Album Review: Chosen Lords by Aphex Twin

In 2001, when Aphex Twin fans got what they'd been hoping for -- a new album -- they soon learned that not every Aphex Twin work was pure genius. (Granted, they'd heard very little evidence of mediocrity before that point.) Drukqs was a rambling wreck of an album, a hodgepodge of material that appeared to have been plundered from at least three distinct periods, stretching over a full decade of Richard D. James' career.

Full Review >>

After 2001's Drukqs, Richard D James - one of the most prolific artists of the 1990s - appeared to have downed tools. Perhaps he had reached his creative zenith as the Aphex Twin with the 1999 single Windowlicker? There was certainly nothing as spectacular on Drukqs, a number one album that only the most ardent fan would return to. James broke his Wonka-like silence with little fanfare when he announced the Analord series, promising a vinyl-only EP every month through 2005.

Full Review >>

Ten tracks here from Richard D. James, collecting the contents of some of the previous Analord series of 12" EPs. Most of these went under the name AFX at the time of their original release; just two are assigned to Aphex Twin – the opening and closing songs, from the 10th Analord EP. As has usually been the case for the AFX moniker, this music is less overtly experimental than, say, Aphex's Come to Daddy; this is more about acid techno, relatively straightforward 4/4 rhythms topped by varying collections of electronics.

Full Review >>