One of the joys of reviewing records is getting something truly wonderful that you would never seek out on your own. “The Dregs” is one of those albums for me. The music is deep and cinematic, a mélange of world folk sounds- oud, marimba, Afro/tribal percussion I don’t have names for. Its the sort of filmless soundtrack music that begs for visual accompaniment. Not to say the music doesn’t stand strongly on its own, it does. This is the type of album I’d play over any of Goddfrey Reggio’s Qatsi films in lieu of Glass’s soundtrack. Or rather, what I would expect to hear as the score to an Africanized remake of El Topo.
Vieo Abiungo is the pseudonym of composer and producer William Ryan Fritch, who has a pretty solid resume scoring for film and television. That much is obvious from the moment the music starts. This album is not the kind of lo-fi bedroom-produced inner space soundtrack that is usually associated with the cassette underground. This music could be on Tzadik. But Fritch decided to make it private and personal. A cassette in an edition of 100. You may hear this music in a documentary at some point, but I doubt the album will be featured on Weekend Edition or found in a Putamayo display at Starbucks anytime soon. Take this album as a gift. Private music from a generous soul.