Outpost

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Two prolific veterans meet on this limited edition (2,000) CD release from DiN. Californian ethnoambient isolationist Robert Rich joins forces with Ian Boddy at the helm of synthesizers both vintage and modern. The music of 'Outpost' seems distinctly narrative, much more so than the usual amorphous Rich fare. The initial temptation is to compare it to his collaboration with Lustmord, 'Stalker'. However, whereas on the latter it seems as though it is the landscape itself we are hearing, 'Outpost' unmistakeably gazes through human eyes - emotion is registered. We seem to be on a journey into the Outlands, the Badlands, confronting barren spaces occasionally dotted with bizarre plateaux and unexpected oases. It is an essentially dark journey (things get downright scary on "State of Flux"), but Boddy seems to have imbued the recording with more light than one is usually exposed to on a Robert Rich recording; his are perhaps those oases of shimmering liquid relief. Quietude and restrained percussive propulsion is the leitmotif. The foremost element of enjoyment distinguishing 'Outpost' is the meeting and coexistence of two sorts of worlds of electronica: Rich's monochrome soundworld being highlighted with the Tangerine Dream-like colours of Boddy's synthesizers.