Richard D. James: Musical Genius or No-talent Laptop Hack?

As I was browsing Associated Content I came across an article titled "Guide to Experiencing Aphex Twin". I thought about the title, "Is there a particular way I should be listening to Aphex Twin's music?" As if there was some special way to listen to his music, whilst meditating and drinking a kava beverage. Nonetheless I find the enigmatic man behind Aphex Twin, Richard D. James's music very stimulating and rewarding.

I would describe this album as an aural landscape, very personal yet so convoluted. The casual listener won't find any pleasure in listening to this. I would compare it to Brian Eno's Ambient series of recordings. Superfluous and ostentatious at times but very beautiful and complex. His acid house influences appear later in the second CD, which hint at his later split from Warp Records and releasing the back to basics Acid House Analord series on his own Rephlex Record Label.

Richard even makes use of the Prepared Piano, popularized by John Cage. It is prepared in such a way that the timbre of the piano is reminiscent of his synthesizers in some of his acid house songs. "ryglen holon" and "hy a scullyas lyf É" remind me of John Cage's work with the prepared piano, the latter being very sanguine. "petiatil cx htdu" is a song that sounds like something you would hear on the acid=techno Analord series except performed on a prepared piano. The hyperkinetic rhythms heard on "ziggomatic v17" are definitely enjoyable. The hypnotic rhythms found on "prep gwarlek 3b" are highly reminiscent of early Throbbing Gristle.

The typical break beats are present on a few songs. "gwely mernans" and "bit 4" are pure aural experiences. Some oddball tracks exist like "aussois" which is just a field recording of 2 people's voices in a room with natural reverberation. "lornaderek" features a recording of Richards parents singing happy birthday to him, recorded on his answering machine. "orban eq trx 4" sounds like something out of a videogame. "gwarek 2" is pure musique concrete.

The majority of the titles of the songs on the 2 CDs are unpronounceable. Glossolalia maybe? No, probably just a trick to stem illegal downloads. On the last few Analord records, Richard titled the songs after computer viruses that peer-to-peer file sharing networks filter out in searches.
Drukqs is definitely not his most accessible work, but those patient listeners looking for a rewarding experience will find home with this album. Imagine the aural equivalent of an abstract-expressionist painting, some might find that very enticing and others might find it headache-inducing. The CD is a little odd when it segues from drastically different styles of songs but it provides for a very personal and unique experience. Overall I would rate it four out of five stars.