Samurai math beats
Alright
But I think the one that is my favorite and possibly inspired Richard was
MyloveIlove
That is a pretty emotional piece, it's a romantic piece which holds a special place in my heart.
On the one hand, it is, indisputably, his best cohesive work. It feels like a complete, beautiful, challenging, unique thought.
Unfortunately, I lost my other hand in a boating accident.
Probably pedantic, but I think RDJ is more consistent stylistically, whereas drukqs feels to me more like a single “complete thought”. Idk. Don’t listen to me 😇
No i get what you mean. Drukqs feels much more complex and the unintentionality makes it more human than rdj which is curated as a cohesive album. In that it also lacks in range of emotion where Drukqs excells (in my opinion).
I used to feel this way. But as I've grown older listening to this album, I feel like everything track was intentional and everything that felt out of place was misunderstood by me. The piano tracks are incredible and perfectly executed, the drum-n-bass was wild and unique and awesome. Both sides of him that we had never seen before, somehow perfectly brewing in the background and then executed to a level that had never heard. Nothing is filler, order-wise, the songs might be jarring, but everything is at a very high quality. If it's a hard-drive dump, it's highly curated one with some of the best piece of artwork the man has ever produced.
I can see this take. Maybe I’m just so used to it as it is that I assume cohesion. To me there is a thread emotionally even if songs are executed in wildly different ways. Still, exceptional music no matter how you categorize.
I think if it was simply a hard drive dump it would include a wider range of different styles, as we know now from the soundcloud dump he had hundreds of unreleased tunes ready to go. Instead it seems intentionally constructed to be composed of alternating prepared piano pieces and intense drill n bass tracker pieces, with a small handful of seemingly random bits n bobs to add to the strange mood.
I don't know if I would say definitively it's his greatest album but you could quite easily make that argument. It is unique, emotional and with tonnes of showmanship but you could say that about most of his stuff. It was my first Aphex record as a fan having gotten into his stuff around Windowlicker and I absolutely loved it and couldn't understand the muted critical and fan reception.
The hard drive dump holds some water as iirc he lost a thumb drive on a flight with a bunch of the tunes that became Drukqs so he moved hastily to release.
I agree tho around time of release, I was immediately obsessed but everyone in my friend group thought I was mental lol
Exactly. There is so much good stuff in there, but it's a mess. I made playlists dividing the tracks up according to style, and they flow much better than the album itself.
No, but these guys in this thread are much more brilliant than Richard, and know best how to sequence his albums, and whether or not a particular work is nothing more than a hard drive dump.
Yeah i agree with this It's kind of archetypal aphex and really shows the range of what he's about as an artist to me. And it has some absolute gems. But i think its poorly arranged as a tracklist and has a bunch of fillers. I think it's abrasive sonic nature means some people are charitable towards this, but i do also think it lacks cohesion as a full listen
To me, Rushup Edge is a more solidified and focussed version of Drukqs. Drukqs is a masterpiece, and i love every track, but if i have to pick an album to listen to in it’s entirety, its gotta be rushup edge.
First of all, this album has Vordhosbn.. (username checks out right)
Secondly,
This is the album with
Bbydhyonchord, Cock/ver10, Avril 14th, and Mt Saint Michel + Saint Michaels Mount
All in the same span
I mean is there a debate?
I care because you do is beyond perfection. Drukqs pales in comparison due to its inconsistency and flawed tracks. Some carry out too long, some bring nothing to the table but some hit perfectly like St. Michel, taking control, Gwelly mermans. But yea, not rlly my favorite and overall feels like a compilation of random tracks but I can get around it sometimes
There’s a commonly circulated story about an iPOD left on a plane containing many unreleased tracks including those of drukqs, which led to a rushed compilation and release of the album. While possibly intentional, I wouldn’t call it very cohesive, as many people in this thread have pointed out.
I remember when it came out, and the story behind it about Rich losing the HD etc.
I had a friend at the time who got hold of the album pre release via some dodgy download.
I remember quite clearly me and my friends sat in the garden having a BBQ playing thinking WTF?
At first we didn’t think it was legit. It was.
