ra\/en: «All Sound is Music» (RPL 010)

RPL010: A string of instrumental sketches from Raven (Kent, UK), rushing by like an enchanted, motley surprise-parade at dusk.

All Sound is Music seems to soar and float for most of its briefness, despite its ruggedness, the corpulent bass-lines and squashed, dirty grooves throughout. But Raven’s main instruments are the Violin and the Mandolin, both of which he here unpretentiously employs alongside a tasteful palette of Keyboard/Synthesizer-sounds to create the countless little melodies exploded all over the sea-like swash of this short collage (or ‘mixtape’). It is a string of sketches and bursts, selected from the first results of tinkering solo on a computer (in contrast to his other work, such as playing in bands like Syd Arthur or the Heliocentrics). And as the segments flurry by impatiently, they create an energy and lightness that reside above a potential desire to distinguish the used means; be they stringed instruments, environmental recordings, sound processing or even the (barely intelligible) vocals on the beautiful closing song – it all adds up to a Music with the kind of ephemeral quality and hidden beauty that allows for many repeat listens.

Available here: Raven | All Sound is Music

All Music, Instruments and Machinery by R. Bush, recorded 2010–2016.

Twitter / instagram