Canadian electronics technician
Richard Smith
was Buchla's official repair person for nearly two decades, and he worked on instruments owned by electronic musicians like
Aphex Twin
and
Suzanne Ciani
.
Shasta Cults
is his solo project, and both albums he released in 2019 focus on a specific model of Buchla synthesizers.
Configurations
was recorded with a Buchla 700, while
was created using the world's only fully-functional Buchla Touche. A hybrid of digital and analog signal processing, the synthesizer was developed around 1978, with hardware by
Don Buchla
and software programmed by
David Rosenboom
using a self-invented language. The six pieces on
glow and shimmer, appearing soft and bright on the surface but revealing more intricate textures the deeper one listens. The album's first side consists of more meditative pieces, peaking with the rich, enlightening "Incline." The album switches to a darker mood with the scanning, scraping waves of "DA3," then reaches its emotional high point with the mesmerizing "Fourgan," which manages to sound both funereal and nearly psychedelic. Even someone who isn't a synth obsessive can tell that getting the Touche to function was a laborious undertaking; something about it just sounds old, creaky, and weathered. Yet
Smith
manages to breathe new life into the instrument and produce some highly compelling work. ~ Paul Simpson