Pitchfork

On August 2nd, select members of the press were invited by Warp Records to the London Planetarium for a preview of the new Aphex Twin double-album, Druqks. For what seemed like decades, a packed crowed stared at the ceiling while the trademarked sound of Richard D. James blasted out of every speaker. As the invitation stated, "Music will be the only free refreshment available." And so it was.

A brief selection of the 30 tracks of the album found the typical manic beats, in tandem with naive melodies that don't know what they are doing, mixed up with accompanying hyper-percussion. The tagline for one of the tracks is "Come on you cunts lets have some Aphex acid," which is where the marketing campaign will center. Alongside the press, there were some suits from EMI, and fellow Rephlexians Cylob and Mike "Judge" Dred. As the teaser single on the mystery label MEN, titled 2 Remixes by AFX, has been selling like hotcakes, the consensus is that Druqks will be one of the biggest selling albums of the year, if not in the history of all mankind. It will be released in the U.S. on October 22nd.