Robert Rich: Sunyata Robert Rich: Sunyata (Hypnos - 2000) Sunyata takes a time-trip to the first solo album of trance-and-drone-master, Robert Rich. A worthwhile journey for fans and newcomers alike, these nearly 20-year-old recordings retain their consciousness-altering abilities with nary a trace of datedness. Dervish Dreamtime (19:42) slo-o-o-wwlly whirls amid continuously flowing synthstreams. The impossibly long-winded currents slip into higher-then-lower pitches like faraway sirens riding on shifting stormwinds. Faintly fragile tinklings emerge in the track's final minutes. Backed by trickling currents, Oak Spirits (43:27) swelters in vapors which rise and fall, expand and retract. Recorded live in 1981 when Rich was a 19-year old student at Stanford University, ephemeral multi-level drones phase in then out, hovering in wispy atmospheres. With surging breezes/waves, a sense of storminess blows in around the 19-minute mark, though the danger soon subsides. (Listeners weak-of-bladder may find it a challenge to make it through this entire track without rushing to the john... besides the lengthy duration, the continually running water sounds could easily induce the call of nature!) Offering a glimpse at the formative works of Robert Rich, the long, atmospheric tracks of Sunyata reveal an artist who's not yet fully established his impending command of organic "glurp", but clearly has it within his sights. This 8.4 slice of ambient-nostalgia is yet another prime re-issue from the ever-wonderful Hypnos Recordings. Go there, or to Rich's own website for more. This review posted December 30, 2000 AmbiEntrance © 2000-1997 by David J Opdyke (except CD cover art, rights retained by original owners).