Aphex Twin (aka Richard D James) has just released his first album for a decade. Syro has been met with critical acclaim and widespread joy from his fan base. But describing his unique work has proved mightily difficult for music journalists. Just as James manipulates, moulds and invents sounds, critics similarly butcher and twist the English language in their attempts to capture what it’s like to sit in a dark room and immerse yourself in the Aphex Twin experience.
We’ve scoured the web and hand picked the best (or worst) phrases employed by music critics so the next time you want to have a pretentious discussion about ‘intelligent dance music’ you can look and sound the part.
Happy culture dropping!
“Have you heard Aphex Twin’s unabashedly gorgeous throwback to some sort of idyllic forest-nymph rave? It’s like eating rainbows” – The Acid Tripper
“I would argue it’s not a reimagining of Aphex Twin as he sounded in the nineties but a re-creation of the nineties as heard through the filter of his work” – The Confuser
“Who knew the unhinged bacchanalia of the id and the celestially sensitive composer could exist simultaneously in the same man?” – The Freudian
“Personally, I find his rhythmic DNA shares chromosomes with John Bonham” – The Traditionalist
“Didn’t you just love the way each track comes dripping with the unfathomable?” – The Obfuscater
“It feels like being fucked by an adrenaline shot” – The Say-it-how-it-iser
“His sound is the metronomic rhythm of artificial light, fusing the human spirit with wires and metal” – The Stoner
WTF?!