Robert Rich is a great instrumentalist, perhaps one of the world's best -- certainly world class. He is not a great singer, but he is not a bad singer; for his purposes, he is more than adequate. He records his vocal music with his friend, Rick Davies, as
Amoeba.
Pivot is their second commercially available CD.
Rich's vocals are reminiscent of
Pink Floyd's pop ditties of the late '60s. He sounds a little like
Roger Waters, but more like
Syd Barrett. The lyrics are offbeat and existential;
Rich and Davies surround them with deep textures and atmospheres. Davies' guitar riffs have rock & roll timbres. The guest performers are
Don Swanson, Andre McGowan, Hans Christian, BobDog Collins,
Forrest Fang, and Tom Heasley. While
Rich is widely acclaimed as a great ambient musician, this CD has more of an art rock sensitivity to it. ~ Jim Brenholts