Everlasting

by Rick AndersonRyan Farish is one of the most popular purveyors of easy listening electronica in the United States, even though most people don't know his name. Where most listeners have experienced Farish's music is on the Weather Channel, which features his compositions regularly during the Local on the 8's forecast, as well as on the intro to Storm Stories. As his name has risen in profile, his site on mp3.com has gotten a steadily increasing number of hits, and his debut album Beautiful ended up on Billboard's Top Ten chart for new age music. His third album finds him exploring more extensively the sounds of live instruments; Everlasting prominently features string arrangements and electric bass along with the usual electronic chord washes and percussion. Farish's sound is still a bit on the goopy side, a problem that he could largely clear up if he'd eliminate the shimmery aura of reverb and delay around his piano, but there are some very fine moments on this album: "Sing to You" benefits from a U2-ish bassline, crunchy breakbeats rough up the edges on the otherwise rather saccharine "Together We Will Conquer," "Young at Heart" nicely juxtaposes his shimmery piano sound with tough, jungle-inflected breakbeats, and "Time Between Us" combines choral vocals and a rubbery trip-hop beat to fine effect. Nothing earthshaking here, but a very nice listen overall.