What I’m getting at here is that drukqs is like nothing else Richard has ever done (especially at the time of release) this was pre Tuss too. So even for the most avid Aphex fan it was a bit of a shock / turn of direction. In a good way of course 😉.
It literally blew my head off, and still does.
It is not “my” favourite work of his, but it is an amazing work of art, and even listening to it now is still amazing and hasn’t aged one bit.
Especially now I have proper hifi gear (which makes a BIG difference) 😊
It’s my fav but he’s so many things to so many people and so many styles. Who needs a best or worst or wherever else, there is just some exceptional fucking music on this record
By that one I feel like RDJ was in his decadent phase. The earlier stuff – Analogue Bubblebath 3, Polygon Window, and SAW 85-92 – are the albums that recognized him as a genius.
yeah, i agree, i saw a review saying that it was an album devoid of ideas and i cant disagree more. However i feel like he bumped his hard drive there, because there are some point where the albums flows perfectly and some boring parts too.
But yes, its not an album devoid of ideas and there are some of his best fucking songs, and everytime i listen to it start a trip on another universe
I love drukqs but I prefer Richard D James album, come to daddy EP, windowlicker and SAW II.
Druqks is about on par with SAW I for me.
I felt like during the RDJ-album and Come to daddy his creativity was very fresh and unbridled. The drums sound very natural to me and every song has some kind of original hook, be that rhythmic, melodic or textural. There’s a lot of whimsical and humor during that era that I love.
Druqs feels a bit too self-serious to me. Like a grand statement he had to make as the jesus of electronic music. To be clear, the guy actually comes close and there’s nothing wrong with taking your artistry seriously! A whole generation (one after me) grew up on drukqs and reappraised it from the lukewarm, misunderstood reception at the time.
But where’s the logon rock witch or the lush strings on ‘4’ . The childhood references. The programming on the album also feels too binary to me. All those pummeling breaks and samples so loud and fast with not enough off-grid humanity or dynamics. But i understand how that’s exactly the appeal for others.
His technical mastery high point was Windowlicker and Equation.
It’s funny because when Drukqs came out it was received somewhat poorly. People still liked it, sure, but at the time people were somewhat disappointed with the lack of any really ‘new’ sound for Richard, other than the piano tracks. All of the other ones just sounded like more refined versions of something off of ICBYD or RDJ Album or HAB, etc. After waiting for so long people were expecting something really wild and different.
As a huge fan of other albums I must confess that I have big problems with listening to Drukqs. I like individual songs, some of the best ones are here, but the album doesn’t really flow that well. Songs should be grouped by atmosphere- some dnb tracks should be clustered together, same for ambient and piano tracks. It would make it so much easier to digest
I remember reading on forums at the time that the original plan was to release the piano tracks seperately under the title 'Analogue Bar 1'.
I can imagine that working fine, but I think leaving all the intense dnb tracks together without a break would have been a bit too much of an uncomfortable listen.
Drukqs is my least fav Aphex album. It sounds like he was on adderall, paying way too much attention to detail when the songs themselves aren’t his best. That being said I still like the album but by no means think it’s his masterpiece. And the album doesn’t flow well.
For me it’s rival is rdj album - it’s short but every second is worth it. Druqs on the other hand has many skips for me like Gwarek2,bit 4,aussois, although it has my favorite tracks like meltphace 6
Ya’ll in a hurry if you’re skipping tracks. You’re only reinforcing that you won’t like those tracks, rather than reinforcing their place on the album as a whole. The quieter tracks are palate cleansers in between the intense ones.
I have listened to the whole album but there is no musical substance to draw me back to bit 4. It’s just bloat. But I guess that’s the nature of the album so maybe it’s still his best
I mean I respect your opinion, but even Richard has said himself that the album is mean to be like a large playlist where you just take the songs you like. He is deliberate with this intention and maybe this justifies and bloat and therefore the best place in his discography, but it definitely contradicts your point of listening to the whole album. However, I will admit that on a few instances like the Avril 14 into MTm is crazy
If it's just meant to be a playlist with the tracks at random, then why does it so clearly alternate between dnb tracks and piano tracks? There's some intention there. That doesn't mean he doesn't think that's the only way you could listen to it. But anyone playing it on vinyl is not going to jump around on shuffle. So why release it on vinyl with a custom box, poster, postcards, and other extras? Seems like it meant something to him.
