Sunday, July 1, 2007

Nearfest->Sunday : Robert Rich


Because of its minimalistic approach, ambient music isn’t really Prog per say--it’s an extract of electronic progressive, a descendent of Prog courtesy of Brian Eno. It ensconces most of the melody and complexity and focuses instead on exploring sonic permutations. Of recent, I’ve picked up some Steve Roach, and when I’m in a certain mood, ambient hits the spot--albeit with a feather hammer.

Californian Robert Rich provided a palate cleanser from the more-is-more-is-more performances. In the midst of a mad-scientist setup, he fiddled with the keyboards, played steel guitar and an electronic wind instrument. Above him, a movie provided a visual accompaniment. Instead of lulling me to sleep, I found myself becoming very engaged and attentive, especially toward the end.

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