Rapoon — Rhiz
Each of these six lengthy tracks are sort of hazy, moody downtempo revolving around a skittering IDM break which spits out subtle varations in organic fashion, sounding like a live jam or improvisation. In this way, it is perhaps closest to the music of Muslimgauze of any of Storey's works.
These beats occupy an echo chamber haunted by ghostly voices and short fragments of instrumental samples, developing a sphere of cloudlike impressions around the skeleton pulse. Rather than imagery of ancient civilizations, this album transports us to the 70's/80's with its raw electro rhythms and pixelated cover art.
The first tune "Gupta Highway" begins with an almost clinical/sterile musique concrete aesthetic with pure high frequency tones behind the rhythm, and not much verb. From there, the album becomes more lush, with the string pads, choral voices and anticipatory deep nocturnal feeling of "Ho Gaya Can", likely my favorite track on the disk.
Later on with "LagaKe Swan" and "Future Sajna", there is an increased presence of instrumental improvisation, something which I've primarily heard in Rapoon live recordings. Storey plays in shimmering cascades of celestial pads and employs some sparse bass guitar for a subtle funk. Part of me feels that listening to Storey's somewhat sloppy soloing is at odds with the air of mystery often cultivated by Rapoon, but his sense of melody is good even if his rhythms are off, and there is great nostalgic emotion in his playing.
Closer "Last Stop" is the longest at 15 minutes, and perhaps the oddest and most dissonant piece with its use of short sequenced loops made of chopped voice samples, and long droning passages of a couple of loops repeating hypnotically. A 303-like 'acid line' appears in the final few minutes. It is rather alien and detached.
The pieces are generally meandering and undirected in the way it seems ambience has been casually sketched here and there over the 10+ minute length of the beat, without a thought towards any kind of gradual progression. Thankfully, there are enough layers present that there is always something to focus upon.
The textures on this album, a bit of an intersection between the fully analog 90's approach and the world of digital production that was just finding its legs in 2002, are ear pleasing, but seem to lack a central idea to tie them together. Beyond the use of a beat in every track, the album feels only vaguely thematic. If he was going for a vintage electro feel, as indicated by the sound of the drum machine, the cover art and the use of some raw synthesizer tones, it seems at odds with some of the other choices made here, such as the use of piano, and the sampling of rock/pop and other instrumental music. As such, the album is a bit of melange of sounds from different eras, and seems a bit tonally confused, though it is pleasing to the ear.
I never heard the original issue, but I can't complain about this remaster, which sounds both clear and comfortable to my ears. Storey has certainly avoided the common pitfalls of remastering, such as excessive loudness/brightness, as this disk has plenty of dynamic range, and a rounded character.
In conclusion, while I feel this album lacks the charisma and specificity of Storey's most memorable works, it is an enjoyable listen, and filled with such a variety of sounds as to easily occupy the attention, albeit arranged in rather meandering fashion. It is something of an improvisatory smear that could have benefitted from being tightened into a more narrative composition, but none-the-less presents a wealth of listenable textures.