Richard D. James is one wild and scary guy - just take a look at the controversial videos for Windowlicker or Come To Daddy, and you'll wince while you laugh. Under the nomme de guerre of The Aphex Twin, James creates challenging, coruscating sounds for a paranoid age, cheerily dancing on the jagged, extreme edges of electronica.
Hailing from the rustic environs of Cornwall, James started messing with bleeps and beats as a teenager; by the mid-1990s, he had established himself as Britain's leading electro experimentalist, alternating between disquieting ambient sounds and ferocious, discombobulating techno. The videos, directed by Chris Cunningham, were deemed too strong for daytime TV, but have won a clutch of awards. Last November, James declared to the media that he wanted to quit the music business, so catch this rare Irish appearance just in case he wasn't joking. He's doing a DJ set tomorrow at the Temple Bar Music Centre.
