A Troubled Resting Place

Robert Rich

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 16, 1996)
• Original Release Date: July 16, 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Hearts of Space
• ASIN: B000000X7G
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #169,736 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #31 in

  Music > Indie Music > New Age > World Dance

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording
As its title implies, this unified collection of tracks from lesser-known electronic and experimental compilations (like Throne of Drones and Twilight Earth II) finds Rich in some of his darkest moods. Unlike more rhythm-oriented albums like Rainforest and Propagation, this collection of six Rich compositions journeys through a thick musical ether which seems like it could seep out of your speakers and enshroud your room. Despite the presence of gongs, bells, drums, and steel guitar amidst the synths, the overall feel of these compositions is very spacy. Even the percussive sounds that gradually perforate the dense aural fog of "Bioelectric Plasma" ultimately remain ensnared within the track's overwhelming ethereality. The standout cut is "Black Skies," whose intense bursts of dissonant noise over a bed of delicate drones seem to herald doomsday. This seamless, frequently psychedelic collection of electro-acoustic soundscapes is quite gripping and dramatic. --Bryan Reesman

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Whatever it is, I like it, August 31, 2003

By	Kevin (Ann Arbor, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews

I'll be the first to admit that I don't know a good deal about ambient music, but I can generally recognize a good CD when I hear one, and this is a good CD. Ambient (the style of which Robert Rich is usually considered to be a practitioner) sometimes seems to be popularly considered a "relaxing" and "soothing" (read: phatic and boring) style, but that certainly isn't an accurate view of this music. Listen to it with good headphones in a dark, cool room at night, and you will be transported. If you like to hang out in isolated forests and ruined abbeys, but happen to be stuck at home, this music is actually not a bad substitute.

The tracks vary enough that I can't make many generalizations, but they are all good. I was particularly impressed by the complexity of the textures. You can listen to this several times and notice new things each time. Also, the sound quality is excellent. Some of the percussion instruments sound as if they are actually in my living room. (My speakers are good, but not normally *that* good.)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have on a plane, July 20, 2000

By	Ron Robertson (Portland, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews

The use of high and low harmonics in a dream like arrangement leaves the listener almost dazed, if not hypnotized. I took this on a plane trip and was amazed that I could not differentiate between plane noises or Rich's arrangement. Perfect music for a unsettling ambiance. Subtle enough for meditation or yoga. Can lead to intense or dark dreams if listened as you go to sleep.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Music as Symbolism, December 6, 2006

By	dream factory (Triangulum, M33) - See all my reviews

In this project Robert Rich places mood & thought above the music. Dehumanized rituals implying unfathomed mysteries in otherwise familiar textures. This CD is hospitable yet holds an underlying ominous morphologic energy. Gazing through a primal haze at totemic figures tracks 1 & 6 hold a carved paranoid possession over the listener. Track 4 builds a display of an other worldly thunderstorm.