I LOVE DRUKQS+

Of course with IDM it's a bit distorted because when Aphex Twin started he was competing with maybe ten others, and now he's competing with hundreds, thousands of bedroom tinkerers, so the possibility of recognisable innovation shrinks dramatically.

In comparison people aren't likely to criticise Bob Dylan for not pushing boundaries (although I get the impression that Love & Theft evidences *personal* artistic progression) because the critical model that surrounds evaluation of Dylan - and traditional songwriting generally - usually adheres to a fall-from- paradise model rather than a race-to-the-finish-line model.

- and hey, maybe Drukqs makes more sense if you try and put it into a Dylan template! It's Aphex's New Morning or Self-Portrait - sprawling but also cosy, perverse and domestic at the same time (all those gentle interludes, the phone call from his parents, the general resting-on-laurels-having-fun ambience that pisses progressive Aphex fans off...). I like it, anyway.

As for Drukqs, what I like about it is the sequencing of the record. It's the one album of 2001 (and I use that term instead of my customary 'LP' deliberately) that only makes sense if you play it all the way through in the prescribed order. Not that I've had the inclination to do that very often! We probably won't know unless and until RDJ deigns to release any of his more recent noodlings if this is just a self-indulgent nod to the influence of 'classical' composers (Delius, Stockhausen, etc.) and drum and bass, or if it's the direction he really wants to go in now. Personally, while I'll always be hoping he can repeat the Windowlicker trick, I'd be equally happy with more stuff along the lines of Gwarek2.

oh well. that always happens to me. AND it bloody fades out, so is pretty hard to mix with.

Not this again. ;-) Both Dan and I think it is very wonderful, thank you. Yay us!

and, no, they do not nessecitate the same thing.

and yeah, i like drukqs too

was actually my favourite until i was told i should be liking the 'ambient' stuff more.

For me, it's got plenty of good things but it's the least interesting of the "proper" studio albums, no doubt.

I pretty much thought it was shite when it came out.

I got into Aphex Twin way late and sorta heard everything all at once. Drukqs struck me as the best. It's still my favorite.

but... the drill stuff was already getting kinda old when this came out and he was looking to end his relationship with warp. I found the analord stuff actually pretty good and at least had a bit of a new direction.

I keep replaying "Avril 14." Is the rest of the album this good?

i finally picked this up a couple weeks ago. it's a bit of an inconsistent album, but i think there's some great stuff on it. i've not yet really digested disc 2 (which seems a little spottier) but disc 1 is excellent.

it kind of got trashed, it seems, when it was first released, but i'm quite happy i finally picked it up. it's a lot better than some of those early reviews made it out to be.

Tape Store, it's his most complete album, however it was let down by the fact it came out about 4 years too late. Rather than a huge stylistic leap, it's a sprawling double album that concentrates on refining what he had been doing since 1996, so to seasoned fans who expected another wacky twist in the ongoing Aphex saga, they were to be disappointed. It has an awful lot of material, some of it excellent and a lot of it, well, awful. But that was always the idea with Aphex I suppose. It was never about being polished and more about the fun ideas. Throw it at a wall and see if it sticks, and if it doesn't chuck it in the pot anyway.

"54 Cymru Beats" is one of his all-time best.

The stretch between "vordhosbn" and "Afx237 V7" is great, but after that I usually turn it off or skip 7 tracks

You can makea a dinky 60 minute cut by ripping out all the whoops-I-left-the-tape-running moments.

grozart's response intrigues me; I'm going to buy this.

Yeah I put it on earlier and it stayed on all the way through... I should say I'm talking about the UK version of it—the US version I believe has the Girl/Boy EP tacked on the end of it, and whilst it has its funny moments, I don't really rate that anywhere near as much as the UK LP, which is just the first ten tracks.

Although tbf, I do like calling a track INKEY$, which was a Sinclair ZX Spectrum BASIC instruction to ask the terminal to wait for a keypress and record it in a variable.

As is PEEK 824545201, which is an instruction to look at the memory location 824545201 and return what byte is in it; however, that's far too big of a number for the computers of those days, so I would say he's just making shit up here.

cannot imagine RDJ without "Milkman"

Well yes, it is a standout track in a kind of a way, but not in a way that makes me want to listen to it lots.

I like that it exists.

In retrospect some of the reactions to Girl/Boy Song were insane - "it's the ultimate fusion of classical and electronic music" etc - great track though.

IIRC he went to a lot of trouble to record all the instrument samples for it himself. I wonder if they pop up on other tracks.

Yeah I wonder... Mind you, he seems almost bloody-minded in 'resetting' his creative approach, so possibly not. I just read that Kate Bush's Experiment IV is sampled on "4"—WTF? Is it? I'm not sure outside of Willy Wonka, I've EVER recognised a sample in his stuff.

You mean you weren't intimately familiar with the cinematic work containing the "Fantasia, having a party is not my idea of a fantasy..." dialogue? (j/k)

Having been an Aphex admirer since purchasing the Analogue Bubblebath 12", I have to say that my enthusiasm was somewhat lessened by hearing "Milkman". I really can't be doing with that kind of puerile guff. In fact, I found the whole "Girl/Boy" E.P. to be a complete letdown. Happily, I was blown away all over again the following year by "Come to Daddy".

