3.5

Release data:

Robert Rich – Trances / Drones
CD, Extreme Special Editions, 1983

At the start of the ‘80’s, while graduating in psychology at Stanford University, Robert Rich had a special interest in microtonality and the effects of music on the brain. It was also the time he organized his rather famous sleep concerts.

At times hypnotizing and ethereal, the very minimal music captured on “Trances/Drones” (both put out on cassette in 1983) is of an overall pastoral, contemplative, floating and pure textural nature, revealing the slower, meditative side of Robert’s music.
Derived from lap steel guitar, synths and flutes, the intense atmospherics with occasional sounds of nature found here, drench the listener in a space of calm, creating a relaxed mind-set.

In addition, the first cd contains the title track of the album “Sunyata”, while the second disc features the unreleased 12-minute, rather mysterious sounding piece “Resonance” (“an acoustic room resonance derived from delayed feedback”) as a bonus.

The 140 minutes of deep space music were re-released in 2000 on Release/Relapse records. The reviewed version on Extreme Special Editions is no longer available, but since a while, the full album can be bought as Mp3 or Flac download at Musiczeit.

Website: www.robertrich.com

You can see what reviews I have done of this artist on the Robert Rich artist page