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Keith from Melbourne, Australia on 2001-10-21 15:35 [#00044101] | |||||||||
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Review of Aphex Twin - 'Drukqs' by Keith McDougall Throughout the 1990s the music of Cornish red-bearded weirdo genius Richard D. James, a.k.a. Aphex Twin, went from extreme to extreme. On 1994's mammoth but minimalist masterpiece 'Selected Ambient Works Volume 2', every incredibly slow, long, repetitive track was like an entire world or organism of its own. On 1996's 'The Richard D. James Album' he combined breakneck beats with naive corny strings, synths and vocals to create a set of strange and sublime pop songs full of boyhood humour and sentimental nostalgia. Now, on his first album of the millennium, the 2-CD 30-track 'Drukqs', all the extremes of his oeuvre are present, making it a work of many perverse but effective contrasts. They occur, in the old 'White Album' eclectic-double-LP tradition, through style-alternating track sequencing, with poignant piano pieces like 'Avril 14th' arriving as welcome relief after psychotic acid/jungle tracks like 'Cock/ver10', reminiscent of the calm but powerful moments between the storms on Husker Du's 'Zen Arcade'. For a man with a gift for melody, an obsession with the timbral quality of sounds, and an interest in avant-garde classical composers like Erik Satie and John Cage, it was only a matter of time before Richard came to apply his Midas touch to a rich acoustic instrument like the piano. Hammers hitting strings and foot-pedals jerking up and down can frequently be heard. On 6 of the 11 piano tracks the instrument is given a percussive, metallic sound, and on 'Kladfvgbung Micshk', it is used more for rhythm than for melody. Haunting pieces like track #1 'Jynweythek Ylow' wouldn't sound out of place in a wintry movie like 'Fargo' or 'The Ice Storm'. Stylistically, there is nothing new on this album, but Richard's fucked-up revisitations of classic rave genres like acid and jungle, heralded by the cries "Come on, cunts! Let's have some Aphex acid!" and "I'm taking control of the drum machine!" (reminiscent of "I want your soul!" in 'Come to Daddy') are incredibly complex and make very challenging listening. Some of the most effective contrasts of 'Drukqs' occur within single tracks, not just linear but also in layers, like when delicate synths float atop hard sharp fragments of percussion on 'Vordhosbn'. On 'Ziggomatic v17', probably the most insane construction of all, a spastic acid groove and a warbling synthesizer struggle for dominance, one enjoying its moment on top before being knocked out of the picture by the other, and the two frequently overlapping and interlocking. In the end the rhythm loses steam and abruptly winds down, leaving the victorious synths to paint a shimmering, twinkling night-sky, and a polite robot to bid us goodnight. In this way it is similar to an Avalanches song, the difference being that instead of sampling them Richard hatched these sounds from scratch. Even when they are driven by more conventional grooves, many of the tracks on 'Drukqs' have unconventional structures. Instead of the extreme repetition of his early work or the recurring melodic themes (almost choruses) of his pop songs, these pieces are constantly changing. In the middle of harsh rhythmic attacks like '54 Cymru Beats' and 'Omgyjya Switch7', brief synth passages seem like glimpses into new avenues or whole worlds of possibility, but then suddenly dissolve. My first impression of 'Drukqs' was that it is a rather cold experience, but with further listens I soon changed my mind. If 'cold' means 'devoid of feeling', then none of Richard's music can be given this label, because through meticulous orchestration of every nuance of melody, rhythm and timbre, it always seems to define how he was feeling when he wrote it. In fact, his music is all about feeling: when his songs contain lyrics they are always for a simple joke and not for any sort of statement, and most of his tracks are impossible to dance to, so other than marvel at his genius the only thing that his music really makes us do is feel. Only this time around, without the focus of a unified approach, his mood seems harder to pin down. Its obscurity is reflected in the unpronounceable song titles e.g. Bbydhyonchord, Petiatil Cx Htdui, Beskhu3epnm. (which could also be read as a symptom of his ongoing problem with words: on 'Selected Ambient Works Volume 2' tracks were represented by pictures, not names) The cheerfully eccentric humour of his last few releases has all but vanished, and only 'Avril 14th' comes close to the cosy nostalgic feel of 'The Richard D. James Album'. This album's mood seems like a return to the unnerving eeriness of his earlier work, but Richard now uses his improved technical skills, both in musical composition and in programming, to make its impact subtler yet more complex. 'Drukqs' contains some of the most mind-boggling tech-wizardry I've ever heard, but its profound effects are on the emotions as well as on the intellect. Disturbing dissonant harmonies and evocative textures combine with exquisite reverb and other effects to create rich and very strange atmospheres, often extraordinarily beautiful ('Meltphace 6'), occasionally rather grating ('Omgyjya Switch7'), but always fascinating. 'Drukqs' isn't a particularly groundbreaking album, and probably isn't Aphex's best, but it does confirm my view of Richard D. James as a genius, and as a man you could almost call the ultimate composer, equally masterful of melody, rhythm and timbre, minimalism and maximalism, classical and popular. It probably won't convert anyone, but gives fans like me a great feast to chew on. |
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zetre on 2001-10-21 15:43 [#00044103] | |||||||||
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Spot on, mate! |
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Peter Phrampton from England on 2001-10-21 17:31 [#00044113] | |||||||||
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wow! a reviewer that has actually listened to the record before writing the review! :) |
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pyroglif on 2001-10-21 18:11 [#00044115] | |||||||||
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very nice :) |
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corruptor from miami, FL on 2001-10-21 19:20 [#00044128] | |||||||||
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excellent review my friend |
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