Robert Rich - What We Left Behind rich20
"I dreamt of the earth after us,
As mountains erode and time helps the cities crumble.
So easy to think that the earth revolves around us,
That after us, the planet stops.
We who can change the weather.
When we make our world so inhospitable we can’t survive,
Life crawls blindly forward,
Consciousness revives, organisms organize.
Cells of the earth join together to create new minds.
Small lives build new worlds,
Cast a net across the surface and through layers below,
Constant construction, destruction, erosion, rebuilding.
After us, on a scaffolding of rust and ashes, salt and sand,
Digesting through it, stumbling numbly,
Vagabond life picks through the detritus and continues unconcerned.
Profligate Earth pays no mind to the foibles of her creation.
She scatters choices for those who can still choose."
Recorded 2014-2016 by Robert Rich at Soundscape, Mountain View CA.
Mixed and mastered by Robert Rich at Soundscape in 2016.
Sonic additions by Forrest Fang (2016) on #8 and #9.
Abstractions of Chari Chuang on #1.
All crows unofficially non-union and paid peanuts.
Instruments: prepared piano, Haken Continuum, PVC flutes, lap steel guitar, percussion, DSI Prophet 12 and 6, Korg Wavestation and M3, eowave Resonator, MOTM and Eurorack modulars.
Thanks for assistance from Paul Schreiber, Dave Smith Instruments, Ed & Lippold at Haken, Chuck at Noise Bug, Old Crow, Andrew at 2C, Izotope, STG, Audio Damage and so many others, plus of course Dixie and all of you who listen.
Cover art by Romanie Sanchez (www.romanie.net)
Design by John Bergin --robertrich.com
“As unpredictable as he is prolific, multi-instrumentalist/composer Robert Rich defies expectations on a stunning new release that combines field recordings, acoustic instruments (PVC flutes, percussion), lap steel guitar, and electronics. The result is a luscious, organic mix where textures and melodies float naturally in and out of the foreground, often to the accompaniment of irregular rhythms that decorate time as raindrops do, suggesting patterns that are always slightly out of reach.” --Gino Robair, Electronic Musician