"
Windowlicker" is a 1999
singleIn music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats.-History:...
by
electronic musicElectronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
artist
Richard D. JamesRichard David James , aka Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born English electronic musician described by The Guardian newspaper as "the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music." He founded the record label Rephlex Records in 1991 with his friend Grant Wilson-Claridge.-Early...
, released under the
Aphex TwinRichard David James , aka Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born English electronic musician described by The Guardian newspaper as "the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music." He founded the record label Rephlex Records in 1991 with his friend Grant Wilson-Claridge.-Early...
name on
Warp RecordsWarp, commonly referred to as Warp Records, is a pioneering independent English record label, founded in Sheffield in 1989, notable for discovering some of the most enduring artists in electronic music....
. The single reached #16 in the
UK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record industry. The full chart contains the top 200 singles based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 of this list...
.
The name of the single comes from the derogatory British term "windowlicker", meaning a mentally handicapped person. The term is also a direct English translation of the French term
faire du lèche-vitrine, meaning "window shopper", a second meaning played up in the song's video.
The artwork for the single was created by
Chris CunninghamChris Cunningham is an English music video film director and video artist. He was born in Reading, Berkshire in 1970 and grew up in Lakenheath, Suffolk....
, with additional work by
The Designers RepublicThe Designers Republic was a graphic design studio, founded on 14 July 1986 by Ian Anderson, and based in Sheffield, England. It was known for its anti-establishment aesthetics, while simultaneously embracing brash consumerism and the uniform style of corporate brands, such as Orange and Coca-Cola...
.
"Windowlicker" consists of James's voice modulated on computer, mixed with his trademark
breakbeatBreakbeat is a term used to describe a collection of sub-genres of electronic music, usually characterized by the use of a non-straightened 4/4 drum pattern...
snare rushSnare rush is a term often used in intelligent dance music culture to refer to impossibly fast rolls. A snare rush can vary in tempo considerably, from 16th notes to even 2048th notes. At that sort of speed, the effect is a buzzing sound, but with a detectable pitch, so some artists vary the repeat...
es, drum
samplesIn music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song. This is typically done with a sampler, which can be a piece of hardware or a computer program on a digital computer. Sampling is also...
, and mixed
choirA choir, chorale, or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together is called a choir or chorus...
-like singing, resulting in a smooth yet erratic song, its last minute escalating into an extremely distorted wall of bass.
"
Windowlicker" is a 1999
singleIn music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats.-History:...
by
electronic musicElectronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
artist
Richard D. JamesRichard David James , aka Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born English electronic musician described by The Guardian newspaper as "the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music." He founded the record label Rephlex Records in 1991 with his friend Grant Wilson-Claridge.-Early...
, released under the
Aphex TwinRichard David James , aka Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born English electronic musician described by The Guardian newspaper as "the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music." He founded the record label Rephlex Records in 1991 with his friend Grant Wilson-Claridge.-Early...
name on
Warp RecordsWarp, commonly referred to as Warp Records, is a pioneering independent English record label, founded in Sheffield in 1989, notable for discovering some of the most enduring artists in electronic music....
. The single reached #16 in the
UK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record industry. The full chart contains the top 200 singles based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 of this list...
.
The name of the single comes from the derogatory British term "windowlicker", meaning a mentally handicapped person. The term is also a direct English translation of the French term
faire du lèche-vitrine, meaning "window shopper", a second meaning played up in the song's video.
The artwork for the single was created by
Chris CunninghamChris Cunningham is an English music video film director and video artist. He was born in Reading, Berkshire in 1970 and grew up in Lakenheath, Suffolk....
, with additional work by
The Designers RepublicThe Designers Republic was a graphic design studio, founded on 14 July 1986 by Ian Anderson, and based in Sheffield, England. It was known for its anti-establishment aesthetics, while simultaneously embracing brash consumerism and the uniform style of corporate brands, such as Orange and Coca-Cola...
.
Background
"Windowlicker" consists of James's voice modulated on computer, mixed with his trademark
breakbeatBreakbeat is a term used to describe a collection of sub-genres of electronic music, usually characterized by the use of a non-straightened 4/4 drum pattern...
snare rushSnare rush is a term often used in intelligent dance music culture to refer to impossibly fast rolls. A snare rush can vary in tempo considerably, from 16th notes to even 2048th notes. At that sort of speed, the effect is a buzzing sound, but with a detectable pitch, so some artists vary the repeat...
es, drum
samplesIn music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song. This is typically done with a sampler, which can be a piece of hardware or a computer program on a digital computer. Sampling is also...
