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Progressive Rock CD Reviews

Random Touch

Reverberating Apparatus

Review by Gary Hill

Random Touch generally produces a type of music that sits near the RIO style. This album is no exception. It has its moments and should appeal to fans of that genre. Those who like more melody or patterns, though, will probably want to look elsewhere.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2010  Volume 6 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Track by Track Review
Home for Twilight

At a little over nine minutes in length, this is the longest piece on show. It wanders between ambient space, nearly classical music and RIO-like cacophony. It’s an intriguing cut that seems to feel organic in terms of its progression despite the weirdness of much of the music.

Before the Beginning
This has the feeling of “found sounds” at many points. It is rather noisy and quite weird and has a more jarring aspect than the first track ever achieved. It’s quite seriously situated in the realm of noisy RIO.


Apparitions of Revelry
Percussion starts this and holds it for a while by itself. The other instruments join and we’re off in another RIO type journey. It’s not as noisy or discordant as the previous piece, but it’s far from restful or melodic, either.
Benevolent Outcomes
While still noisy, this feels more melodic than the last couple numbers did. It is closer to fusion a lot of the time.
Fred Astaire-ing
A weird spoken bit opens this and holds it for a time. Percussion and some other musical elements join, but the voice continues. It builds gradually upward on that basis. Eventually that voice drops away and the experimental music continues. After a time, though, the voice returns. After a time we’re taken into a different musical excursion. This resembles the opener more than it does the songs that came after that first one.
Purloining the Memo
The voice is back, but with a lot of little chirps and other musical sounds sort of popping up here and there and moving around one another. That basis serves as the bulk of the track, but the volume level increases later and the percussion really starts to pound out.
Approaching the Cusp
This starts ambient and grows gradually. A voice and weird layers of sound join after a time.
Fire Tending
Noisy weirdness with percussion and other sounds make up this piece.
Danger
Found sounds in the form of spoken clips joins weird music and effects.
Threshold
This is not as loud as some of the other songs, but it’s quite weird nonetheless. It does turn out to a more pounding kind of melodic movement later, though.
Re-membering
Spacier sounds are the order of business here. This doesn’t rise to the same level as some of the other music. It’s interesting, though.
Gotta Go
A little over one minute in length, this is the shortest cut on show. It is a powerhouse prog rocker that’s a little more straightforward than some of the other music.
 
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