“I felt violated, like my soul was violated…” Five of Aphex Twin’s stranger musical moments

A video has been circulating on social media the past couple of days of an EDM fan recalling her experience as she wandered into “this people called Aphex Twins” at Coachella.

“It’s a weird-ass vibe. It’s not your typical Dillon Francis, Diplo vibe,” our narrator explains, as she goes on to describe a particularly mind-melting moment where she hears “crying, and babies crying, and screaming”.

“It’s these people called Aphex Twins” 😭 pic.twitter.com/G6aygIiaFL

— arj (@shempiii) April 27, 2019

As Twitter users have observed, her review, albeit unintentional, is pretty bloody accurate.

“I felt violated, like my soul was violated,” she concludes.

With that in mind, and in the spirit of frying EDM enthusiasts’ tiny little minds, 909originals presents five of Aphex Twin’s (aka Richard D James) more surreal musical moments.

Milkman

From Girl/Boy EP, released in 1996, this track sees the Twin lusting after “milk from the milkman’s wife’s tits”, atop a glitched-up nursery rhyme melody. Oh Richard…!

Krzysztof Penderecki – Threnody To the Victims of Hiroshima (Aphex Interpretation)

As one Reddit user points out, this track is pretty much a catalogue of craziness, with high pitched wails, lashings of white noise and “moments of eerie calm before the next wave of horribleness”.

Come To Daddy ( Little Lord Faulteroy Mix)

All together now: “Oh, you dirty little boy, dirty little boy.., Oh, you dirty little boy, dirty little boy..”

David Bowie – Heroes (Aphex Twin Remix)

Taken from Aphex Twin’s 26 Mixes for Cash album, released in 2003, this is Bowie at arguably his most unsettling, with Aphex borrowing from Philip Glass’ orchestral version of the track, and peppering it with haunting, discordant vocal snippets. Terrifying.

Rubber Johnny

A short film collaboration between Aphex and Chris Cunningham, once viewed, Rubber Johnny can’t be unseen… even though you sometimes wish it could be. The Guardian praised its “virtuosic grossness”, stating there is “just no room for the viewer to contact their own demons”. Bonkers, but brilliant.

Soul? Violated. 🙂

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