About

If you’re familiar with the works of Richard D. James, you’ll know that the man’s a bit of an oddball – in fact, he’s quite possibly one of the most eccentric minds of this generation. In his adolescence, James dabbled in software coding and modifying electronic equipment as a hobby, and began creating music with his array of modified samplers, synthesisers and tape machines at the age of 12. By the time he was 14, James had started utilising his modified machines and 8-bit computers to record a unique form of music that fused pounding techno rhythms, soaring synth pads, pulsating sequences of ambient noise and reverb-heavy samples from an array of films to create his beloved debut LP: Selected Ambient Works 85-92. 

Aphex Twin proved that electronic music wasn’t just music for nightclubs. Perhaps it could have soul, and stimulate unique discussion. Maybe it could invoke feelings in people without all the negative, drugged-up connotations it was associated with. Maybe it was even the sound of the future after all.

A nauseous sonic odyssey that fuses James’ digitally processed vocals with wonky drum rhythms, rolling snares,  a deceptively simple synthesiser chord progression and oddball samples before concluding in an ecstatic wall of distortion, it’s difficult to place a finger on what’s just so special about ‘Windowlicker.’

Some elements of the track sound incredibly organic and warm, while other parts simply sound cold and sterile – a contrast which seems to be a recurring theme throughout Aphex Twin’s music. It’s almost as if an alien from outer space was explained the fundamentals of manmade music and then created an electronic track without ever listening to one prior.

In a nutshell, ‘Windowlicker’ essentially packages everything great about Aphex Twin’s output from the ’90s into one track, and its impact was instant. In the year of its release, NME crowned ‘Windowlicker’ as the best single of 1999, and Pitchfork later ranked it above the likes of Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ in its Top 200 Tracks Of The ’90s, while the song peaked at number 16 on the UK Singles Charts. — (via Mixdown)

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Label: Warp Records
Format: Vinyl, 12", 45 RPM, Single, Reissue
Country: UK
Released: Dec 2023 / Original Release: 1999
Genre: Electronic
Style: Abstract, Electro, Experimental, IDM, Glitch, Breakbeat
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File under: Electronic / Leftfield