Drukqs (stylised as drukQs) is a studio album by the
Warp Records. It is a double album alternating primarily between tracks of meticulously programmed drum and bass-inspired beats and computer-controlled classical piano pieces.[3][7] It features the piano composition "Avril 14th," one of James's best-known recordings.[8]
Drukqs was released to get around a potential leak of James's music after accidentally leaving an MP3 player behind on a plane while traveling to Scotland with Rephlex co-founder Grant Wilson-Claridge. It was intended to be his final release with Warp, per his contract with the label at the time. Drukqs was released to a mixed reception from music critics, with many of them dismissing it as inferior to his earlier works.[9] The album peaked at number 22 on the UK Albums Chart.[10] James would not release another album under the alias Aphex Twin until Syro (2014).
Background
James decided to release Drukqs primarily to circumvent a potential
Warp.[11] It was released as a double album.[12] About the album's two-disc length, James said "the way I listen to music now is that I buy a CD, put it on the computer and just take the tracks I want anyway. I'd hope that people would do the same with this CD."[11]
Many track names are written in Cornish—for example, "Jynweythek" ("Machine")—or are coded titles.[13] James has stated that the title is not related to drugs, and is "just a word [he] made up...I never wanted to big up any drugs, because I don't reckon they deserve it."[13]
Music
Drukqs contains tracks dating back "seven or eight years", according to James, though most of the album was relatively new.
James said that "A lot of [the tracks] are quite old-style sounding, I reckon. I’ve done loads of tracks which are really new in style and which don’t sound like anything else but I didn’t want to release those tracks."
drum programming, he said "it's quite similar to guitar solos, only with programming you have to use your brain. The most important thing is that it should have some emotional effect on me, rather than just, 'Oh, that's really clever.'"[13]
Warp."[4] However, in The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), critic Sasha Frere-Jones stated that "weirdly dismissed by many, Drukqs is often spectacular".[9]
The piano composition "
Blame Game."[8] As of April 2017 the track was James's most streamed track on Spotify, with approximately 124 million streams. By this metric, it is his best-known composition.[8] "Avril 14th" has also been used in films such as Marie Antoinette
"avril 14th half speed alternative version [re-recorded 2009 Nagra]"
5:07
33.
"avril 14th reversed music not audio [re-recorded 2009 Nagra]"
2:12
34.
"Mangle 11"
5:55
Vinyl
Side one
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Jynweythek Ylow"
2:14
2.
"Vordhosbn"
4:42
3.
"Kladfvgbung Micshk"
2:00
4.
"Strotha Tynhe"
2:03
Total length:
10:59
Side two
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Omgyjya Switch7"
4:46
2.
"Gwely Mernans"
5:00
Total length:
9:46
Side three
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Cock/Ver10"
5:17
2.
"Bbydhyonchord"
2:21
3.
"Orban Eq Trx 4"
1:27
Total length:
9:05
Side four
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Mt Saint Michel Mix + St Michaels Mount"
8:02
2.
"Beskhu3epnm"
1:58
Total length:
10:00
Side five
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Aussois"
0:07
2.
"Hy a Scullyas Lyf A Dhagrow"
2:09
3.
"Kesson Daslef"
1:18
4.
"Avril 14th"
1:55
5.
"Gwarek2"
6:38
Total length:
12:07
Side six
No.
Title
Length
1.
"54 Cymru Beats"
6:00
2.
"Btoum-Roumada"
1:56
3.
"Lornaderek"
0:30
4.
"Penty Harmonium"
1:20
5.
"Prep Gwarlek 3b"
1:13
6.
"Father"
0:51
7.
"Petiatil Cx Htdui"
2:05
Total length:
13:55
Side seven
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Meltphace 6"
6:14
2.
"Bit4"
0:18
3.
"Taking Control"
7:08
4.
"Ruglen Holon"
1:45
Total length:
15:25
Side eight
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Afx237 v7"
4:15
2.
"Ziggomatic v17"
8:28
3.
"Nanou2"
3:22
Total length:
16:05
Notes
An alternate version of Avril 14th (known as "avril altdelay") was uploaded to James' SoundCloud in 2014.
Another rework of Avril 14th was also uploaded to James' SoundCloud account under the name "avril 14th, notes played backwards, not the audio" in 2015.
A third version of Avril 14th titled "avril 14th doubletempo,half speed" was added as Track 34 on 3 December 2018, but it was removed after some hours.
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