ROBERT COLE RIZZI “Conversations” C52 (Histamine Tapes)


This is an unreviewable tape. Not in a bad way, like, “Screw this tape, I hate it!” But in a way where anything beyond description is irrelevant, useless, ambiguous, disingenuous. So let’s start with the premise:

“Conversations was conceived in the cold months of winter and early spring in Denmark 2019.

“Setting out to pursue a different artistic path, this album is composed using small fragments from a conversation with my father - field recordings and improvisations on an Organette.

“I was talking with my father Richard J. Rizzi in his home upstate NY in the winter of 2017 – and I wanted to record us hanging out in his kitchen – looking at his work and him telling stories. The parts I decided to used [sic] for this album, were mainly on subjects of art, philosophy, spirituality and a little about the man I’m named after – Robert Cole – my father[’]s friend and a gifted musician and conductor, who was killed the year before my birth – the rest of that story, is another album …”

The field recordings add a sense of heaviness to the air, a tension, and the text intersperses the sound. The result is a vibrant electroacoustic noise experiment that you must delve deeply into – skimming is not recommended. Set aside an hour and drop in on Rizzi and contemplate his intense work.




--Ryan