Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Jynweythek Ylow
2. Vordhosbn
3. Kladfvgbung Micshk
4. Omgyjya Switch 7
5. Strotha Tynhe
6. Gwely Mernans
7. Bbydhyonchord
8. Cock/Ver 10
9. Avril 14th
10. Mt. Saint Michel Mix/St. Michaels Mount
11. Gwarek 2
12. Orban Eq Trx 4
13. Aussois
14. Hy a Scullyas Lyf a Dhagrow
15. Kesson Daslef

Disc 2:

1. 54 Cymru Beats
2. Btoum-Roumada
3. Lornaderek
4. Penty Harmonium
5. Meltphace 6
6. Bit 4
7. Prep Gwarlek 3B
8. Father
9. Taking Control
10. Petiatil Cx Htdui
11. Ruglen Holon
12. Afx237 V7
13. Ziggomatic V17
14. Beskhu3epnm
15. Nanou 2

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20033 in Music
• Brand: Aphex
• Released on: 2001-10-23
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Amazon.com's Best of 2001
Often proclaimed as electronica's one true genius, Richard James, a.k.a. Aphex Twin, returns with a double CD that showcases his cleverness as well as his inevitable inscrutability. Still, amid macabre birthday songs, unsettling screams, and other bizarre touches, Drukqs offers the most technically accomplished and beautiful tracks of Aphex Twin's career. Every aspect of the Aphex brain is on display here, from stark pieces performed on sampled piano and zither to Squarepusher-styled drum & bass implosions, all informed by that peculiar Aphex treatment of bittersweet melody and unparalleled programming. For an artist once engrossed in homages to his dead twin brother and grotesque videos, Drukqs shows James getting by purely on music alone.

"Mt. Saint Michel Mix" starts as maddening drum & bass, but is soon transfixed by glowing tones, hand drums, and police sirens. "Vordhosbn" is all acid beats and mad synths matched with fart-bombs and haunted cries. "54 Cymru Beats" sounds more like the tweaked-out, goofball techno of Wagon Christ than Aphex, while "Taking Control" goes metaphysical with cerebral synth-drums and muddled vocals. If Drukqs is the result of medication James has been imbibing during his three-year hiatus, then this is indeed better living through chemistry. Regardless, his music is still as beautiful and frothy as ever. --Ken Micallef

From URB Magazine
It would seem that Richard D. James has undergone a radical cystectomy. For those of you not in first-year med school, that means his bladder has been removed. While URB staffers are hardly qualified to make such diagnoses, there's no other way for us to explain why James' latest Aphex Twin release, Drukqs, sounds the way it does: He's not taking the piss!

All recent Q&As aside - absurd non sequiturs about 70-percent royalties from Radiohead, inventing Napster and mixing records by "smelling the grooves" - Drukqs is the most sincere album the thirtysomething godfather of IDM has released since 1995's I Care Because You Do. In many ways, these old-school electro melodies and rakishly basic 303/606/909 drum machine-constructed rhythms eclipse his last two singles (the horror-extraordinaire drum & bass "Come to Daddy" and its sparkling glitch-hop doppelganger "Windowlicker"), for on Drukqs' 30 tracks, there's barely a hint of James' self-reflexive idolatry. Where much of his recent material has been all pretense and character, gross creative liberties built around his own captivating Chestershire grin, Drukqs is, once again, Aphex Twin as musical substance.

Explanations for such a change seem fairly consistent: This is old music. James has long claimed to record in bulk and release the bare minimum of material to meet contractual obligations, and pre-release Internet newsgroup bitching was very much (and continues to be) about how dated the album sounds.

URB suggests this has not one thing to do with the price of tea in China, for regardless of when these gobbledygook-titled tracks were made, Drukqs is right-fine material.

First, that James would make good on the Erik Satie suggestions of his earlier work by including mellow, contemplative piano-, harpsichord- and glockenspiel-toned tracks is novel and alone worthy of further investigation. No, they are not mind-altering concertos, but then who in their right mind would expect James - who reportedly possesses only nominal education in electronics - to be Rachmaninoff? Instead, the soothing lullaby of the opening "Jynweythek Ylow" lures you into the complex fabric of Drukqs like the introductory paragraph of a Hemingway story, where characters soon to blossom with rich psychological depth appear simple, like pure resonant tones of despair, solitude and resignation. James uses these earthy keyboard pieces to punctuate the ferocity of Drukqs, situating them approximately every five tracks and closing out both discs with their quiet notes.

