It is with abject shock & sadness that I must announce the death of my close friend & colleague, electronic musician Richard Lainhart, who passed away yesterday of complications following surgery.
Eulogies, of course, are for the living, and cannot bring back what has now passed; nevertheless, I am so stunned at the moment, having only found out this news just a few short hours ago, that I am at something of a loss of words. Richard's pedigree as an electronic musician was unquestionable, and his work to this day was an ever-evolving organism of ideas, textures, approaches, and directions. I can now only feel deeply honored that I was able to release his remaining 80s works, Polychromatic Integers, on my label this past year.
The even sadder irony of this news is that Richard & his work remained largely unsung to the general electronic(a) community, despite his being a tireless performer & supporter of the genre; in fact, Richard was one of the fiercest supporters of my efforts with OTP, having attended virtually every performance regardless of his own personal taste, and lending an hand on untold occasions for various technical & a/v matters where they needed addressing. He was primed to be one of the performers at the mini-fest I've been organizing in Philly for late March, and the fact that he now will not be there fills me with immense & profound regret.
Like most artists, under-recognized or not, what we now have left is the legacy of his work to savor & relish.
It's been a tough year for our genre/community, and not exactly the way I wanted to usher in 2012.
RIP.
