Robert Rich & Daniel Colvin
Atlas Dei
© 2007 Robert Rich, Daniel Colvin
DVD IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship immediately.
SPECIAL: 10% discount if you buy more than one copy of it today!
A lyrical journey through time and space into the mystery of our cosmos. In this feature length film, musician Robert Rich and filmmaker Daniel Colvin weave the strands of science, myth, and poetic vision into a powerful and compelling tapestry.
tracks
- 1 Earth
- 2 Mythos
- 3 Platonic
- 4 The Convolution
- 5 Deconstructions
- 6 Passages
- 7 Terra Meta
- 8 Elegy
try this
genres you will love
By Location
Recommended if you like ...
notes
A lyrical journey through time and space into the mystery of our cosmos. In this feature length film, musician Robert Rich and filmmaker Daniel Colvin weave the strands of science, myth, and poetic vision into a powerful and compelling tapestry of the human enigma. High resolution motion graphics, in panoramic 3:1 aspect ratio, with letterbox.
==============
As reviewed on www.electroambientspace.com:
Robert Rich “Music from Atlas Dei”
(www.robertrich.com, 2007)
13 tracks, 66.24 mins (CD)
Robert Rich & Daniel Colvin “Atlas Dei”
(www.atlasdei.com/index.html, 2007)
93 minutes (DVD)
Atlas Dei is an astounding visual and musical creation, with images by Daniel Colvin and soundtrack by Robert Rich. It is an all digital high-resolution art film combined with a 5-channel surround sound mix. Rich used the film as a backdrop during his most recent concert tour. Music from Atlas Dei contains 66 minutes of the new tracks created specifically for the DVD, along with some of the remixed older pieces.
If you are a fan of Rich, both the DVD and CD are an absolute must. Colvin’s images are a perfect compliment to Rich’s music, and the DVD holds up well to repeated viewings. Under Special Features, there is a Commentary that is well worth listening to as well. Rich and Colvin expound not only on the film itself, but also on the creative process itself, their philosophic and scientific outlooks, and their own artist endeavors. While I have read many interviews with Rich and have met him on several occasions, I learned quite a bit more about his outlook on music from listening to his commentary.
The film is composed of a series of constantly changing, intricately rendered 3D images, juxtaposed and layered on top of each other. Greek statues, deep space, geometric shapes, trees, grids, 16th century maps, impossible landscapes, and lots of other images from deep within Colvin’s subconscious slowly arrive and dissolve on screen. The DVD is divided into 8 chapters ranging from 10 to 15 minutes, each exploring different aspects of the story. And what is the story? Essentially, the film attempts to communicate the wonder and mystery of the Earth, its inhabitants, and the cosmos. Through images and music, the film explores art, biology, chaos vs. order, cosmology, human accomplishments, macrocosms and microcosms, myth, natural vs. human-made objects, science fiction, technology, and lots more. It’s all presented in a very cool, surreal, nonlinear, organic, dream-logic sort of way. The music is comprised of edited, layered, remixed, and augmented tracks from Sunyata, Gaudí, Troubled Resting Place, Below Zero, Echo of Small Things, and Electric Ladder, plus several new pieces. The surround sound mix of the music is worth the price of admission even when you turn off your TV and just listen.
If you are unfamiliar with Rich’s music but still a fan of space ambient music, you must get the DVD. It visually and sonically encapsulates the rich rewards of experiencing this genre of music.
(Written by Brian Romer for Electroambient Space. Thanks Brian!)
==============
Atlas Dei features 90 minutes of 5 channel surround mixes of these Robert Rich compositions:
Chapter 1 - Earth (11 min.)
Electric Ladder
© 2006 from Electric Ladder
Chapter 2 - Mythos (14 min.)
Air (edit)
© 1991 from Gaudí
Aquifer
© 2006 from Electric Ladder
Never Alone
© 2006 from Electric Ladder
Chapter 3 - Platonic (12 min.)
Mythos
© 2007 for Atlas Dei
Starmaker (edit)
© 1998 from Below Zero
Chapter 4 - The Convolution (15 min.)
Glint in Her Eyes
© 2005 from Echo of Small Things
Night Spinning Inward (edit)
© 1995 from Troubled Resting Place
Poppy Fields (edit)
© 2006 from Electric Ladder
Chapter 5 - Deconstructions (11 min.)
Dissolving the Seeds of a Moment (edit)
© 1998 from Below Zero
A Flock of Metallic Creatures Fleeing the Onslaught of Rust
© 1998 from Below Zero
Symbolics
© 1998 for Atlas Dei
Chapter 6 - Passages (9 min.)
Liquid Air
© 1998 from Below Zero
Dervish Dreamtime (edit)
© 1982 from Sunyata
The Core
© 2007 for Atlas Dei
Chapter 7 - Terra Meta (11 min.)
Minaret (layered)
© 1991 from Gaudí
Terra Meta
© 2007 for Atlas Dei
Chapter 8 - Elegy (9 min.)
Shadowline
© 2006 from Electric Ladder
reviews
Please log in to review this album.