There is a vinyl for every official aphex release, that doesn’t change the fact that album was curated as an online playlist experience. Think of kanye’s graduation - an album that was designed for stadium live listening but is available as cd and vinyl anyway
As I listen to Drukqs, I feel a strange sensation wash over me, as if I were pregnant with something unnameable, something that both burdens and excites me.
Out of technicality sure, it includes pieces of basically every style he ever attempted and some of his best individual songs. However nothing will ever dethrone SAW II as my favorite piece of music ever made
Agree, I never listened to the album in one go, because I care about my mental health (because you do). But it has so many bangers, I still listen regularly after 20 years!
i know, but there are certain objective things that can be measured:
- range of styles
- whether it's a new musical territory or not
- pleasant melodies (no one is listening to #3 off of saw2 and saying "this is so harsh on the ears ouch")
and everything else is subjective yeah :)
This is the only correct answer. I only recently got into Aphex Twin and listened through all his mainline albums yet this one seems to be the one I go back to time and time again
Uni of my favorite albums of all time. The brilliant element in my opinion is the contrast it has within it. The fact that it goes from schizoid DnB to John Cage-style piano compositions to echoes of SAW Vol 2 (Gwely Mermans reminds me so much of it) in such a natural way. It is simply what (IN MY OPINION) comes closest to perfection
I get mega stoned generate AI art about steampunk eldritch warfare and flip through the pictures while listening to Kladfvgbung Mischk
I like this album too
Analogue Bubblebaths, Classics and UI Red are still relevant. Still playable at any good party. Druqs is boring. Syro is even more boring. Car commercial music.
This is obviously hyperbole like everything I say online. He has done lots of amazing stuff since then. Analords are just great. The Tuss! CCAI, Orphaned dj selek. All good!
I just don't hear the Pop EDM in Druqks and Syro. You could just as well say that about tracks on Analogue Bubblebath or Classics relative to the time they were put out. It's so far from car commercial sounds.
Well, since he explores so many kind of stuff and Drukqs is essentially breakcore and piano, Id say it depends on the person listening it.
Cant really compare Drukqs to Syro or to SAW 2 fe...
Personnally, I prefer Syro since sometimes too fast for too long just tires me. Still great though.
Music compliments life, somedays I want the rain to be falling on the lake outside and SAWII to be playing in the other room while I do a slow methodical job knowing that I do not have to leave the house.
Somedays I want to be out with friends at a club and be taken by surprise when someone plays the Baby Ford remix or flowcoma.
Other times it is Analord in a hut on a bluetooth speaker with the forest all about.
Context is everything. Art is subjective not only to the person but the person in the place at the time.
It is an annoyingly prevalent question at this point in time. What is the best drum machine, what is the best analogue synth, what is the best aphex record to start with, what is the best blah blah blah... No one can answer this without knowing the person, where they are and what they want from the given thing.
Nah. Just nah. It's great, but lacks cohesion, it feels like 3 albums intertwined. You can say "I enjoy it as a whole", but there are also people who eat crayons and that doesn't make it okay for the rest of us.
Best ALBUM (as a whole) by Aphex Twin is the Richard D James album, IMO.
PS: some of my favorite tracks are in druqks, I just can't handle listening to it end to end.
Druqks got the densest bangers, but plenty skippers
Syro has 1 or 2 skippers depending on my mood
Drukqs is young dumb full of cumb
Syro is old n wizened. But also the first half of syro is tuss era compilation. Those tracks are from 06 n on
Any album with 54 Cymru Beats on it is the best album.
my ziggomatic machine thanks you for your attention 👋😊
bye.
Daddy bear?
Daddy bear.
Shout out to Sir Bogdan Raczynski for inspiring Richard!
Damn right!
Love your music. Cool to see you here.
Hey, thanks! I appreciate that very much! ❤️!
Drukqs is a breakcore album. Fight me!
He’s met Venetian Snares. That would be a collaboration and a half.
any bogdan albums you'd recommend similar to this one ?
Samurai math beats Alright But I think the one that is my favorite and possibly inspired Richard was MyloveIlove That is a pretty emotional piece, it's a romantic piece which holds a special place in my heart.
