Reviews:

Press Release (Soleilmoon April, 1996)

Rapoon is Robin Storey, a founder and former member of Zoviet France. Over the last four years he has released four full-length CDs, a double CD, two 7 inch singles and a DAT (Digital Audio Tape), and has contributed to several compilations. Those familiar with the music of his former group will be surprised by the different directions he takes in this solo project, although echoes of :zoviet*france: can frequently be heard.

Rapoons music is notable not only for its sheer beauty and mesmerizing textures, but also for the subtle yet distinctive Indian rhythms and atmospheres that color its palate. Its music that fits comfortably with ethno-ambient label mates Muslimgauze and O Yuki Conjugate. Making a perfect fit with the music inside, the intricate and haunting paintings and illustrations adorning "Recurring Dream Circle" complete this attractive release. As with all of the previous Rapoon releases, and indeed those of :zoviet*france:, all of the artwork and package design was created by the artist.

In 1991 Death of Vinyl Entertainment (Toronto, Canada) was actively supporting Newcastle, Englands :zoviet*france:. DOVE released "Shadow, Thief of the Sun" by :zoviet*france: and put together a North American tour, their first on this side of the Atlantic. DOVE later released the first CD by :zoviet*france: spin-offs Horizon 222, and issued the first solo album by Rapoon CD. It was called "Dream Circle". Although it was well received by critics and fans alike, it made an unexpected and premature exit from record store shelves, following the untimely demise of the record label. It has since become a highly sought-after collectors item. This Soleilmoon release contains three reworked tracks from the original release along with original new material, thus the name "Recurring Dream Circle".

"Recurring Dream Circle" is the first installment in a trio of Rapoon CDs planned for release through Soleilmoon in the next few months. "Errant Angels", recorded live in the studio, will be issued in May. A new studio album will follow in June.

This agressive release schedule will culminate with an extensive Canadian and US tour, beginning in Toronto in early July. A complete itinerary will be announced soon. Watch for advertising in Alternative Press, ND, Industrial Nation and i/e magazines.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Every once in a while I end up buying an album that I like too much. This is one of them; it's so drawn out and sparse that I find it suits just about any mood I can have, from Serious Loathing all the way to Unfettered Happiness. At least half of the tracks have a noticeable beat to them, but it's very, very passive, like a clock. A few are more bold than others, but every song can be absorbed with a minimum of effort. Basically, I have to keep myself from listening to this album continuously; once it gets into the player, it ends up being spun over and over again until I eventually fall asleep. Friends, life's not easy when you're an Ambient junkie. I've seen this disc in a few places, but I suspect they'll go fast.

review by Ambience For The Masses

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some guy who used to be in zoviet france (Robin Storey) does ambient stuff. It's good. Way, way better than zoviet france - Christ are they overrated. But this is a nice disc of warm ambient tones with some Muslimgauze-ish percussion and vocal samples. Nothing too intrusive, the focus here is on creating a delicious background haze. It has that same quality of being audible but not really "audible" that "selected ambient works ii" by Aphex Twin has in it's quieter moments. I guess the really cool thing about this disk is that it doesn't have any of the colder elements a lot of modern ambient has, so it's good for putting on and relaxing to on a bad day.

review by grievous
_-*-noiSe frOm tHe spleeNs Of spaCe_-*-

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fourth world ethnic ambience keeps getting darker and darker with every Rapoon release. In the latest one Robin Storey digs deeper into the Indian sub-soundscape to mine altered voices, tablas, drones, synth washes, etc. into an exotic layered collage that's subtle yet very urban. The loops move horizontally - the variations revealed best with the headset where glimpses of other sounds appear and vanish in the distance. As with all of Rapoon's recordings, the harmonics are mostly quiet and mixed well. It's also hypnotic. Dangerous music. Makes me want to buy a plane ticket and go somewhere strange.

review by Peter Lucas
The Search for Dark Matter

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rapoon (zoviet*france ex-pat Robin Storey) continues to explore the terrain mapped on Dream Circle. Recurring's disarming and endless sample and synthesizer loops instantly recall the Harold Budd of White Arcades, with their deliberate richness. But where Budd's minimalism hangs in the air, Storey's are anchored to subtly, but addictively driving tabla patterns. It's music of characteristic deftness, but at times I'm left hankering for a piece to take some leap in a new direction - my attention span's fault I'm sure, not the record's, but there it is - and it's the odd, more distinctly :z*f: moment (on "Sub-Terran" and "Go-pel", say) which perhaps indicate a more dynamic direction for the music to do in.

review by Simon Hopkins
This text originally appeared in The Wire magazine (issue # 150).
Reproduced by permission.
The Wire on-line index.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

East-meets-west space music as tabla-driven expanses of multi-synth layers, loops and samples travel endlessly through the richly textured cosmos, continuing their own unique trail of mood music, this time fusing rhythmic, melodic, eastern, cosmic, Moroccan, ambient and space music, on a set of rhythmic and well constructed tracks, to deep emotional, ethereal effect as a set of low-key yet multi-layered tracks unfold. The rhythms are relatively slow and the overlays are carefully sculpted in a veritable river of music that gives the feel of one long track. One for the Roach / Greinke crowd also only better as it lacks the overt sweetness of the USA people and opts for something altogether more mysterious, darker and moody, transcending mere background music and a genuine listening experience.

review by Andrew Garibaldi CD Services, Dundee