Pynchon Music: Rapoon
Shamans of the Light
Robin Storey (b. 1955. Rapoon 1992–present)
Robin Storey, an original founding member of the experimental industrial group Zoviet France, created the offshoot band Rapoon in 1992. In 1995 Rapoon released The Kirghiz Light, the title drawn from Gravity’s Rainbow. It was released as a mammoth, 70-minute, two-disk, eighteen-track project by Staalplaat Records.
A self-confessed devotee of mantic and shamanistic music, Robin Storey wrote and performed all tracks on the double album, with additional vocals and instruments provided by Vicki Bain. It’s an intricately constructed, brilliantly played, and very cleanly produced set of ambient electronic atmospherics and exotic ethnic percussion. The Zoviet France influence is detectable, although Rapoon is much more high-fidelity and misses out the coarseness and industrial noise you might find on a Zoviet France record.
In 2016, Zoharum reissued The Kirghiz Light with a third bonus disc of remixed tracks. Robin Storey was interviewed for Side-Line in 2019, an interview which contained this exchange:
Q: Musicians like to release trilogies, but what makes it fascinating especially when you know painters are still fond of triptychs and writers like trilogies as well?
Robin Storey: There is something broader and more ‘in depth’ about a trilogy, you don’t feel like you have to hurry to get somewhere. It can be a challenge to get right though. One of my favourite books of all time, Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow has a long narrative at the beginning of the book about all the different things you can make to eat using bananas. I have read the book a few times over the years and this is the one bit I just skip over… maybe it’s because I am allergic to bananas. I listen to older pieces of my music and sometimes find myself thinking… this is going on a bit long. I try to keep things just as long as they need to be these days. Whether I succeed or not is another thing.
Additional Information
Track Listing
Disc 1
1. Jerewat (5:14)
2. The Temple Shakes (7:54)
3. We Fell Like Rain (7:36)
4. Rubinox (7:37)
5. Evacuate (7:37)
6. Dala (6:53)
7. Feathered Skies (5:26)
8. Ora (5:47)
9. Meridia Closes (10:33)
10. Jacobs Drum (5:09)
1. Jerewat (5:14)
2. The Temple Shakes (7:54)
3. We Fell Like Rain (7:36)
4. Rubinox (7:37)
5. Evacuate (7:37)
6. Dala (6:53)
7. Feathered Skies (5:26)
8. Ora (5:47)
9. Meridia Closes (10:33)
10. Jacobs Drum (5:09)
Disc 2
1. Omnizdum (8:58)
2. Saffron Fires (8:59)
3. We Danced Like Sticks (6:57)
4. The Kirghiz Light (10:51)
5. Frostling Merge (10:37)
6. We Danced Like Water (6:47)
7. A Far Cry (5:10)
8. Into Light (11:50)
1. Omnizdum (8:58)
2. Saffron Fires (8:59)
3. We Danced Like Sticks (6:57)
4. The Kirghiz Light (10:51)
5. Frostling Merge (10:37)
6. We Danced Like Water (6:47)
7. A Far Cry (5:10)
8. Into Light (11:50)
2016 Bonus Disc: Our Calling Light
1. Invocation (1:56)
2. Sanctum (4:34)
3. A Light Moves East (4:06)
4. Cymbalene (4:24)
5. The Breath Runs Through (4:10)
6. Mother Cries (2:21)
7. A Moment Suspends (6:32)
8. A Voice In Air (6:24)
9. Song for Rain (5:42)
10. Benedictus (5:20)
11. Passing Over (10:00)
12. Homeward (2:35)
2. Sanctum (4:34)
3. A Light Moves East (4:06)
4. Cymbalene (4:24)
5. The Breath Runs Through (4:10)
6. Mother Cries (2:21)
7. A Moment Suspends (6:32)
8. A Voice In Air (6:24)
9. Song for Rain (5:42)
10. Benedictus (5:20)
11. Passing Over (10:00)
12. Homeward (2:35)
Musicians
Robin Storey—vocals, instruments, percussion.
Vicki Bain—vocals, additional instruments.
Robin Storey—vocals, instruments, percussion.
Vicki Bain—vocals, additional instruments.
Listen to The Kirghiz Light — Listen to The Kirghiz Light on YouTube.
Listen to/Purchase The Kirghiz Light — The 2016 expanded version of The Kirghiz Light is available on Bandcamp.
Rapoon Homepage — The official Web site of Rapoon.
Robin Storey Facebook Page — Storey maintains a Facebook page.
Rapoon Bandcamp Page — You can browse, hear, and purchase Rapoon’s music on Bandcamp. There’s…there’s a lot.
Rapoon Wikipedia Page — You can read more about Rapoon on Wikipedia.
Rapoon Discog Page — Collects album covers and information on Rapoon’s releases.
“Click Interview” with Rapoon — Side-Line, 19 July 2019. An interview with Robin Storey in which he discusses Gravity’s Rainbow.
Pynchon on Record
Return to the main music page
Authors: Dr Larry Daw & Allen B. Ruch
Last Modified: 11 November 2021
Main Pynchon Page: Spermatikos Logos
Contact: quail(at)shipwrecklibrary(dot)com
Last Modified: 11 November 2021
Main Pynchon Page: Spermatikos Logos
Contact: quail(at)shipwrecklibrary(dot)com