Long before Aphex Twin became one of the defining names in experimental electronic music, American composer Ray Lynch was already creating strange, atmospheric electronic sounds of his own. Lynch emerged in the early 1980s and was known for his new age releases, combining synthesizers, ambient textures, and classical composition.
Listening to both artists today reveals an interesting overlap, particularly in how they made electronic music feel futuristic, playful, and deeply emotional. Lynch released his genre-shifting album Deep Breakfast in 1984, which eventually went Platinum in the United States. Its experimentation with electronic music anticipated some of the melodic and atmospheric qualities that would later appear in IDM and modern electronic music.
Richard D. James, or Aphex Twin, emerged commercially years later, pushing ambient, techno, and experimental electronic music into far stranger territory. His 1990s work could be considerably harsher, more rhythmically complex, and more abstract than Lynch’s, but the similarities between the two can still feel uncanny despite their different styles.
Aphex Twin eventually became an icon of electronic music, with his image, albums, and production techniques becoming deeply embedded in modern music. Lynch also achieved substantial commercial success, with Deep Breakfast selling over 1.25 million copies worldwide, but his name remained much more closely associated with the new age scene of the 1980s and 1990s.
The strangest overlap between the two artists came on GTA IV’s Liberty City radio station The Journey, which is the ambient and chill station featured in the game. Aphex Twin appears with the piece commonly known as “Z Twig,” from Selected Ambient Works Volume II, while Lynch appears with his 1984 composition “The Oh of Pleasure.”
Ray Lynch passed away on December 22, 2025, and his overlooked influence on electronic music makes his story a unique one. He was more than just “the Aphex Twin before Aphex Twin,” representing a completely different side of electronic music that never received the same recognition. Their unexpected overlap on GTA IV’s radio station makes the story even stranger, highlighting the unlikely connection between two very different artists.
By Ed Roobi