Second, if these are old tracks, they reflect the best of James' output during several creative periods. Those infatuated with the collision of melody and manic breaks found on I Care will relish "Vordhosbun" and "Omgyiya Switch 7"'s strong presence of image-driven leitmotifs. Those wishing for a return to Selected Ambient Works 85-92 and Polygon Window's Surfing on Sine Waves will enjoy the ethereal "Bbydhyonchord;" Selected Ambient Works II fans will dig "Gwely Mernans"'s experimentation with gut-busting bass and musique concrète atmospherics. Those infatuated with the Richard D. James Album and his recent remixes for the Men label will find solace in "54 Cymru Beats," "Meltphace" and "Afx237 c17," all of which reflect James' continuing creative friendship with madcap breakmaster Tom "Squarepusher" Jenkinson. In fact, most of the tracks reflect a contemporary feel in the percussion programming; if the concepts are old, they have been revised and edited for their 2001 appearance on Drukqs.Third (and last), James could very well be listening to his constituency for the first time in his life. On the remarkably dance floor-friendly "Cock/Ver 10," James inserts what was likely a regular remark made to him by his older fans: "Come on you cunt, let's 'ave some Aphex acid! " By and large, Drukqs mines James' hard drives for the man's past periodic variations on said acid, with little, if any, of the smiling man's urine on it.

Heath K. Hignight

Customer Reviews

The pinnacle of Ambient music
To me, this is definitely the best Aphex Twin album. James alternates his signature programmed meltdowns with calm pieces for piano/tape loops, synthesizer, and prepared piano (it sounds like he's listened to John Cage's "Three Dances for Prepared Piano" [1944] a lot). As usual, on many of the tracks the drum machine becomes the lead melodic instrument, processed halfway to incoherence with delay and chorus and probably every effect he could muster. But the structures are less abstract, tighter, and fuller. He creates a perfect balance between lull and storm, like fractal music made at the edge of chaos. This is what Eno should be doing.

Richard D. James revisited...
Richard D. James has been around the electronic music scene for quite a while now. Under the guise of Aphex Twin, he basically founded the gnere of iDmb, and released critically acclaimed works such as "Selected Ambient Works", "Richard D James Album", and "Windowlicker" EP. His compositions are so musically diverse, so surreal and schezophrenic, that many people have seemingly forgotten that Richard D. James is a human being.

In "Drukqs"--which is said to be Aphex Twin's final commerical release by many--James embarks on a journey of self re-discovery through his old sound mediums. "Drukqs" is filled with his classic signature sounds: the broken twitter box, dizzy drum n' bass, and distorted sound effects. The only difference this time, is that all the songs sound much calmer. James seems to be at a point of reflection in his career, and it is as if he was trying to find peace and solace with himself. Even his drum n' bass tracks seemed to lack the usual jubilancy and driven cynicism that we are so accustomed to.

What is really touching, though, are the piano works that he decided to include in this album (Most notably "Avril 14th" and "Nanou2"). They are all delicately simple, yet shows a emotional side of Richard D. James that we never knew for all these years. And while the sample of James's parents wishing their young son happy birthday (in "Lornaderek") is hilarious at first, it also makes your heart ache at the same time. Perhaps James' endeavors as Aphex Twin for all these years was a diversion to calm his sense of lost identity, or a search for his truest soul.

Have Richard D. James finally reached a state of grace with himself? We'll probably never find out...

Great job RDJ
What a great album. I have gotten into RDJ's music a lot for the last three or four months. I am relatively new to this style of music, although he is known for many sounds and styles. I first purchased "Richard D. James" album and "I care because you do", and I immediately fell in love with his music, although the tracks on those albums weren't as dark as some of his other stuff.
Drukqs. As many people have stated already, and as obvious as it sounds, has something to do with drugs. I don't care either way, I'd prefer that there was no connection between drugs and any of his music. It is a great album none the less. I'll just give a quick description of each track. Sorry for the lack of Electronica/techno terminology.

jynweythek-10/10 A superb sounding piece. I presume it consists of prepared piano playing, which is the first of a few prepared piano pieces. Like nothing I've ever heard before.

vord hosbn-10/10 Another great track to start you off with this album. Sounds a little like something from Richard D. James album. Excellent mix, emotionally stirring.

kladfvgbung micshk-10/10 I believe another one of his prepared piano pieces. Dark and awesome. Something to show us that he can create something as equally dark with a piano as he can using software and computers.

omgyjya-switch-10/10 First starts out with "whipping sounds(?)". Then sneaks in with the snippet of vocals and vocal-like electronic sounds. This is the track that compelled me into purchasing this CD. Throughout the track are excellent sounds, this description like all my others may be vague, but just listen to the samples of each track on Amazon.

