Review: RxRy – VAEIOUWLS
RxRy - VAEIOUWLS (2010) [Self-Released] // Grade: B+
These 12 songs, all named as vowel variations (“AIUIA” or “EUIEE”), mark the bedroom arranger RxRy’s most focused and inclusive effort yet. Whereas the curative eight-song debut took just six days from start to finish, the 40-minute VAEIOUWLS took closer to two months to complete and upon first listen, you’re given a layered invitation into lurking the space just below the water’s surface and only faintly hearing the noises above you.
It was originally thought that the player behind the RxRy tag was Panda Bear’s Noah Lennox and that the debut, self-titled batch of 8 songs were “unreleased joints” from the Animal Collective member’s Tomboy sessions. Fending off the case of mistaken identity, rumors were discredited after RxRy posted an image on their MySpace page, saying simply that he/she/it was “not Noah.” The sonic similarities are largely a stretch as the music on both VAEIOUWLS and RxRy remain planted in the realm of murmuring electronic ambience and many steps away from the Wilson-soaked, hazy harmonic luminosity of Lennox.
VAEIOUWLS is a pervasively discrete collection of digitized pulsations swabbed over barely-there washes, buzzing ambiance and soothing landscape (and genre) nods. It’s easy to tick off immediate similarities to the likes of Aphex Twin, Eluvium, Loscil or Nathan Fake while placing the songs under the overused mark of IDM alongside lesser parts of Dub, Dark Ambient and House flourishes.
RxRy’s debut was made while its creator was ill. Starting in December of last year, the sonic space spawned as an in-the-moment restorative measure— “Rx” is the prescription and “Ry” represents rays extending outward— and soon became a cure for routine. The musician describes daily life: “Wake up, drive to school, float aimlessly, drive home, get lost in sounds, repeat” like a perfect subtitle for the creation. Getting lost in VAEIOUWLS’ runtime is of effortless appeal.
What you’ll notice is just how much RxRy’s sophomore release skims the fat from other contemporary background maestros; this is a record that’s deep, though concise, and glowingly ear-to-ear agile. Starting with waving synths and building percussive clunks, VAEIOUWLS’ opener, “AIUIA” is over before you have a real chance to fall anywhere near it’s bottom. “UUAII” is spiced with orchestral weight and a low-toned bass hum, though it plays more like a refrain of sorts, checking to see if it’s listener is still there.
Starting to pick up pace, VAEIOUWLS’ legs are well and stretched by the time “EIIOA” hits and we move through jumping bass prods that bolster an almost electro lead before the album’s opus “AAIEI” blows in with multi-layered sophistication.
The person behind RxRy represents a growing number of boutique artists that exist solely on bandwidth buzz and viral value. RxRy says on their blog, “I want people to have free music, unrestrained and broadly available to every person who can download it,” They support the ubiquitous goal by continuing to offer music like VEAIOUWLS, at no cost. Though they “would love” to release physical formats, all RxRy releases— 2 LPs and EPs as well as a few singles— have all been free, direct Mediafire links. VEAIOUWLS is well worth a listen- so snag a copy down below.
- The Holloweyed