Richard D. James Album
Encyclopedia
Richard D. James Album is an electronic
album by Aphex Twin
, whose real name is Richard David James. It was released on Warp Records
in 1996. The work features use of software synthesizers and unusual beats
. It is his fourth official full-length album
. The album garnered high acclaim from music critics, and was named 40th in Pitchfork Media
's "Top 100 Albums of the 1990s" list. It was also placed #55 on NMEs Top 100 Albums of All Time in 2003.
. "To Cure a Weakling Child" was used in a high-profile UK TV advertising campaign for the mobile phone company, Orange
. The song "4" was used in a US government anti-drug advertisement spot, as well as an advertisement in the United States for the Special Olympics. "Girl/Boy Song" was used in a Bank of America commercial, and in 2010 an acoustic guitar version was used in a UK TV advert for SMA Gold System. In addition, a remix of Logan Rock Witch was among the many bootleg remixes of Aphex Twin that V/Vm
did as part of his Helpaphextwin series. The song "Beetles" is used in the film Shot List.
Many critics reviewed the album, Pitchfork Media
quotes "The Richard D. James Album is 43.5 minutes of pure electronic genius" A review by the Chicago Sun-Times
' Jim DeRogatis
said of the album: "James has turned inward for inspiration, painting aural pictures of real and imagined scenes from his West Country
childhood." Jason Fine of Rolling Stone
commented on the album as "combining jolting beats, pristine melodic fragments and random noises into elegant – if at times unnerving – futuristic pop". He also commented "Not all of Richard D. James goes down easy", explaining that there is "menace lurking beneath the jerking beat of "Peek 824542,01"."
In 2009 covers of "Milkman" and "To Cure a Weakling Child" were performed by Born Ruffians
for the Warp20 (Recreated)
compilation.
.
" is frequently, albeit incorrectly, referred to as "Corn Mouth", mainly due to James' poor handwriting. The track is named after a hill in Cornwall
, in the United Kingdom
. Logan Rock
is also a famous rock located in Cornwall, and is sometimes misspelt (due to the writing on the back) as "Logl/Rock Witch" or "Logon Rock Witch". Goon Gumpas
is a village located near Redruth
. The tracks "INKEY$" and "Peek 824545201" are named after keywords in the Spectrum's Sinclair BASIC
programming language
.
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
album by Aphex Twin
Aphex Twin
Richard David James , best known under the pseudonym Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born electronic musician and composer described as "the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music"...
, whose real name is Richard David James. It was released on Warp Records
Warp Records
Warp, commonly referred to as Warp Records, is a pioneering independent British record label, founded in Sheffield in 1989, notable for discovering some of the more enduring artists in electronic music....
in 1996. The work features use of software synthesizers and unusual beats
Beat (music)
The beat is the basic unit of time in music, the pulse of the mensural level . In popular use, the beat can refer to a variety of related concepts including: tempo, meter, rhythm and groove...
. It is his fourth official full-length album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
. The album garnered high acclaim from music critics, and was named 40th in Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
's "Top 100 Albums of the 1990s" list. It was also placed #55 on NMEs Top 100 Albums of All Time in 2003.
Media attention and reception
Songs from the album were used on several different television adsAdvertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
. "To Cure a Weakling Child" was used in a high-profile UK TV advertising campaign for the mobile phone company, Orange
Orange SA
Orange is the brand used by France Télécom for its mobile network operator and Internet service provider subsidiaries. It is the fifth largest telecom operator in the world, with 210 million customers . The brand was created in 1994 for Hutchison Telecom's UK mobile phone network, which was...
. The song "4" was used in a US government anti-drug advertisement spot, as well as an advertisement in the United States for the Special Olympics. "Girl/Boy Song" was used in a Bank of America commercial, and in 2010 an acoustic guitar version was used in a UK TV advert for SMA Gold System. In addition, a remix of Logan Rock Witch was among the many bootleg remixes of Aphex Twin that V/Vm
V/Vm
V/Vm is the experimental music and sound collage project of James Leyland Kirby, from Stockport, England. Although starting out mainly in the style of noise music, Kirby is also a composer of original electronic music and remixes. His vast output is released primarily on his own V/Vm Test Records...
did as part of his Helpaphextwin series. The song "Beetles" is used in the film Shot List.
