Richard D James SoundCloud - A Gift To The Fans

My first impression is you look a lot like Judge Rinder

what's your favorite aphex story @Schlitze

  On 8/31/2023 at 5:20 PM, diatoms said:

all emotion/reactions left on all posts from the bottom pulldown (love, happy, sad, confused, big brain, thanks, burger, farnsworth and pitcard facepalm) from now til tuesday september 12 @ 16:20 irish time will be added up and one london 19.08.23 card will be gifted to the aphex fan that gets the highest:)

I do believe this deserves its own thread... these posts are getting staggered all over the place and it would be cool for them to have their own thread... at least for prosperity? xoxo

  On 9/7/2023 at 11:31 AM, diatoms said:

what's your favorite aphex story @Schlitze

It was in April 2006, diatoms. Glasgow. The place is a ballroom with a big stage more used to orchestra's, pop and cock rock.  Not ideally suited to a guy sitting playing tracks on a laptop. Wolf Eyes and The Bug were the opening acts. AFX style music started at about 10.30 but he was nowhere to be seen on stage, then a guy appeared and started clapping the crowd to fire them up, it looked like R. James but with short hair.. at the time i thought it was AFX but I'm now convinced it was a lookalike. At some point the man did appear, hunched at the back of the stage, almost unseen to the naked eye, fiddling around with his laptop, very shy

With nothing much to look at on stage i grabbed a pint of Tennent's from the bar and moved to back of the crowd with the beret wearing chin strokers. They were so passive, a completely different vibe from the gadgies at the front. Up until that point it had been a fairly straightforward set..very loud but cordial..I  remember he dropped Ae's LCC, the light show intensified and he ramped it up a notch with the screeching sounds and distortion.

It was then i saw a guys face melt off.

Under the glow of the flashing lights i could see this emaciated guy, eyes bulging, sweating profusely and his skin was just falling away from his face like his outer body couldn't stand the BPM and his skeleton just wanted to break free from those shackles. The room went dark and the drop kicked and i was looking around. Gig ended, lights went on, all these sweaty faces, audience applause and muttering..I'm looking around to see where this guy is..nowhere to be seen..i don't mention it, who would believe it? Then just as i'm heading down the stairs i glance round and see the sillouette of a skeleton dancing at the back of the ballroom

Isn't that your girlfriend you posted a video on to Aphex-fan page on Facebook digging a Aphex track in a Bowling hall or a restaurant or something like that? 

  On 9/7/2023 at 9:21 PM, Schlitze said:

It was in April 2006, diatoms. Glasgow. The place is a ballroom with a big stage more used to orchestra's, pop and cock rock.  Not ideally suited to a guy sitting playing tracks on a laptop. Wolf Eyes and The Bug were the opening acts. AFX style music started at about 10.30 but he was nowhere to be seen on stage, then a guy appeared and started clapping the crowd to fire them up, it looked like R. James but with short hair.. at the time i thought it was AFX but I'm now convinced it was a lookalike. At some point the man did appear, hunched at the back of the stage, almost unseen to the naked eye, fiddling around with his laptop, very shy

With nothing much to look at on stage i grabbed a pint of Tennent's from the bar and moved to back of the crowd with the beret wearing chin strokers. They were so passive, a completely different vibe from the gadgies at the front. Up until that point it had been a fairly straightforward set..very loud but cordial..I  remember he dropped Ae's LCC, the light show intensified and he ramped it up a notch with the screeching sounds and distortion.

It was then i saw a guys face melt off.

Under the glow of the flashing lights i could see this emaciated guy, eyes bulging, sweating profusely and his skin was just falling away from his face like his outer body couldn't stand the BPM and his skeleton just wanted to break free from those shackles. The room went dark and the drop kicked and i was looking around. Gig ended, lights went on, all these sweaty faces, audience applause and muttering..I'm looking around to see where this guy is..nowhere to be seen..i don't mention it, who would believe it? Then just as i'm heading down the stairs i glance round and see the sillouette of a skeleton dancing at the back of the ballroom

 

 

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@Joyrex don't you have an aphex story that's quite good

@Schlitze don't know if ya seen this vid from the barrowlands aphex night

Would love to see afx play the barras, i hope he gives London the flick on the next tour (if/when)

I wish they could do better fan shirts than just the original AFX-logo! Please Warp! 

