Richard D. James Album

Richard D. James Album packs impossible drum programming, lush string pads and four-minute run times into a record where the compression is the entire point. Aphex took drill'n'bass to a place nobody's fingers could follow and wrapped it in melody sweet enough to disguise how violent the rhythms are. It's the most concentrated thing he made that decade. It ranks at thirty because it trades range for density, but within that density nothing is wasted.