We pay tribute to Cornwall’s cream and dig into the catalogue of Richard D James’ Analord series
To draw a line under the end of a year we’d all rather forget about, there’s certainly been a lot time for reflection and digging into the crates (both physical and digital) as a welcome distraction and sonic refuge in these troubled times.
Let’s face it – we’re still here because we love music … and we love music because we’re still here.
If you’re reading these words, it should come as no real surprise that we have a LOT of love for the AFX. In fact, it’s been quite easy to revert to type and find pleasure in revisiting one of our favourite artists. Not least because when you have time, there’s nothing better than spending hours and days chugging your way through parts of a prolific artist’s discography. Because with little else to do, why wouldn’t you?
Richard D James’ talent has been with us for as long as we can remember. When you realise just how much music he’s released since 1991, the haul is a long one but continually rewards. With sonic gems to be uncovered at every turn of a record, or click and stream courtesy of YouTube, we thought we’d try and end this dismal year on a high and jump back into his much celebrated Analord series.
Released in 2005 as a string of numbered 12”s on Rephlex, the Analord series marked his return to primarily using analogue equipment, following his computer-oriented programming work of the previous decade. You can’t help but admire the way in which this was put together (even if you aren’t a particularly a fan of the sound). All sonically rich(ard) but all equally diverse in their leanings – the whoops, here it is… this is me… have it says just as much about the artist as the musical content.
