Reviews:

Press Release (Staalplaat October 11, 1999)

Hot on the heels of the limited "Navigating By Colour"', Staalplaat is proud to release the 1999 studio album of RAPOON. Former member and founder of :zoviet*france: is one of those rare characters in modern music. He is not part of any trend, any hype or any movement. Robin Storey just does what he feels is necessary, nothing more or nothing less. Using "primitive" technology (ancient sampler, four track, simple sound effects besides an array of percussion and string instruments), Rapoon manages to produce richly layered, atmospheric music that do not have something alike. Like a shaman Rapoon plays in a mystical way, seemingly endless but with a strong hypnotic touch.

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At first seemingly a strange departure for Robin Storey in his Rapoon guise, The Alien Question starts out as a series of simple sound loops and harmonium chords accompanying the spoken words of alien ambassador Hoh Krll. The increasingly paranoiac ideas which Krll outlines are of course familiar to almost everyone from Western popular cultures obsession with all things alien and Grey (or from Betelguese, allegedly, or maybe in fact Mars). As the album develops, ethnodelic tracks like "Waddi Haj", "Give Us Dub" and "Never Called NJ12" emerge in more familiar style, layering North African / Middle Eastern sound and vocal samples into engaging dubs of camel-riging bass and cycling percussion, with little apparent relation to the visitors in question - though the latter brings back the now-familiar outline of international conspiracies to the forefront.

Perhaps Storey is drawing attention to the wealth of fascination to be drawn from so-called exotic cultures outside the sphere of most Euro-American experience, without recourse to intrusions from the extra-terrestrial. While ...'s manic and detailed allegations about the arrival and subsequent dominance of the Betelguesians could also be the information being made available for either the purposes of entertainment or warning, it's also equally possible that there is more interest in the tonal, almost droning, qualities of the voice as it becomes de-contextualised by the variety of rhythms and ambiences circling around and below it, becoming in the process another part of the soundscape.

There's much to support this latter view - the words become increasingly cut up, pasted and rehashed, as with other works which draw on the voice of a charismatic raconteur of cultural marginalia (e.g. Gus van Sant's hypnotic rewiring of William Burroughs into The Elvis Of Letters). As the CD develops, orchestral and / or choral fragments take the fore, or layered ambient keyboards with pulsing beats, overwhelming and subduing the text, making a continuous recapitulation and rephrasing of the basic motifs. By the concluding "I Don't Expect Anyone...", everything has become almost Operatic, slipping off with a flourish of trailing choral echo. What Do You Suppose? has much to recommend it on many levels, possessed as it is of much that rewards either simple Ambient chilling or the examination of the words of a slightly deranged UFOlogical phenomenon.

reviewed by Antron S. Meister
Freq E-Zine

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With what do you suppose? (The Alien Question), Rapoon's Robin Storey is keeping an eye to the skies and an ear to Hoh Krll's extraterrestrial theories. The spoken bits are often a predominant presence though easily tuned out like background TV chatter when heard ambiently. Or, if you're so inclined, you certainly may opt to actually listen to the enclosed information, at risk of being drawn into the alien intrigue.

Over murky organ chords, the spoken word of Before I begin quickly familiarize us with the overriding theme and sound source of this disc. Hypnotic Middle Eastern flavors seep from Waddi Haj like smoke wafting from an exotic censer; female chants and muffled percussion softly churn amid hazy loops. How many of you understand? (3:45) delivers more alien-oriented conspiracy theories over a bed of muted pulsations.
Reverberating metallic drums strike a busy tattoo in Never called NJ12..., and are soon joined by further alien/government discussions, including E.T. captives, murder and assorted incidents of cover up operations. Wordless Give us Dub gets us a dose of shadowy islandic rhythms and ghostly sheets of synth accompaniment. The additional extraterrestrial talk (concerning further deceptions and an alien treaty with the US Govt.) of No Really... is backed by a mutated orchestral loop.

We learn that the president is not allowed to enter Area 51 and other far out factoids in How many of you did not know that? (12:48). After a few such informative minutes, the ambient background drifts are allowed to develop unhindered. The keening tones and beatless waves of The Alien Question actually subdue the chatter beneath (though interested parties may still discern the blather through careful listening). The speech recontinues in Only the names change, where pillowy, yet gritty, washes of semi-symphonic gusts phase in and out.
Without Aliens plays "slice and dice" with the alien talk, looping bits just before a spacy cloud of sound descends to shimmer obliquely, laced with higher tones which probe the central core and gong-like tones which occasionally spiral out from this enigmatic mass. Emphatic assurances of a US/Russian/Alien colony on Mars opens I don't expect anyone...; but quickly gives way to a radiant sound-fountain spewing musical effluvia and operatic female vocal strands, stirred by cyclic beats and sporadic mechanical-ish bursts.

