I'll be curating some concerts at IBeamBrooklyn January 2009.  Check here for updates.

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"Up the Turret Mil"
out now on Loyal Label

“Up the Turret Mil” explores a mix of trumpets, guitars, and pianos combined with laptop glitch, sampling, and musique concrète. Many of the songs began as experiments with laptop and electronic-acoustic treatments on the trumpet and bridge Johnson’s many influences – from free jazz to folk music.

Available here -

eMusic

CDBaby

Reviews:

Toxicpete.co.uk:

"'Up The Turret Mill', I suppose, could be likened to Terry Riley meets Stockhausen; take the more melodic, trance-like Riley and shake in some of Karlheinz's angular and spiky outpourings and you'll start to get a little closer to where Rich Johnson is going... His music has a feeling of intelligence from an intuitive perspective - it's as if the inner, slightly more introspective musician is vying with the outer, extroverted techno-wizard... 'Up The Turret Mil' by Rich Johnson is experimentation with heart and soul - there is a point to this work and there is an end product - if you can get your head aligned with Rich Johnson's oscillating musical world you might just find that heart and soul for yourself and be able to drink in its unique and quite intoxicating elixir - you might just find the gold in the potion..."

plus, a nice little blog about "Up the Turret Mil"
by Dave Douglas....

GREENLEAF MUSIC

Whisperin' and Hollerin'

Rich Johnson's atmospheric and rewarding debut album focuses on textures more than beats. It smoothly cuts and pastes laptop glitch with samples of trumpets, guitars and piano. The effect is to produce the type of lush experimental ambience that graces established labels like Leaf and Rune Grammofon. It comes as no surprise to learn that Johnson has already contributed to recordings on the latter. The minimalist tone makes it an album that creates a gentle mood and one which glides calmly rather than imposing on the listener. The sharp trumpet blast at the start of the appropriately titled 'Ignite A Noise' makes for a jolting constrast to the mellow feel established in the opening two tracks. Such moments are rare, however, as Johnson favours the understatement of hypnotic tracks like Trap Totem Pulp and 'Following The Transparency Monodies'. If the spirit is willing, the album's understated organic pulse is one that has the capacity to be both absorbing and transporting.

Martin Raybould