Aphex Twin ‎– Drukqs

This double album was a pretty unique release at the time it was put out. RDJ brings us some of his heaviest drum'n bass tracks while also showing us his talets with a piano that John Cage created. Some of the movements in those piano tracks are pretty artistic. I will say that as far as his drum'n bass tracks go I didn't like them as much as his previous albums. There were some hits though, like, Mt Saint Michel + Saint Michaels Mount and 54 Cymru Beats but I think I'd have rather heard RDJ mix the piano tracks within the drum'n bass, just like he did so very well before.

Drukqs. Oh boy, let me just breathe for a moment.
This record is epic.
It is my favorite RDJ work, because you can feel how much passion he put into it and how mature his sound has grown. It is reminescent of SAW 85-92, yes. And ICBYD. And RDJ Album. And everything that came after Come to Daddy. It is a summary of RDJ's principles of music composition, but it is also so much more than that. The heaviest tracks, the most complex pieces i have ever heard, might sound just that on first listenings: complex. But they aren't really about frenetic drill 'n' bass only. It's the melodies that constantly appear, disappear, develop, the rhythm changes, the subtle details, so many that with each listen you find a new one. Or simply imagine a new one? It's so complex that you lose conscience. It's classical music, not because of the artwork, but because there are moments, happenings, stories, dialogues between sounds and sequences. And the piano tracks! How beautiful all of them. Drukqs would simply be a disaster without them. Besides being some of the most remarkable melodies i have heard coming from a bedroom music producer, they create the breathing moments between the epileptic-like tracks. It's like Yin and Yang. The conquest of balance. Imagine you are trapped inside a piano and suddenly all the pieces come to life and decide to kill you. This is the soundtrack to your attempt to escape.

Whilst I tend to agree with the consensus that this is not RDJ's best output en masse - those that say the piano tracks are forgettable must have a bad memory! For me the standout tracks are the piano tracks, such as Jynweythek, Avril 14th and Nanou 2 - I actually find the typical RDJ tracks less interesting (that's not to say I don't like them) - I am a big fan of SAW II so do enjoy RDJ's ambient work but that said my favourite track is Come To Daddy, so it is not like I am pre-destined to only like the ambient output on this album. There is a lot of prepared piano in the style of John Cage on this album - Jynweythek being a classic example - I think RDJ pulls it off quite well given that it is not a terribly original concept.

Penty Harmonium on the vinyl is Qkthr on the CD (except on the CD acetate version where the title is the same as the vinyl)

Second favorite album behind Geogaddi.

Breathtaking.

Vordhosbn. Mt Saint Michel + Saint Michaels Mount. 54 Cymru Beats.

Holy shit.

That's all I have to say

11/10.

Also, check out Mangle 11 (Circuit Bent V.I.P. Mix) off the Rephlexions compilation. Supposedly a Drukqs outtake and it definitely sounds like one.

Well, it's been nearly ten years. How about another listen?

Highly anticipated, Drukqs came at a time when the IDM sound that RDJ practically invented was growing stale. Unfortunately, I found it to be a huge letdown. Others have noted that it sounds more like a compilation of outtakes than an album of truly original material. I have to sadly agree. As a result, the album seemed to make almost no impact or impression on the IDM scene.

The theme of alternating quieter, shorter piano pieces with bigger, heavier-hitting tracks makes sense on paper. But it fails in practice because the piano tracks are totally forgettable whilst the IDM tracks are too similar. Once you've listened to the whole album (1hr 40min of *work*), there are very few tracks that are memorable. RDJ seems to have been directly influenced by Autechre's directionless waffling back then, turning in such wonders as "ziggomatic v17," which, for all I know, might have been on Confield, Ae's worst.

Moreover, the "good" tracks (and some of them really are great, though not groundbreaking) simply do not carry any of the emotional resonance that defined Aphex's masterpieces like I Care and SAWII. An improved version of Drukqs would collect all the longer tracks and two or three of the better piano pieces. This record had no business being a double album.

Luckily, the Analord series proved that he still had the ability and wherewithal to create interesting, engaging music -- some of which stands among his best work.

Richard D. James' most diverse release. The music styles are diverse, it ranges from IDM to classical piano (recently sampled by Kanye West) and has the most interesting texture, it's very unique. A very broad emotional landscape can be found within this album.

