In the world today, The Invisible Road: Original Recordings, 1985–1990, a collection of unheard, unreleased material by Sussan Deyhim and Richard Horowitz. The vinyl edition available direct from RVNG + Freedom To Spend and your fave indie store, streaming wherever streams are sold.
An investment of several years of time, energy, resource, and love, the early seeds of this project were planted not long after we completed work in 2017 on Freedom To Spend’s reissues of Richard’s 1981 album Eros in Arabia. On a visit to Los Angeles, where Sussan and Richard (both creative and life partners) had lived since moving from New York City in the early 00s, Richard invited us to their storage space in The Valley, where years of their individual and shared works were archived across media formats. Needless to say, with several decades of work between the two artists, there was a staggering amount of material to contemplate.
Being the completist, control freaks that we are, no stone, reel-to-reel, DAT, or cassette reference would remain unturned, and thus began the huge effort to transfer and audition a seemingly limitless flow of music that Sussan and Richard collaborated on. This limitlessness, while simultaneously intoxicating and daunting, spoke literally and liberally to the depth of Sussan and Richard’s relationship. There was no better way to know Sussan and Richard than to experience every inch of reel, and every corner of the rehearsal cassettes where the two musicians elaborated upon their creative impulses through sound and conversation. Needless to say, this process took some time.
And then there was the process of mixing the multi-track takes that felt fit to leave this nest of obscurity for new, appreciative ears. Major props to John Also Bennett, aka JAB, for stepping in at that crucial juncture. For those familiar with Sussan and Richard’s 1986 collaboration album Desert Equations: Azax Attra on the legendary Crammed Discs (alongside Lovely Music Ltd. and Dischord, the label that has meant the most to ours), JAB’s effort bringing these pieces up to sonic snuff rivals those recordings. For those unfamiliar with that album, or Sussan and Richard’s collaboration, we are envious of your first encounter. This is globally, cosmically minded music, and it truly honors the intention that compelled Sussan and Richard’s collaboration to create “free of any specific cultural reference, with a personal musical signature.”
While we were turning the corner on the last leg of this collection, Richard’s health was taking a turn for the worse. Sussan and his daughter, Tamara (namesake of the “interdimensional travel agent” who appears on Richard’s Eros in Arabia, for nerds, like us, keeping score), relocated him to Marrakech, Morrocco, his spiritual home, for closer care within a familiar, familial environment. Richard passed away this past April, and with this collection we hope to honor his legacy and celebrate Sussan’s career that remains staggeringly prolific to this day.
So much love to Sussan, pictured above, for her involvement and her strength. Please make note of her upcoming shows in New York in Los Angeles; these will be very special engagements. We love you, Richard.
