Richard Reed Perry
may be best known as a core member of stadium-filling Canadian art-rockers
Arcade Fire
, but he's had his multi-instrumentalist fingers in a lot of pies outside of the group, including
Bell Orchestre
and
New International Standards
, as well as collaborations with the
National
,
Barr Brothers
the Unicorns
, and
Islands
. His first solo outing, 2014's
Music for Heart and Breath
, was a collection of classical compositions recorded with
yMusic
Kronos Quartet
Nico Muhly
Nadia Sirota
Bryce
Aaron Dessner
. His sophomore effort,
Quiet River of Dust, Vol. 1
, takes cues from both the latter LP and his work with
, delivering a wildly inventive seven-song set that marries the bucolic Albion folk-rock of
Incredible String Band
with swirling, worldbeat-infused psych-pop inspired by Japanese folk mythology. It might sound like a lot on paper, but
Perry
's meandering melodies and mercurial sonic vistas are as compelling as they are progressive, invoking everyone from
Peter Gabriel
Yes
("Gentle Pulsing Dust") to
Jim O'Rourke
and the
Flaming Lips
("On the Ground") -- like any good aural smorgasbord, there's a little something for everyone here. Peppered with field recordings of cicadas and driftwood percussion, "Song of the Wood," inspired by a 2008 visit to the forests of Japan while on tour with
, delivers pastoral ambient pop in the vein of
Fleet Foxes
. "I Was in the World (Was the World in Me)" begins in the same vein but traffics in waves of seismic crescendo that spill over the breakwall into the city streets, evoking
's meal ticket band. Released on the Autumn equinox (part two will arrive the following spring),
Quiet River of Dust
feels like its own celestial event, emitting frequencies both familiar and alien; Eastern philosophy-tinged pagan space folk devoted to gods both old and new. ~ James Christopher Monger