Yes, as many have pointed out, the kind of studenty humour can be a bit of a put off. I forgive it, given the profound brilliance of lots of it though. And yeah I agree about Girl/Boy—one of the weakest of that period.

As much as I liked the RDJ Album (US edition), Come to Daddy was almost surely the one I ended up listening to more.

You mean you weren't intimately familiar with the cinematic work containing the "Fantasia, having a party is not my idea of a fantasy..." dialogue? (j/k)

Actually no, is it a grumbleflick or something? TBH, I don't listen to that album much... Lots of people love it, and I actually listened to it yesterday for the first time in a long time—there are some great moments, but I find it a bit of a stepping stone... The abrasive bits are just too abrasive; he hasn't quite yet worked out compelling percussion; too much in the way of 'classical' pretence, but as I say, lots of people love it, and I do think it contains some great moments; I also suspect it was a necessary step.

I do love it, it's my favorite – but it's also the first one of his that I heard/got into (and I think it often works out that way...)

Here's the (sfw) sample source for the dialogue.

Hehe, right.

Listening to RDJ Album now; it's so warm and inviting, more than I even remembered. "To Cure..." / "Goon Gumpas" is such a terrific pair.

Yes, it isn't a difficult listen. I listened to it twice tonight given the chat, and am still amazed how great it is.

Here is Goon Gumpas in Cornwall:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Goon_Gumpas_from_Wheal_Maid_DSC_2951.jpg

UK version feels incomplete to me, ending on "Logan Rock Witch"... had to search for the EP to complete the trip I'm used to.

I guess it's what you're used to.

I used to consider I Care Because You Do as AFX's zenith, but now feel it's the RDJ/Come To Daddy/Windowlicker records, which all feel "of a piece" to me.

xp from Confield discussion above - 100% OTM with the "we weren't ready for it yet" sentiments lol. It's extremely musical when compared to say Untilted, and so infinitely less weird and self indulgent than 1/3 of NTS or Elseq.

the first three tracks of ICBYD are definitely a zenith of some kind

^^word

yes yes yes

Having been an Aphex admirer since purchasing the _Analogue Bubblebath_ 12", I have to say that my enthusiasm was somewhat lessened by hearing "Milkman". I really can't be doing with that kind of puerile guff.

While there’s obviously something, I dunno, Ween-coded about “Milk Man,” the song is such a banger… those beats skittering on top of the melodic swells; synths chiming out that simple little melody; and those goofy, charming bass drops… There is obviously a very specific sort of take-the-piss artistic intent behind – “I’m gonna make these lyrics as dumb as possible” – but damn if it doesn’t work!

(for me, anyway)

Ween has a lot of Aphex-coded tracks too so I'd say the feeling was mutual

> PEEK 824545201

a lot of the cheat codes in magazines at the time POKEd 201 (RET in z80) into memory to terminate routines before lives were decremented. but you are right that PEEK is lookup and even 824545 is way too large for a 16 bit address space (65536 bytes)

(i can't remember the day of the week sometimes but i do still remember random z80 opcodes. 205 call, 195 jmp...)

morrisp OTM

Koogs OTM

"PEEK 824545201" is a missed opportunity. He could have named it so as to perform a public service. For example, POKE 59901,82 fixes the Attic Bug.

Haha

Beautiful classical guitar version of Avril 14 on Shane Parish's forthcoming album.

https://shaneparish.bandcamp.com/album/repertoire

okay I got RDJ Album on now, it's still very freaky, just pure cartoon alien shit. or maybe music for the little mushroom guys. I like how he's sampling so many "small" sounds like water drops or tapping on coke cans, and even household objects like his modem (I think?), but then in spots it'll suddenly go all orchestral. especially like the last track having all those percussive instruments in it, obviously can't be done in your bedroom with your machines. so it feels big and very small at the same time. it does still sound good but not as good as his 21st Century stuff. "Peek" always makes me feel like I have sinus pain.

Yeah would agree it's not as good as the newer stuff, but it is still great, and it was a big step (well, that and Hangable Autobulb)—I guess it's a bit like Revolver is clear big step, but whilst they're both great, I like listening to Abbey Road more.

That analogy perfectly explains our respective taste differences. I'm a Revolver >>> Abbey Road guy and put it on far more often.

I like how minimal and 'in the box'it feels even though it's totally maximalist. I'd compare it to Autechre's LP5 in that respect

Yeah I get this, I find it amazing how spacey some of it is, given how much he seems to jam into every track.

Another thing I love about Aphex Twin is how every time I want some more stuff, you just kind of Google around and he seems to have squeezed at least another LP's worth of stuff out there. Currently listening to Oslo 2 +6.1, which is an unreleased track off of Rushup Edge and it's great; in fact, it might be better than most of the stuff on the actual release.

Wow, [S770SCI 3000,powertran] beautiful Japanese people might be one of his best.