Music Book Review: Aphex Twins: Every Album, Every Song by Beau Waddell

Aphex Twins, Every Album, Every Song
by Beau Waddell (Music 781.66 Aph)

 

Aphex Twin’s (real name Richard D. James) initial run of albums in the 1990s pushed electronic music further in every direction: his “drill & bass” music took the drum & bass style and made it even faster and more expansive. His ambient electronic music laid the foundations for what later became known as IDM, or “intelligent dance music,” and pushed the techno music style toward ambient techno. He brought contemporary classical influences into more club-oriented electronic music styles, while some of his singles and their music videos brought club-oriented music to mainstream pop and rock audiences that were otherwise far away from the rave scenes of the 90s. In the Oughts, he largely disappeared from public view, but upon reappearing in the Teens, it was clear that he had been working hard all the while, and his music from the 2nd portion of his career has continued to astound and influence musicians working in all kinds of styles.

 

Although he’s mentioned in several history books about electronic music in general, we’re in a similar situation as we talked about with alt-pop artist Beck recently when it comes to books about the work of Aphex Twin. To date, there aren’t any biographies, and frankly the first person to try may find the task impossible, as he’s been known to make up all kinds of misleading answers to reporters’ questions. He clearly likes his privacy, and there are even rumors that he has friends answer most of his email-based interviews for him! But like Beck, the “On Track” series of books from Sonic Bond Publishing recently published a book that at least goes over the labyrinthine discography of Aphex Twin with a fair amount of detail. It’s called “On Track…Aphex Twin: Every Album, Every Song,” and you can borrow it from the Polley Music Library.

 

It’s worth noting at the outset that this volume in the “On Track” series features their youngest author yet: Beau Waddell is only 16! Generally, this isn’t a fact that readers are likely to notice while reading the book—the majority of the text is appropriately measured, accurate, and descriptive. Waddell likely has a promising music journalism career ahead of him based on the skill exhibited in this book. I’m not the biggest fan of the very beginning of the book, which features a brief inquiry into the nature of “genius” as it applies to music, but it’s a trope that authors from a wide range of ages try out, to be fair. Like other books in this series, the introduction features a brief biography of Aphex Twin, which is followed by discussions of all of the official releases in his discography.

 

The biography itself does a good job of addressing the known facts around the career of Richard D. James, which really are quite scarce for an artist of such renown. Aphex Twin presents a similar problem to Beck, whose book from this series we talked about recently: both are exceedingly private people who prefer to let their work speak for itself, and both have released large quantities of material over time, some more mainstream and some intended for smaller or more obscure audiences. Waddell also explains the conditions under which he’s not including some Aphex Twin-related recordings: materials that haven’t been officially released are off limits, and recordings comprised of over half remixes will also be disregarded. He does acknowledge that Aphex Twin started a new website in 2017 that features most of his catalog with bonus tracks, and many of these bonus tracks are also discussed with the albums they now supplement.

 

On the whole, Waddell handles this discography very well. While he is confident in mentioning pieces that he regards as the best among the Aphex Twin discography, he also looks at the material with a mature critical approach, and is just as likely to describe more derivative techno tracks sprinkled throughout the catalog as uninteresting. It’s a balanced and nuanced journey through a large number of releases, and if you have a passing interest in getting to know the music of Aphex Twin more, you’ll likely find good listening directions to pursue through this book. While we don’t learn much more about Richard D. James the person through this kind of format, it’s possible that we never will due to his elusive nature, and perhaps that’s okay. The music really does stand for itself.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music edited by Christoph Cox, or Future Sounds by David Stubbs.)

 

( official On Track book series web site )

 

Recommended by Scott S.
Polley Music Library

 

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Check out this, and all the other great music resources, at the Polley Music Library, located on the 2nd floor of the Bennett Martin Public Library at 14th & "N" St. in downtown Lincoln. You'll find biographies of musicians, books about music history, instructional books, sheet music, CDs, music-related magazines, and much more. Also check out Polley Music Library Picks, the Polley Music Library's e-mail newsletter, and follow them on Facebook!