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13:02:99 10:10:14
Finally a WINDOWLICKER REVIEW DAMMIT!!
Aphex Twin Lightens Up With
Latest Video
Techno artist keeps low profile at party to premiere clip
for 'Windowlicker.'
Contributing Editor James Finlayson reports:
LONDON -- Fans of maverick techno artist Aphex Twin came from as far
away as Finland to see the premiere of his "Windowlicker" video -- and
hear
the song for the first time -- in a West End bar Thursday night.
And they weren't even guaranteed a chance of seeing Aphex Twin (a.k.a.
Richard James) himself. In fact, it's unlikely any did.
He was scheduled to play a late-night set, but as of midnight was nowhere
in sight. All the night's DJs, including Plastikman, were hidden behind
the
large screen on which the video was projected.
But that was OK with Alex Lambley, 25, who came to the
premiere. "It's one of the best videos I've ever seen," she said.
Chris Cunningham, who directed Aphex Twin's videos (he also did Madonna's
"Frozen"), said he deliberately gave "Windowlicker" a lighter tone than
the video for the
artist's "Come to Daddy" (RealAudio excerpt). This one, which Cunningham
said he
shot in Miami for about $200,000, features a host of swimsuit-clad women
with Aphex
Twin faces and a dance routine with Aphex Twin umbrellas.
"It was just like an attempt to make something that was the opposite [of
'Come to
Daddy']," Cunningham said. He joked that its main theme is "birds with
beards."
The "Windowlicker" single is due March 22 in the U.K. on Warp Records.
There's no
release date yet for the video. A spokesperson at Aphex Twin's U.S.
label, Sire, couldn't be reached
Friday (Feb. 12) for information on a U.S. release.
Large lines formed outside the building all evening for the chance to see
the follup-up to a video that
featured a horde of rampaging children with Aphex Twin faces terrorizing
a housing estate.
Once inside, the packed crowd roared with laughter at the video's first
screening, during which the Aphex
Twin was said to be stationed somewhere behind the screen.
For three hours after the first screening, Plastikman (born Richie
Hawtin) mixed hard-techno songs with
'70s and '80s pop tunes, including Roxy Music's "Angel Eyes," Michael
Jackson's "Thriller" and Soft
Cell's "Tainted Love."
Then the video was shown again, at 11:30 p.m., and the response was even
better, with the alcoholically
refreshed crowd sitting on the dance floor and laughing in fits.
Most of the audience was male, which perplexed Kate Hutchins, 30, a
marketing manager.
"I love this sort of music, but what is it about this sort of thing that
just attracts boys?" she asked. "I
don't understand."
[ Fri., February 12, 1999 7:38 PM EST ]
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