Something like this would have been so cool! 

Here we go:

In July '97 I had seen Richard at Phoenix Festival (UK) and then three weeks later at The Essential Dance Weekender in Finsbury Park. Both sets featured the Aphex Bears dancing, fighting and humping around the stage while Richard played out from his children's plastic play-house
 
I had agreed to travel to Las Vegas with friends in September of that year and the truth is, I really wasn't prepared for the full-on assault of the senses that I encountered.
Scanning through the flyers and leaflets in the hotel, I picked up a listing for the Hard Rock Cafe and Aphex Twin was scheduled to play on 19th September, the day before I flew back

Supported by Luke Vibert with a DJ set and with Sneaker Pimps and Linoleum also on the bill, it was a no-brainer

The gig was insane - Richard's best gig ever apparently

I recall there being a red chaise longue on stage and Richard lay on the floor behind it with his setup
The set list began with tracks from the newly released 'Come To Daddy' EP and I particularly remember Bucephalus Bouncing Ball pinging around the venue

The Aphex Bears were a little more hyper than I had seen previously and one bear unzipped his costume to reveal Matt Jones (The Jones Machine? of RePhLeX infamy)
Stage left, next to a particularly menacing security guard was an Asian girl, who was wearing a costume that seemed to consist of a single ribbon, wrapped around her torso
As Matt's dancing got more and more manic, she handed him an electric shaver and he proceeded to shave his chest and head, throwing the clippings into the audience who were now being worked up into a state of increasing irritation

Matt grabbed a plastic cup and shoved it down the front of his bear costume
When the cup emerged again, he proceeded to throw the contents over the crowd

Panic ensued and as the security guard moved onto the stage to take down this obscene teddy bear, the Asian girl proceeded to unroll the ribbon, getting naked on-stage.

That was it! - They got shut down early but man, what a gig!

PS. Warp Records ran a competition to win the Aphex Bear costumes - You had to write in (!) and complete the lyrics to "To Cure a Weakling Child"
I got a letter back saying that although I had been picked as a winner, the costumes were absolutely rancid and had already been destroyed so they would send some 12" promos instead

  On 9/8/2023 at 10:43 AM, diatoms said:

@Schlitze don't know if ya seen this vid from the barrowlands aphex night

Seen it? Hell, i shot and cut it!!!!!1

I recently found the rushes on an old HDD so might have a go at tidying it up a bit. That was my first digital camera. 5 megapixels!

  On 9/8/2023 at 5:42 PM, grit said:

Matt grabbed a plastic cup and shoved it down the front of his bear costume
When the cup emerged again, he proceeded to throw the contents over the crowd

Panic ensued and as the security guard moved onto the stage to take down this obscene teddy bear, the Asian girl proceeded to unroll the ribbon, getting naked on-stage.

 

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what made you decide to start joyrex.com then continue with watmm.com?

there's some amazing aphex stories you probably have:)  @Joyrex

My Aphex story is I traveled from the US to London for Field Day and just missed getting a record. I went with my cousin who smoked a joint before we left but didn’t have anything on him and still got stopped by security because the drug dog sniffed him. They brought him to a closed off area and I waited around for him for a bit because I thought it would be a quick pat down but he was in there for about two hours. He said there were people smoking in line and tossing all kinds of drugs on the ground. After a while I went up to the merch tent and they were already sold out, which was soul crushing. I assumed they’d have quite a bit left since he sold leftovers from the other shows on his site before. I was too much of a burger to meet up with anyone from here while I waited, though I should have.

Also I thought British people loved queuing but I ended up getting into a verbal altercation with some guy who tried cutting in front of our line at the urinals after I was waiting for like 20-30 minutes to piss. He was standing in between two lines talking to his friend and when he saw the person at the front of my line was distracted he cut in front of her and looked back to his friend and laughed, which infuriated me, so I shamed him until he got back behind his friend. I could've easily gotten my ass kicked but it would've given me an excuse for pissing my pants.