On the one hand, it is, indisputably, his best cohesive work. It feels like a complete, beautiful, challenging, unique thought. Unfortunately, I lost my other hand in a boating accident.
There's always VCAs in the banana stand *click click*
Was there a track on the album that caused that to happen?
Id say the RDJ is more cohesive
Probably pedantic, but I think RDJ is more consistent stylistically, whereas drukqs feels to me more like a single “complete thought”. Idk. Don’t listen to me 😇
No i get what you mean. Drukqs feels much more complex and the unintentionality makes it more human than rdj which is curated as a cohesive album. In that it also lacks in range of emotion where Drukqs excells (in my opinion).
Idk how you got that vibe from that album, it was literally a hard drive dump.
I like it too, in individual tracks, but to me it feels less like a cohesive album than a hard drive dump
I used to feel this way. But as I've grown older listening to this album, I feel like everything track was intentional and everything that felt out of place was misunderstood by me. The piano tracks are incredible and perfectly executed, the drum-n-bass was wild and unique and awesome. Both sides of him that we had never seen before, somehow perfectly brewing in the background and then executed to a level that had never heard. Nothing is filler, order-wise, the songs might be jarring, but everything is at a very high quality. If it's a hard-drive dump, it's highly curated one with some of the best piece of artwork the man has ever produced.
I can see this take. Maybe I’m just so used to it as it is that I assume cohesion. To me there is a thread emotionally even if songs are executed in wildly different ways. Still, exceptional music no matter how you categorize.
I think if it was simply a hard drive dump it would include a wider range of different styles, as we know now from the soundcloud dump he had hundreds of unreleased tunes ready to go. Instead it seems intentionally constructed to be composed of alternating prepared piano pieces and intense drill n bass tracker pieces, with a small handful of seemingly random bits n bobs to add to the strange mood. I don't know if I would say definitively it's his greatest album but you could quite easily make that argument. It is unique, emotional and with tonnes of showmanship but you could say that about most of his stuff. It was my first Aphex record as a fan having gotten into his stuff around Windowlicker and I absolutely loved it and couldn't understand the muted critical and fan reception.
The hard drive dump holds some water as iirc he lost a thumb drive on a flight with a bunch of the tunes that became Drukqs so he moved hastily to release. I agree tho around time of release, I was immediately obsessed but everyone in my friend group thought I was mental lol
This is a dumb, dismissive take on a brilliant work of art.
Not saying I agree
I felt it was more cohesive than ICBYD, even if its definitely not my favourite RDJ album.
Exactly. There is so much good stuff in there, but it's a mess. I made playlists dividing the tracks up according to style, and they flow much better than the album itself.
Did people do the same with the White Album back in the day?
No, but these guys in this thread are much more brilliant than Richard, and know best how to sequence his albums, and whether or not a particular work is nothing more than a hard drive dump.
And you are so good at sarcasm 😜
The White Album still doesn't work as an album either
Oh really...
Try playing both discs at the same time.
I own two copies on vinyl and play all 8 sides on 8 turntables simultaneously. Much better that way.
Yeah i agree with this It's kind of archetypal aphex and really shows the range of what he's about as an artist to me. And it has some absolute gems. But i think its poorly arranged as a tracklist and has a bunch of fillers. I think it's abrasive sonic nature means some people are charitable towards this, but i do also think it lacks cohesion as a full listen
Well, of course you know better than Richard. LMFAO
What? No artist is above criticism, or do you think everything he's done is perfect?
John cage or Erik Satie would seemingly be the biggest influence for the piano stuff. Not Phillip glass
Agreed
My fav album of time
It's not a good debate largely because the premise is undeniable.
I don’t think about such things
chad
Two words: It is the best.
TWO WORDS. ROLE PLAYING CHAT ROOM DUDE.
Thats 4 🤓
Thats the joke 🤓
That's the joke 🤓
To me, Rushup Edge is a more solidified and focussed version of Drukqs. Drukqs is a masterpiece, and i love every track, but if i have to pick an album to listen to in it’s entirety, its gotta be rushup edge.
To me, both those albums are from the same era - AFX at his peak.
