APHEX TWINDrukqs Record label: Warp (UK) Format: 4xLP/2xCD Release date: 22 October 2001 You can't trust anybody anymore. Not even your heroes. Didn't Richard D. James inform us all that "Windowlicker" was his swan song? What do you call THIS, then? A double album? 30 tracks? Couldn't just ease his way back into our consciousness, could he? Well, he's given us plenty to absorb and this one's gonna take a while. The last double album from Aphex Twin was in 1994, the seminal Selected Ambient Works, still considered one of the finest moments from his discography. But you knew what the order of the day was with that album. In comparison, Drukqs is all over the place, from solo harpsichord plucks and isolated grand piano settings to standard Aphex tracks circa the Richard D. James Album. "Taking Control" could've come from those sessions. "Meltphace 6" shows Aphex in perfect form, harnessing hyper break beats and manipulating crunchy acid sounds and echoed vocals. There's lots of variety here and some good quality tracks - it's just too much at once. Too much after a two-year silence and the maniacal pop brilliance of "Windowlicker" as his supposed final bow. Moral of the story: when a man birthed from electronic components tells you that it's his last, IT AIN'T. Once a problem child, always a problem child… {macedonia}
back to reviews home |