Pitchfork

A few more books in Richard James' series on the Well-Tempered TB-303. The first two installments weren't bad and there was something exciting in knowing that new material from James' hit the shelf. But the self-imposed restrictions of the Analord project (analog synths used to craft vintage-sounding Analogue Bubblebath-style tracks) are narrow, and the music never takes risks or veers in an unexpected direction. The first two volumes were comforting and pleasant but little else.

The same limitations hold for Analord 3-5 and there are still few surprises, but on balance these releases are more exciting. Analord 3 is particularly strong, beginning with "Boxing Day", which places a John Carpenter/Gershon Kingsley spooky Moog melody on top of a thrusting electro beat. The various elements are in constant movement in and around each other, and "Boxing Day" is busy and energetic even if it never exactly goes anywhere. "Midievil Rave 1" is all heavy ugliness, with dissonant and out-of tune sequences and some herky-jerky stop/start action that allows me to picture James riding the fader from all the way across the ocean. And "Klopjob", with simple yet funky drum programming and a lovely pastoral melody, is perhaps the best single track in the series so far.

Analord 4 is comparatively spare and almost as good. The bouncy "Crying in Your Face" has what could be some heavily vocodered vocals (or James could be he's just making the machines talk) and a strong pop feel, while the quiet, menacing "Home Made Polysynth" gets same mileage from between-note beats in the manner of Analord 3's "Midievil Rave 1". The closing "Breath March" is a deceptively great tune. On the one hand it's quiet, with almost nothing happening in the midrange, but the power of the fathoms-deep bass hook could easily be missed without proper playback equipment.

There's not much to recommend on the two-track fifth volume. The peppy "Reunion 2" has a wickedly squelching acid line that creates its own light trails, and the stiff "Cilonen" is by-the-numbers Detroit electro, sounding a bit like Drexciya without the mystery. At the halfway point the conservatism of James' approach is the most notable thing about the Analord series. He's a gifted composer who excels at this style but anyone who has followed his music closely can't help but expect more.