History Trivia / AphexTwin

* IKnewIt: In 2014, he finally owned up to being behind The Tuss. Although credited initially to Brian and Karen Tregaskin, the BMI Repertoire lists James as the songwriter/composer.

* AscendedFanon: None of the tracks on ''Selected Ambient Works Volume II'' actually have titles (apart from "Blue Calx"). But the fanon titles are now often used by download and streaming services.

* BlackSheepHit: "Windowlicker," when it was released. [[SubvertedTrope Over the years, however]], he has made more music in its style (like his work as The Tuss and ''Music/{{Syro}}''), making it more of a NewSoundAlbum.
* CreatorBacklash:

* GodNeverSaidThat: The story of ''Selected Ambient Works 85–92'' having its less-than-optimal sound quality because a cat had mangled the master tape. John Bush's Allmusic review of the album is where that inference is first made, and then it went on to be accepted as fact by the fandom at large. However, an interview with James in the April 1993 issue of ''Future Music'' reveals the ([[UnreliableNarrator most likely]]) actual cause:

* ReclusiveArtist: He makes few details of his life public and often tours under multiple aliases, mainly because he wants listeners to judge his music on it's own merits without them getting caught up in his personal mythology. The most intimate details he's made public about himself is that he has two sons and has been married twice, his current wife being a Russian art student (which would explain the Russian samples in ''Syro'').

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: On August 7th, 2018, Creator/AdultSwim was scheduled to air a promotional video for a ''Collapse'' track, but due to the track's music video containing potentially epilepsy-triggering visuals, the plan fell through.

* BadExportForYou: The vinyl reissues of ''Music/SelectedAmbientWorksVolumeII'', ''…I Care Because You Do'' and ''Music/RichardDJamesAlbum'' on 1972 Records. They each took the CD pressing and slapped it on a vinyl, leading to inferior quality and, in the case of ''SAWII'', used the US CD pressing, which omitted two of the songs from the original vinyl itself.

* NamesTheSame: As if it needed to be said, no, he's not the same Richard D. James that was the production designer for ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' and ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]].''

* {{Defictionalization}}: A modified version of the umbrella from the "Windowlicker" video[[note]]It contains the face of the bucktoothed woman on the interior of the umbrella.[[/note]] and small plush versions of the Rhubears from "Donkey Rhubarb" are available in James' online merch store.

* BadExportForYou: The vinyl reissues of ''Music/SelectedAmbientWorksVolumeII'', ''…I Care Because You Do'' and ''Richard D. James Album'' on 1972 Records. They each took the CD pressing and slapped it on a vinyl, leading to inferior quality and, in the case of ''SAWII'', used the US CD pressing, which omitted two of the songs from the original vinyl itself.
* BlackSheepHit: "Windowlicker", when it was released. [[SubvertedTrope Over the years, however]], he has made more music in its style (like his work as The Tuss and ''Music/{{Syro}}''), making it more of a NewSoundAlbum.

** Probably the best example is the ''Caustic Window'' album. James had ''finished'' the album and was slated for a 1994 release but was cancelled for unknown reasons. The album never saw the light of day and there was no copies to [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes pass around]] as they were very limited (at best said to exist only ''five'') until 2014 when a copy was put on music site Discogs. The forum We Are the Music Makers negotiated with Rephlex Records to launched a successful Kickstarter to get the album and release a downloadable release of it. The sole copy itself was sold on ebay (and the money split between the Kickstarter contributors, Richard, and a contributor called Doctors Without Borders) and was bought by none other than [[VideoGame/{{Minecraft}} Notch]] for $46,300.

* PromotedFanboy: The music video for "[=CIRKLON3=] [Колхозная mix]", his first official one in over 17 years, was directed by a 12-year-old Dubliner fan named Ryan Wyer who had caught Richard's eye with his videos, many of them being fan-vids set to his music. Despite their small viewcounts, he was so captivated that he commissioned Wyer and gave him full creative control over the video.

** Richard describes "Come to Daddy" as an intentionally ridiculous "death metal jingle" he wrote as a joke while drunk, and admitted to being uncomfortable with the amount of attention it received.
** Video director Creator/ChrisCunningham also considers the promo for "Come to Daddy" to be nowhere near as good as it could have been, because it was done too cheaply and too fast.

* IKnewIt: In 2014 he finally owned up to being behind The Tuss. Although credited initially to Brian Tregaskin and Karen Tregaskin, the BMI Repertoire lists James as the songwriter/composer.

