Robert Beatty has worked mainly as a graphic designer lately. What’s special about his unique art works for LPs by Peaking Lights, Wooden Wand, Gary War, Idiot Glee, Dracula Lewis or Hieroglyphic Being is the ingenious interplay of forms and colors. His motives have a special kind of plasticity, no matter if they are representational or abstract. Hence, the explicit sometimes turns into something ambiguous, sometimes it happens the other way around. The reason why I explain this in such great detail is that there are parallels between Robert Beatty’s design-work and the music that he produces under the name of Three Legged Race. It has taken the musician from Lexington, Kentucky, five years to finish his debut »Persuasive Barrier«. During that time, he first created sounds on his machine in order to then relate them to each other through delicate compositions. The known meets the unknown. Sounds from techno, ambient or synthpop are placed within an unusual environment and need to prove themselves worthy. What comes out is Science Fiction. The tracks »Persuasive Barrier« and »Locked Groove« are framed by melodies, manage to tame the sound in a rhythmic and subtle manner. The other tracks have a less strict form. However, the question is whether a figure formed of sounds can dissolve and still be distinguishable in its original shape? There are two answers: The first is: Not as much as Robert Beatty thinks. The second is: design is not music. – Still, some aspects of this music have a special appeal.
David Rosenboom
Future Travel
Black Truffle