Sadly i own this cd. I had done some research looking for some new cds and noticed that aphex twin was allways poping up. I read some news/history about it and figured id go out and buy a cd. Big Mistake. I love experimental but my god this was bad. It was as if someone with tons of knowldge about electronic music got a 6 pack of honey brown, chugged it and begain slapping things together and calling it a song. After reading about how legendary this guy is i was let down after hearing the cds.

1 out of 5... and thats generous.

Drukqs is a quite unusual album, at least to me. You see, my introduction to RDJ was through the Come to Daddy and Windowlicker EPs. I then became a fan after hearing the Analord and Analogue Bubblebath EPs. So to hear something like Drukqs-- a mixed jumble of rapid speedcore and lovely piano works-- was quite unusual.

However, after listening to a few tracks, I eventually came to like it. It may be a sharp contrast to hear the slow piano tinkling of Avril 14th immediately after the brain-meltingly fast Cock-Ver10, but both those songs have their qualities. The former is not the best piano track on the album (that honor goes to Petiatil Cx Htdui), but it is short, sweet and simple. Cock-Ver10 sounds like Equation sped up by a factor of 15-- rapid, choppy and incredibly noisy.

As the album goes on, the more melodic piano compositions begin to emerge. CD1's closer, Kesson Dalef, is impressively melodic and fast, even if it's only 80 seconds long. Lornaderek is an unusual attempt by James to inject a personal moment into the album-- a phone message of his parents singing "Happy Birthday" to him on his 28th birthday. While only 30 seconds in length, I can't really come to a consensus on whether or not it works. I don't want to be pretentious, so I'll just leave you to decide for yourself if it works. QKThr is another short non-electronic piece that works well. Father is likely the worst piano track on the album, though; it sounds forced and unusually atonal, even though it's less than a minute in length. Thankfully, the album gets back on track with Petiatil Cx Htdui, which is the kind of song you'd play out in your head walking through a desert at night-- slow, melodic, and full of reverb.

As for the speedcore that makes up the rest of the album, it is unusually melodic. Mt Saint Michel + Saint Michaels Mount is ridiculously fast, but it does have a melody reminiscent of something you'd hear on SAW1. Taking Control feels like a rejected track from the Analord series-- the drum machines sound somewhat like Boxing Day off Analord 03.

The album closes with a piano track, Nanou 2, which is sort of okay. The song comprises the piano playing chords with the occasional note, and while they do sound melodic, it moves unusually slow. All in all, it's not a bad song or a good one.

Drukqs seems to have a bad rap among fans. The good songs outweigh the bad ones, though. Overall, Drukqs isn't a "pick up and play" album, but it is worth the buy after three or four listenings.

This album was my first real introduction to IDM/experimental electronica. I was into other electronic music, like Fatboy Slim, Leftfield and Orbital, but when I heard this album for the very first time I suddenly discovered what REAL experimental electronic music was all about.

I remember it clearly when a friend of mine a couple of years ago come into my room with Drukqs in his hand, and said: "Man, you just have to listen at this!" And when the crazy beats of the track "vordhosbn" mixed with a beatiful melody and weird sounds started streaming from my speakers, I was completly blown away! I had never heard anything like it! I thought, "What the hell is this?!". But I fell in love with the music instant.

I wanted more, much more. So I started some research at the web, (and it was this way I discovered Discogs by the way), and I discovered that Aphex Twin was a big (and still is!) electronic artist. Very big. So I decided that I wanted to collect everything he had released. So I did. And soon a completely new world in electronic music started to emerge in front of me. I started to use Discogs frequently, and I discovered other big artists like Autechre (which is now one of my absolutely favourite bands btw), Squarepusher, Boards Of Canada, Bola, Amon Tobin and so on. I discovered how important Warp really have been for electronic music, and I discovered smaller, but of course very important labels like Skam, Rephlex, Ninja Tune and Planet Mu.

So now that's my story how I discovered real experimental electronic music. I still keep discovering great artsists, and labels, that push the genres to limit. When I think I have heard everything, a new artist comes around that just blow me away! I just can't get enough! Maybe someday I will sit down and start to make some electronic music myself, who knows?

But this albumm, Drukqs, and Aphex Twin has a very special place in my heart today. Thank you Richard D. James, and thank you Discogs!

"Thank you for your attention, bye!"