The Aphex Twin top 200 - 140 - 121

140. Aphex Twin: Cow Cud is a Twin (1995)

I Care Because You Do is, I think, a refrain derived from a Boots advert. Which is about right for the madcap James. This piece features more such silliness. It starts with him slamming his door as he records himself performing and ends in a straight-forward trip-hop groove. The same song appears redone on the Ventolin EP. Listen.

139. Polygon Window: Supremacy II (1992)

Is Surfing on Sine Waves the most secretive Aphex album? I never see it in the shops, its under a pseudonym he never really used again, and it sounds nothing like the average AFX record. Maybe so. All the same, secret or not, the album - his first for Warp, I think - is a success. Listen.

138. AFX: Bwoon Dub (2005)

Moody and low key, this is at the earnest end of the Analord spectrum. Develops into something rather beautiful as chunky, creepy Inner City-esque synths are weaved into the mix. Listen

137. AFX: Home Made Polysynth (2005)

Strange and spiky. As one youtuber puts it, music to be played by evil scientists in the year 4000. Listen.

136. AFX: .000890569 (1993)

Taking the obvious approach is not something we often see from James, but he decided to let his hair down with this euphoric breakbeat rave anthem. He must have thrown the hoover sample in at the start to keep it real. Listen.

135. Aphex Twin: Carn Marth (1996)

Frantic, jittering, explosive antics from AFX on this all-out sonic joyride, which seems to lift its melody from one of the pieces on Debussy's Children's Corner Suite. Listen.

134. AFX: Steppingfilter 101 (2005)

One of those tracks that gets Aphex nuts asking difficult technical questions about reverb. Not too interested in how the track was made - just the scrunchy, squelchy outcome. Listen.

133. Aphex Twin: D-Scape (1993)

Brittle, brooding, alienating techno, Aphex-style. One of the least talked about pieces James wrote in this period, but deserves more attention. Listen.

132. AFX: Where's Your Girlfriend? (2005)

Mysterious title, dense, elusive piece of music. Listen.

131. AFX: Backdoor.Ranky.S (2005)

Bleak acid - bleak ode on desolation. And a bleak, distressing note on which to end the Analord series. Listen.

130. AFX: .1993841 (1993)

Horrifyingly good early beat masterpiece. Hard to say that much happens, but when the material is this good, I'm not sure it matters. Sounds a little like On, but played to chill the spine. Listen.

129. Aphex Twin: Delphium (1992)

All the tracks at the tail-end of SAW 1 sound like elements in the periodic table, but that's fine by me. This is probably not right up there with some of the truly brilliant tunes on the album, but it's a lovely little number all the same. Listen.

128. Aphex Twin: Gwely Mernans (2001)

The sort of thing you might play at night in your room while watching lightning crack the sky. Listen.

127. Aphex Twin: Digeridoo (1992)

Began the Aphex Twin mania that in many ways persists to this day. Which is odd, as this is far from the best piece RDJ put out in the early days. Has its own very distinct idiom, though, which James would build upon in the years immediately afterwards. Listen.

126. Aphex Twin: Strotha Tynhe (2001)

Is this derivative John Cage? Or is it somehow powerful and interesting in its own right? I'm not sure ultimately what James has really brought to piano music, but this is a troubled, brooding piece. Listen.

125. Caustic Window: Joyrex J4 (1992)

The sonic sledgehammer that sums up the Caustic Window period. Part feverish acid techno jam, part dark and desperate dirge. Listen.

124. Aphex Twin: Tassels (1994)

Time will I think show that Selected Ambient Works 2 is James' highpoint, one of the undisputed masterpieces of the late 20th century. Nothing matches it in the RDJ ouevre for uniqueness of vision and for so radically departing from established modes. And Tassels - such an odd piece of music - sums that up as much as anything on the record. Listen.

123. AFX: .0180871L (1993)

Scrambled acid madness - pure idiomatic Aphex. Even a silly project to merge the track with another AB3 one on a different speaker can't tamper with its power. Listen.

122. AFX: PWSteal.Ldpinch.D (2005)

More despondent Analord dejection - but this time with a thrusting rhythm track thrown in. Listen.

121. Caustic Window: Garden of Linmiri (1992)

Haunting, harrowing piece with a blistering drum section. Undercut with one of the last tracks on AB3, this is one of the finest pieces from the Caustic Window era - and easily the most devastating. Listen.