RAVEN BUSH

Fall Into Noise PRAH RECORDINGS

Rave to the rhythm as Syd Arthur man hits the dancefloor.

Although probably best known in this magazine for his work with Syd Arthur, over the last few years violinist Raven Bush has busily forged other paths as a producer and collaborator with artists including singer-songwriter Mica Levi and Ghostpoet, as well as creating a soundtrack for software featuring off-the-peg audio worlds for other producers and musicians.

His first solo album embraces this end of the musical spectrum as it connects to his EDM-orientated interests. With bracing fast-moving beats and supple melodies that drift and entwine, there are some echoes of the work of fellow Canterburian Steve Hillage and System 7. In exploring several different moods, there’s a welcome variety in between the glistening orbiting of percussive sequencers and vertiginous chord sequences. Sometimes the formulaic demands of dance music – primarily the build inevitably leading to the drop – rob pieces of their potential to surprise. Still, Bush fashions luscious folds of electronica whose inner life sparkles. His use of digital effects to evoke the provocatively skewed angular environments of musique concrète add piquancy to the largely upbeat party.