“Irisarri builds elegantly decaying, chiaroscuro mosaics that seethe with electronic processing” - PITCHFORK (7.7/10)
“A silvery haze of subtle drones and loops” - FACT MAGAZINE (8/10)
“It is a beautiful storm that breaks with choirs of benevolent ghosts singing - before slowly setting the audience back on the ground, surprisingly better rested, more contemplative, and satisfied than before… leaving the silence he induced, in absolute applause.” KEXP
“Perfectly restrained with long silences, field recorded fragments and extended bowed guitar lines. All of these elements are carefully put together in an almost classical vein and never feel forced, in fact, the atmosphere is so engrossing that it creates a sense of memory loss" - FOXY DIGITALIS (9/10)
“Irisarri’s music ushers the listener into a world where optimism won’t eventually lead to disappointment and where intermittent states of sadness will give way to a better appreciation of life. ” - THE SILENT BALLET (8.5/10)
“Irisarri has moved closer towards developing an entirely new language for actual songwriting, combining aesthetics from ambient, shoegaze and post-punk into a form of stunning individuality.” - GROOVEMINE (4.5/5)
“Questions that really matter: A space of grace and beauty.” - TOKAFI
“Sensual, propulsive, and shrouded in mercurial darkness…Irisarri’s ability to make evocative music is both a gift and a learned skill.” POPMATTERS (8/10)
“The grainy click of a vinyl surface forms a textural bed for the glacial movement of ambient tones and elegiac strings. Here and elsewhere, a palpable sense of windswept fields and damp forests pervades the material, not to mention a sense of calm that verges on blissful resignation.” - TEXTURA (Album of the Month)
“Irisarri stretches the boundaries of pop music to flirt with much more openly experimental angles; investigating desolate territories and bringing them to life by subtle melodic touches…a complete master at his art” - THE MILK FACTORY (4.5/5)
“Impeccably made ambient thump-and-drone” - ALL MUSIC GUIDE (4.5/5)
“An astounding range of visceral sonic possibilities…a hurricane passing over an ocean, gathering heat and force while simultaneously cooling the waters below.” - XLR8R (9/10)
“It All Falls Apart proves to be a heady mix of refinements and surprises that show The Sight Below not only realizing its strengths, but redrawing the boundaries of drone, laptop electronic, and ambient techno” - DELUSIONS OF ADEQUACY
“A beautifully bleak cloud of sound” - PITCHFORK (7.2/10)
“His ear for a soul-crushing melody continuing to shine through the album’s dense caverns of reverb” - DROWNED IN SOUND
“Streams of gossamer guitar lines drift like ghostly forms as a laid-back rhythm track unspools underneath” - TEXTURA
“Beautiful and comforting” - IGLOOMAG
“An outstanding sophomore album” - BOOMKAT
“It All Falls Apart is the sort of masterful album that you can quite easily lose yourself in, but like the best of ambient work, some tiny detail draws you out of your reverie and you realize you are in the presence of something beautiful.” - GROOVEMINE
“A minor masterpiece…” - FOXY DIGITALIS
“These expansive instrumental epics start out icy, but melt easily enough with proper application of the human ear.” - WIRED
“Loop stations, delay pedals, reverb boxes and E-bows abstract guitars toward tranced-out ambiguity…aloof embrace and sense of eternal return” - P4K FORKCAST
“Beautiful squalls of sound” - CMJ
“An ongoing deceptive blur of stationary sound…magnificently aloof, spun with haunting, flickering washes” - POPMATTERS (7/10)
“Frostbitten and serene, Glider melds deep 4/4 pulses with vivid treated guitarscapes that evoke seasonal transitions, things that fall, crumble and get iced-over every year only to hold warmth, within, until all passes over for green again.” - RESIDENT ADVISOR
“Pushing and pulling heavily affected guitar and keyboard swirls over unwavering kicks, this Seattle artist creates evocative sounds that allow slight touches of brightness to poke through their heavy waves of gloom.” - URB
“Sunny music this is not, but it’s easy to picture the reclusive producer behind the album hard at work in drizzly Seattle.” - XLR8R
“Meditations on suspended momentum and the opacity of perception. Weaving a dense latticework of mournful guitar drones atop an insistent 4/4 pulse, the album moves between majestic pop ambient epics and, in its quieter moments, blurred waves of sonic sublimation.” - BIG SHOT
“Seductively constrained musical phrases, barely audible scratches, and incredibly tender piano notes encompass sorrow, longing, and nostalgia….Irisarri crafts one of his best releases.” - HEADPHONE COMMUTE
“…a Lynchian otherworldliness.” - FOXY DIGITALIS
“Irisarri uses his guitar as a strings-like symphonic element to generate atmospheric masses…like an ambient symphony recording that’s been rescued from attic entombment after half a century.” - TEXTURA
“Irisarri demonstrates his mastery of those strategically placed electronics, which are never too dominant in their presence, nor undermined by other sounds in the mix. For those already enchanted with this art form, this is a must acquire.” - THE SILENT BALLET
“Subtly restrained…an excellent companion.”
