I've been listening to Aphex Twin for about a decade now. I was wondering if many other metalheads did too. I've never explored much electronic music, always used to be at most just metal bands that experiment with electronic music and Kraftwerk. But a friend way back showed me the Selected Ambient Works CD's and I've been hooked ever since. His music satisfies my smaller appetite for electronic music. Anyone have a favorite release? I'm a big fan of Syro, but all of it is incredible. I have a harder time with the more schizo-sounding tracks, but I also appreciate the variety and contrast they add to the moodier, ambient sounding ones. Interesting music videos too.

Yeah, it was Selected Ambient Works II that got me listening to him. I haven't listened to his work in a while. Really hit and miss for me. I recommend his Mike & Rich Expert Knob Twiddlers collaboration with Mike Paradinas. Also, the work of Mike Paradinas in general.

I find Aphex Twin inconsistent and too stylistically varied honestly. His latest Syro being a clear example of that. Some of his best music seems to be made with the intention of parodying other genres, eg: Come To Daddy was a pisstake on metal. Come To Daddy possibly his most well known and most liked song is essentially a one off with next to none of his other music reflecting it (to a lesser extent Window Licker and much lesser in Mini Pops).

Despite this there is still wide variety to enjoy, with songs like Crying In Your Face, Alberto Balsalm, D-Scape, Pitcard, etc scattered throughout his albums. The melody of these songs are instantaneous and defined.

He waited far too long to make and release Syro and what's there is passable but pretty lacklustre, it mainly can be enjoyed because it's better and more inspired than most in the same musical field. If only he was more defined in his musical direction and not so sporadic with bleeps and bloops off something clearly great underneath.

I've never become a full on fan, but there have been some tunes o that I've really loved over the years. 'Crying in your face' was mentioned above. I really like 'On', 'Didgeridoo', 'Window Licker' and 'Quoth' which he made under the alias Polygon Window.

The Window Licker video is just something else. I too was a but disappointed with Syro. I only listened to it once and wasn't moved to revisit it. I read something in a magazine years and years ago where he spoke about DJing at some children's event and playing Industrial music and this little kid was just standing gawping at him in the booth in wonder. I thought that was funny.

I try every now and then but the only Aphex Twin tracks I've found I like are from the Selected Ambient Works but I really like that album, (haven't heard as much from the second and I've only heard them from streaming so I've yet to own them).

Selected Ambient Works 85–92 and Drukqs are my favorite Aphex Twin albums. I can agree that Richard D. James's discography as a whole is varied and inconsistent at the expense of experimentation. It's very rewarding to sift through records and discover hidden gems scattered throughout his career. I've had the same experience with Amon Tobin's work.

I've been a massive Aphex fan since hearing his stuff under various pseudonyms on the John Peel show in the early 90s, in fact he is probably one of my all-time favourite artists ever. That being said, I do agree that his output has been inconsistent. Whilst I love everything he released pre-95/96, after this he switched to a more hyperactive digital sound that does little for me. I rarely listen to the "Richard D James" and "Drukqs" albums, though the recent material seems to appeal to me a bit more.

But the early 90s albums and EPs are some of my most-played releases ever. SAW 1 & 2, Analogue Bubblebath 3, the Polygon Window and Caustic Window stuff, all classic albums. And when the "lost" 1994 Caustic Window LP surfaced a couple of years ago it was like a gift from the gods, more excellent music from my favourite Aphex period.

Huge Aphex / ambient techno fan here, though I came somewhat late to the party in early 2014. I actually think Syro is great - I didn't care for it at first but that's largely because I approached it thinking it would be a direct continuation of the druqks-ish breakbeat insanity. It's really a great relaxing album for driving/walking/chilling when you want something a bit more engaging than the first SAW but still pleasant on the ears.

That said, I have been a bit disappointed with the post-Syro EPs of Computer Controlled and Cheetah. Hopefully he's just clearing out some backlogs and will get back to producing stuff on the level of his LPs soon.