strotha tynhe-7/10 A nice piano piece. Dark at times, but just a little too inconsistent, I'm not saying that I want it to go faster, the pace is fine. It's just that I would have liked a little more consistency in the structure of it.

gwely mernans-9/10 Dark and very emotionally disturbing, which is why I love his music so much. I would have just liked a little bit more of that sound in this track. Other than that, it's beautiful and almost makes me want to cry.

bbydyonchord-10/10 Another one of those tracks that makes you think of "Richard D. James album" and "I care because you do". A beautiful mixture of synth and percussion, just listen to the sample.

cock/ver 10-10/10 Flawless. Some jungle is mixed into this little gem. And if you listen to the whole album, you'll notice that this is track is one of two tracks that gives this album its "Parental Advisory" label.

avril 14th-10/10 Absolutely beautiful, one of my favorite piano pieces from this album. I've cried once listening to it(it's that beautiful). An awesome contrast to his work.

Mt Saint Michel + Saint Michaels Mount- 10/10 Really fast, but full of distinguishable sounds, none of them get in the way of the others. The second part to this track provokes emotion. The synthesized vocals(I think?) plus all the other elements together just gives you this vision of what Mt Saint Michel and Saint Michaels Mount would look like, human intuitiveness at it's best.

Gwarek2- 7/10 The beginning is pretty weird, a bunch of people making noises. Kinda sounds like they are suffering or are in "hell". I'm partial to that part. But then the rest of it sort of lingers on.

orban eq trx4-9/10 A strong hip-hop sounding track. I just want it to keep going and going, but the fact is, is that it's too short or not long enough.

aussols- ? I can't really say too much about this one, it's 12 sec's long and is just some people talking in an indistinguishable language. Funny.

hy a scullyas lyf a dhagrow-9/10 Another prepared paino piece. It's not as good as the first one but is still a great piece. It's also nice to have it towards the end of the first CD.

kesson dalef-10/10 One of my other favorite piano pieces from this album. It's so beautiful and another one of his contrasts in this album. Not too long though.

54 Cymrv beats-10/10 Fast and fantastic. Some dark synth laid over some beats in the beginning and sampled vocals. Intricate layering of sounds. A little bit of jungle laid in. The kinda stuff that a lot of people only look for in an AFX album(shame on you). Listen to the sample.

btoum-rovmada-7/10 I don't quite know what this was played on, but it's nostalgic(subjectively). It's a nice piece.

lornaderek-? Another one of those funny sampled pieces from RDJ's family life. His family sings him a happy birthday song. Funny.

2kthr-6/10 I think the music was played on a harmonium in this track. It's pretty short and doesn't really turn my head like the other instrumental pieces.

meltphace 6-10/10 Yet another track that reminds you of "RDJ album" and "I care because you do". Listen to the sample and dance.

bit 4-? Just a quick piece of synth. 25 sec's worth. Strange sounding.

prep gwarlek 36-8/10 I think it's another prepared piano piece. It's pleasant, but a little too short. I would have loved to listen to this track for a good four to five minutes. Listen to the sample.

father-6/10 A piano piece. It seems like he is incoherently playing the piano. It's also quite short.

taking control-10/10 Another one of those faster tracks. I love it. It incorporates some sampled computer vocals. Another blessing from RDJ. Listen to the sample and dance weird.

petiatil cx htdui-8/10 A nice piano piece. A little more range on the keys would have been nice. But overall another relaxing track.

ruglen holon-9/10 Prepared piano piece. It's very well composed and relaxing, just a little too short though.

afx237v.7-10/10 Yes. It's the infamous track used in Chris Cunningham's short film Rubber Johnny, part of it anyway. Another crazily structured mix. A little dark and creepy, though mixes with a little jungle here and there. Awesome work RDJ. Listen to the sample and dance.

ziggomatic 17-10/10 An awesome mix with overtones of darkness. The perfect track to put near the end of the album. A very enjoyable lengthy track.

beskhuepnm-9/10 Another prepared piano piece. Sounds nice and relaxing in the beginning then about halfway it starts turning the mood of the song in a different direction while still maintaining the higher keys of the piano, great contrast in the track.

nanou2-8/10 It's the last track of the album, and it seems as if it might have lost a little bit of its energy on this track. It's alright for it being the last song, but...

Quick descriptions nothing too elaborate but that's what I thought of the album. RDJ(AFX ect...) has earned a place with Ween and The Talking Heads as one of my god's of music. Anyone want some Beatles, Doors or Led Zeppelin CD's, I'd be happy to give them to you for free. AH HA HA HA...all that time wasted.