Aphex Twin put on an absolutely incredible show though. I only saw him one other time, in Brooklyn in 2019, and I would definitely make the trip to see him if he plays any other festivals or shows next year. I’d just make sure to get there super early for any potential exclusive records.

  On 9/9/2023 at 7:56 PM, DavieAddison said:

My Aphex story is I traveled from the US to London for Field Day and just missed getting a record. I went with my cousin who smoked a joint before we left but didn’t have anything on him and still got stopped by security because the drug dog sniffed him. They brought him to a closed off area and I waited around for him for a bit because I thought it would be a quick pat down but he was in there for about two hours. He said there were people smoking in line and tossing all kinds of drugs on the ground. After a while I went up to the merch tent and they were already sold out, which was soul crushing. I assumed they’d have quite a bit left since he sold leftovers from the other shows on his site before. I was too much of a burger to meet up with anyone from here while I waited, though I should have.

Also I thought British people loved queuing but I ended up getting into a verbal altercation with some guy who tried cutting in front of our line at the urinals after I was waiting for like 20-30 minutes to piss. He was standing in between two lines talking to his friend and when he saw the person at the front of my line was distracted he cut in front of her and looked back to his friend and laughed, which infuriated me, so I shamed him until he got back behind his friend. I could've easily gotten my ass kicked but it would've given me an excuse for pissing my pants.

Aphex Twin put on an absolutely incredible show though. I only saw him one other time, in Brooklyn in 2019, and I would definitely make the trip to see him if he plays any other festivals or shows next year. I’d just make sure to get there super early for any potential exclusive records.

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You travelled all the way from the US to London to see a fine bitch like Aphex and the best you could do is this boring ass story? 

  On 9/10/2023 at 9:10 AM, Richie Sombrero said:

You travelled all the way from the US to London to see a fine bitch like Aphex and the best you could do is this boring ass story? 

 

He tapped that ass, didn't he

  On 9/9/2023 at 7:56 PM, DavieAddison said:

My Aphex story is I traveled from the US to London for Field Day and just missed getting a record. I went with my cousin who smoked a joint before we left but didn’t have anything on him and still got stopped by security because the drug dog sniffed him. They brought him to a closed off area and I waited around for him for a bit because I thought it would be a quick pat down but he was in there for about two hours. He said there were people smoking in line and tossing all kinds of drugs on the ground. After a while I went up to the merch tent and they were already sold out, which was soul crushing. I assumed they’d have quite a bit left since he sold leftovers from the other shows on his site before. I was too much of a burger to meet up with anyone from here while I waited, though I should have.

Also I thought British people loved queuing but I ended up getting into a verbal altercation with some guy who tried cutting in front of our line at the urinals after I was waiting for like 20-30 minutes to piss. He was standing in between two lines talking to his friend and when he saw the person at the front of my line was distracted he cut in front of her and looked back to his friend and laughed, which infuriated me, so I shamed him until he got back behind his friend. I could've easily gotten my ass kicked but it would've given me an excuse for pissing my pants.

Aphex Twin put on an absolutely incredible show though. I only saw him one other time, in Brooklyn in 2019, and I would definitely make the trip to see him if he plays any other festivals or shows next year. I’d just make sure to get there super early for any potential exclusive records.

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Wheres the bit about them fingermousing your cousin?

My 2 cents on how Aphex came and stayed into my life. 

First thing I heard from him was 4. I was 16 and at my cousin's house playing Rollcage on the PS. When I heard the combination of sounds I was totally blown away. Never had I heard something so chaotic and emotionally touching at the same time. I wanted to listen to it again and again. Will always be grateful to my cousin (who was more like a soulmate) for that, unfortunately he passed away in 2012 before the SC dump... How many times I wished I could've shared that with him. I miss him. And listening to 4 always takes me back to that moment in his room. 

