Thematically, Robert Rich's Bestiary seems to consist of some kind of otherworldly, almost animalistic electronic ambience, with titles like "Dante's Anthromorphic Zoo," "Mentis Intentions," and "Sharpening Her Talons." This work is strange contextually, both from the standpoint of Robert Rich's previous work as well as other electronic music; nevertheless, though, this is a strangely evocative and emotive recording. One of the things that's really distinct about this recording is Robert Rich's use of the MOTM modular synthesizer, which brings an almost Kraftwerkian machine-like aesthetic to this work, an aesthetic that Robert Rich's work really hasn't had in the past; in fact, his work has always been quite organic whether he was working in an ethno-tribal idiom or more of an experimental idiom. Robert Rich's Bestiary is certainly a new chapter in his book of artistry. This is an interesting recording that reveals a more experimental side of Robert Rich's work. ~ Matt Borghi, All Music Guide
Bestiary (2001) is an album by the Americanambient musician Robert Rich. This album showcases the musical concept that Rich has long referred to as “glurp”. It evokes a frenetic and surreal landscape inhabited by a wide variety of bizarre organisms.
Work on this album began while Rich was working to create a library of Acid Loops for the Sonic Foundry company. He had previously created an Acid Loop library in 1999 called Liquid Planet. In this project Rich began creating a library of unusual sounds with his new MOTM modular synthesizer. As the synthesizer grew, Rich became increasingly impressed by its potential and decided to abandon the Acid Loop project in favor of creating a new album. MIDI played an extremely limited role in this album as most of its material was recorded live to hard disc with the audio feature of the Cubase program. It was then assembled into a continuous 53 minute audio file.