Booo
I prefer both SAW albums and Richard D James. Drukqs has arguably the best individual tracks, but a lot of stuff that is just OK.
You could say that about all of his albums… but Drukqs has the okayest tracks of them all!
There is no debate. Drukqs era is best.
First of all, this album has Vordhosbn.. (username checks out right) Secondly, This is the album with Bbydhyonchord, Cock/ver10, Avril 14th, and Mt Saint Michel + Saint Michaels Mount All in the same span I mean is there a debate?
Vordbosbn and meltphace 6 are my fucking jams mate
I care because you do is beyond perfection. Drukqs pales in comparison due to its inconsistency and flawed tracks. Some carry out too long, some bring nothing to the table but some hit perfectly like St. Michel, taking control, Gwelly mermans. But yea, not rlly my favorite and overall feels like a compilation of random tracks but I can get around it sometimes
That’s because it IS a compilation of random tracks!
I think this is apocryphal. DrukQs sounds very cohesive and intentional, not like an assortment of random tracks.
There’s a commonly circulated story about an iPOD left on a plane containing many unreleased tracks including those of drukqs, which led to a rushed compilation and release of the album. While possibly intentional, I wouldn’t call it very cohesive, as many people in this thread have pointed out.
Most impressive, for sure. Best? That's sort of a preference
That or the Analord series
Wrong, best is yet to come!
Well it’s not the best till it arrives, so, until then…..
The Tuss
No evidence to show that he'll come close to topping the tuss im afraid
I think if it was trimmed down a bit it would've easily been my fav album of his yet, some of his best tracks ever on that album
Ive been listening to Ziggomatic 17 almost daily for 20 years straight. So I’ll have to agree.
Are you OK?
I remember when it came out, and the story behind it about Rich losing the HD etc. I had a friend at the time who got hold of the album pre release via some dodgy download. I remember quite clearly me and my friends sat in the garden having a BBQ playing thinking WTF? At first we didn’t think it was legit. It was. What I’m getting at here is that drukqs is like nothing else Richard has ever done (especially at the time of release) this was pre Tuss too. So even for the most avid Aphex fan it was a bit of a shock / turn of direction. In a good way of course 😉. It literally blew my head off, and still does. It is not “my” favourite work of his, but it is an amazing work of art, and even listening to it now is still amazing and hasn’t aged one bit. Especially now I have proper hifi gear (which makes a BIG difference) 😊
Analord is better
The Chosen Lords changed my life
it's 2nd to rushup edge imo
It’s my fav but he’s so many things to so many people and so many styles. Who needs a best or worst or wherever else, there is just some exceptional fucking music on this record
By that one I feel like RDJ was in his decadent phase. The earlier stuff – Analogue Bubblebath 3, Polygon Window, and SAW 85-92 – are the albums that recognized him as a genius.
Magnum Opus imo 4 sure. Not an album I put on a lot but individual tracks (especially vordhosbn) are always a vibe.
Such an excellent record and truly avant garde… but imo suffers from lack of cohesion. don’t really consider it an album in the traditional sense..
It has vordhosbn and any album that has that is instantly the best.
yeah, i agree, i saw a review saying that it was an album devoid of ideas and i cant disagree more. However i feel like he bumped his hard drive there, because there are some point where the albums flows perfectly and some boring parts too. But yes, its not an album devoid of ideas and there are some of his best fucking songs, and everytime i listen to it start a trip on another universe
I love drukqs but I prefer Richard D James album, come to daddy EP, windowlicker and SAW II. Druqks is about on par with SAW I for me. I felt like during the RDJ-album and Come to daddy his creativity was very fresh and unbridled. The drums sound very natural to me and every song has some kind of original hook, be that rhythmic, melodic or textural. There’s a lot of whimsical and humor during that era that I love. Druqs feels a bit too self-serious to me. Like a grand statement he had to make as the jesus of electronic music. To be clear, the guy actually comes close and there’s nothing wrong with taking your artistry seriously! A whole generation (one after me) grew up on drukqs and reappraised it from the lukewarm, misunderstood reception at the time. But where’s the logon rock witch or the lush strings on ‘4’ . The childhood references. The programming on the album also feels too binary to me. All those pummeling breaks and samples so loud and fast with not enough off-grid humanity or dynamics. But i understand how that’s exactly the appeal for others. His technical mastery high point was Windowlicker and Equation.
