Search - Bob Holroyd :: Different Space

Bob Holroyd is one of those musicians you hear without knowing it. He spends a lot of his time producing library albums, and generic music used for commercials, films, and industrial presentations. He writes to a nonspecific mood and other people put it to imagery. Every couple of years he surfaces with an engaging ambient album, and A Different Space is his latest. It finds him taking a techno-tribal turn, using lots of global instrumental and vocal samples from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, and putting it on top of propulsive dance grooves à la Deep Forest. Then he tosses in live players like trumpeter Kevin Robinson doing a Hugh Masekela-style solo on "Drumming Up a Storm" or Dirk Campbell weaving in uilleann pipes and ney flute. It's all been done by Deep Forest, Loop Guru, Banco De Gaia and others, and Holroyd adds little to the form, but there's no denying the slick, sonically rich landscapes he creates. But like his library music it has the feel of formula. In fact, the more he gets away from his loops, such as "Dark Waters" (with its live guitar, percussions, and bass), the more lively and "authentic" his music gets. --John Diliberto