Anyway, since that day Aphex became a bit of an obession. Started to look for all his music I could find. Bought the rdj album on cd, but I have to be honest, I downloaded tons of his music through SLSK/Napster. As a teenager money is a big issue and I'd rather spend it on weed to listen to Aphex together! Don't worry Richard, I made up for all of it since 2014 when I started buying everyting you put out, even doubles at times. 

First time I saw him in concert was 2001 at Pukkelpop under mushrooms. I was flabbergasted, couldn't believe what I had heard, a friend who was with me had to puke out the mushrooms at a certain point and lay down outside the tent. We never knew if it was the mushrooms or the music which caused that reaction 
Next time was 2017 where I walked around with the Vinyl all day long in a goodybag... Even got offered 100 pounds for it that day. 
Saw him at Best Kept Secret this year (Ivan Ooze, wish I'd known you were there would be nice to meet up), had tickets for Dour as well, but unfortunately my mother in law passed away a few days before so had to sell them. Afterwards I heard he played "Lichen" which is like one of my all time fav tracks... Ah well, next time I hope. 

The way his music has been with me through decades is actually unbelievable. No other artist or genre has survived that long with me. 
Also I remember posting on here when Richard's dad passed away and a few months later my own dad passed away. The Brooklyn track on Soundcloud was what I listend to that night... That track will always be tied up to the memory of my dear dad (rip). 

PS: how fucking good is the DeadCode track off the Analords... Just listened to all of it a few days ago, what a trip! 

THANKS RICHARD! Keep them coming please!!! 

  On 9/10/2023 at 9:10 AM, Richie Sombrero said:

You travelled all the way from the US to London to see a fine bitch like Aphex and the best you could do is this boring ass story? 

 

I thought it was (unintentionally but still) hilarious!

I've read it at least three times and it makes me fucking laugh. But then I am the only person in the UK who didn't laugh once at Alan Partridge. And now it's considered the most funny UK show of all time. So I have a strange sense of humour. I even had to watch Partridge at an Aphex show a few weeks ago. Was not fucking impressed.

  On 9/9/2023 at 7:56 PM, DavieAddison said:

My Aphex story is I traveled from the US to London for Field Day and just missed getting a record. I went with my cousin who smoked a joint before we left but didn’t have anything on him and still got stopped by security because the drug dog sniffed him. They brought him to a closed off area and I waited around for him for a bit because I thought it would be a quick pat down but he was in there for about two hours. He said there were people smoking in line and tossing all kinds of drugs on the ground. After a while I went up to the merch tent and they were already sold out, which was soul crushing. I assumed they’d have quite a bit left since he sold leftovers from the other shows on his site before. I was too much of a burger to meet up with anyone from here while I waited, though I should have.

Also I thought British people loved queuing but I ended up getting into a verbal altercation with some guy who tried cutting in front of our line at the urinals after I was waiting for like 20-30 minutes to piss. He was standing in between two lines talking to his friend and when he saw the person at the front of my line was distracted he cut in front of her and looked back to his friend and laughed, which infuriated me, so I shamed him until he got back behind his friend. I could've easily gotten my ass kicked but it would've given me an excuse for pissing my pants.

Aphex Twin put on an absolutely incredible show though. I only saw him one other time, in Brooklyn in 2019, and I would definitely make the trip to see him if he plays any other festivals or shows next year. I’d just make sure to get there super early for any potential exclusive records.

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Hey Davie I love this story. The way it delivered in such a deadpan, world weary way is fucking genius. I dunno it just tickles me. 

time is running out 

It's 11 spetember!!!!

Come on yo guys this contest is awesome! Vote on the afx story that derves the vinyl you think deserves it the most 

I will remove some of my likes so other people get a chance.

Not the dude with the signed bear his wife got him ffs, sorry bro

Dont let me down watmm

one of my favorite gifts from afx:)

vordhosbn run through

  On 9/10/2023 at 9:10 AM, Richie Sombrero said:

You travelled all the way from the US to London to see a fine bitch like Aphex and the best you could do is this boring ass story? 

 

My bad Sombrero bro.