, and mixed
choirA choir, chorale, or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together is called a choir or chorus...
-like singing, resulting in a smooth yet erratic song, its last minute escalating into an extremely distorted wall of bass. Also included is a sample of James's
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
then-girlfriend speaking in her native tongue saying
J'aime faire des croquettes au chien, translating to "I love making dog nuggets".
The single has two b-sides. Track two, commonly known as "[Formula]" or "[Equation]" due to its actual title being a complex mathematical formula (see track listing), has a very
experimentalExperimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-twentieth century, particularly in North America, and whose most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
sound. Track three, "Nannou", dedicated to his then-girlfriend, is made up of wind-up music box samples.
Viewing a
spectrogramA spectrogram is an image that shows how the spectral density of a signal varies with time. Also known as spectral waterfalls, sonograms, voiceprints, or voicegrams, spectrograms are used to identify phonetic sounds, to analyse the cries of animals, and in the fields of music, sonar/radar, speech...
of the second track reveals hidden images of James' face that were apparently synthesized as sound by Aphex Twin for the express purpose of being discovered in this manner. It is one of the few instances of an artist "embedding" images into his music (see also: Interlace -
Innuendo,
Venetian SnaresVenetian Snares is the main performing alias of Canadian electronic musician Aaron Funk .From Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Funk is known for making electronic music often in odd numbered time signatures...
-
Songs About My CatsSongs About My Cats is a 2001 glitchcore album by Venetian Snares. It is also his first solo album on the Planet Mu label ....
,
Nine Inch NailsNine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
-
The WarningYear Zero is the fifth studio album by American industrial rock act Nine Inch Nails, released on April 16, 2007, by Interscope Records. Frontman Trent Reznor wrote the album's music and lyrics while touring in support of the group's previous release, With Teeth...
and
My Violent HeartYear Zero is the fifth studio album by American industrial rock act Nine Inch Nails, released on April 16, 2007, by Interscope Records. Frontman Trent Reznor wrote the album's music and lyrics while touring in support of the group's previous release, With Teeth...
) . A spectrogram of the first track, "Windowlicker", also reveals a spiral at the end of the song. This spiral is more impressive when viewed with an X-Y scatter graph, X and Y being the amplitudes of the L and R channels, which shows expanding and contracting concentric circles and spirals.
The effect was achieved through use of the Mac based program
MetaSynth. This program allows the user to insert a digital image as the spectrogram. MetaSynth will then convert the spectrogram to digital sound and "play" the picture. According to an article on the website
Wired NewsWired News is an online technology news website, formerly known as HotWired, that split off from Wired magazine when the magazine was purchased by Condé Nast Publishing in the 1990s. Condé Nast purchased Wired News on 11 July 2006...
, photographs run through the program tend to produce "a kind of discordant, metallic scratching".
Music video
The
music videoA music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music/song. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. Although the origins of music videos go back much further, they came into their own in the...
for "Windowlicker" is a ten-minute long
parodyA parody , in contemporary usage, is a work created to mock, comment on, or poke fun at an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of contemporary
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
gangstaGangsta rap is a subgenre of hip hop that reflects the violent lifestyles of some inner-city youths. Gangsta is a non-rhotic pronunciation of the word gangster. The genre was pioneered in the mid 1980s by rappers such as Schooly D and Ice T, and was popularized in the later part of the 1980s by...
hip-hopHip hop music is a musical genre which developed alongside hip hop culture, and is commonly based on concepts of loop, rapping, freestyle, DJing, scratching, sampling and beatboxing. The music is used to express concerns of political, social, and personal issues...
music videos. In the video, two
foul-mouthedObscenity , is a term that is most often used in a legal context to describe expressions that offend the prevalent sexual morality of the time...
young men (a
LatinoThe demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American or Spanish-speaking descent."* "A Latin American."...
and an
African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. In the United States, the terms are generally used for Americans with at least partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry...
) in
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
are window shopping for prostitutes (referred to in the end credits as hoochies); the French term for window shopping is
faire du lèche-vitrine, which literally translates to licking the windows. Suddenly, a ridiculously long white
limousineA limousine is a luxury sedan or saloon car, especially one with a lengthened wheelbase or driven by a chauffeur. The chassis of a limousine may have been extended by the manufacturer or by an independent coach builder. These are referred to as "stretch" limousines and are traditionally black or...
