Funny, I noticed this as well. I think I can safely say it's the first time I disagree with a compositional choice of his.
Sounds fine to me. If you have a problem with it then you'll be disappointed in like a fourth of the RDJ album jees.
Oops, sorry, was wrong then. Better start liking it RIGHT. NOW.
You may be right that this isn't the first time a melody was transformed in a foreseeable way, but this is the first time it bothered me.
Aphex Twin usually means: I don't hear the creator, the music just *is there*. With this melody I heard the process, “Hm, what are we gonna do here, let's cut this note and stretch the others and… yeah, that's alright”. It takes me out of the mood (a mood I never reach with most other musicians).
Sure, sounds nerdy or exaggerated, but it's sort of the standard of way of listening I've come to love so much with his music and it's a bit of a disappointment here.
I would agree with you if the melody in question was the backbone to the entire tune, but you're talking about a melody that is repeated once with a variation on the original theme and then thrown away