Aphex Twin, Richard D James UK

This starts more beautiful than I imagined. More kind of ethereal than the aggressive loyalty Aphex Twin seems to inspire in people and all those bizarre and scary videos. This is like a peculiarly attractive computer game of shifting colours and levels. Why does electronica always come across as threatening? I’ve heard bits and bobs of Aphex Twin on and off for years, and I’ve always liked what I’ve heard, yet I’ve never felt an overwhelming urge to go out and buy it or copy it until I copied this and the other one from Jon a few months ago.

There’s something drippy about it all, I don’t mean that in a Christian kind of way, rather like globules of oil paint, one of those Damien Hirst paint spin-y things, a Blue Peter painting that turned out wrong. Not quite the Lego of other musics I know, colourful all the same. And almost not much to write, what’s that all about? Is there any sense of a person in this music/ Maybe it’s because I know fuck-all about him. Him him him. And would it make any difference if I thought he [played all these bit by bit on a synth the way I do or if he sampled it from historical sweetie bags, or if he played it all for real, kosher and acoustic? If there is a stately mansion somewhere of Aphex-minions or if it’s knocked up in a poky bedroom and why one confers authenticity (and I’ve been reading about that again) and one screams SWINDLE.

Exhaustion may be getting the better of me today, I’ve been lying and sleeping and sleeping when I should have been learning about housing benefit. This music is like running under patterned sheets and cobwebs where the light is constantly changing on the outside. It’s never a headache but it doesn’t let you rest. There may well be crowds out there.