Many critics reviewed the album, Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
quotes "The Richard D. James Album is 43.5 minutes of pure electronic genius" A review by the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
Jim DeRogatis
James "Jim" DeRogatis is an American music critic and co-host of Sound Opinions. DeRogatis has written articles for magazines such as Spin, Guitar World and Modern Drummer, and for fifteen years was the pop music critic for the Chicago Sun-Times.He joined Columbia College Chicago as a full-time...
said of the album: "James has turned inward for inspiration, painting aural pictures of real and imagined scenes from his West Country
West Country
The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region. It is often defined to encompass the historic counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset and the City of Bristol, while the counties of...
childhood." Jason Fine of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
commented on the album as "combining jolting beats, pristine melodic fragments and random noises into elegant – if at times unnerving – futuristic pop". He also commented "Not all of Richard D. James goes down easy", explaining that there is "menace lurking beneath the jerking beat of "Peek 824542,01"."
In 2009 covers of "Milkman" and "To Cure a Weakling Child" were performed by Born Ruffians
Born Ruffians
Born Ruffians, formerly known as Mornington Drive, are a Canadian indie rock band formed in 2004, originally from Midland, Ontario, located near Georgian Bay. They are currently signed to Warp Records. The members are Luke Lalonde , Mitch Derosier and Steven Hamelin...
for the Warp20 (Recreated)
Warp20 (Recreated)
Warp20 is a compilation album released by Warp Records in 2009. It contains covers of Warp artists, such as Aphex Twin, LFO, Boards of Canada and Grizzly Bear by other Warp artists, such as Plaid, Autechre and Mira Calix.-Track listing:...
compilation.
Track listing
The American, Canadian, and Australian versions of this album contain the following five extra tracks that had previously been released in the UK as the b-sides of the Girl/Boy EPGirl/Boy EP
Girl/Boy is a 1996 EP by the electronic music artist Richard D. James commonly known as Aphex Twin. It features songs where, for the first time, Richard D. James has sung his own lyrics. "Milkman" through "Girl/Boy " were also featured as bonus tracks on the US release of Richard D. James Album...
.
Song titles
"Carn MarthCarn Marth
Carn Marth is the name of a hill in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, near Redruth. It is high, and is well known for the granite quarried from it in the past.-Geography and history:...
" is frequently, albeit incorrectly, referred to as "Corn Mouth", mainly due to James' poor handwriting. The track is named after a hill in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Logan Rock
Logan Rock
The Logan Rock near the village of Treen in Cornwall, England, UK, is an example of a logan or rocking stone. Although it weighs some 80 tons, it was dislodged in 1824 by a group of British seamen, intent on showing what the Navy could do...
is also a famous rock located in Cornwall, and is sometimes misspelt (due to the writing on the back) as "Logl/Rock Witch" or "Logon Rock Witch". Goon Gumpas
Goon Gumpas
Goon Gumpas is a settlement in west Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated two miles east of Redruth in a former mining area at ....
is a village located near Redruth
Redruth
Redruth is a town and civil parish traditionally in the Penwith Hundred in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It has a population of 12,352. Redruth lies approximately at the junction of the A393 and A3047 roads, on the route of the old London to Land's End trunk road , and is approximately west of...
. The tracks "INKEY$" and "Peek 824545201" are named after keywords in the Spectrum's Sinclair BASIC
Sinclair BASIC
Sinclair BASIC is a dialect of the BASIC programming language used in the 8-bit home computers from Sinclair Research and Timex Sinclair...
programming language
Programming language
A programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms precisely....
.
Charts
| Year | Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
62 |
| 1997 | U.S. Heatseekers Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical... |
20 |
External links
- More info, artwork and samples
- Complete Aphex Twin discography
- Richard D. James Album at the Warp Records discography (features audio clips).