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Phobiazero
from Sweden on 2001-10-24 13:28 [#00045033]
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Here's one:
Richard D James, aka the Aphex Twin, may not be a Fatboy Slim-sized unit-shifter, but in terms of influence there are few dance producers to match him. Since effectively inventing abstract techno with his Selected Ambient Works album, he has consistently crafted mesmerising, otherworldly electronica, dosed with off-kilter adolescent pranksterism.
In the five years since his last album, the Cornishman's critical stock has soared further still without him having to do much at all. He released just two startling singles, the thrash techno Come To Daddy and twisted Miami bass homage Windowlicker, then pretended to retire. Meanwhile, Radiohead confirmed his standing as the acme of cerebral innovation by releasing a pair of albums clearly indebted to the claustrophobic electronics of 1995's I Care Because You Do and 1996's Richard D James album. Handy. It is, therefore, an unfortunate time for James to run out of ideas. His recent joke that Drukqs is a collection of MP3s posted on the internet by Aphex impersonators is not such a rib-tickler when the album flirts so dangerously with self-parody.
Drukqs comes in just two varieties, both of which are well-worn: pretty Philip Glass minimalism and beat-mangling "drill'n'bass", officially the world's least favourite dance sub-genre. Drukqs' bloated size (over three times as long as its predecessor) is thus self-defeating. There is so little personality or variety that when Lornaderek turns out to be a 30-second birthday ansaphone message from his mum and dad, it is not a gimmick but a touching highlight.
Meanwhile, the burbling beauty of Meltphacc 6 and tender ivory-tinkling of Avril 14th would be better served without cacophonous cobblers like Omgyja-Switch and 54 Cyrmu Beats (yes, the titles do get annoying) butting in. While Radiohead and Boards Of Canada have invested the Aphex template with songwriting and warmth respectively, James is chasing his tail, and that raises a pertinent question. He has always been refreshingly disdainful of dance music's utilitarian worldview, in which music must be either for dancing or for chilling out, but when it offers no creative leaps forward, you have to ask what (i)is(i) this record for? Writing a thesis about? Clearing the house at the end of a party? Perhaps. But in simpler terms – enjoyment and all that – the Drukqs don't work.
Reviewed by Dorian Lynskey
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wizards teeth
on 2001-10-24 13:44 [#00045036]
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Hey Dorian,
Do you wanto to borrow the new Kylie Minogue CD ?
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chicken paste man!!
on 2001-10-24 14:15 [#00045044]
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what was this published in? hey wizard, i'll have your kylie cd - she rocks my world.
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Dorian Lynskey
on 2001-10-24 14:25 [#00045047]
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No thanks, Wizards, I just got it last week. It's soooo cool! But if anyone has a copy of Nicki Webster's new single, I'd love to borrow that.
ps I suck and I have no musical sense.
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od
from perth on 2001-10-24 14:39 [#00045048]
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who cares?
sticks n stones, besides i felt that i would end up saying somehting similar after hearing it for my first time. but i didnt. i rather like it.
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Dorian Lynskey
on 2001-10-24 14:47 [#00045050]
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You can find my review in the men's toilets on the corner of Vicent and William st, last cubicle on the left.
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