Drukqs : Aphex Twin : Review : Rolling Stone

Aphex twin, also known as England's Richard James, was once a pioneer of techno and ambient electronic music, and he made records, particularly 1993's gorgeous Selected Ambient Works 85-92, that changed the course of electronic music. But since then, he has bravely charted a course toward tech-noise and slowly veered into unlistenability. With Drukqs, James delivers his most irrelevant album to date: a double CD, thirty-track compendium of indecipherable song titles, gratuitously weird sounds and occasional wisps of ersatz classical piano that are aimlessly pretty. The moody "Kladfvgbung Micshk" sounds like incidental music for a haunted-house movie by Damien Hirst, but tracks like this inevitably lead to tracks like "Cock/Ver 10," a hyperactive splutter of drum-machine beats and deflating video-game drones. The confused and self-indulgent "Gwarek 2" is a seven-minute soundscape that resembles something that Trent Reznor might have recorded after listening to the Beatles' "Revolution 9," then erased the next day. Among fans of IDM, or Intelligent Dance Music, as this sort of stuff is unfortunately labeled, rumor has it that James merely loaded this record with outtakes that have been eating up space on his hard drive for years, then released the album as a deal-breaker with his label, Warp. Or perhaps the explanation for the incoherence of the album lies in its punny, unfunny title. Either way, he should have never done Drukqs, because his new noise mostly just sounds fukqed up.

PAT BLASHILL
(RS 881 - November 8, 2001)

(Posted: Oct 17, 2001)

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Review 1 of 4

5of 5 Stars

Rolling Stone gave this review a lesser review than G-Unit - T.O.S.

This is an album that might not have the most coherent of melodies nor as many hooks as the most popular music out there, but it this is not a hard album to listen to for me. The mood is here. The ambiance is here. Compare it to Come to Daddy or Windowlicker if you want, but this album stands on it's own.

Jul 5, 2008 21:58:46

Review 2 of 4

5of 5 Stars

This is a challenging but brilliant album. James showcases all his skills as the music vacillates between atmospheric droning, noisy acid, and piano pieces that are reminiscent of Chopin. Like it or not, this guy is a genius and this is the future of music.

Jan 18, 2008 03:37:10

Review 3 of 4

5of 5 Stars

after hearing windowlicker on the radio(2002) i went to the shop with the intent of buying it,the only aphex twin that they had was drukqs.on first hearing drukqs i thought afx was a little mad.the album was a bit fast,and cockver 10 scared the s**t out of me,for i was high on Es and i think i heard the rapist samples subliminallly?the 2nd time was like realizing that if ever there was drug music it was this.i have read some reviews where some say that this is a s**t album how can a man who has made tunes like HELIOSPHAN & WAX THE NIP before this make crap.maybe these critics assume that drukqs is crap because it is loud and varied.what most critics say about things does not put me off for i see for myself if i like,as for drukqs i love it for it was the 1st afx album i heard,and working my way back through his catalogue i see that most critics probably thought it would sound like his previous work

Nov 25, 2007 17:32:45

Review 4 of 4

5of 5 Stars

I'd always been fond of any Aphex Twin I had heard in the past. When I finally decided to buy one of his albums, this one had just come out. I remember not exactly liking this album the first time I heard it, but like most good music, I kept coming back to it.

Many people claim they miss the days of Windowlicker, to which I reply- "What are you smoking?" This album has, admittedly some of the more trying music the man has ever released, but it's also completely beautiful, involving and complex. Yeah maybe it's as unifying as a stag film, it's still ten times better than most of the stuff out there.

If I had to compare this album to other music, I would actually go as far as to say it's like John Zorn's treatment of the work of Ennio Morricone on The Big Gundown, as both albums are extremely bizarre yet listenable. Half the time you won't even recognize just how musical these works are, but the proof is in the pudding. When this album becomes dedicated to memory, it becomes a favorite.

I have to seriously endorse this album as a non-fan considering it was my first album of his with limited knowledge of his previous work and he managed to win me over. If you're into glitch music, prepared piano pieces, or just something to drive at night to, these two discs make for the lovely companions.

(Mt. Saint Michel Mix+St. Michaels Mount is especially enjoyable with headphones.)

Apr 21, 2007 03:55:10

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