Perhaps inspired by the experimental drum’n’bass being created bySquarepusher(a recent signee to his Rephlex label),Richard D. James‘ third major-label album asAphex Twinwas his first to work with jungle — though, to his credit, he had released the breakbeat EP Hangable Auto Bulb almost a year earlier. Contemporaries Orbital and Underworld were beginning to incorporate moderate use of drum’n’bass in their work as well, but this album was more extreme than virtually all jungle being made at the time. The beats are jackhammer quick and even more jarring considering what is — for the most part — laid over the top: the same fragile, slow-moving melodies that characterizedAphex Twin‘s earlier ambient works. Most overtly disturbing is “Milkman,” the first straight-ahead vocal track fromAphex Twin; the song is a child-like ode that gradually deteriorates into a bizarre fantasy concerning the milkman’s wife. With all theAphex Twin’s curious idiosyncracies, though,Richard D. JamesAlbum is a very listenable record and a worthy follow-up to I Care Because You Do.

Tracklisting

1. 4
2. Cornish Acid
3. Peek 824545201
4. Fingerbib
5. Carn Marth
6. To Cure A Weakling Child
7. Goon Gumpas
8. Yellow Calx
9. Girl/Boy Song
10. Logan Rock Witch