Lord RAJA - PARA
Second album from experimentalist brings consistency and accessibility
Mentally, it helps me to organise the music I listen to by assigning each artist to a category or genre, like Techno, Ambient, Electro and so on. With the work of Chester Raj Anand, aka Lord RAJA, it's nearly impossible to pin down his sound to just one style. For instance, is it Footwork? Ambient? Experimental? Drum 'n' bass? Err... yeah, all of those... and none of them! Sounds like it could get messy but it turns out that his second album PARA (released at the beginning of the year) combines all sorts of musical styles and apporaches but remains pleasantly consistent and cohesive, and proves to be an accessible listen. As Ghostly (the label he's signed to) put it themselves:
The entire album perfectly captures RAJAs aesthetic: carefully crafted, deeply detailed songs employing a host of different sounds and effects, resulting in music thats big and welcoming
I may have downloaded this album (for free) a while back but I keep going back for more; it oozes stickiness and likeability. If you're quick, you may still be able to download the whole album for free yourself.
If you missed it, here's a couple of tracks which may turn you on:
Opening track Stars (Intro)
and Renaissance Endo