Adrian, Rudy

Artist: Numina
P: 2005
Eye of the Nautilus is similar to its predecessor tonally, but also explores some different themes and textures. Evocative electronic percussion is present at times, but overall the feel is one of deep-space ambience.
It is with good reason that Numina is one of the few names in ambient music to so quickly gain in reputation and prominence in this new millennium. His work evolves dramatically with each new release, and by now he has surely made the transition from "new name you should watch" to the status of "established artist." This is an album full of ideas, with a fresh and varied sound design.
Guest artist Rudy Adrian lends his trademark sound to the second track, "Secrets from the Flame," and as with Sanctuary of Dreams, R. Chris Fraley provides artwork, and Hypnos founder M. Griffin is responsible for mastering and layout. This is the fourth Hypnos CD release of 2005, and is sure to be one of the highlights of the year not only for Numina and Hypnos, but for the entire space & ambient music world.

Artists: Rudy Adrian & Ron Boots
P: 2002
‘Across The Silver River’ is a collaboration between dutch ‘EM-pride’ Ron Boots and New-Zealander Rudy Adrian. This cooperation came about in a rather unique way. Adrian, after having worked on it for three years, sent a CD-R to Boots because he was not satisfied with the result. Boots added his music and sounds, and together both men were pleased with the end result ‘Across The Silver River’.
This release can be best categorized under the denominator new age/soundscapes/(very) tranquil EM. Many weaving sound tapestries, nature sounds, and occasionally a lost tom tom (as in the song ‘Fields In Evening Light’) are present, but it never gets too heavy or wild.
Yes, indeed, a real Sunday morning CD.

Artists: Rudy Adrian
P: 2023
On A Walk in the Shadow Garden, as on previous albums throughout his career, Spotted Peccary Music artist Rudy Adrian paints sylvan scenes with sound. A percussive trilling on “Dawn Redwood” could be the hammering of a woodpecker’s beak. Glittering chimes evoke light through tangled branches on the track “Hemlock Grove.” Such is the music of nature to Adrian, where these twin passions of a life upon the Earth have been forever forged. Inspired by the sacred environment found when alone in a garden, Adrian planted his own sonic garden for the listener, painting vibrant scenes with electronic textures and chimes as well as acoustic guitar and flute. On the title track, an arpeggiator flutters like insect wings over echoing acoustic guitar chords, as intertwined as bee and blossom. Hear the wind in the panoramic tapestries of “Clouds Over Fields,” see a morning’s silver fog drift down a hillside in the spare piano of “Rising Mist,” see moonlight dapple the waves in the eerie chimes of “Dark Waters.” The eleven compositions here invite exploration without calling attention to themselves. Adrian eschews vocals and even melodies to create an open space for the listener: a companion piece for rest, reading, and walks down winding forest trails.  With this release, Rudy Adrian speaks truth in the purest form of Ambient Music. A Walk in the Shadow Garden is testament to this form and to an electronic architect at the height of his powers inviting the listener into his place of peace. 

Artists: Rudy Adrian
P: 2020
As Dusk Becomes Night, Rudy Adrian‘s 17th full length studio album, offers a serene and personal exploration of sounds and atmospheres that slowly transition from evening into twilight and on through the night. Whether it is the strolling through a park with trees silhouetting a star-speckled sky, looking down to a desolate moonlit beach, or observing the twinkling lights of a city from above, the delicately shifting synthesizer overtones and calming organic textures simulate the moment of the astronomical twilight in the artist’s native New Zealand homeland. Subtlety, nuance, and ineffable moments can be skillfully expressed at the hands of such an accomplished electronic music artist, and Rudy Adrian’s mastery of ambient electronic soundscapes is in top form as the album’s eleven stunning tracks are rich with the deep and mysterious tranquility for which he is so well known. Moving through the magical moods of evening, As Dusk Becomes Night reveals an ear-opening sonic wonderland where shifting hues and deep fading light are magically transformed into awe-inspiring moments of introspection; a wondrous gloaming that eventually gives way to deep heavenly nightscapes.

Artists: Rudy Adrian
P: 2014
Ambient electronic composer and recording artist Rudy Adrian is no stranger to vast landscapes. His homeland of New Zealand is filled with a stunning variety of unspoiled spaces and cinematic terrain, providing an abundance of inspiration for Atmospheres, his latest textural electronic impression. On Atmospheres, his first new offering since 2010’s Distant Stars, Rudy Adrian presents nine tracks of slowly evolving melodies, harmonically rich synthscapes, natural ambiences and dramatic percussive punctuations that evoke the otherworldly treasures and solemn meditations of the wondrous, haunting place that so deeply inspires him. Rudy first explored these landscapes as a young boy, hiking and kayaking with his father, to whom the album is dedicated. “I created the music on this album in an attempt to evoke the quiet open space that can still be found in the south of New Zealand,” Rudy explains. “For me it captures the feelings of exploring coastal landscapes or watching sunsets fade into dusk.”
A natural progression from Adrian’s earlier textural releases such as Desert Realms and MoonWater, this new offering is reminiscent of ambient works by Brian Eno, Steve Roach, Mark Isham and Between Interval. Beautifully tranquil and mysteriously captivating, Atmospheres dwells in the landscape of expansiveness and introspection; inspired space music that is rich with personal appreciation, vast beauty and awe.

