Enki smallOriginally released in 1999 Lorin Richards’ Enki album harkens back to the dark electronic music of the 80s. One name in particular keeps coming to mind – Gary Neuman. If you are a fan of electronica from the 80′s and 90′s then you should enjoy Enki by Lorin Richards.

From the Product Description at Amazon:

Enki is a theme, a beautiful collection of stories based on a sci-fi interpretation of ancient Sumerian religion. Imagine the beginning of the world not as an evolution over millions of years, or a creation that lasted six days, but a creation by beings of another planet. Beings seen in the eyes of early civilization as gods. A race so advanced that they had robots guard such fantastic places like the Garden of Eden. This is the idea behind Enki.

Personally I really enjoyed the electronic music and melancholia of the vocals throughout the album. Many tracks also include a Japonisme or oriental feel to them which explains the Japanese characters used to make the title on the album jacket.

The album’s introduction is Asian strings and wood pipes, then moves onto an ambient vaguely oriental electronic melancholia with The Mourning of the Day.

It is difficult to talk about each song individually as the tracks have similar all the tracks have strong flavors of the electronica of the 1980′s with a twist of oriental flavored instrumentals throughout. The songs I found standing out most were Due to Us and Recreate, which play a little louder with the stronger vocals. Many of the other tracks tend to keep the vocals in the background.

Essentially, this is a well-produced Japonisme/late 80s electronic album. The sounds are very crisp, and the ambient style of Enki is a nice change of pace. I would recommend it for anyone looking for a more peaceful electronic album.

Enki mediumEnki :: Tracklist
01. The Fortune Cookie Breaks (0:51)
02. In the Mourning of the Day (4:08)
03. Lying Naked (5:02)
04. Have We Given Our Way (3:25)
05. The Eagle Has Landed (3:44)
06. Take a Look Into My Eyes (4:21)
07. Little Words (1:12)
08. My Love for Enki (3:52)
09. Building a Saviour (4:39)
10. Due to Us (5:25)
11. Recreate (3:50)
12. Reprise (0:57)
Total time: 42 minutes
Lorin Richards’ site.