Tag: Drukqs

Listened Re-appraising Drukqs by Aphex Twin from Duncan Stephen

When it came out in 2001, Drukqs divided critics. But for me, it’s still the most important Aphex Twin album.

Drukqs was not the first Aphex Twin record I listened too. I had already spent years both mesmerised and horrified by the videos for Come to Daddy:

And Windowlicker:

I had also dived into both Selected Ambient Works Volume II and Richard D. James Album.

Drukqs however was the first album I had gotten into when it was actually released. For me, it was both everything I expected, but also a complete shock to the system all in one breath.

In an interview with Annie Clark aka St. Vincent, she discusses the intent for her live shows:

My goal with any show is that it will be an experience. You might love it or you might hate it or you might be completely confounded, but you won’t forget it.

I think that same could be said about Aphex Twin. Whether it be an album or seeing him live, they are usually experiences that you do not forget. (I will never forget seeing him live in 2004.) I think that Drukqs is one of these experiences. Although it could have been broken up into three distinct albums, it would no longer be the same uncanny experience that in some respect makes it work. As Tom Breihan captures: