Chosen Lords

A compilation of Aphex Twin's legendary Analord series.

In the late 80's; early 90's, Richard D James embarked upon a synthesised journey pioneering the ambient, acid, and techno genre's of the era and releasead; to an extremely limited extent, his Analord series across 11 double sided vinyl EP's under the alias of AFX (to be released under a separate record label). Over the years, with growing popularity of Richards' abstract music and maybe due to the hard-to-buy nature of the series, Analord reached legendary status amongst fans and critics alike. Yet with such status, the series still remains hard to attain and thus, has brought about the release of this; Chosen lords, the first ever Analord material ever to be officially released on compact disc.

To give a very brief outline of the Analord series, the material etched upon these rare vinyl's are infact, a rather 'softer' notion in comparison to his other works. A significant amount of the tracks consist with only several key layers and some even start with one layer and then engross to more, in a rather contemporary, simplistic fashion. Moreso, this is rather in the style of his highly acclaimed Selected Ambient Works 85-92 album (which is renown for being his very best work). However, as with the 'simplistic' nature of the Analord series, this has allowed Richard; the tank driving surrealist to add consummate complexity to the basis of the tracks and in my opinion, one just has to relax to 'phonatacid' to witness the genius of the analord series with its simplistic/complex mutation. Furthermore, the key theme easily reconised when briefly listening to the series is its acidic composition. This further highlights Richards' resistance at being 'pigeon holed'. As with every album and series within his adept discography, each release has encompassed a significantly different genre, yet with a specific style and finesse watermarking the Aphex Twin virtuosity.

Now focused onto the Chosen Lords compilation itself, released under the highly modest Rephlex label (the disc comes in a recycled cardboard case sporting the smallprint of 'support the entertainment you love by purchasing a new, original edition'), it must predominantly be stated that this release is not accessible from the first few listens. One would reconise the seemingly retro surface feel to it and maybe begin to ignore the delightful and masterful intricacies of each track. For once you metaphorically overcome the large surface wall of the album, your eyes and of course ears are encrusted with the hidden complexities and elaborated genius of Richard D James.

Furthermore, the Analord series consisted of around 40 tracks (spread across the eleven EP's) and Richard could of quite simply choose the 10 best tracks from the Analord series to represent and round off the series in a 'greatist hits CD' fashion. Yet rather noticeably, the 10 tracks eventually chosen for this compilation have been delicately hand-picked and examined unremittingly, so that each and every track melds into the next. Not only does this aid the listener in relaxing with the album for which it is best suited but it gives the compilation a truly unique 'album' feel which was lacking with the unstructured 'Hangable auto bulb' release of last year.

Significant highlights of the compilation include the some-what ravaging yet morphing itellect of Fenix Funk 5 in which has the ability to soothe and can send your minds eye on an adventurous abstract journey through and around a medievil castle.
Another significant height of the compilation is Reunion 2 which incorporates an interesting effect in which gives the sensation as if you have your two index fingers over your ears and are instantly muting your hearing then letting go again in a constant cycle. Furthermore, this track emphasises the simplistic nature of the Analord series yet further shows the complexity that Richard D James creates around its simplistic nature.

My overall favourite track from the compilation is the comfortably named Boxing Day in which is a pure masterclass in musical control. There are around 15 layers of individual sound yet each is interlaced with surgical like precision and rather ironically, the track creates the vision within the minds eye of a surgical doctor engrossed within his high pressure, alive engagement. It is indeed a track to fall asleep to, with its lured sound having the ability to engross you into a sub-conscious, lucidic state. It is a truy memorable track in which would not sound out of place at a local party (again this is another accomplishment of the gentle, acidic formation of the Analord series).

Overall, but only after paying tribute to the superb dark and twisting track XMD 5a, it must be exuberantly stressed that there can be no higher accolade than to rate this compilative album on par with Richards D James' perfected genius of Selected Ambiemt Works 85- 92. This, Chosen Lords would sit beside such an album with its arms fondly spread around its back and for such an achievment, this compilation's content, structure and depth is breathtakingly exquisite.