Drukqs

Here we are with quite possibly, the deepest and most dense Aphex album to date. A true masterpiece, this one. Not my favorite, probably #2 or #3. I'd claim that it's in the top 5 of every Aphex fanboy here

Have fun!

Being interested in aphex's music does not make you a fan boy. He is one of the few artists making amazing music. You'd be a fool not to be interested. Parking outside his house. Naming your first born after him or wanting to suck his dick even though you aren't gay makes you a fan boy

Then yup I'm a fanboy and I have no kids.

  On 6/1/2010 at 8:28 AM, marf said:

Being interested in aphex's music does not make you a fan boy. He is one of the few artists making amazing music. You'd be a fool not to be interested. Parking outside his house. Naming your first born after him or wanting to suck his dick even though you aren't gay makes you a fan boy

Calm down sir, it's just a forum joke :) I would call myself a fanboy as well

Ziggomatic 17 is one of the best things ever made.

  On 6/1/2010 at 9:54 AM, Xyrofen said:

Ziggomatic 17 is one of the best things ever made.

Oh your far too kind ^_^

  On 6/1/2010 at 8:28 AM, marf said:

Being interested in aphex's music does not make you a fan boy. He is one of the few artists making amazing music. You'd be a fool not to be interested. Parking outside his house. Naming your first born after him or wanting to suck his dick even though you aren't gay makes you a fan boy

Hey! I want to suck his dick and I'm not gay.

Also - you can't park outside his house. It's a bus stop. Duh.

I listened to this album again recently for the first time since it was released. I hated it when it came out, and never listened to it again. I don't know if the world has changed, or if I've changed, but on second listen, I was staggered at what I'd missed the first time. It's one of the most intricate, carefully constructed, elaborate, beautiful things I've ever heard, like a self portrait in music, every aspect explored.

I think at the time, it was overwhelmed by the critical response (or critical backlash as the case may be.) And there was just so much of it, it was kind of overwhelming, like this flood of emotion.

But as I listen to it now, I find it staggering. OK, it's not my favourite, quite, but definitely Top 5. Yup.

  On 6/1/2010 at 7:34 AM, bubbhasdance said:

A true masterpiece, this one.

It's weird, although at the time, it sounded weirdly "dated", now, it doesn't particularly dated at all. In fact, if anything, it seems weirdly presient and ahead of its time, listening to Flying Lotus and Ikonika and this weird IDM bubble there seems to be at the moment.

His best album, but not my favorite.

it's quite good

no time to do a playbyplay on this-but meltphace 6 is definitely my favorite trac-closely followed by all the other ones.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTpO2SD7XpY&feature=related

It's Cock/Ver10 that absolutely twists my head around and turns my brain inside out. Like, to the point where I can't listen to this album on the iPod coz I'll miss my bus stop if that comes on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvlW705pDy4

There's this tiny moment at about 0:16 where there's the drumbeat and then it stops, and in any other artist's work it would just be blank space, but instead it's this weird whirring - I don't know what it is, if it's some odd digital reverb or microsliced sample of the last cymbal.

And what it is, really, is kind of the musical equivalent of that "bullet time" technique that was all the rage in cinema at the time. That kind of level of digital intricacy. Yeah, sure, though overuse and cultural degrading, it became a complete cliche and in the wrong hands, it could be ridiculous and unnecessary like bad beer adverts. But in the right hands, and done well, it's this kind of virtuosity fluidity. When you see/hear it executed well, it just kind of opens a hole in the universe and tips you in. Hearing it done well reminds you of what a powerful technique it really can be - blame a poor craftsperson, not the tools. Coz in Mr D.James' hands, those tools can make something quite jaw=droppingly lovely.

the boom is back

Vordhosbn is easily my favorite electronic track of all times (very closely followed by w32.deadcode.a).

the hi-hats are just divine...

EDIT: i think richard's music sounds real effortless since the millenium, especially on this one. master at work!

  On 6/1/2010 at 1:28 PM, troon said:

the boom is back

Hello. Didn't think anyone would remember me.

OK, I confess. Just like that song coz it's about his Cock*.

*Nah, I lie. It's the hi-hats, it's the slippery slidy wibbly wubbly timey wimey ball of hi-hats.

Must confess I always skip Avril 14th, tho, I just want to get on to Mont St Michel and St Michaels Mount.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBDAunPkSAY

  On 6/1/2010 at 1:52 PM, troon said:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBDAunPkSAY

2:20 ->

What can i say ? , this is his most personal and deepest album to date (i don't care what people say). This is a masterpiece that you have to listen as a whole to truly understand the genius (and the person). The "interludes and shorties" are the the tracks that make this album so great (IMO).

- 10/10

Top 5 (- This one is hard to rank , because every track is special , as with every of Richard's albums and EPs)

AFX237 V7

Cock/Ver10

Btoum-Roumada

Mt Saint Michel + Saint Michaels Mount

54 Cymru Beats

Bit 4 is the best of Drukqs

I don't get why so many reviewers accused it of rehashing old ideas. To me, the first four albums made small adjustments to the Aphex sound - to over-simplify, SAWII sounds like SAW85 with no drums, ICBYD sounds like SAW85 with violins & cleaner production, & RDJA sounds like ICBYD made on computers with really fast drums (well, not exactly, but I hope you get what I mean. The sound became more developed but the base structure remained intact). Drukqs, on the other hand, seems like quite a jump forward in terms of complexity & overall production.

Can anyone hear Fenix Funk in 54 Cymru Beats ?? @ around 4:11 , fuck yeah.

vordhosbn and Mt Saint Michel + St Michaels Mount played at 33rpm

A long time ago I watched the film Hellraiser. I have only seen it once but I remember the pin-head ghoul holding a puzzle box, the Lament Configuration holding the key to other dimensions. Drukqs to me is a music version of this. Aphexs musical box, a key to the door of another musical dimension. It's fucking dark and scary too but not as dark and scary as I remember Hellraiser lol (even the birthday message I find creepy).

Drukqs is a schism to me. Some tracks I adore, some I hate. A lot of tracks seem dark and menacing, some are quaint and beautiful. Those tunes I used to hate, I now love. Those tracks I thought I knew well I sometimes play and they sound different. Thats how my reference to the Chinese puzzle box comes to mind. Everytime I play this record it never sounds the same. My only critisim is as of most double albums it lags in places, but thats where the similarites between Use Your Illusions and Drukqs obviously end.

10 gold pentagrams out of 10

This album is so unbelievably good. The amount of detail in tracks like Ziggomatic and Mt Saint Michel + St Michaels Mount blows my mind everytime I listen to them. One of the best albums I've ever heard.