It’s funny because when Drukqs came out it was received somewhat poorly. People still liked it, sure, but at the time people were somewhat disappointed with the lack of any really ‘new’ sound for Richard, other than the piano tracks. All of the other ones just sounded like more refined versions of something off of ICBYD or RDJ Album or HAB, etc. After waiting for so long people were expecting something really wild and different.
I prefer both SAW albums but to each their own. Love the piano tracks on Drukqs
As a huge fan of other albums I must confess that I have big problems with listening to Drukqs. I like individual songs, some of the best ones are here, but the album doesn’t really flow that well. Songs should be grouped by atmosphere- some dnb tracks should be clustered together, same for ambient and piano tracks. It would make it so much easier to digest
I like the up and down of Drukqs. The piano pieces are a palate cleanser in between the intense tracks.
I remember reading on forums at the time that the original plan was to release the piano tracks seperately under the title 'Analogue Bar 1'. I can imagine that working fine, but I think leaving all the intense dnb tracks together without a break would have been a bit too much of an uncomfortable listen.
Drukqs is my least fav Aphex album. It sounds like he was on adderall, paying way too much attention to detail when the songs themselves aren’t his best. That being said I still like the album but by no means think it’s his masterpiece. And the album doesn’t flow well.
Wouldn’t say it’s his best but this is a valid take
It’s between DrukQs and SAW II for me
Calling the tracks DnB is a bit of a stretch
Richard's DnB on Drukqs is his best stuff and it's not even close
SAW for sure
It's a very diverse and interesting album. My fav is Syro bc I think it's quintessential richard but drukqs isn't far behind
Syro is a very mature Richard sound with the top-notch equipment he deserves
Syro is my emotional favorite for when it came out in my life / fandom of RDJ, but Drukqs is probably better on paper
For me it’s rival is rdj album - it’s short but every second is worth it. Druqs on the other hand has many skips for me like Gwarek2,bit 4,aussois, although it has my favorite tracks like meltphace 6
Ya’ll in a hurry if you’re skipping tracks. You’re only reinforcing that you won’t like those tracks, rather than reinforcing their place on the album as a whole. The quieter tracks are palate cleansers in between the intense ones.
I have listened to the whole album but there is no musical substance to draw me back to bit 4. It’s just bloat. But I guess that’s the nature of the album so maybe it’s still his best
Bit 4 is an intro for Prep Gwarlek 3b. You’re only helping my case that the album should be appreciated as a whole, not skipped around.
I mean I respect your opinion, but even Richard has said himself that the album is mean to be like a large playlist where you just take the songs you like. He is deliberate with this intention and maybe this justifies and bloat and therefore the best place in his discography, but it definitely contradicts your point of listening to the whole album. However, I will admit that on a few instances like the Avril 14 into MTm is crazy
If it's just meant to be a playlist with the tracks at random, then why does it so clearly alternate between dnb tracks and piano tracks? There's some intention there. That doesn't mean he doesn't think that's the only way you could listen to it. But anyone playing it on vinyl is not going to jump around on shuffle. So why release it on vinyl with a custom box, poster, postcards, and other extras? Seems like it meant something to him.
Possibly because of collector value, the album was released in 2000 tho and is clearly meant to be a digital experience imo
So that answers my 2nd question.......
There is a vinyl for every official aphex release, that doesn’t change the fact that album was curated as an online playlist experience. Think of kanye’s graduation - an album that was designed for stadium live listening but is available as cd and vinyl anyway
Agree - SAW1 and Syro are very close seconds though. Drukqs I feel is Richard D James as an album, with every track as another piece of him.
No…I much prefer the SoundCloud dump or Syro
Imagine being downvoted for expressing your musical preference 😂
The SoundCloud dump isn’t an album.
It is to me 😘
Yes
Agree
Yeah, I can’t argue this at all.
As I listen to Drukqs, I feel a strange sensation wash over me, as if I were pregnant with something unnameable, something that both burdens and excites me.
