Let’s step into the world of The Far Sound. It’s an unfamiliar terrain, but you’ll get your bearings soon. We’ll start with “Finding the Temple,” where we’re led through the high desert on an unusual sonic journey. You won’t be able to categorize the music because it does not fit into the boxes we music writers and fans like to use. But you will catch a feeling – what is it? Maybe the sense of wanderlust and of seeking enlightenment.
Portland musician Rick Pedrosa created this debut self-titled album, and it feels like a map to a hidden treasure. Pedrosa is a member of Portland bands Abronia, Federale, and Glass Knees and a talented multi-instrumentalist. The always reliable Centripetal Force released this album on June 2, 2023, which you can find in digital and cassette editions. I recommend a physical copy to collect this moment of musical magic and hold it in your hands.
Pedrosa is known for his pedal steel guitar work with Abronia and Federale, but this is just one of the instruments he uses on The Far Sound. Pedrosa’s playing is informed by the worlds of bluegrass, country, jazz, and The Grateful Dead, but he’s also influenced by global steel guitarists like India’s Debashish Bhattacharya. He also loves the work of Italian composers like Ennio Morricone.
This laundry list of excellent influences and his unique approach to songwriting make The Far Sound an exciting listening experience. Pedrosa says his vision was to create something as if “John Cale and Sun Ra wrote a song like ‘Sleepwalk’ for an Italian soundtrack, using American country instruments.”
This is all heady stuff, and it’s above my pay grade to offer any analysis here. But I will try. I can only pick up on this record’s moods, textures, and patterns. Pedrosa plays all the instruments, including pedal and lap steel, banjo, guitar, bass, percussion, and his Lowrey L2 Wandering Genie organ. Most of the songs start with banjo playing, and then the pedal steel enters to add another satisfying layer. From what I can tell, most of this is also improvised.
Music for imaginary films
When we say music sounds “cinematic,” a record like The Far Sound is what we mean. It sounds like something that could be the soundtrack for an abstract Western film – maybe The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. This is probably not a coincidence since Ennio Morricone, one of Pedrosa’s influences, wrote the score for more than 400 films and TV series, including classic westerns like The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
I will not do a track-by-track rundown of The Far Sound – I think it’s best that you experience this yourself in all its glory. But as the Bandcamp description says, the album does feel like a concept record, with each piece as a chapter or vignette that forms a cohesive, satisfying whole.
Tracks like “Meadow Transmission” bring high suspense on the frontier, and you can almost picture the squint in Clint Eastwood’s eyes. Even the track names themselves are excellent, with titles like “Moon Drifter,” “From Evening to Dawn,” “Midnight Prarie Rust,” and “Petals for Your Path.”
Yes, you could say this is cinematic music for an imaginary Western film, but what’s the setting? It’s hard to say. Like many of Centripetal Forces’ releases lately, there’s an extraterrestrial quality. These are sounds not of this world but of something beyond which we know. They bring moods that sometimes enchant and can sometimes terrify. They have a striking emotional quality that will have you listening to this on repeat.
Final Thoughts
Rick Pedrosa may be making music in the Pacific Northwest, but his heart and mind appear drawn to the desert. The Far Sound is full of exotic, high-desert soundscapes that remain attached to the roots of Americana. As I saw published elsewhere, there’s a blend of Appalachia here, too.
What you think you know about instrumental music will be challenged with this record. This is instrumental music that brings an unspoken voice and language all of its own. I plan to look up Pedrosa’s other bands and familiarize myself with his work. If it’s near as good as The Far Sound, I may have found some new artists to add to my regular rotation.
Parting Words: “If you work for a living, why do you kill yourself working?” – Tuco in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Support The Far Sound by finding him on Bandcamp.
Support Centripetal Force Records by finding them on Bandcamp or social media (Facebook, Instagram).
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