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review by Bill Binkelman Calling Down The Sky is a live "house" concert recording taken from summer 2003 when the artist was in Denver, Colorado as part of his cross-country tour. For fans of Robert Rich's deep and somewhat dark ambient work (although not Stalker dark), this is a must-have album (if they don't already own it). The CD easily illustrates why Rich is a singular voice in drifting ambient soundscape music, as many of his past trademark talents emerge at one point or another throughout the recording's 74 minute (!) duration. When it soaked in that this was a concert recording, I was amazed at the sheer wizardry of Rich's talent on display here. Even if this was a full-blown studio album, Calling Down The Sky would be most impressive. When you realize this is a live show, well, it's more than a little startling. From the drifting calm of the opening "Erasing Traces" (with its ebbing and flowing drones and pealing lap steel guitar notes that build slowly but inexorably, almost as if the listener is being slowly swallowed up by a pleasant vortex) to the sparse shadowy textures of "Overhead" you are led into the 22 minute-long "Vertigo" which unfurls from its opening electronic minimalism and morphs into a deep primal soundscape with the wafting notes from the artist's characteristic wondrous flute merging with drones and distant echoed rumblings and textures. "Supplication" offers bird calls and shimmering electronics combined with echoed subterranean sounds and hints of percussion as well as foreboding swells of drones. Other trademark Rich musical touches abound on the remainder of the album, such as his soaring and forlorn lap steel guitar work that has a quasi-vocal nature to it on "Borealis." This track takes my breath away with the sheer beauty of it. It's as if a Greek Siren was calling from across a dark sea, luring me to certain death but a death through rapturous ecstasy. Later, "Adrift" features appropriately spooky sounds and traces of undulating musical textures, painting a sonic portrait of being cast about on a lonely ocean under a grey sky, alone and unsure of one's fate. "Recognition" concludes the album on a somber but beautiful note, with more of Rich's fantastic lap steel guitar work. Fans of Rich's more overt electronic earlier works (Gaudi or Geometry) or his ethno-tribal rhythmic albums (e.g. Rainforest or Propagation) may be less enthralled by Calling Down The Sky (there are few if any rhythmic elements on the album) but those who love his drifting ambient style would, I have to think, love immersing themselves in this recording (especially in a dark and quiet room). Engineering and production is flawless, which is no small feat for a live album. This must have been a truly magical concert to witness live, and I'm certainly glad that this album gives a glimpse into what transpired on that summer night in Denver. Recommended. |
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