* GodNeverSaidThat: The story of ''Selected Ambient Works 85–92'' having its less-than-optimal sound quality because a cat had mangled the master tape. It originated from John Bush's Allmusic review of the album in which he makes that inference, and then it being accepting as fact. However, an interview with James in the April 1993 issue of ''Future Music'' reveals the actual cause:

* BigNameFan:
** Infamous comedian Creator/ChrisMorris is a notable fan of Aphex Twin, as he used a few tracks from ''Music/SelectedAmbientWorksVolumeII'' for his sketch show ''{{Series/Jam}}''. Even better, Richard once cited that he was one of his favourite comedians.
** Comedian [[Series/TheSmellOfReevesAndMortimer Vic]] [[Series/ShootingStars Reeves]] picked "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIeA2ct5Sew Bucephalus Bouncing Ball]]" as one of his favourite records on ''Radio/DesertIslandDiscs'', and was interviewed on the BBC Radio 4 documentary ''The Cult of Aphex Twin''.
** Music/{{Skrillex}} cites Aphex Twin as a main influence in his sound. He's a huge fan of him, and some of his all-time favorite songs are by him (including "Flim").
** In a similar vein, Music/Deadmau5 has cited him as one of his biggest musical heroes. When his album ''while (1 < 2)'' lost its Grammy nomination to Aphex's ''Syro'', he took to his Facebook to [[GracefulLoser gladly accept the loss and congratulate Richard]].
** Music/KanyeWest can also be assumed to be one, given he sampled "Avril 14th" (albeit without James's consent) on "Blame Game", from his album ''Music/MyBeautifulDarkTwistedFantasy''.
** Ninja from Music/DieAntwoord has the Aphex Twin logo tattooed on his arm, and he and Yo-Landi also sampled Aphex Twin's "Ageispolis" for their song "Ugly Boy." The song's music video also contains a person with a "Windowlicker"-esque mask of Richard's face.
** Music/DaftPunk cited him as an influence, specifically via "Windowlicker".
** Thom Yorke of Music/{{Radiohead}} has voiced his respect for him and how his opening Yorke up to the world of {{electronic music}} influenced the sound of albums such as ''Music/KidA''; however, Richard reportedly dislikes the band.
** Music/LimpBizkit's Wes Borland stated that he would choose either "Cliffs" or "Rhubarb" if he had to listen to only one song for the rest of his life.
** Music/JohnFrusciante called him "the best thing since sliced bread", and Richard's sound can be heard through several of Frusciante's electronic endeavors.
** Creator/DavidFirth scored many of his early animations with Aphex Twin music; perhaps most famously, he used "Rhubarb" recurringly throughout his breakout series ''WebAnimation/SaladFingers'', as well as "Avril 14th". He even produced an unofficial - and infamously gory - video for the track "Milk Man".
** [[Music/{{OFWGKTA}} Frank Ocean]] has made multiple references to James in his music. His song "Provider" contains the line "Stiff smile just like I'm Aphex Twin" (promptly followed by an ad-lib name-dropping "Come to Daddy"), cited "aisatsana" and the Caustic Window song "Garden of Linmiri" among his all-time favorite songs, and was spotted wearing a "Come to Daddy" promotional shirt in public.
** Creator/AzizAnsari is an outspoken fan of Richard's work, [[https://twitter.com/azizansari/status/507669925909897216?lang=en tweeting his excitement]] to the release of "[=minipops67=]" and eventually using multiple Aphex songs in his series ''Series/MasterOfNone''.

* ReclusiveArtist: Definitely, particularly with regard to touring under different aliases. Much like artists such as SBTRKT, Richard has said that he does this in order to let people judge the music on its own merits, without the baggage of having his most well-known alias attached to it. As a result, not ''a lot'' of people know about his personal life, aside from the fact he has two sons and has been married twice, his current wife being a Russian art student (which would explain the Russian samples in ''Syro'').

** Creator/DavidFirth scored many of his early animations with Aphex Twin music; perhaps most famously, he used "Rhubarb" recurringly throughout his breakout series ''WebAnimation/SaladFingers'', as well as "Avril 14th". He also infamously produced a gory unofficial video for the track "Milk Man".

** Creator/DavidFirth scores many of his animations with Aphex Twin music; perhaps most famously, he used "Rhubarb" recurringly throughout his breakout series ''WebAnimation/SaladFingers'', as well as "Avril 14th".

