Innovative producer, remixer, DJ and engineer-extraordinaire ROB RIVES is one of New York’s premiere architects of dark and penetrating electro-fuelled tech-house. While many may be familiar with his work as an engineer on records and remixes by Danny Tenaglia and François K. and as a co-producer on remixes for acts like Kraftwerk, Underworld and Can, it is his solo productions (both as a producer and remixer) that have seduced dance music lovers worldwide. Rob's signature sound explores the darker, more atmospheric realms of house and electronic music, incorporating a love of synthetic textures with the repetition and minimalism of modern disco.
A master of propulsive soundscapes, Rob has garnered international notoriety for his FLOPPY SOUNDS material released on François K.’s New York-based Wave Music imprint. His 1994 debut Downtime was an alternately beautiful and challenging collection where aggressive rhythm elements were paired with spaced-out echoing electronics to forge a soundtrack for its themes of irony and loneliness. 12" singles "Ultrasong" and "Excursions" found favor with DJs exploring the darker shades of house and the emerging tech-house scene. For his long-delayed sophomore album Short Term Memories (released Spring 2001), Rives constructed a more streamlined and refined, user-friendly set that retained the project’s original themes of alienation and decay combined with the abstract geometry of deep, hard house grooves.
The album was an adventurous mix of elements creating a cinematic experience designed to transport listeners into an otherworldly realm implied by technology, hallucinogens, an ersatz media environment, and the science fiction now world of Phillip K. Dick. Rives’ reached a surging apex delivering a syncopated paean to disconnection incorporating influences from Maurizio and Public Image Ltd. to Carl Craig and Brian Eno. The dizzying and intoxicating 74 minute trip featured songs ranging from the driving thumping electro-grooves of "Entertainment" (featuring New York spoken word star Sarah Jones), "Late Night" and the cool, clipped grooves of the mind-bender "Doing Shows" to the Stockhausen vs. On-U Sound assault of "Remote" and "Complex" to the frozen ambience of "Clear." Short Term Memories placed the sound constructionist on the map as a prominent producer in his own right and SPIN Magazine heralded the album as "a hallucinogenic brand of beat chemistry that could launch (Rives) from behind-the-scenes obscurity to master of ceremonies."
Since the album's release, Rives has continued to progress further into uncharted sonic territories both as a producer and remixer. Working under various pseudonyms, Rives has had numerous releases on some of the most renowned and influential dance imprints including: Yoshitoshi (collaborating with Rob Salmon), Junior (under the SHADE moniker), NRK/Honchos (under the TOMORROW LTD. moniker), SAW (under his own name) and for Wave Music’s own experimental and minimal electronic Click Tracks imprint (under the PHANTOM POWER moniker).
As a remixer, Rob has established himself both as a minimal tech-house and dark progressive house master providing his trademark pulsating dark, rhythmic and soulful psychedelic sonic tapestries to an eclectic range of artists including: Kraftwerk, Yoko Ono, Can, X-PRESS 2, Green Velvet, Ananda Project, The Magnetic Fields, Luke Slater, Humate, t.A.T.u, Akabu feat. Linda Clifford, Vivian Green and more.
Throughout 2004 and 2005, Rives toured the globe working with mentor and longtime collaborator François K. honing his skills as an in-demand international DJ with a relentless driving sound all his own. He also began working on the highly-anticipated Floppy Sounds remix collection and his first mixed compilation Hi Frequency (for Japan’s influential dance imprint Unity Records). Released in August 2005, the set (which includes original productions and remixes from Rives alongside selections from Ananda Project, Joey Negro, Jamie Anderson, Spylab and more) finds the beatmaster sculpting a riveting 11-track soundscape echoing the thunderous and sinister underground aggro-house sounds of New York City and West London and the minimal electro, click-house synthetic sounds of Berlin into a hypnotic and arresting juggernaut.
For much of 2006 and 2007, Rob shifted gears to focus on composing and editing music for TV, film and commercials amassing a stable of impressive clients including Oprah/Harpo Productions Inc., MSNBC, Conde Nast and Rockstar Games. Currently, he is busy completing work on his long-awaited third FLOPPY SOUNDS album (set for release in Spring 2008) and a PHANTOM POWER collection, each to be released on Wave Music.
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