- THE WIRE
“A haunting collection of stunning dreamscapes…Irisarri assembles an incredibly consistent series of particularly elaborate and evocative ambient pieces which are likely to captivate for years to come.” - THE MILK FACTORY
“…glide into your subconscious and refuse to relent - casting out pink-hued soundscapes and filigree melodies that allow the piano to shimmer and evolve.” - BOOMKAT.COM
“A carefully constructed soundtrack to your most intriguing dreams…” - DOTSHOP
Bibliography
Pisano, Leandro “Review: It All Falls Apart” Blow Up (IT), February 1, 2010
Staff. “Review: Murmur” The Skeleton Crew Quarterly (US), November 27, 2009.
Totland, Justin. “Review: Murmur” FACT Magazine (UK), November 2, 2009.
Staff. “Review: Murmur” Textura (CA), November 1, 2009.
Urborn, Leah. “Review: Murmur” Prefix Magazine (US), October 27, 2009.
Ganiard, John. “Review: Hopes And Past Desires” Foxy Digitalis (US) June 23, 2009
Staff. “Review: Hopes And Past Desires” The Silent Ballet (US) June 7, 2009
Staff. “Review: Daydreaming” Sound Proector (RU), April 12, 2009
Davenport, Joe “Review: Hopes And Past Desires” Delusions of Adequacy (US), March 9, 2009
Staff. “Review: Glider” Pitchfork Media (US), March 5, 2009.
Mosourock, Doug. “Review: Hopes and Past Desires” Dusted Magazine (US), February 12, 2009
Henaghan, Michael “Review: Hopes And Past Desires” [SIC] Magazine (US), February 10, 2009
Staff. “Review: Glider” The Skeleton Crew Quarterly (US), February 23, 2009.
Simpson, Paul. “Review: Glider” Foxy Digitalis (US), February 12, 2009.
Staff. “Review: Glider”. Headphone Commute (US), February 12, 2009.
Staff. “Review: Glider” Pig Magazine (IT), February 11, 2009.
Power, Chris. “Review: Glider” Downed In Sound (US), February 3, 2009.
Staff. “Review: Glider” KinoSport (US), January 30, 2009.
Wigger, Jan. “Review: Glider” Spiegel Magazine (DE), January 26, 2009.
Staff. “Review: Glider” Sce:nite (DE), January 7, 2009.
Totland, Justin. “Review: Glider.” FACT Magazine (UK), January 16, 2009.
Bell, Erin. “Review: Glider” Wonka Vision Magazine (US), January 9, 2009.
Suveg, Lukas. “Review: Glider” Tiny Mix Tapes (US), December 11, 2008.
Umile, Dominic. “Review: Glider” Popmatters (US), December 3, 2008.
Khaznadar, Lina. “Review: Glider.” Big Shot Magazine (US), December 4, 2008.
Miller, Derek. “Review: Glider” Resident Advisor (US), November 17, 2008.
Napster Staff. “Review: Glider” The Napster Blog (US), November 13, 2008.
Davenport, Joe. “Review: Glider” Delusions of Adequacy (US), November 13, 2008.
Matos, Michaelangelo. “Review: Glider” The A.V. Club (US), November 13, 2008.
