exystence club

Twenty-five years on from its original release, Warp Records brings Aphex Twin’s Drukqs back into print on vinyl and CD. Often proclaimed as electronica’s one true genius, Richard James, AKA Aphex Twin, returns with a double CD that showcases his cleverness as well as his inevitable inscrutability. Still, amid macabre birthday songs, unsettling screams, and other bizarre touches, Drukqs offers the most technically accomplished and beautiful tracks of Aphex Twin’s career. Every aspect of the Aphex brain is on display here, from stark pieces performed on sampled piano and zither to Squarepusher-styled drum and bass implosions, all informed by that peculiar Aphex treatment of bittersweet melody and unparalleled programming.

Let’s face it: even Richard D. James has probably lost track of all the aliases he’s forged during his decades-long career. There are the ones we are party to — Aphex Twin, Caustic Window, Polygon Window — and then there are the thousands about which we have undoubtedly been left in the dark.
…Apparently, the electronic music trickster dons his many hats “for a laugh,” as he told Pitchfork’s Philip Sherburne in a rare interview back in 2014, “And I might keep doing it, just keep being anonymous and doing different names.” You only need to glance at Aphex Twin’s ridiculous Warp Records bio for living proof that we will likely never know the truth about the smarty pants “fartist” with a silly sense of humor, and one of the most revered, peerless catalogues in the canon.