Six years after "Richard D. James," we are faced with the new work of the namesake under the pseudonym Aphex Twin. Who is Aphex Twin? It's the question many enthusiasts ask themselves, and it's a question they likely won't have a simple answer to because Aphex Twin is many things.

To find an answer, one surely needs to listen to his works and decipher what they can. Due to the six years of apathy following the aforementioned album, many rumors have arisen regarding this release, like the fact that he asked Madonna to grunt over it, or that he sifted through the web for tracks by his imitators and made the album from them, or that he lost his CD player on the train and, fearing peer-to-peer sharing, released something hastily put together and overly sophisticated... and I could go on for hours with these rumors. However, the thing that few say is that Drukqs is beautiful.
Two discs, thirty songs, one hundred minutes of music. In these one hundred minutes, we get a taste of Mr. James's private universe, delighted by piano melodies sometimes accompanied by pure electronics, sometimes by psychedelic beats. Unfortunately, this hypothetical universe is too closed for ordinary mortals, and the fact that in certain parts it proves too difficult to listen to legitimizes many to drop the undertaking before even trying. And it's a real shame. Because what one discovers once listened to with due attention reveals different sides each time that were not noticed before; one can find themselves in the purest ambient and without realizing it, transition to a darker and more intimate dimension and end up straight in a house-like song, discovering rustlings and details that were not noticed before, finding an overall condensed version of his old works, with the addition of an impressive artistic completeness.
He may also be criticized for being elitist and his disdain for the masses, but that's how we like him a little bit arrogant, egocentric, and aristocratic.

Impeccable Richard follows the line drawn towards immortality, being probably the last musical innovator since the Beatles.
All this and much more is Aphex Twin.

Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos

01   Jynweythek (02:23)

02   Vordhosbn (04:51)

03   Kladfvgbung Micshk (02:06)

04   Omgyjya-Switch 7 (04:52)

05   Strotha Tynhe (02:12)

06   Gwely Mernans (05:08)

07   Bbydhyonchord (02:33)

08   Cock/Ver10 (05:18)

09   Avril 14th (02:05)

(Instrumental)

10   Mt Saint Michel + Saint Michaels Mount (08:10)

11   Gwarek2 (06:46)

12   Orban Eq Trx4 (01:35)

13   Aussois (00:12)

14   Hy a Scullyas Lyf a Dhagrow (02:14)

15   Kesson Dalef (01:19)

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Other reviews

By The_dull_flame

 Aphex Twin shocked everyone, conveying sounds many try to reproduce with natural recordings without actually recording them.

 The rhythms wound with their edginess and become hard, penetrating an unstoppable sonic madness.


By IlMigliore

 You are completely enveloped by it! like the warmth of the sun on a cold Tramontana day.

 Aphex Twin does what it wants, it distances you from yourself, initially maintains the same sound, but at times changes the rhythms and cadences sometimes syncopated, very fast… genius and unruliness.


By Ascoltatore

 drukQs is undoubtedly the best album released by Aphex Twin.

 Through the various techniques wisely interchanged throughout the 30 tracks...the album has the ability to convey an overall feeling of an intangible entity but at the same time quite precise, like a dream that one no longer remembers except for a particular sense of happiness it left us with.