(38 windows in length, including driver's window) crashes into the two men's black Mazda Miata (MX5)
convertibleA convertible is a type of automobile in which the roof can retract and fold away, converting it from an enclosed to an open-air vehicle. Many different automobile body styles are manufactured and marketed in convertible form....
, and a "
pimped-outA pimp, also called a fleshmonger or pander, finds and manages women who might be vulnerable and susceptible, for whatever reason, to extreme manipulation and engages them in prostitution in order to profit from their earnings...
" Richard D. James, displaying a surreal amount of wealth and power, emerges with his signature fixed grin. The two women, among others, accompany James in his limousine while their faces
morphMorphing is a special effect in motion pictures and animations that changes one image into another through a seamless transition. Most often it is used to depict one person turning into another through technological means or as part of a fantasy or surreal sequence. Traditionally such a depiction...
into James' own likeness, and are later joined by women with deformed faces. The video was directed by
Chris CunninghamChris Cunningham is an English music video film director and video artist. He was born in Reading, Berkshire in 1970 and grew up in Lakenheath, Suffolk....
, who also directed the infamous music video of Aphex Twin's "
Come to DaddyCome to Daddy is a 1997 EP by electronic music artist Richard D. James, commonly known as Aphex Twin. "Come to Daddy, Pappy mix" — often simply called "Come to Daddy" — is one of Aphex Twin's best-known songs...
" in 1997.
There are 127 uses of
profanityThe original meaning of the adjective profane referred to items not belonging to the church, e.g...
in the dialogue segment of the video (which is under 4 minutes), including 44 uses of the word
fuckFuck is an English word that is generally considered profane, that in its most literal meaning refers to the act of sexual intercourse. However, by extension it may be used to negatively characterize anything that can be dismissed, disdained, defiled, or destroyed, and it is due to the convergence...
. This averages to more than one use of profanity every two seconds.
The video was released as a VHS single, containing both uncut and censored versions (the latter being referred to as the "Bleep Version").
The promo was nominated for the Best Video award at the
BRIT AwardsThe Brit Awards, often simply called The Brits and stylized as The BRIT Awards, are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British" or "Britannia", but has subsequently become a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...
2000, alongside videos by
SupergrassSupergrass are an English alternative rock band from Oxford. The band consists of brothers Gaz and Rob Coombes , Danny Goffey , and Mick Quinn ....
,
The Chemical BrothersThe Chemical Brothers are the English electronic music duo Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons...
,
Fatboy SlimNorman Quentin Cook , also known by the stage name Fatboy Slim, is a British DJ, big beat musician, record producer and pioneer of the electronic dance genre which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s...
, and eventual winner
Robbie WilliamsRobert Peter Williams, better known as Robbie Williams is a BRIT Award-winning English British singer-songwriter. His career started in 1989, at the age of 15, as a dancer and singer with the pop band Take That. He left the band in 1995 to launch his solo career...
.
The full "Windowlicker" video is restricted to being broadcast only during the nighttime on most music television channels. A
bleeped-outA bleep censor is the replacement of verbal profanity with a beep sound , in television or radio. It is mainly used in the UK, the U.S., Canada, Australia and Japan.-History of use:...
version of the video exists, and MTV Two even made a daytime version, with all the opening dialogue removed (the censored version starts with the arrival of the limousine) and some of the video's more shocking images are also removed. In 2008,
MTV Networks EuropeMTV Networks Europe is a division of MTV Networks International, a subsidiary of Viacom. MTV Networks Europe includes the multimedia entertainment brands: MTV, VH1, TMF, VIVA, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and Game One. MTV Networks Europe is primarily based in London and Warsaw while also hosting a...
was fined by media regulator
OfcomThe Office of Communications or, as it is more often known, Ofcom, is the independent regulator and competition authority for the communication industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established in the enabling device, the , but received its full authority from the Communications...
for several breaches of its broadcasting code, including airing the uncensored version of the "Windowlicker" video before the 9PM
watershedThe Watershed is a term used to describe a time in television schedules which divides the period when it is permissible to show television programmes which have 'adult content' from the period when it is not...
.
Track listing
All tracks written, produced and engineered by
Richard D. JamesRichard David James , aka Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born English electronic musician described by The Guardian newspaper as "the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music." He founded the record label Rephlex Records in 1991 with his friend Grant Wilson-Claridge.-Early...
. The original single was released on
12-inchThe 12-inch single gramophone record came into existence with the advent of disco music in the 1970s. The first 12" single was actually a 10" acetate used by a mix engineer in need of a Friday night test copy for famed disco mixer Tom Moulton. As no 7" acetates could be found, a 10" blank was...