To skeptics like myself (not that I don't believe in extraterrestrial life...), the dialogue is strangely interesting, decidedly paranoic and makes for an unusual theme. For ambient fans like myself, sounds from Rapoon are always welcome. So, what do you suppose? could have relied less on the blah blah blah and given up more of Storey's dreamy soundscapes, but still warrants an overall 8.5.

review by David J. Opdyke
this review originally appeared on AmbiEntrance - January 26, 2000

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The first thing which hits you about this album is that the usual primitive drawings of glyphs over earthy crayon/water colour fields has been 'enhanced' by drawings of stereotypical aliens, flying saucers and tractor beams. And that it is subtitled '(The Alien Question)'. And there is an acknowledgement to Hoh Krll for use of extracts from 'The alien question'.

My first listen through was a little disappointing - I am not a fan of albums featuring a heap of spoken material supported by music (one of my worst purchases was a copy of Eno/Sinfield 'From Ibiza') and I must admit to being skeptical to the point of laughter about government conspiracies, Area 51 and captured aliens. But then listening again, I wondered if Rapoon was lampooning - Krll is the captured alien, and it is 'actually' spelt Krlll, then in the last few tracks liberties are taken as the sample is chopped and looped, the drawings are cartoonish, and the final word from the speaker is 'I don't expect anyone to believe it' after some querolous audience participation.

As to the album as a musical experience, it contains excellent pieces - the lively beat and melody of 'I don't expect anyone...', rolling rhythms and singing samples in 'Waddi haj', the voiced tonal ambience of 'Without aliens'. There is more drifting ambience throughout the remainder of the album, especially when the music is not supporting the spoken material - in tracks such as 'How many of you understand?', 'Never called NJ12' or the opening 'Before I begin' where the voice is the main thing, the music is more static/minimal (though dramatic) simple loops and tones. Pieces which stand alone like those mentioned or 'Give us dub' (which does have some dub-feel with horn sounds and tones) and the title track show more variation and development.

So, I don't know if I have misread Rapoon's stance, but my latter listenings place this as a much more satisfying piece. The speaker is placed low enough in the mix to be almost subconscious largely a burble, particularly in the second half, and the music is diverse and strong. So as a last word, don't be put of f by the alien images or the lecture - this is a forceful musical piece.

review by Jeremy Keens

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Robin Storey is a former member and founder of :zoviet*france. Since his departure from :z*f: he has released a bunch of CDs under his new moniker, Rapoon. On What do suppose (the alien question) he leaves his trademark raga-influenced trance-inducing rhythms for a more mellow, mystical approach. Slow waves of drones and sounds build up a hypnotic foundation on which he superimposes spoken words about aliens. All the music Is built around loops which you can easily drift away on. Maybe it's a soundtrack for an alien abduction? What do suppose (the alien question) is a truly great record. I constantly find myself by the CD-player putting it on, and if that isn't a recommendation, I don't know what is.

review by Jonas Kellagher
FluxEuropa - March 9, 2000

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Concept album of a sort from Robin Storey, founder member of the massively respected and influential Zoviet*France. This is music that towers above prevailing trends and whims, hugely authoritative and quietly confident. Using what, by current standards, is primitive technology, Rapoon craft a kind of organic ambience that soothes and unsettles in equal measure. The meat of the sound is a multi-ethnic percussive sensibility, rather similar to Muslimgauze. But while the late Bryn Jones utilised world grooves and percussion to create a militant beat, Storey forms a shifting bed of sound. Strings of uncertain source and found vocal sounds form the melodic content and the whole concoction is hypnotic and meditative. The tracks are linked by spoken extracts from a lecture by Hoh Krll about the likelihood of alien activity on earth. In lesser hands this would have been a short cut to cliche, but Storey's wiser than that. The hypnotic quality of the narrator's voice, like that other modern-day shaman, Terrence McKenna, adds greatly to the underlying atmosphere. Never afraid to flex a bit of muscle, Rapoon have created an album of great depth \vhich stays with you long after the CD has wound down. ****

The Birmingham Post - December 4-10, 1999