If going to the gym is part of your weekly routine, and music is a necessity in order for you to maintain the rhythm of your stinky-yet-beneficial exercising, it’s probably not recommended that you opt for the more recent work of Rafael Anton Irisarri. The erstwhile sound engineer has been seriously active maintaining his status as one of the most qualitatively consistent ambient/drone musicians working today, and the type of sounds you heard on his recent tapes for the Umor Rex label have the ongoing potential to result in serious injury if dated to auto-sedate while handling dumbbells and such.
A far better choice for the gym environment would be the albums that Irisarri released as The Sight Below, but those came out a while ago. Hmm, maybe we should get our beats elsewhere…
NO WAIT! Unexpected news on The Sight Below relates to the December 7 release of Glider 10, a special 10th anniversary version of the first album that Irisarri adorned with the moniker. And what’s more, the Ghostly International label is also sponsoring Glider 10: Reworks, a cassette featuring Glider track remixes from artists like Simon Scott (of Slowdive notoriety), Biosphere, and Benoît Pioulard. The music on both releases is destined to be enveloping; but if you know The Sight Below, then you appreciate the soft, beat-driven procession that separates this music from Irisarri’s work under his own name.
Have a listen to the “Acronym Retouch” of the track “Life’s Fading Light” below. Pre-order Glider 10 and Reworks here and here.
Glider 10 tracklisting:
01. At First Touch
02. Without Motion
03. Life’s Fading Light
04. The Sunset Passage
05. Already There
06. Further Away
07. Dour
08. A Fractured Smile
09. Nowhere
Glider 10: Reworks tracklisting:
01. At First Touch (Simon Scott Remix)
02. Further Away (Benoît Pioulard Rework)
03. WIthout Motion (Leandro Fresco remix)
04. A Fractured Smile (Warmth Remix)
05. Dour (Markus Guentner Remix)
06. At First Touch (Yagya Rework)
07. The Sunset Passage (Biosphere Remix)
08. Life’s Fading Light (Acronym Retouch)
More about: Rafael Anton Irisarri, The Sight Below