Segal, Dave. “Review: Glider” The Stranger (US), November 13, 2008.
Kellman, Andy. “Review: Glider” All Music Guide (US), November 10, 2008.
Staff. “Review: No Place For Us”. Textura (CA), October 9, 2008.
Staff. “Review: No Place For Us”. Headphone Commute (US), September 4, 2008.
Sohns, Jan-Arne. “Review: Daydreaming” Foxy Digitalis (US), May 15, 2007
Staff. “Review: Daydreaming” The Silent Ballet (US) May 8, 2007
Shelton, Frazer. “Review: Daydreaming” Tasty Fanzine (US) May 1, 2007
Segal, Dave. “Review: Daydreaming”. The Stranger (US), February 20, 2007
Ervik, Andreas. “Review: Daydreaming” Groove Musik (NO), February 4, 2007
Staff. “Review: Daydreaming” The Milk Factory (UK) January 31, 2007
Interviews
Grandy, Eric. “Gas Giant” The Stranger (US), May 5, 2010
Burns, Todd. “Seatown Songs” Resident Advisor (US), March 15, 2010
Schepper, Ron. “Ten Questions with Rafael Anton Irisarri” Textura (CA), March 1, 2010
Pisano, Leandro. “Suoni della Deriva” Blow Up Magazine (IT), February 1, 2010
Zelinka, Pavel. “Interview with Rafael Anton Irisarri” Radio Wave (CZ), December 4, 2009
Seldon, Josef. “Interview with Rafael Anton Irisarri” Radio 1 Praha (CZ), June 12, 2009
Schmidt, Benedikt. “Musik ist kein Wettbewerb” sce:nite Magazine (DE) March 3, 2009.
Staff. “Two And A Half Questions with The Sight Below Pt. 2” Headphone Commute (US), February 12, 2009
Totland, Justin. “Interview:The Sight Below” FACT Magazine (UK), January 26, 2009.
Mück, Michael. “Interview with The Sight Below” CueMix Magazine (DE), January 2, 2009.
Segal, Dave. “High On The Down Low” The Stranger, November 11, 2008.
Staff. “Two and A Half Questions with The Sight Below” Headphone Commute (US), September 5, 2008.
Almergard, Mats. “Interview with Rafael Anton Irisarri” Sveriges Radio P2 (SE), April 30, 2008
Margraff, Rene. “Neo Klassik: Rafael Anton Irisarri” De:Bug Magazine (DE) June 6, 2007
Articles
Staff. “The Sight Below” New Dust Magazine (US), December 29, 2009
Segal, Dave. “Blissin’ Up: Rafael Anton Irisarri’s Fluid Radio Mix” The Stranger, December 23, 2009
Capp, Kevin. “Seattle Pianist Collective & Music The Consul Could Die Happy To” Seattle Weekly, October 30, 2009
Romero, Vidal. “The Sight Below” GoMag (ES), June 1, 2009.
Lea, Tom. “Producers To Watch in 2009” FACT Magazine (UK), January 13, 2009.
Braun, Christoph. “Feature: The Sight Below” Spex Magazine (DE), December 22, 2008.
Ritger, Carl. “Feature: Out of Sight” Big Shot Magazine (US), December 4, 2008.
Staff. “From The Stacks” Self-Titled Magazine (US), November 7, 2008.
Church, Terry. “Free EP: No Place For Us” Beatportal (US), October 16, 2008.
Staff. “The Sight Below Releases Debut, Tours” Resident Advisor (US), October 14, 2008.
Howe, Brian. “New Music: The Sight Below” Pitchfork Media (US), September 29, 2008.
Staff. “MP3 Download: With Her Kiss (I’d Pass The Sky)” XLR8R Magazine (US), September 22, 2008.
Van Buskirk, Eliot. “The Sight Below’s Icy Aesthetic Hides Considerable Warmth” Wired (US), September 5, 2008.
Levine, Noah. “Ghostly gives away The Sight Below” URB Magazine (US), September 2, 2008.
Staff. “A glimpse into the world of Miasmah” Soundscaping Magazine, May 25, 2008
Schimp, Rachel. “Power by The People” Seattle Weekly (US), September 6, 2006