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Almost 74-minute-long Stanford opens on Lost Caverns of Caryatis which begins as a neo-ethnic flutefest accented with thumping beats, but evolves into a more abstract, windswept surge. Within the 14-minute-plus Demilitarized Zone, whale-like calls and ruffling electronics are heard over swampily churning bloops and rhythmic backdrop. Tinkling shards and ringing tones are stirred and boiled in a gloopy cauldron of sound in Ceramic Tincture (6:28). Moody and dense, Humidity Toward the Troposphere (14:24) closes the disc in a sweltering haze of organic evolutions and ethno/electro sounds; sometimes the lush-though-gritty primeval vibe veers toward spookiness.
The six "Beyond" tracks of Venice span a shorter 47:23 interval, but pass through some of the more "humid" zones of this collection... misty and ethereal sonic entities waft over earthy contours of unknown places. The beautiful, though mournful, strands of Beyond Part 1 (16:26) elongate across the mutedly unfocused soundscape, stretching amid glints of semi-tonal bells and insectoid chitters. A streaming flow of electrons gets louder and louder; by the track's end it's a continually raging blast, absolutely the "noisiest" sounds I've hear from Mr. Rich. That caustic emission though soon becomes an organically stewing murk (Beyond Part 2) over which mysterious ethnic flutes wander and waver. The softly swirling percolations of Beyond Part 4 are laced with warm drones, ringing tones and electronic ebb and flow, accented by occasional bells and unidentifiable wispy presences. Fluttering with tiny electric burbles, Beyond Part 5 (3:52) glistens with animatedly chiming riffles over a hazy backdrop and water sounds.
Disc three heads into Pasadena (62:44). Beneath an evershifting whipser, echoing strings are plucked, strummed and stretched through Steel Harmonics, leaving behind a resonant haze which becomes Nada (6:05); eventually soft flute passages rise from the dust to swirl hypnotically. Watery thumps and clunks, flute strands and low-lying synthhaze adorn Nightsky Reprise (16:56). Synth-symphonics flow into the scene, which closes with mechanical bug noise, which soon melds with animal-like cries from the
Hidden Refuge, backed by an enshrouded tone progression over undeniably marshy terrain.
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