Artist.......: AFX
Album........: Chosen Lords
Label........: Rephlex
Genre........: Electronic
Catnr........: RephlexCD173
source.......: CDDA
rip.date.....: Mar-04-2006
str.date.....: 000-00-0000
quality......: VBR/44,1Hz/Joint-Stereo
Url..........: www.rephlex.com
track title time
01. Fenix Funk 5 05:06
02. Reunion 2 05:16
03. Pitcard 06:26
04. Crying in Your Face 04:30
05. Klopjob 05:33
06. Boxing Day 06:50
07. Batine Acid 05:34
08. Cilonen 05:42
09. Pwsteal.ldpinch.d 03:48
10. Xmd5a 07:58
Runtime 56:43 min
Size 73,3 MB
Release Notes:
Last year, Richard D. James came out of what often
seems as a semi-retirement to offer the most
talked-about electronic records of the year. His
first proper new material since 2001Æs Drukqs, the
Analord series of EPs was made up of forty-one
tracks spread over eleven volumes, only made
available on vinyl and all collected in a specially
commissioned binder, the lot released on Rephlex,
the imprint he co-founded some thirteen years ago
with Grant Wilson-Claridge.
This remarkable series had fans talking weeks
before the first volume was released, and the
quality of the material collected reasserted, if
needed, JamesÆs place as one of the most
forward-thinking and influential musicians of his
generation.
While James released a considerable amount of
material during the first few years of his career,
he has, since the mid-nineties, been far more
elusive, carefully managing his image by remaining
slightly out of the limelight. Yet, his influence
can be felt in most contemporary electronic records
in one way or another. His work has taken him into
a variety of genres and styles, from the lush
Detroit-infused techno ambiences of Selected
Ambient Works 85-92 and Surfing On Sine Waves to
the dark isolationist tones of Selected Ambient
Works Vol. 2, the earthy post-industrial scope of
àI Care Because You Do, the drillÆnÆbass of the
Richard D. James Album and the classical influence
of Drukqs.
Quite surprisingly for such a gifted musician, the
Analord series, a title borrowed from a track by
long-term friend and fellow Cornwall native Luke
Vibert, didnÆt instantly appear to break grounds in
the same way as previous releases. The ten tracks
collected on this album-size condensed version
reinforce this sentiment. There are hints of almost
every single periods James has gone through in the
last fifteen years, but nothing that appear to bind
them together. On repeat listening though, JamesÆs
overall style emerges once again triumphant. The
melodies are complex, often unpredictable, and yet
catchy. Similarly, the beats are surgically cut,
assembled and positioned to work either in or
against the groove, unequivocally supporting the
post-acid generic theme which imperceptibly
develops over the length of the album.
The sonic scope of these tracks is instantly
familiar. Said to have been created on JamesÆs many
bespoke machines, the tracks all display variable
amount of razor-sharp metallic percussive noises,
acid squelches, hyperactive bass lines and analogue
soundwaves. While Fenix Funk and Reunion find James
totally immersed in AFX territory, the ghost of
Polygon Window comes in and out of focus on Pitcard
and that of early Aphex becomes more palpable as
the convulsive shocks of Boxing Day, Batine Acid or
Cilonen wax and wane, and the melancholic touch of
PWSteal.Ldpinch recalls some of his best moments.
If this album fails to show a real progression from
past recordings, the reception reserved to the
vinyl series of last year, each EP going to sell
into the five-figure quantity, is a clear enough
sign that Richard D. James has lost none of his
appeal. This first new material in five years might
only serve to demonstrate JamesÆs relevance on the
contemporary electronic scene, but it is also a
confident proof that he remains a totally unique
and unpredictable artist who continues to cast a
strong shadow on a genre he has so carefully
modelled.