Drukqs

Template:Good article Template:UBE Template:Use dmy dates {{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |Template:Short description|noreplace}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=2 Remixes by AFX200126 Mixes for Cash2003studioDrukqsDrukqs (Front Cover).pngAphex TwinTemplate:Start date*Drill 'n' bass

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• IDM
• impressionism
• jungle
• acid
• electroacoustic
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Drukqs (stylised as drukQs) is the fifth studio album by the British electronic music artist and producer Richard D. James under the alias of Aphex Twin. It was released in October 2001 through Warp Records. It is a double album that includes a variety of contrasting styles, from meticulously programmed beats inspired by jungle and drum and bass, to classical-type piano and prepared piano, ambient, and electroacoustic pieces.<ref name=needham2001/><ref name="Interview">Template:Cite news</ref> It features the piano composition "Avril 14th", one of James's best known recordings.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

James released Drukqs to pre-empt a potential leak after he accidentally left an MP3 player containing his music on a plane. It was intended to be his final release with Warp, in accordance with his label contract. The record entered the Dance Albums Chart at No.Template:Nbsp1, remaining in the top 10 for five weeks,Template:Refn and entered at No.Template:Nbsp22 on the Albums Chart.<ref name=occ>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It received polarised reviews from critics: many dismissed it, focusing on its perceived lack of innovation and similarity to James's previous works, while some praised it as an accomplished work.

Background and release

James released Drukqs to circumvent a potential leak after he accidentally left an MP3 player containing 180 unreleased tracks on a plane while travelling to Scotland. According to James: "I thought, 'They're gonna fucking come on the internet sooner or later so I may as well get an album out of it first.'"<ref name="Interview"/> James had no intent to release any of the record's tracks to the public prior to the incident.<ref name="stereogumm" /> He intended it to be his final release as part of his contractual obligation to Warp.<ref name="I"/> The album was mastered in early July 2001.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It was released as a double CD album on 22 October 2001.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="stereogumm">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The record entered the Dance Albums Chart at No.Template:Nbsp1, remaining in the top 10 for five weeks,Template:Refn and entered at No.Template:Nbsp22 on the Albums Chart.<ref name=occ/>

Many track names are written in Cornish—for example, "Jynweythek" ("Machine")—or are coded titles.<ref name="Lester">Template:Cite news</ref> James has stated that the title is not related to drugs, and is "just a word [he] made up."<ref name="Lester"/> 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."<ref name="I"/>

Music

The LP is a double album featuring a variety of styles: rapid, meticulously-programmed tracks utilising exaggerated drum 'n' bass breakbeats,<ref name="Reynolds2001"/> ambient, electroacoustic, and piano and prepared piano pieces inspired by classical music<ref name="needham2001"/> made using computer-controlled instruments such as a modified Yamaha Disklavier and several MIDI-controlled, solenoid-based drum mechanisms made by James.<ref name="SoundCloud">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Drukqs includes music in the genres of drill 'n' bass,<ref name="The Soft Side of Aphex Twin">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Aphex Twin – Drukqs">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> jungle,<ref name="needham2001"/><ref name=":0"/> classical,<ref name="needham2001"/><ref name="blashill2001"/> electroacoustic,<ref name="Aphex Twin – Drukqs"/> acid,<ref name="Aphex Twin – Drukqs"/> drum and bass,<ref name=needham2001/> techno,<ref name=needham2001/> IDM<ref name="blashill2001" /> and ambient.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It contains tracks dating back "seven or eight years", according to James, though most of the album was relatively new.<ref name="I"/> Keymag described it as "switching restlessly from his most acidic drill 'n' bass yet to incredibly lavish prepared piano pieces inspired by John Cage."<ref name="The Soft Side of Aphex Twin"/> NME noted that the album moves through techno, drum 'n' bass, and early-90s rave, while the piano interludes were compared to the work of Erik Satie.<ref name="needham2001"/> Pitchfork also noted "several purely electro-acoustic excursions".<ref name="Seymour"/>

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."<ref name="I">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> While acknowledging similarities with his past records, James said that "I haven’t done something in so much detail before."<ref name="I"/> Of the album's complex 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.'"<ref name="Lester"/>

In 2015 James released the EP Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2, featuring further computer-controlled instrumental tracks, as a sequel to Drukqs.<ref name="SoundCloud"/>

Reception

Drukqs is among James's most divisive releases, with Oli Warwick of Crack noting that it provoked "widespread indignation amongst music critics, whose primary criticism seemed to be that James had delivered something reminiscent of previous releases, rather than some bold new mode of electronic expression."<ref name="crack">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 66 based on 21 reviews.<ref name="metacritic"/>

On its 2001 release, Alex Needham of NME called it "beautiful" and "bulging with goodies".<ref name="needham2001" /> The review for Playlouder called it "probably his best album to date".<ref name=He01/> For Spin, Simon Reynolds criticised the album as "unimpressive" and "trapped by the potential for infinitesimal tweakage," stating that it "sounds merely like a slight extension of the Aphex sound circa 1996's Richard D. James Album and 1997's Come to Daddy."<ref name="Reynolds2001" /> Pitchfork described the album's "drill'n'bass" tracks as "throwbacks to the past rather than prospects on the future; and for all of their compositional strength, there's an element of the Aphex Twin mystique missing."<ref name="Seymour"/> Dave Simpson of The Guardian stated that "much of Drukqs sounds like weaker echoes of things Aphex Twin has done before, which no manner of hyperactive drum machines or daft titles can disguise."<ref name="Simpson"/> Pat Blashill of Rolling Stone called Drukqs Aphex's "most irrelevant album to date", and added "rumor has it that James merely loaded this record with outtakes that have been eating up space on his hard drive for years, then released the album as a deal-breaker with his label, Warp."<ref name="blashill2001" /> In The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), critic Sasha Frere-Jones wrote "weirdly dismissed by many, Drukqs is often spectacular".<ref name="rsag2004" />

The piano composition "Avril 14th" became one of James's most popular tracks, later being used in a Saturday Night Live skit and the Kanye West song "Blame Game".<ref name=":0"/> 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.<ref name=":0"/> "Avril 14th" has also been used in films such as Marie Antoinette (2006).<ref name=":0" /> "QKThr" has also seen widespread use as a TikTok sound, primarily in relation to the 'subtle foreshadowing' trend, where a video's unfortunate ending is slowed down and spliced throughout the video itself.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Track listing

All songs composed by Richard D. James.<ref name="linernotes"/> Template:Track listing Template:Track listing

Personnel

• Aphex Twin – music, photographs<ref name="linernotes">Template:Cite AV media</ref>

Charts

Template:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chart

Chart performance for Drukqs

Chart (2001)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)<ref>Template:Cite journalTemplate:Cbignore</ref>	87
UK Dance Albums (OCC)<ref name=MwNov01/>	1

External links

• Drukqs.net – The official Drukqs Web site: free MP3s and information (Flash Player-enabled browser required for access).
• Template:Metacritic album
• Drukqs at the Warp Records discography Template:Webarchive
• Drukqs on Discogs