, two separate
CDA Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store sound recordings exclusively, but later it also allowed the preservation of other types of data. Audio CDs have been commercially available since October 1982...
s, a special edition Japanese CD and VHS.
CD1 and 12-inch vinyl
WAP105CD/WAP105
- "Windowlicker" – 6:07
- "" – 5:43
- "Nannou" – 4:13
- Track two is commonly referred to as "[Equation]" or "[Formula]".
CD2
WAP105CDR
- "Windowlicker (Original Demo)" – 2:37
- available on the bleep.com
Bleep is an online digital music retailer offering single track or whole album DRM-free mp3 and FLAC downloads. It is a subsidiary of Warp Records.In November 2008, Bleep merged with Warpmart, which had been Warp's store for physical releases....
release of "Windowlicker"in mp3.http://www.bleep.com/current_item.php?selection=WAP105_DM
- The "Windowlicker" video is also included in QuickTime
QuickTime is a multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, media clips, sound, text, animation, music, and interactive panoramic images. It is available for Mac OS classic , Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows operating systems...
format.
Japanese version
WPCR-10328
- "Windowlicker" – 6:04
- "" – 5:43
- "Nannou" – 4:22
- "Windowlicker (Demo Version)" - 1:57
- "Windowlicker (End-Roll Version)" - 1:07
Other information
- "Windowlicker, Acid Edit" is a remix in the acid techno
Acid techno is the term used to describe a style of techno that developed out of late 1980s Chicago Acid house. Acid house was essentially house music made with a specific sound, obtained by using very distinctive instruments created mainly by Roland, such as the TB-303 for bass and lead sounds,...
style, available on the remix compilation 26 Mixes for Cash26 Mixes for Cash is a compilation album of remixes produced by Richard D. James for various artists, plus four original tracks...
.
- Other promotional material included a 5" calendar featuring images from the video, and an authentic jewelled Aphex Twin logo necklace (a replica of the one worn in the video).
- The single was named NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music magazine in the United Kingdom which has been published weekly since March 1952. It was the first British paper to include a singles chart, which first appeared in the 14 November 1952 edition. The magazine's commercial heyday was during the 1970s when it...
's Single of the Year 1999 in its year-end charts. Richard James sent NME the following missive in acceptance:
- Smart! Thank you very much for voting for my track/s. I've had a very good year as usual, although it was very intense, getting on a really big roll, writing new stuff constantly, really looking forward to isolating myself next year even more! Hope everyone has a totally boring New Year's party, overdoses on everything and chokes on their own vomit on the bathroom floor, make sure you lie face down just before you pass out!
- Signed, Pritchad.g.kraymes.
- Samples of "ΔMi−1 = −∂Σn=1NDi[n][Σj∈C{i}Fji[n − 1] + Fextin−1" can be heard on the song "54 Cymru Beats" from James's 2001 album Drukqs
drukqs is a 2001 double album by electronic musician Richard D. James, released under his most frequently used pseudonym, Aphex Twin...
.
- A sample of Windowlicker was featured in the movie Grandma's Boy
Grandma's Boy is an American comedy film produced by Adam Sandler's production company Happy Madison in 2006. The film stars Allen Covert, who also co-wrote and co-produced, and Linda Cardellini....
.
- The heavily distorted outro was sampled in Episode 11 (Series 6) of the British
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
television show TopGear for a segment featuring the Lamborghini Murcielago. Video on TopGear.com/UK BBC
- A remixed version of "Windowlicker", entitled "WINDuckyQuaCKer", appears on V/VM
V/Vm is the experimental music and sound collage project of James Leyland Kirby, from Stockport, England. Although starting out mainly in the style of noise music, Kirby is also a composer of original electronic music and remixes. His vast output is released primarily on his own V/Vm Test Records...
's HelpAphexTwin/1.0 (2001) and HelpAphexTwin 4.0 (2003).
- "Windowlicker" has been used on many adverts, notably for Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of luxury automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. It is currently a division of the parent company, Daimler AG , after previously being owned by Daimler-Benz...
and occasionally on promos for NickelodeonNickelodeon is an American cable television channel owned by Viacom. Since the mid-1990s and early 2000s Nickelodoen as a brand has expanded into other territories including Europe, the Middle-East, Russia and Asia.It is often referred to by its shortened name, Nick, a practice that dates back to...
.
External links