My 2 cents on how Aphex came and stayed into my life.
First thing I heard from him was 4. I was 16 and at my cousin's house playing Rollcage on the PS. When I heard the combination of sounds I was totally blown away. Never had I heard something so chaotic and emotionally touching at the same time. I wanted to listen to it again and again. Will always be grateful to my cousin (who was more like a soulmate) for that, unfortunately he passed away in 2012 before the SC dump... How many times I wished I could've shared that with him. I miss him. And listening to 4 always takes me back to that moment in his room.
Anyway, since that day Aphex became a bit of an obession. Started to look for all his music I could find. Bought the rdj album on cd, but I have to be honest, I downloaded tons of his music through SLSK/Napster. As a teenager money is a big issue and I'd rather spend it on weed to listen to Aphex together! Don't worry Richard, I made up for all of it since 2014 when I started buying everyting you put out, even doubles at times.
First time I saw him in concert was 2001 at Pukkelpop under mushrooms. I was flabbergasted, couldn't believe what I had heard, a friend who was with me had to puke out the mushrooms at a certain point and lay down outside the tent. We never knew if it was the mushrooms or the music which caused that reaction
Next time was 2017 where I walked around with the Vinyl all day long in a goodybag... Even got offered 100 pounds for it that day.
Saw him at Best Kept Secret this year (Ivan Ooze, wish I'd known you were there would be nice to meet up), had tickets for Dour as well, but unfortunately my mother in law passed away a few days before so had to sell them. Afterwards I heard he played "Lichen" which is like one of my all time fav tracks... Ah well, next time I hope.
The way his music has been with me through decades is actually unbelievable. No other artist or genre has survived that long with me.
Also I remember posting on here when Richard's dad passed away and a few months later my own dad passed away. The Brooklyn track on Soundcloud was what I listend to that night... That track will always be tied up to the memory of my dear dad (rip).
PS: how fucking good is the DeadCode track off the Analords... Just listened to all of it a few days ago, what a trip!
THANKS RICHARD! Keep them coming please!!!