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With his Cloud Pond Sky River (60:00) Robert Rich takes us ever deeper into the sonic wilds. Listening to this precision built, continuously flowing soundscape, we might imagine the breadth of possibilities of existence. As the outgrowth of solitary dreaming, the overall form of Cloud Pond Sky River seems more like the spatial configuration of a person than simply an atmosphere meant for rest or repose. Held back along sustained textures, long-held electronic chords and progressions resolve into an expanding charge of undulating energy and mysterious feelings. Moving at the speed of thought, the positioning of arbitrary bells, chimes and bass notes offer vague landmarks on our journey through liminal space. While quiescent tone zones hint at the infinite, in his mind Robert Rich imagines the high horizons of the spirit. Such ideas will surely play better in some future where the reformation of the world is complete. Until that time we have his music - and its ability to make us feel "held" and "at home" in a way that today's world simply cannot.
- Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END 12 November 2026 |
