Label: Infinite Expanse –IE05 Format: LP, Reissue Country: UK Released: 2024 Genre: Electronic, Rock, Folk, World, & Country Style: Experimental, Ambient
Transcendental acoustic new-age recordings from late 80’s Czechoslovakia - another gem dug up from the dustiest corners of the internet.
Blooming archival label Infinite Expanse continue to plunge deep into the world of totally unknown, marginal, self-made music with these lost recordings from Prague-based trio Richter Band. Consisting of guitarist Pavel Richter, prolific improviser and multi-instrumentalist Jaroslav Kořán (whose Zahrada tape also reemerged last year) and fidlerophonist Štěpán Pečírka, the group draw influence from the American school of minimalism (Reich / La Monte Young) with the shifting soundscapes of Eno and Fripp. It’s a well trodden path, continuing to remind and reinforce the influence of that 1st wave of ambient / minimalism that seemed to seep into every corner of the globe. Its deep music - gently overlapping rhythms on what sounds like healing bowls (gulp), glimmering zither overtones and swathes of electronic texture, crucially though the group steer well clear of any dated new-age signifiers. There are no misplaced ‘ohm’ chantings, happy clapping, gushing water or stock bird calls. Just musical hypnosis in its purist form. Lithuanian ethno-experimental group Ženklas X feels like a worthy comparison, similar to Polish artists Księżyc or Ossian there can be a sense of underlying mysticism from the music of Eastern Europe, Richter Band feels like a vital node on the map. (Mint / New)
Tracklist 1 V muzeu 5:11 2 Čínský potůček/Poloviční chytání 7:43 3 Česká řeka 6:54 4 Dvanáct hodin 8:50 5 Náhodná 3:32 6 Líbivá 5:31 7 Sbohem 4:25 8 Hučivá 5:57 9 Nic 5:11 10 Český smutek 4:11
