Detailed Reviews [Rick Armstrong - 2021 - "Infinite Corridors"]

Prolusion. US composer and musician Rick ARMSTRONG is probably best known for his role in the band Edison's Children, but come 2021 and he was also ready to start exploring a solo career and released his debut album "Infinite Corridors" in April through Random Disturbance Records.

Analysis. Describing this album in a genre context is possibly one of the easiest tasks I've been given as a writer so far in 2021. Only a superficial inspection is needed to determine that this album explores a progressive electronic music, and one that doesn't revolve around the more or less famous Berlin School at that. Instead we are taken on a cosmic ride on this occasion. From the very start until the very end, futuristic sounds of the kind that will make most of us think about deep space and similar surroundings dominate the landscapes here. With ebb and flow motions, build, erupt and rebuild movements, exploring a few subtly different landscapes in one song, gliding movements and often careful developments are all facets of this album. Gliding, floating and surging textures, arrangements built and torn down again layer by layer, and with electronic rhythms of various kinds coming and going, shying away altogether or building, developing and starting anew on the same or a different note. Everything is moving, changing and adapting. Rarely if ever dramatic, most of the time in a careful manner. Towards the end we also get to enjoy some subtle addition by some fine guest musicians, supplying details mainly placed down in the mix for a more careful expansion of the soundscapes created and explored. Presumably I don't know even a quarter of the inspirations behind this album, but of the references and associations I got when listening to this album were, in order, the electronic excursions Hawkwind have dabbled with now and then over the years, Tangerine Dream and at last Vangelis. As this is a strict space and cosmic oriented production, I presume that Christopher Franke may well be a likely source of inspiration too. If not for other reasons than his massive contributions to creating the sound coloration for the old sci-fi series "Babylon 5". And if Armstrong by chance has missed that TV-series or the many soundtracks inspired by it and made for it, happy watching and happy listening.

Conclusion. This is an album that is much more about moods and atmospheres and revolves a lot less around traditional songwriting as I experience it. I find the soundscapes intriguing and fairly hypnotic at times too, and the ever moving and ever changing landscapes brings with them a motion that makes it easy to dive deep into this listening experience. A solid production that should appeal to an ambient music interested audience just as much as a progressive electronic music interested one, especially those among them with a fondness for futuristic and cosmic sounds.

Progmessor: July 2021
The Rating Room