200. Aphex Twin: Melodies from Mars, track 10 (1995)
This comes across like the soundtrack to a ZX Spectrum game that someone forgot to make. Twee, twinkly, but slightly sad too. The Melodies from Mars album is disappointingly thin, but this is one of the better moments on it. Listen.
199. Polygon Window: My Teapot (1994)
One of the first RDJ tracks I ever heard - and certainly one of the most ridiculous. It's Erik Satie played as slapstick. Ill-fitting when put alongside some of the deeply serious music on the Warp compilation Artificial Intelligence II, from which it stems, but interesting all the same. Listen.
198. Aphex Twin: Donkey Rhubarb (1995)
One of RDJ's first attempts at breaking into the mainstream, and a sort of failure really. As the video reveals, it's the music to the teddy bear's picnic, but one where the bears end up fighting each other. The same populist instinct would one day produce Come To Daddy and Windowlicker - with more commercial and musical success. Listen.
197. DJ Pierre: Box Energy (Remix By AFX) (2001)
Remix of 80s acid house artist DJ Pierre - all done very much in the Drukqs style. Where Pierre stays low-key and sparse, RDJ piles on the drama - layering on head-hurting screeches, just for effect. But somewhere beneath all the noise is a troubled, meandering melody.
196. Bradley Strider: Bradley's Beat Part One (1991)
The Bradley Strider records are among the least complex in the RDJ catalogue. Unsurprisingly, they are not on the whole very rewarding - especially if you have spent large amounts of money for the privilege. But this straight-forward techno piece is one of the better things to emerge under the Strider name. Listen.
195. Baby Ford: Normal (Helston Flora remix by AFX) (1998)
James totally ripped apart the original for this weird, disconcerting remix. Certainly not as rich as some of the later remixes, but a model of halting, stuttering acid intensity nonetheless. Listen.
194. AFX: Canticle Drawl (2005)
At under two minutes, it's not the most demanding piece in the Analord series, but it has its own pulsating rhythmic energy that draws you in. Like much of the material in the Analord project, it's not earth-shattering, but after years of silence, it was good to hear from him. Listen.
193. Caustic Window: Pigeon Street (1992)
A short, sharp tribute to a children's TV programme. Inconsequential, throwaway, perhaps - but amid the raw blasts of sonic activity elsewhere on the Caustic Window records, this almost comes over like a warm, gentle breeze. Listen.
192. AFX: Analogue Bubblebath 5, track 2 (1995)
James produced a lot of material in the early 90s - too much material, perhaps. Analogue Bubblebath 5 is one of those records that should probably never have come out. In fact, it almost never did. This track is one of the more interesting pieces on it, however.
191. Aphex Twin: Melodies from Mars, track 12 (1995)
The Melodies from Mars recordings are the missing link between I Care Because You Do and Richard D. James. They often sound like they were never meant to be heard by anyone at all. This track doesn't sound like it was even finished - but is still somehow intriguing. Listen.
190. AFX: Gibbon (1994)
Analogue Bubblebath 4 might just be the worst RDJ release, and the mad, maniacal Elephant a contender for the worst track the Cornish wizard ever produced. Its only saving grace is that it sounds like it's all supposed to be a joke. Elsewhere on AB4, however, the relentless Gibbon manages to divert our attention. Listen.
189. Aphex Twin: Come To Daddy (1997)
After the astonishing productivity of the early/mid 90s period, things went quiet for RDJ until the Come To Daddy EP. It was a brave attempt at commercial success, and seemed to work. Musically, it's never been one of my favourite records, but there's no denying the character of the piece - and the cover is a joy. Listen.
188. Aphex Twin: Melodies From Mars, track 11 (1995)
Another of those tracks that sounds like it was left on the cutting room floor during the Richard D. James recordings, this is a sporadically captivating ditty that sounds as unfinished as most of the Melodies From Mars material. Listen.
187. Mike & Rich: Brivert and Muons (1996)
Another one from the cutting room floor, this track is far better than almost anything else that actually did appear on the funny but frivolously undemanding Mike & Rich album, during the recording of which this was produced. Listen.
186. AFX: Analogue Bubblebath 5, track 1 (1995)
Probably the most memorable of the pieces on this very patchy release, the opener lifts its percussion sound from song five on the Melodies From Mars release. The AB5 record was another that was probably never meant to be heard by anyone but friends, but Rephlex eventually issued it to a few fans after an order glitch. Listen.
185. Nobukazu Takemura: Let My Fish Loose (Aphex Twin Remix) (1995)
One of the strangest pieces of music Richard David James ever produced, this 1995 remix cut to ribbons the original and produced something compellingly odd in its place. James seemed to create a whole new language for himself here, only to then abandon the experiment. Listen.
184. Aphex Twin: Melodies From Mars, track 4 (1995)
Music from the aborted Melodies From Mars album dominates the early stretches of this list. Partly that is because little on the cassette-only release is of lasting distinction. But there are a number of moments on it that, if developed, could really have worked. And this is another of them. Listen.
183. AFX: vbs.redlof.b (2005)
Easily one of the most pacy of the Analord releases, this has an energy that some of the other pieces lack. As the Tuss output later confirmed, despite mostly turning his back on the frantic acid music of the R&S era, RDJ is still a man interested in beats per minute. Listen.
182. AFX: backdoor.spyboter.a (2005)
A much more subdued number altogether than vbs.redlof.b, the simple melodies here are gradually under-written by cold, murky currents of sound. Listen.
181. Mescalinum United: We Have Arrived (Aphex Twin QQT mix) (1992)
There is a case to be made for saying the early Aphex Twin releases are the best things he ever produced. Certainly they are among the most original. The early EPs collated on the Classics compilation revealed a man who was making music totally unlike anything else being put out by his contemporaries. Listen.
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