Artists: Rudy Adrian
P: 2016
On his fifteenth album, Coastlines, ambient music virtuoso Rudy Adrian presents ten tracks of slowly transforming melodies, warm lush synthscapes and dreamlike atmospheres, capturing the wonders of the coastal landscapes that echo through the memories of his youth. As a New Zealand native, Adrian is deeply familiar with expansive scenery. He has spent a lifetime surrounded by pristine natural spaces and breathtaking vistas which act as a wellspring of inspiration for his music. Coastlines is a natural extension of 2014’s Atmospheres, and finds Adrian continuing his sonic exploration through the vast beauty of his homeland. “This music has a coastal theme,” explains Adrian. “It reminds me of holidays in my youth that were spent exploring New Zealand’s coastlines, and it brings to mind the beauty and stillness that can still be found in those places.” Coastlines falls naturally into place alongside Adrian’s earlier textural offerings, and like those favorites, it is reminiscent of ambient works by Brian Eno, Robert Rich, Jonn Serrie and Time Being. Channeled from the depths of Adrian’s past, the album’s heartfelt expressions of serenity ebb and flow with tidal surges of sonic poetry, washing fluidly over the listener to invoke true vistas of awe and magnificence.

Artists: Rudy Adrian
P: 2003
Rudy Adrian keeps on surprising the listener with his excellent blend of retro-electronic music and ambient soundscapes. In the USA, people now also had the opportunity of seeing this special musician live because he toured there in 2002. The result, “Concerts in the USA”, contains perhaps the best music the New Zealander has produced until this moment.

Artists: Rudy Adrian
P: 2008
Rudy Adrian’s debut, MoonWater, was a beautifully crafted study in deeply serene and contemplative soundscapes. His new release, Desert Realms, follows that same stylistic path, exploring the spectacular stillness and vast landscape of the American Southwest desert.
Explains Rudy, "I was fortunate to spend a weekend exploring The Arches and Canyon Lands National Parks in Utah, USA. My tour guides were electronic musician Robert Carty and his partner Patricia Sandoval, who showed me a number of their favourite locations in the North American desert. On returning to New Zealand I became interested in creating music inspired by that journey."
Rudy's compositions are by themselves both vast and serene, but an additional level of emotion is provided by the poignant and moving flute expressions of Nick Prosser on a few of the tracks. Prosser’s stirring musical statements interact with Rudy’s vast soundscapes, filling the spectacular sonic vista with just the right amount of life and feeling; reminding the listener that although the desert realms may appear at first stark and barren, they are in fact full of life and captivating beauty.

Artists: Rudy Adrian
P: 2010
Distant Stars is Rudy Adrian's third release on the label Lotuspike, and with it he leaves behind the earthly world and its natural surroundings that so inspired his previous works, MoonWater and Desert Realms. This time the inspiration is the solitary ambience and vast expanse one might experience when exploring the distant stars of deep space.
The album began to take shape in 2008 when, as Rudy explains, "I found myself inspired to create some longer floating pieces that seemed evocative of exploring deep space, so I started experimenting with the idea of creating an album consisting entirely of dark, 'deep space' music." The result of Rudy's experiment is a bona fide spacemusic album with an honest purity that easily holds its own next to the true classics of the genre. The extensive electronic ambient spacescapes run deep with wonder and curiosity. At times the mood of the record is uncertain and foreboding as if to underscore the loneliness of the journey, while at other times the music is rich with restrained beauty and awe, hinting at the unseen marvels of the cosmos.
According to Rudy, "A reviewer once suggested that the best way to experience this sort of music is to lie in the middle of the room with the lights out. Whichever way we choose to listen to it, I hope it will assist our exploration of not only the imaginary outer reaches of space, but also our innermost thoughts."
Distant Stars is the artfully crafted realization of such a heartfelt inspiration.

Artists: Rudy Adrian
P: 2000
I really admire musicians who have the ability to do multiple styles of music, and do them well. Released about the same time as Kinetic Flow, The Healing Lake shows Adrian even more relaxed and flowing than on Twilight, and the result is an incredibly strong entry in the atmospheric space music category. This is the perfect accompaniment to meditation, relaxation, or just plain spacing out. Though the title and packaging suggest a new age flavour, and this should indeed appeal to fans of that genre, the sparse, expansive nature of the music is sure to please ambient and space music fans. Descriptive titles like "Valley of Mists" convey very well the feeling of each piece. This track breathes slowly, as long sweeping sounds float over cool effects and electronics. The music reverberates deeply, and is incredibly soothing, but not at all cute or contrived. Occasional nature sounds are used effectively. The disc opens and closes with the sounds of water, and thunder begins "Shelter from The Storm". Though again very relaxing, this one has a tinge of darkness. The delicate nature of it reminds me of some of Enos atmospheric work, with perhaps a hint of Jonn Serrie as well. A variety of sonic textures are used throughout. "Night Sky" has rich, low drones, followed by "Clouds Part to Reveal Distant Mountains", which opens with the strains of flutes and just the slightest touch of percussion, giving it a Native American feel perhaps. "Beneath the Stars" is surprisingly dark, along the lines of darker Robert Rich material. "Dreaming of Winter" continues the mood, which lightens again for the closing two tracks, though themes of nighttime and winter predominate throughout. The music is beautifully put together, full of imagery, and thoroughly enjoyable to listen to again and again. Highly recommended.