Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), known professionally as Aphex Twin,[1][2][a] is a British musician, composer and DJ active in electronic music since 1988.

[3][4][5] His idiosyncratic work has drawn on many styles, including techno, ambient, acid, and jungle,[11] and he has been described as a pioneering figure in the intelligent dance music (IDM) genre.

[b] Journalists from publications including Mixmag, The New York Times, NME, Fact, Clash and The Guardian have called James one of the most influential and important artists in contemporary electronic music.

[27] His debut EP Analogue Bubblebath, released in 1991 on Mighty Force Records, brought James an early following; he began to perform across the UK and continental Europe.

His 1992 debut album Selected Ambient Works 85–92, released by Belgian label Apollo, garnered wider critical and popular acclaim.

[32] He became interested in making sounds before writing music, and as a child he played with the strings inside his family piano and disassembled tape equipment.

[42][43] James states that he bought his first synthesizer at age 12 and after taking an interest in electronics would modify analogue synthesisers "and junk" to make noise.

[39] James began making music aged 14,[32] partially as a refuge from the "bloody awful" Jesus and Mary Chain albums played by his sister.

[32] James claimed to have been making music with similarities to acid and techno for years before hearing the genres, leading him to purchase every record he could find in the styles.

"[33] In the late 1980s, James became involved in the Cornish free party scene, putting on raves at "secret coves along the coast and behind sand dunes".

[51] The EP made the playlist of Kiss FM, an influential London radio station, giving it wide exposure in the dance music scene.

[58] The first full-length Aphex Twin album, Selected Ambient Works 85–92, comprised material dating back to James's teen years.

He commissioned Western classical-music composer Philip Glass to create an orchestral version of the ...I Care Because You Do track "Icct Hedral", which appeared on the Donkey Rhubarb EP.

Will Hermes of Spin discussed James's use of jungle elements, writing that "by applying junglist strategies to his own obsessive sound creation - his gorgeous weirdo palette of modernist strings, whirring crib toys, and agitated machines - he remakes drum'n'bass in his own image".

[5][83] In 2001 Aphex Twin released Drukqs, an experimental double album featuring abrasive, meticulous programming and computer-controlled piano influenced by Erik Satie and John Cage.

This same year, James began working with the visual artist Weirdcore for graphics for his live shows, debuting at Bloc Festival in Minehead.

It was marketed by a teaser campaign including graffiti, a blimp flown over London, and an announcement made via a .onion address accessible through the darknet browser Tor.

[109] The EP was announced on 5 August in a garbled press release written in broken English and visually distorted with the same Aphex Twin 3D graphic found in London, Turin and Hollywood.

Speculations of James's return started after a mysterious website featuring the Aphex Twin logo inside of the word "London" was discovered by fans.

[6] In 2014 review in the Financial Times, Ludovic Hunter-Tilney described James as a "musical maverick" noted for "yoking different elements together in unpredictable formulations" and blending "hard beats and uncanny tones; difficult abstraction and populist melodies".

[135] Writing in The Guardian in 2001 Paul Lester identified James's lineage as "electronic greats" including Karlheinz Stockhausen, John Cage, Kraftwerk, Brian Eno, and Derrick May.

[21] Prior to becoming a producer, James spent his teens modifying analogue synthesisers and became "addicted to making noises," only later becoming "interested in listening to other people's stuff".

[139] In a 1993 interview, Simon Reynolds noted that James had only recently explored avant-classical and left-field rock artists including Cage, Stockhausen, Eno, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, and Can, and had spent a couple of years "catching up" on other genres outside techno and house.

[140] When James began programming faster, jungle-inspired breakbeats in the mid-1990s, he named friends and fellow musicians Luke Vibert and Tom Jenkinson as influences.

[149] The series features James's recordings as Polygon Window and early productions from artists including Autechre, Black Dog, Richie Hawtin's FUSE project and Speedy J.

[150] Another image of James and collaborator Tom Jenkinson is embedded (in SSTV format) with text in the third track of 2 Remixes by AFX, "Bonus High Frequency Sounds".

[133] Rolling Stone described James as a "hugely influential electronic musician whose ambient washes of sound and freakishly twisted beats have gone on to inform artists of all genres.

"[155] AllMusic's John Bush wrote that "unlike most artists who emerged from the '90s techno scene, James established himself as a genuine personality, known for his cheeky grin and nightmare-inducing music videos as much as his groundbreaking albums and EPs," which helped to "expand his audience from ravers and critics to rock fans, with numerous non-electronic musicians citing him as an inspiration".

[156] Artists including Steve Reich,[157] Wes Borland of Limp Bizkit,[158] Skrillex,[159] Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park,[160] Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante,[161] Matty Healy of the 1975,[162] Kevin Parker of Tame Impala,[163] C418, and Nick Zammuto of the Books[164] have expressed admiration for Aphex Twin or cited him as an influence.

[36] He falsely claimed in a 2001 interview to have bought the steel structure in the centre of the Elephant Square roundabout, though this is in fact the Michael Faraday Memorial which houses an electricity substation for the London Underground.