It’s been a while in internet time since we heard a peep from anon ambient electronic musician RxRy, and evidently it’s because he’s been hard at work putting together his latest LP, cryptically entitled VAEIOUWLS. Sure, there have been a couple of mp3s here and there along with a handful of geometrically dense music vids, but it’s been a full 6 months (yikes!) since his stellar debut was released to the masses for free. I remember it was only a couple of years ago when the online music community would chide an artist for his prolificacy, now in the hype-machine world we live in, we expect a constant stream of new material, putting a strain on the already over-worked/underpaid musician.
Regardless, RxRy has been able to rise to the demands of present-day bloggers, putting forth his best effort to date with VAEIOUWLS. All it takes is a single, continuous headphoned listen to the album to realize that the two months spent on “arranging these tracks, honing them in, sharpening them, and making sure they could cut” was well worth the time invested. It’s refreshing to see that in this single-centric music environment of today, someone goes the extra mile to create a complete album where each track is integral to the work as a whole. It’s musical synergy at its finest.
In my opinion, the thing that RxRy does best with his music is that he can create an incredibly vivid visual image using only auditory data. Forest at dusk (“UUAII”), riding waves on the ocean surface (beginnings of “OIUIO”), rumblings of an active sea floor (obviously “EUIEE”) are all scenes I had pictured in my head while listening to the album with headphones on. So with each track change you not only get different music, but you get teleported to a different — sometimes alien — environment.
RxRy also has a knack for making the complex seem simple and natural. For example, on casual listen, the opening two tracks “AIUIA” and “UUAII” would probably be described as “slow-tempoed”, “gently evolving”, or “ballad-like”, however when intently listening to the amount of individual layers, it’s unbelievable how much texture is present even in these relatively straightforward tracks. Similarly, fast-paced dance songs, such as “EIOAA” and “IIOYI”, contain a plethora of quick bloops/bleeps and precise intros/exits, however the tracks somehow never appear rigid or overwhelming — something that I’d imagine is incredibly hard to achieve when working with so many layers.
Following in the footsteps of his past releases, RxRy has released the entire album for free download on his website (on the sidebar), however if you just want a taste, check out two of my favorite mp3s from VAEIOUWLS below. In addition, he’s provided some stubs to some of his tracks that is sure to be fodder for any remix maestros out there. Unfortunately, no physical releases are scheduled at this time, but RxRy is certainly more than open to the idea if you’d like to help finance the undertaking (I smell a kickstarter project…).
RxRy // EIIOA (flint rasp export defect)
RxRy // IIOYI (strategy pulse feed loop)
