Robert Rich Music From Atlas Dei

Steve Roach and Robert Rich are two of the strongest e-musicians ever - musically, spiritually, and emotionally. But their greatest strengths are their abilities to express themselves musically and to interact cohesively. Rich and Roach approach music from almost completely divergent angles. Roach is always right in the middle of things, searching for answers to his questions. Rich, on the other hand, spends a great deal of time in the setup before diving into the middle. Once there, he begins searching for questions to his answers. Together, these approaches complement each other and they get right down to it. This CD consists of four very personal statements. It is personal to the composers, individually and as a duo, and to deep listeners…

Sverre Knut Johansen turns back the clock, peering into the distant past on his fourth Spotted Peccary release, Precambrian. Focusing his conceptual musical lens on the prehistoric development of planet Earth and its inhabitants, Johansen is joined by noted electronic music maestro and soundscape pioneer Robert Rich to create a deeply compelling ambient-electronic odyssey that serves as a virtual soundseeing tour through our planet’s vivid history.
Each track on Precambrian takes the listener through significant geological periods and evolutionary events of Earth’s 4.6 billion year history, bringing the epochs and eons to life through musical poetry and recorded natural sounds. The sonic landscapes, both organic and electronic, are always deep and captivating, evolving through abstract amorphous spaces, peaceful harmonious moods, and dramatic eventful moments…

A collaboration of image and sound - although listed here as a CD by Robert Rich, the photography of David Agasi is an integral part of this work. The music is organic, melodic ambience with a variety of environmental sounds. Drones and whale-like shafts of sound slowly revolve with shifting densities whilst the musical surface is repeatedly ruffled by organic recordings. At times angel-soft and then gruff or thick, the aural mass is punctuated by muted chimes and a variety of less indentifiable struck objects. Robert Rich is credited with MOTM modular, TimewARP 2600, Sculpture, lap steel guitar, flutes and small things.

"I made this very calm album in response to requests from listeners, who asked if I had any unreleased music that could offer a quiet place for them to breathe for a while. I didn’t have any old unreleased pieces like that, so I created something new."

A collection of hard-to-find solo outings previously released on small-run labels such as Amplexus and Side Effects, A Troubled Resting Place showcases some of the finest examples of Rich's open-ended, penetrating approach to music. A slightly restive, alien feel permeates the album's tracks, thanks to Rich's use of just intonation in his compositions and the mix of flutes, steel guitar, incidental noise and synths in his arrangements on tracks like "Bioelectric Plasma." Reminiscent of Stalker, the calm austerity of A Troubled Resting Place explores Rich's use of music as a possibility, not as an end in itself.

Rainforest takes you on a polyrhythmic journey into the lush green beauty of the tropical soundspace. A rich, magical ambience and welter of musical influences from southeast Asian gamelan to European classical electronic stretch the mind with a seductive, multi-cultural mix. Rainforest demonstrates the paradox of contemporary electro-acoustic spacemusic projects, with its high-tech approach to some very ancient musical experiences. Digital samplers, computer sequencers, specially tuned synthesizers, conventional acoustic instruments, skin drums, and ambient sound recordings all cohabit a seamless musical and spatial environment.