Rating:
Genre:
Electronica
Release Date: 08/24/2004
Is this some kind of joke? An
ambient album from the man who initiated both
Marilyn Manson and
Marc Almond into the Church of Satan? Like the pretty font and pretty girl on the cover,
Boyd Rice mucks up
ambient on
Terra Incognita. These tracks weren't made with "
ambient" in mind, not in the
Brian Eno or marketing definition. They're the lighter moments -- the ones that aren't ironic or sinisterly sweet -- from
Rice and
Non's albums with
Easy Listening for the Hard of Hearing and
Blood & Flame getting the most attention. Perhaps if
Rice had the intent for these tape loops and
industrial soundscapes to be under the
ambient header, it would have turned into a purposeful mistreatment, but this is warmer than you'd think and beautiful in a subterranean way. The man with contempt for the meek and weak isn't about to give us a sweet melody, and it's too complex to be what you'd call "approachable," but it's vivid stuff and nothing a
Klaus Schulze fan would shriek at. The sounds of
"Sunset" evoke its title if it happens to be a particularly hazy day, and the harps and strings on
"Arka" don't melt or shatter as much as hang in the smog.
"Father's Day" is the pick of the litter and -- like most everything else on the album -- it wouldn't be out of place on a
David Lynch soundtrack. The selections feel like they all belong together except for the "Extracts" from
Easy Listening which are way too tense to be placed here. An angelic choir mixes with crackling fire on the closing
"Fountain of Fortune," a dark kiss goodnight from
Rice, and a perfect ending to this fever dream.
~David Jeffries, All Music Guide
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