Does Aphex Twin have a new album? (2012 update)

(See a 2014 album update here.)

As 2012 gets into its crotch-stretching stride, it's time for an update on that perennial concern: a new album from Aphex Twin.

Let's start with Yahoo Answers, in which someone called Adam asked if he was the "only one who has come to the conclusion that the perfect release date for the next album is the decade anniversary of Drukqs?"

He was the only one. The anniversary came and went.

And then we have a poorly translated interview with Richard D James in El Pais. Here Señor Twin says he has nearly twice as many albums of material than the half dozen he'd mentioned a year previously.

Also there is the tiresome speculation from yours truly, in which he does not have a new album (Feb 2009), he does have a new album (Mar 2009), he may or may not have a new album (Dec 2009), he has six new albums (Nov 2010), he does have a new album (Nov 2010), he doesn't have a new album (Nov 2010) and he distracts us with teddy bears (May 2011).

Three years of speculation. Three years of cattle plop.

And so I asked Grant Wilson-Claridge, the co-founder of Rephlex Records and a man to whom us electronic music buffs owe a great debt. Loads of people hit my site looking for the latest on a new album from Aphex, I said. Where are we at?

"90% of chat and news on the internet is speculation and assumption, some of it sticks and is wrongly accepted as fact by many, a little bit of it may be fact, some of that pure coincidence," Grant told Fat Roland On Electronica this week.

At this point, I wondered if I should attack my site with a massive eraser. I try to be responsible but sometimes I need to watch what I say, such as in the sixth point on this post about Rephlex here.

Grant continues: "Richard, as with the other 60-odd Rephlex artists, continues to record and has tons of unreleased tracks.

"There is tons of great music around but it generally requires hunting out, some by celebrities, some not, some by celebrities under pseudonyms."

And there you have it. Rephlex Records had three albums in my top ten of last year. More than any other label, they are pushing what it means to be bleepy. I'd encourage you to dig around on the site for stuff you haven't heard before.

In conclusion, then, let's not be lazy, let's ignore the speculation and enjoy the sparkly new music that's all around us.

Wait a minute.

Rewind.

"...some by celebrities under pseudonyms."

I think I have my new blog exclusive. I can reveal, for the first time on the internet, that chatty comedian Alan Carr is Rephlex artist Dave Monolith. That Kerry Katona is the brains behind Wisp. And have you ever seen Richard D James and the Hairy Bikers in the same room together...?

I think we should be told.

*locks away the Aphex album file for another year*

Further Fats: The Gospel According To Aphex Twin