Analord

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Professional reviews
Analord

Compilation album (Series of EPs) by Aphex Twin
Released	January-July 2005
Recorded	2003-2005
Genre	Acid House / Techno
Length	11 EPs total: 3:24:04
Label	Rephlex ANALORD01 - ANALORD11
Producer(s)	Richard D. James
Pitchfork Media: Analord 1/2 (Jan. 2005) (5.6/6.0) Analord 3/4/5 (Mar. 2005) (7.5/7.0/5.8) Analord 6/7/8 (Aug. 2005) (6.3/6.2/6.7) Analord 9/10/11 (Oct. 2005) (6.8/7.6/6.6) Speakers Push The Air (July 2005) (Above average)
Aphex Twin chronology
26 Mixes for Cash (2003)	Analord (2005)	Chosen Lords (2006)

Analord is a series of 12" vinyl recordings by UK-based electronic music artist Richard D. James. The first installment, Analord 10, went on sale through the Rephlex Records website on December 15, 2004, and was packaged in a leather binder with sleeves for housing the rest of the series. It was later rereleased as a picture disc. Both pressings of Analord 10 were marketed under James' primary alias "Aphex Twin", although other Analord recordings were released under the "AFX" pseudonym.

There is a condensed, album-sized version of the series titled Chosen Lords.

1 Series details
2 Miscellanea
3 Track listing
4 External links

[edit] Series details

James has programmed a variety of analogue equipment throughout his career. Instruments on Analord include drum machines such as the Roland TR-606, TR-808, and TR-909; sequencers such as the Roland MC-4; and various synthesizers and polysynths, including the Roland SH-101 and Roland TB-303, a Fenix Modular Synth (seen on the B-side of Analord 02), and countless others he has collected over the years or borrowed from colleagues.

Analord tracks are similar in atmosphere and melody to James' early acid and ambient techno recordings, yet are still marked by the fast, choppy, multi-layered drum sequencing he has perfected from the Richard D. James Album (1996) onward.

[edit] Miscellanea

The original Analord 10 released with the binder is loud-cut, 180 gram vinyl.
The name "Analord" is probably taken from Luke Vibert's song "Analord" from his vinyl release "'95–'99" on Planet Mu. The name refers to the analogue music equipment James used to perform much of Analord. Since James has a penchant for anagrams, it is noteworthy that "Analord" is an anagram for "A Roland," perhaps referencing the manufacturers of industry standard analogue synthesizers.
Tracks on Analord 8, 9, and 11 are named after computer viruses and other malicious software, possibly to discourage trading via computer.
Analord 6 features guest artist Jeremy Simmonds, using his alias Voafose. He has previously worked with Luke Vibert on some Rephlex recordings.
The cover for Analord 09 features a close-up of an Electrocomp EML 401/400 sequencer.
Around the time of Analord's release, Richard D. James went online and discussed his feelings about analogue equipment and VSTs in general, as well as software emulations of the TB-303, on the Planet Mu website forum. Because no interviews were conducted at the time, it is the only public conversation that James has conducted related to his Analord series. The three full posts are here (search for "Author: analord".)