Richard Reed Parry - Quiet River of Dust Vol. 1 (2018) [Hi-Res]

Best known as an accomplished multi-instrumentalist in the Grammy-winning rock band Arcade Fire, the Quiet River of Dust volumes are Parry’s first solo work outside of his innovative compositional work with the highly respected Deutsche Grammaphon label. But Quiet River of Dust is a new direction: a dreamlike journey of immersive, gently psychedelic songs inspired by Japanese death poems and the folk music of the British Isles. The genesis of these songs came ten years ago after Arcade Fire’s first tour of Japan in February 2008. Parry stayed on for weeks after the last show, heading to a monastery for some solace in what he described as “the biggest silence you’ve ever heard.” Quiet River of Dust has been slowly gestating ever since, in many ways a necessary respite from Parry’s other musical pursuits as creating this music grew into a meditative practice. Guest performers on this project include Parry’s partner Laurel Sprengelmeyer of Little Scream, Stef Schneider of Bell Orchestre, Dallas Good of the Sadies, Yuka Honda of Cibo Matto, Amedeo Pace from Blonde Redhead, and The National’s Aaron and Bryce Dessner.