Psychologist
author: Kathy CramerDan and Robert have created a magical experience that will delight and inspire many audiences. This rare combination of talent has the artistic assets of each of them to new heights. Bravo!
Artist
author: Lynn FielderAs a long-time collector of Daniel Colvin's masterful artwork, getting to know Robert Rich's beautiful music through Atlas Dei has been a pleasant surprise. Their teamwork is brilliant and the outcome, inspirational. I just hope Atlas Dei gets a wide audience because I think it will transform our expectations regarding the multi-media artform and art and music in general!
- author: Bennay Clayton
This CD was a totally beautiful sound and visual experience. Just when I thought I had heard and seen the best, then along comes Atlas Dei to take me to another level of amazing sounds and sights. Thanks so much Robert and Daniel for this stellar composition. I'm looking forward to enjoying your next release! Thanks again!
Mesmerizing!
author: Maurice FrankI heard the music on the radio program Hearts of Space, then I bought the DVD. I am so glad I did. This is a very unique and creative combination of art and music. I know I will watch it many times.
a stellar 90-minute dvd-extravaganza
author: Bert Strolenberg (former journalist E-dition magazine)“Atlas Dei” is a nicely packaged 90-minute dvd-extravaganza of high-resolution motion graphics, in panoramic 3:1 aspect ratio with letterbox. It features released and unreleased ambient music (all presented in 5-channel surround mixes) from Robert which beautifully matches the computer-generated imagery of filmmaker Daniel Colvin. It invites you to a fantastic journey through time and space. A trailer can be viewed at www.atlasdei.com. The music on the dvd was taken from the albums “Gaudi”, “Below Zero”, “Electric Ladder”, “Echo of Small Things”, “Troubled Resting Place”, and “Sunyata”. Shortly after the release of the dvd its companion cd “Music from Atlas Dei” also saw the light of day, which focuses on the new pieces recorded specifically for the film. It also includes older compositions that are edited, layered, remixed and augmented from previous releases. Make sure you get this one !
An analysis of the film, the music, and the film's power
author: Geoff WakefieldFar from being anything that resembles traditional film, it is, rather, an intricate series of split screens, symetrical mutations, and the unobtrusive morphing of images garnered from photograhy and Colvin's original paintings. The images are gathered from a vast range of fields, including classical sculpture and architecture, natural settings, antique maps, celestial scenes, and complex geometric shapes and patterns. The titles, such as Mythos, Terra Meta, and Platonic, are highly reflective of the contents of each piece, and are themselves rife with potential meaning. One of the special features includes the artists conversing while watching the final version of the film, and though the conversation mirrors an informed view of many subjects, I think that initial viewings should omit this, as it will only distract you from the total immersion required to elicit the film's full potency. One of the first things that will strike the viewer, is that the film evolves at a pace that can only be described as majesterial, and yet, ironically, because of the volume and complexity of visual and aural transformations, there is a density that resembles and rivals our very conciousness. The great thing about this feature, is that it allows us to become much more participatory in the film. The stately unfolding affords us the leisure and time to convolve with the images and sounds, and an episodic ambience that somehow mimicks the very process of breathing. Even though the images are extracted from settings both natural and synthetic, they are so exquisitely interwoven, that all of the tranformations occur on a plane that can only be described as organic, as if genetic sequencing was used to derive the next moment, and that in another world, these types of visual morphings might well be possible. The film's intrinsic beauty is almost hallucinogenic, and makes us crave the potential, a world in which art and reality co-exist in a symbiotic relationship. What Colvin has created in essence, is a personalized and poetic vision, a world of possibilities and transcendence, possessing the rare ability to affect us in a very resonant and personal manner. The advancement of Western based sciences has marginalized the world of myths, to the detriment of mankind. It has been replaced by a vast array of things, but the need for archetypes seems to be something inherent in humanity, and their dissolution has left a dangerous vacuum in our cultural landscape. Atlas Dei is an attempt to resurrect the mythical world, and achieves it in a remarkably powerful, but understated way. Rivalling the beauty of the visuals is Rich's music. Rich has long been noted for his work in the field of music termed electronic-ambient. The music in the film uses flute, lap steel guitar, and sounds generated from a sophisticated modular synthesis sytem and other electronic gear, and possesses an organic richness that would enable it to stand alone, moving in the same unhurried manner as the film. Indeed, the music dovetails so comfortably with the film, that the music and visuals seem to be the conception of one mind, containing an almost Escher-like inner logic. A quote from Einstein prefaces the film: " The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious." This quote circumscribes the film's intent and effect in a most suitable way. By challenging us, by reconstituting the idea and celebration of myth, Atlas Dei has achieved something rarely aspired to, or attained in modern culture: that art can make a difference in both the personal and grander senses. If great art demands more of the viewer than mere passive response, then it also enables us to contemplate our own potentiality, the ability to live a life based on creativity, and the interconnectivity within ourselves, the world, and the universe. We can only hope that other artists might use Atlas Dei as nourishment for thought and creation, as it can surely only lead to a better world.