After four years of near total silence, Richard D. James,
once the most prolific musician of the country, is back
with an epic double album. Not since the magnificent
Selected Ambient Works 2 had James offered
so much new music in one shot. The comparison, however,
stops here. If Drukqs is a similar bric-a-brac
of sounds, it also sounds as if two albums were running
in parallel, with tracks from each one playing alternatively,
sending the listener on a roller coaster of impressions
and expressions. In fact, James seems torn between the
quiet ambiences of Selected Ambient Works 2
and the apocalyptic drum machines of the Richard
D James LP. Drukqs constantly alternates
between tensed constructions and abyssal moments of
atmospheric calm, without warning or obvious link in
between.
The main problem with Drukqs resides in the
fact that James still suffers with acute Squarepusherite.
If Tom Jenkinson’s
fast forwarding drill’n’bass has always retained a good
level of interest thanks to its jazz connections, James
has never really managed to create a digital equivalent.
His clever electronic constructions remain too often
overshadowed by a wall of strenuous drum overflow. Here,
some of these tracks actually display some elements
of soul, as in the funky 54 Cymru Beats or
the acid ridden Meltphace 6, but they are in
minority. When he drops the bullshit, James’s genius
for melodies and sound organisation is intact. Whether
it is on peaceful piano tracks (Strotha Tynhe,
Avril 14th, Father, Petiatil Cx
Htdui), abstract ambient (Btoum-Roumada,
Gwely Mernans, Gwarek2) or more upbeat
moments (the beautiful Bbydhyonchord, reminiscent
of his Polygon
Window days), James becomes once again the creator
he once was. The album remains however too disparate
and severely lacks of direction. One would be forgiven
to think that it is a case of Warp getting increasingly
impatient about new Aphex Twin material, and James throwing
in a handful of tracks lifted from his legendary enormous
catalogue.
If Drukqs is nowhere near as painful as its
predecessor, it still doesn’t compare with his best
work. There are enough moments here to prove that Richard
D James still is one of the most creative musicians
on the planet, but too often, he lets slip some incredibly
weak tracks through. Only the next step in the Twin’s
adventures will tell if the man has definitely lost
it, or if this was only a bad patch.
3/5 |
