Often mistakenly considered a new age composer, Robert Rich has investigated just about every facet of modern ambient music, and while his soundscapes are often beatific, they can just as easily take listeners to unsettling places. Releasing his first albums in the early '80s, the prolific Rich has filled his solo efforts and collaborations with ethereal synthesiser scores, experiments in world music rhythms, dark and foreboding drones, intricately melodic instrumentals, and much more. Much like his friend Steve Roach, the ambitious and eclectic Rich is one of ambient's great shape-shifters.