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This respected Californian composer had been releasing self-published albums in Europe for a number of years before the classic Rainforest, his first of many releases on U.S. label Hearts Of Space, bought him to a wider audience in 1989. While the title may suggest a superficial appeal to the new age crowd, this magnificent album completely avoids nature cliches and is one of the most striking albums of electro-acoustic environmental music ever released. Rich fashions his seductive brew with electronic drones, sound effects and exotic instrumentation including Balinese gamelan gongs and Persian dombec. And flutes, too, all beautifully played. Alternately rhythmic and floating, Rainforest evokes ancient, primeval atmospheres with real depth and clarity. The sonic detail of his sound effects - cooing birds, flapping wings, rolling thunder - is extraordinary but always in the service of his beguiling music. What helps make the compositions so distinctive is Rich’s use of just intonation, a tuning system based on the natural harmonic series which differs from the approximated seven note scale of Western music. Just intonation is the most natural way for the ear to hear harmonies, though your hearing may require some “re-tuning” before the music becomes accessible. Which, in time, it does. After Rainforest the composer recorded a few more percussive albums using just intonation but to rather less effect (like Gaudi from 1991). Better and altogether different are Strata and Soma which exist in the realm of dark ambient, both collaborations with fellow American synthesist Steve Roach. The former album described as “a journey into the primordial mind”, the latter as “rhythms from the earth’s memory”. Roach’s interest in shamanism and earth-centred spirituality is a persuasive influence throughout but this time - unlike some of his solo albums on the same themes - it doesn't become overbearing. This is deep, abstract and intoxicating music. Be warned that much of it borders on atonal and is decidedly surreal, unlikely to appeal to those looking for something simple to chill-out too. More tonal but along the same primordial themes is Fissures. Collaborator Alio Die evolves long textures and drones while Rich's flutes, synths and steel guitar weave in and out of your consciousness evoking an intriguing, lovely, vaguely disturbing landscape where one track melts into another. Rich's works in this style have been quite influential but what distinguishes an album like Fissures from the imitations is that he limits his tracks to no more than 10 minutes, making his point and then moving on - albeit subtly - to the next stage. Similarly warm but this time based on Mid-Eastern themes is Seven Veils, again with Rich's liquid guitars and flutes leading the way among the drones and atmospheres. These middle-period albums evoke a sensual, gently trippy sound-world that seem a perfect distillation of the composer's search for the "ecstatic" in his music. They certainly make good entry points for newcomers to Rich's work. Post-2000 Rich established his own label Soundscape Productions, an increasingly popular move among established electronic composers in the face of the declining ability of indie labels like Hearts Of Space to make money from such underground music. His talent, however, remained undiminished and several albums from this period are among his very best. On the truly organic Temple Of The Invisible Rich and several guests use improvisation to create imaginary "lost ritual music" using only acoustic instruments and sounds spanning North Africa, Asia and Europe. Though the pace is subdued there's lots of bright, shimming sounds from horns, percussion, flute and sundry other instruments and there's an unmistakable air of religiosity in many of the tracks, partcularly Egyptian. It's a brave and striking exercise in ethno-ambient. The live concert recording Calling Down The Sky returns to beatless, drifting electro-acoustic territory. The extended delay effects on the spacey lead guitar of "Erasing Traces" are a dead ringer for Pink Floyd's David Gilmour circa the film soundtrack More (1969) and makes me wish the Floyd had done more film scores in their heyday. On the creepy but beautiful "Borealis" Rich literally makes the guitar sing like angels - it's an extraordinary six minutes in which time seems to be suspended. As with albums like Fissures it's Rich's flute and guitar playing throughout that binds the album together and provides its tonal/melodic centre; without it we'd be adrift in the inhuman, desolate nothingness of dark ambient at its worst. Rich's pre-Rainforest work from the 1980's continues to be re-issued in various guises and among the most essential of these is the Numena/Geometry double CD set. The highly rhythmic Geometry features engaging experiments with the just intonation tuning system used so masterfully on Rainforest, while Numena is distinguished by an utterly enchanting piece of environmental spacemusic called "The Other Side Of Twilight". It starts with gentle, rapidly spiraling tones which spin beautifully over sustained minor synth chords, segueing into a second movement where an eerie siren-like melody emerges from a simple progression of bass notes. It clocks in at a hefty 25 minutes but proves to be one of the most affecting pieces in the entire Rich canon. |
