"Come to Daddy came about while I was just hanging around my house, getting pissed and doing this crappy death metal jingle. Then it got marketed, and a video was made, and this little idea that I had, which was a joke, turned into something huge. It wasn't right at all."
When I think of Richard D. James, the mastermind behind one of the most influential and important modern electronic acts, I think of what you would call insanity. Photos of him never prove wrong either, as he tends to look like a lunatic on the brink of... sanity? He creates and experiments with synthesizers and computers, one of the first artists to do so constantly. Yet, while his music is primarily electronic, it all the while retains a mystical,
musical feel to it...
That was a load of bull***, just so you know.
Most of the songs on
Come On Daddy are frighteningly creepy songs, ones that would frighten you if you happened to hear them echoing through a lonely, dark forest as you try to escape the grasp of a murderer. "Come to Daddy (Pappy Mix)" is the best representation of this, with swirling noise and distorted screaming of "I want your soul/I will eat your soul" and "Come to daddy". The song is a chilling, industrial freak-out that would scare even the bravest of souls if they found themselves in such a horrendous situation as I have previously described. It, like many other songs on
Come to Daddy, is full of complex polyrhythms and odd samples of whatever this disturbed man deems fit for what can be chilling, cold music. This is not to say that this album is all an industrial acid-washed freakout. Actually, there are quite a few tracks that feature gentle melodies and quite a bit softer beats than on the (somewhat) title track. "Flim" is a great example of this, with a beautiful piano loop that ruins throughout, along with the semi-usualy Aphex Twin beats that one may come to expect.
The other installments in the "Come to Daddy" series are very different than what most people assume as the title track of the album. Interesting enough (lies!), "Come on Daddy (Little Lord Faulteroy Remix)" contains the funniest samples on the album, with a high-pitched voice singing "ooh you dirty, dirty boy" with the typical techno/trip-hop music going on in the backround. The rest of the album, though, isn't very interesting. Yes, I said it, Aphex Twin have made music that isn't really that great. Besides a few odd beats and samples, the rest of
Come on Daddy is a boring, drudging piece of electronica. At times, it becomes abrasive, making it even harder to listen to than it was before. Soon enough, the eletronic noises become sterile and cold, completely lifeless. This is exactly what the second half of the album is, besides the wonderful "IZ-US," another keyboard-washed, complex-beat song. Though most of the songs run along the same "formula," there is a good amount of variety to keep oneself interest for a good period of time.
It's best just to zone out, anyway.
