Robert Rich Somnium

A landmark in many ways, 'Somnium' is seven uninterrupted hours of Robert Rich at his atmospheric best. The title pretty much says it all, a seven-hour studio interpretation of Rich's famous sleep concerts. This is very much in the style of his minimal drones and field recordings from earlier works like 'Trances/Drones.' This music-only DVD will play in a conventional DVD player or your DVD-ROM drive on your PC. Other than some pretty basic credits, which also appear in the attractive muted brown CD booklet, this is just music, no video at all. So sit back, and, well, go to sleep. As Rich explains, that's exactly what he wants you to do. He suggests that the music will be most interesting at the transitions between sleeping and waking, and while dreaming. Alas, my PC is not near comfortable sleeping quarters, so I haven't tried it, but it is thoroughly enjoyable while wide awake.

I haven't found myself willing to sit in front of my PC for 7 hours straight, so I may just have to get a home DVD player. The disc is divided into three parts, which is good for sampling, because the disc otherwise is not searchable like a conventional CD, that is, you can't fast forward or rewind to get to a particular point in a track. In fact, it doesn't even display running times while it is playing, either on a home DVD or a PC. It is meant to be played through continuously. So obviously, this is music for a specific purpose, and as such whether this is your thing depends on what you like to do to or with your music. The first part features crickets and other nature sounds blended with beautiful low, long drones from flutes. The second part has thicker sounds, beginning with something almost approaching a rhythm, though not quite.