 |
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
 |
|||||||||
|
|
With his distinctive melange of analogue and digital synthesisers and highly imaginative soundscaping, Steve Roach is one of the most respected of America's electronic musicians. He’s been noted for the deep inspiration he draws from the European electronic tradition, and you can certainly hear the influence of Klaus Schulze and early-period Tangerine Dream throughout much of his music - if not in melody, then certainly in atmosphere. The electropop of Roach's early albums is unimpressive; far more effective is his first extensive foray into electronic ambience Structures From Silence. It's mysterious, graceful and beautifully understated and arguably the finest meditative record of the 1980's, appearing at a time when much American synthesiser music was selling out to the spiritless, saccharine strains of new age. The three tracks on the album are all extraordinary refined. The melodic strains of the 30-minute title track shift and sway with exquisite gentleness, yet the more you listen and absorb it the more you realise that it's the very antithesis of random keyboard doodling. Quiet Music, although never quite reaching the sublime heights of Structures For Silence, is cut from the same cloth and is also a must-have. It compiles tracks from three cassette-only releases, music which Roach describes on the sleeve notes as "created in respect for silence". Although it was specifically commissioned by outside sources for relaxation, healing and clinical use, the quality of the music remains mostly uncompromised by this potentially limiting premise. On the next few albums Roach turns his attention to landscapes. Western Spaces is a collaboration with two other well-regarded synthesists Kevin Braheny and Richard Burmer and is of a similarly high standard. Inspired by the desert wilderness of America’s south-west, these superb electro-acoustic nature paintings are as compelling and genuinely beautiful examples of environmental music as you’ll hear anywhere. Desert Solitaire, this time with Michael Stearns replacing Richard Burmer as co-collaborator, is less consistent though still a fine work. Tracks like “Cloud Of Promise” exude a graceful, subtle grandeur equal to anything on Western Spaces, while “Shiprock” is considerably darker than anything on its predecessor and almost completely atonal. Doomy, foreboding impressionism of the most abstract kind, its not for the faint-hearted. Dreamtime Return is a lengthy work based on Roach’s travels around Australia and his experience with its wilderness and Aboriginal culture, something that has profoundly influenced his music ever since. The album’s combination of tribal percussion, slightly discordant washes of synthesiser and location recordings of Aboriginal music is ambitious yet restrained, subtle yet stimulating. U.S. music magazine Heartbeats was suitably impressed: “This monumental magnum opus by Roach demonstrates that electronic music’s greatest potential may lie in bringing our most elusive dreams and ancient memories into focus through potent, highly imaginative soundscapes.” Likewise Australia: Sound Of The Earth is a collaboration with Australians David Hudson and Sarah Hopkins on which Roach travels further into the musical territory of Dreamtime Return. Hudson’s marvellous didgeridoo playing is prominent, surrounded by Hopkin’s sublime whirly wind instruments and Roach’s trademark electronic sound sculptures. During the 1980's Steve Roach albums were modest in number but consistent in quality. The 1990's and beyond are a different story. Literally dozens of solo and collaborative works have appeared since Sound Of The Earth and their appeal varies enormously. The most difficult of these tend to be works centred around the themes of palaeontology, shamanism and the primordial mind. The dominance of these themes marks a shift in focus from the outer worlds of his middle period music (eg. the impressionism of Western Spaces) to exploring the evolution of our own inner worlds. Unfortunately albums like Origins (1993), Artifacts (1994), The Magnificent Void (1996) and Early Man (2001) retreat into dark worlds of dissonance and strangeness where melody and harmony are virtually outlawed. The sound is one or a combination of rhythmic tribal elements, atonal soundscaping and grim atmospheres. It's fine in moderate doses, certainly, and some hardcore Roach fans swear by such works. But like most dark ambient they are an acquired taste and if you're a newcomer to his music, forget it. All is not lost, however. These kind of themes can be fascinating and post-2000 his discography includes some efforts that are more tonal and accessible. Midnight Moon is an excellent deep, beatless ambient excursion. It's subtle melodic strength comes from electric guitar lines which are processed extensively and spread across gently reverberating soundscapes. It's perfect late-night chillout. Different but equally fine is the Jorge Reyes collaboration Vine, Bark & Spore which strikes an effective balance between tonal sounds and pure atmosphere. Its spiritual angle (note titles like "Sorcerer's Temple" and "The Holy Dirt") may be overt but the album avoids self-indulgence. Wordless vocals, flute sounds, slow tribal percussion and location recordings weave in and out of the typically widescreen Roach synth sounds to striking effect. While still on the subject of primordial themes, a number of his Robert Rich collaborations from the prevous decade - Strata (1990) and Soma (1992) - are also well worth hearing. |