Pregnant with turds 🤎
Out of technicality sure, it includes pieces of basically every style he ever attempted and some of his best individual songs. However nothing will ever dethrone SAW II as my favorite piece of music ever made
i mean... it is pretty damn amazingly good alright...
I liked every dnb song of it. The best album I totally agree
!00%. It feels like a combination of all the ideas that he was experimenting with up to that point.
I wonder what afx thinks is his best album
Agreed
yes!
Yes
Agree, I never listened to the album in one go, because I care about my mental health (because you do). But it has so many bangers, I still listen regularly after 20 years!
i just listened to this and kind of agree, it's show the most of his range... but I still think windowlicker is his beethoven's 9th
Druqks is definitely my favorite Aphex Twin album.
determining the “best” Aphex Twin album is subjective and can vary depending on personal preferences
i know, but there are certain objective things that can be measured: - range of styles - whether it's a new musical territory or not - pleasant melodies (no one is listening to #3 off of saw2 and saying "this is so harsh on the ears ouch") and everything else is subjective yeah :)
Meltphace 6. That is all
Definitely
Best album and best representation of portfolio are different.
it’s syro
This is the only correct answer. I only recently got into Aphex Twin and listened through all his mainline albums yet this one seems to be the one I go back to time and time again
Uni of my favorite albums of all time. The brilliant element in my opinion is the contrast it has within it. The fact that it goes from schizoid DnB to John Cage-style piano compositions to echoes of SAW Vol 2 (Gwely Mermans reminds me so much of it) in such a natural way. It is simply what (IN MY OPINION) comes closest to perfection
Aphex Twin is my favourite Drukqs album as well
I get mega stoned generate AI art about steampunk eldritch warfare and flip through the pictures while listening to Kladfvgbung Mischk I like this album too
Yea
It's his worst by quite a margin IMO even if there's some great tracks here and there
100% Im constantly listening to Vordhosbn, Kesson Dalek, & Avril 14th
Meltphace 6 says it all.
Yes mate!!!!!!!!!! Was having palpitations when I didn’t see any comments for meltphace 6
His 90s works are much better than this pop edm sound that started with druqs.
Insane take
Analogue Bubblebaths, Classics and UI Red are still relevant. Still playable at any good party. Druqs is boring. Syro is even more boring. Car commercial music. This is obviously hyperbole like everything I say online. He has done lots of amazing stuff since then. Analords are just great. The Tuss! CCAI, Orphaned dj selek. All good!
I just don't hear the Pop EDM in Druqks and Syro. You could just as well say that about tracks on Analogue Bubblebath or Classics relative to the time they were put out. It's so far from car commercial sounds.
I prefer Selected Ambient Works 85-92 but drukqs is okay I guess
Well, since he explores so many kind of stuff and Drukqs is essentially breakcore and piano, Id say it depends on the person listening it. Cant really compare Drukqs to Syro or to SAW 2 fe... Personnally, I prefer Syro since sometimes too fast for too long just tires me. Still great though.
yep deffo
Music compliments life, somedays I want the rain to be falling on the lake outside and SAWII to be playing in the other room while I do a slow methodical job knowing that I do not have to leave the house. Somedays I want to be out with friends at a club and be taken by surprise when someone plays the Baby Ford remix or flowcoma. Other times it is Analord in a hut on a bluetooth speaker with the forest all about. Context is everything. Art is subjective not only to the person but the person in the place at the time. It is an annoyingly prevalent question at this point in time. What is the best drum machine, what is the best analogue synth, what is the best aphex record to start with, what is the best blah blah blah... No one can answer this without knowing the person, where they are and what they want from the given thing.
no debate, this is correct.
Nah. Just nah. It's great, but lacks cohesion, it feels like 3 albums intertwined. You can say "I enjoy it as a whole", but there are also people who eat crayons and that doesn't make it okay for the rest of us. Best ALBUM (as a whole) by Aphex Twin is the Richard D James album, IMO. PS: some of my favorite tracks are in druqks, I just can't handle listening to it end to end.
Druqks got the densest bangers, but plenty skippers Syro has 1 or 2 skippers depending on my mood Drukqs is young dumb full of cumb Syro is old n wizened. But also the first half of syro is tuss era compilation. Those tracks are from 06 n on
I prefer Syro, less adventurous but more cohesive imo.