** The time he persuaded a journalist that he lived in the windowless building in the centre of the Elephant and Castle roundabout in London (it's actually an electrical substation for the London Underground).

** In a similar vein, Music/deadmau5 has cited him as one of his biggest musical heroes. When his album ''while (1 < 2)'' lost its Grammy nomination to Aphex's ''Syro'', he took to his Facebook to [[GracefulLoser gladly accept the loss and congratulate Richard]].

** Video director Chris Cunningham also considers the promo for "Come to Daddy" to be nowhere near as good as it could have been, because it was done too cheaply and too fast.

** Ninja from Music/DieAntwoord has the Aphex Twin logo tattooed on his arm, and he and Yo-Landi also sampled Aphex Twin's "Ageispolis" for their song "Ugly Boy."

* CreatorBacklash: Richard describes "Come to Daddy" as an intentionally ridiculous "death metal jingle" he wrote as a joke while drunk, and admitted to being uncomfortable with the amount of attention it received.

** Comedian [[Series/TheSmellOfReevesAndMortimer Vic]] [[Series/ShootingStars Reeves]] picked "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIeA2ct5Sew Bucephalus Bouncing Ball]]" as one of his favourite records on ''Radio/DesertIslandDiscs''.

** Music/KanyeWest can also be assumed to be one, given he sampled "Avril 14th" (without James's consent) on "Blame Game", from his album ''Music/MyBeautifulDarkTwistedFantasy''.

* BlackSheepHit: ''Windowlicker'' when it was released. Over the years, however, he has made more music in its style (like his work as The Tuss and ''Music/{{Syro}}''), making it more of a NewSoundAlbum.

** Probably the best example is the ''Caustic Window'' album. James had ''finished'' the album and was slated for a 1994 release but was cancelled for unknown reasons. The album never saw the light of day and there was no copies to [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes pass around]] as they were very limited (at best said to exist only ''five'') until 2014 when a copy was put on music site Discogs. The forum We Are the Music Makers negotiated with Rephlex Records to launched a successful Kickstarter to get the album and release a downloadable release of it. The sole copy itself was sold on ebay (and the money split between the Kickstarter contributors, Richard, and a contributor called Doctors Without Borders) and was bought by no other than [[VideoGame/{{Minecraft}} Notch]] for $46,300.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: On August 7th, 2018, Creator/AdultSwim was scheduled to air a ''Collapse'' track, but due to the track's music video containing potentially epilepsy-triggering visuals, the plan fell through.

* OneOfUs: Rich has said in one interview that he is a fan of ''VideoGame/TotalAnnihilation''.

** Music/KanyeWest can also be assumed to be one, given he sampled "Avril 14th" (without James's consent) on "Blame Game", from West's ''Music/MyBeautifulDarkTwistedFantasy''.

** [[Music/{{OFWGKTA}} Frank Ocean]] has made multiple references to James in his music. His song "Provider" contains the line "Stiff smile just like I'm Aphex Twin" (promptly followed by an ad-lib name-dropping "Come to Daddy"), and he has cited "aisatsana" and the Caustic Window song "Garden of Linmiri" among his all-time favorite songs.

* BlackSheepHit: ''Windowlicker'' when it was released. Over the years, however, he has made more music in its style (like his work as The Tuss and ''Syro''), making it more of a NewSoundAlbum.

** Probably the best example is the ''Caustic Window'' album. James had ''finished'' the album and was slated for a 1994 release but was cancelled for unknown reasons. The album never saw the light of day and there was no copies to [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes pass around]] as they were very limited (at best said to exist only ''five'') until 2014 when a copy was put on music site Discogs to which the album appeared, where forum We Are the Music Makers negotiated with Rephlex Records and launched Kickstarter to get the album and release a downloadable release of it, which was successful. The sole copy itself was sold on ebay (and the money split between the Kickstarter contributors, Richard, and Doctors Without Borders) and was bought by no other than [[VideoGame/{{Minecraft}} Notch]] for $46,300.

** Comedian [[TheSmellOfReevesAndMortimer Vic]] [[Series/ShootingStars Reeves]] picked "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIeA2ct5Sew Bucephalus Bouncing Ball]]" as one of his favourite records on ''Radio/DesertIslandDiscs''.

** Comedian [[TheSmellOfReevesAndMortimer Vic]] [[ShootingStars Reeves]] picked "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIeA2ct5Sew Bucephalus Bouncing Ball]]" as one of his favourite records on ''Radio/DesertIslandDiscs''.