live viewing to! I've spoken to a guy who was at Richard's Glastonbury set where he played from the infamous Wendy House on stage. Unfortunately footage of these shows don't usually exist since portable cameras weren't as widely available in the 90s so it's interesting to hear it from the people who witnessed it themselves!

We all think insane and crazy ideas about anything.

Cool what song is that?

I'm looking at my wall of records here.. About 12' x 8'. Mostly electronic music from that era. Over 90% acts no one has ever heard of since then. But, a lot of it is just as original as aphex twin. And he was certainly listening to these tracks. He didn't create his style, in a bubble. (I just have to point that out.. I see an incredible number of videos attributing entire styles to single artists lately, or going on and on about how could they possibly create that sound all on their own in that time way back then, and it's simply not true at all. )

I was literally thinking about watching an Aphex twin documentary 3 days ago. My wish came true when I saw this on my recommended

The RU-vid algorithm works in mysterious ways. In fact it was a stroke of luck that Trash Theory made a great documentary about Windowlicker 2 days prior to the release of this video so the 26th-28th of August 2022 was essentially an Aphex weekend! :)

@@johngddr5288 You manifested it and Richard answered 7\

heard that many times

No problem, thank you for watching it!😁