Richard Francis
Together alone, together apart
"Tracks 1 and 2 recorded 2006-2007, track 3 recorded 2003 and previously released on V/A Audible New Frontiers CD (Physics Room/Radio NZ). Sound sources: field recordings of indoor and outdoor spaces; handling of fabric, wood and plastic; self noise of home stereo amplifiers, loudspeakers and record players."
"The building blocks of 'Together Alone, Together Apart' by New Zealand's Richard Francis are 'sound moments': sonic interludes of a dozen or so seconds of environmental sound, whose subtle arrangements and cross-contaminations are the springboard for the compositions found here. Given the quiet volumes, sounds at the threshold of audibility are presumably those which have captured his imagination. A soft hiss and variable low end frequency introduce the first untitled track, with small crackles, glitches and echoes sporadically breaking through. The second is considerably more dramatic, with a flapping rhythm emerging from a grounded hiss like a moth's wings beating against glass. The final track is almost undetectable, even with headphones, and strengthens the connections between Francis's work and the reductive strategies of Bernhard Gunter or John Hudak. Here, swells of deep frequencies rise and fall along a fog of unsettled static, concluding a refined and highly recommended album."
The Wire, UK, 2007