For quite a few years now, Robert Rich's albums have ceased being of much interest to me, partly because they show a retreat of imagination and creativity, but mainly because something dreadful has happened. Rich's music has been unjustly filed under "new age" crap for many years, which was definitely not the case, but I'm afraid that his recent album do fit in that category, something really regretful. I always keep coming back to listen to his new albums but I'm put off very soon, and this happened especially with his new album The Biode. To my great surprise, though, this collaborative effort with Markus Reuter from last year is a change both from the latest albums, and from his previous joint work with Reuter, Eleven Questions, from 2007 which bordered on the new age/ethnic but also contained some better atmospheres. So, the album hereby contains no percussive/rhythmic/electronic beat crap, and is mainly focused on Reuter's dark atmospheres and feedbacks generated with a touch guitar and Rich's serene acoustic piano, without any synths. Rich seems to be very adept at the piano, creating mournful melodies and chords, and the overall ambient/piano idea sounds a lot like Tim Hecker's magnificent Dropped Pianos, albeit being less heavy and depressive. I hope that RR decides to move away from new age mediocrity. 2017 cd on Soundscape.
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