Steve Roach suggestions?

[NogbadTheBad]

Love Magnificent Void, I need to check out his tribal stuff.

[GuitarGeek]

Thought about starting another Steve Roach thread, but I reckon this one is as good as any to use for the purposes of asking one single question:

How the frell did I end up 68 different Steve Roach albums?!

[Aquatarkus]

The dude is prolific! More so of late. Of his recent (many) releases, my favorite is Mercurius. I can't get to them all now.

[davef]

Love his music but sti.ll a fan of the earlier stuff....Dreamtime Return,Artifacts,Origins etc......his 2020 live album "The Sky Opens" is excellent

[dropforge]

^Same. I prefer the sequencer/rhythmic (Now, Traveler, Empetus) and early ethno-ambient albums. I've got some of the newer ones, too.

[GuitarGeek]

The dude is prolific! More so of late. Of his recent (many) releases, my favorite is Mercurius. I can't get to them all now.

I haven't got that one yet. It's just weird to me, I'm still thinking, I've got like a couple dozen Steve Roach albums, then I count what's in my music folder on my computer and it comes up to 66. And I still haven't gotten around to putting the NEARfest thing on either!

Anyway, here's a dilemma I'm facing: I was looking at Steve Roach's Bandcamp page last night, and I noted that one of the titles he has up is the three CD set he did with Vidna Obmana, Ascension Of Shadows. AOS was really issued as a limited edition 3 CD set. I think there was a plan afoot at one point, to reissue each CD separately, but they never followed through. Only the first disc in the set was issued.

So, the full Ascension Of Shadows is now available as a download on Bandcamp, with a "name your price" option. So I'm debating, what price do I pay for something where I already own one of the CD's (73 minutes or so worth of music)? Keep in mind, I already over 60 Steve Roach albums, so I'm almost feeling like if he's gonna offer "name your price" on something, part of me feels entitled to be a cheapskate on it (on the other hand part of me feels like I should at least hand over some real samoleans, since I imagine some people aren't having such an ethical crisis on the matter).

[gpeccary]

...and to make matters worse, Im also a member of his "Exclusive" page that allows me to get unreleased material...

[Jacob Holm-Lupo]

If you haven't heard The Leaving Time, you must! It's my fave Roach album, and closer to progressive rock, with Michael Shrieve's amazing drumming and David Torn soaring over it all with his guitar.

[gpeccary]

If you haven't heard The Leaving Time, you must! It's my fave Roach album, and closer to progressive rock, with Michael Shrieve's amazing drumming and David Torn soaring over it all with his guitar.

Absolutely amazing album!
He just re-released it on Bandcamp as a "Forgotten/Lost" album...not to me it wasn't!

[NogbadTheBad]

You have a link?

[srtd4]

You have a link?

If you are referring to "The Leaving Time", I believe it was released only on his "Exclusive" bandcamp page.
It is indeed an amazing album. I own an original CD release.

Scott

[Gizmotron]

Coincidentally I am on a huge Steve Roach binge right now, playing all the album I have of his which is about 20 or so. Am also in the process of slowly getting his older work now. It all depend on what you really like within his output. His very early stuff (pre Dreamtime) is heavily influenced by the German synth artists (especially Klaus Schulze) but he takes that influence to a whole other level. Empetus (the 2 cd edition) is a big sequencer fest, especially the second cd with the huge (45 minute) Harmonia Mundi.

Then you have the slow, drifting soundworlds he creates Structures From Silence or The Dream Circle or the Immersion series. Especially the latter are meant to be lived in i.e. low level volume continuous playback. These work wonderfully if you want something to gently fall asleep to or have something on while studying / working. The Dream Circle and the Immersion have gotten me through some quite stressfull times the past few years.

Then there is the tribal ambient soundworlds he creates. There is already some of that on Dreamtime Return but especially on Origins that sound really started to become very interesting. It is a merger of tribal acoustic percussion (both pure acoustic and electronically treated), ancient flutes and his electronic soundscapes. This is a side of Roach's output that I need to investigate more as I really like Origins.

In recent years he has gone back to a more pure analog synth sound albeit with a very Roach like stamp on it. The live album Storm Surge (recorded at his NEARfest performance) is a great example of that and also the ambient meets gentle sequencer workout Arc Of Passion (a double cd) is one I particularly like.

I am partial to his tribal and Aboriginal-influenced work.

He is a REALLY nice guy. I mean, so welcoming and kind. I first bumped into him at our local musical instrument store (he recommended the Electrix Repeater to me…which I promptly bought). And I had the privilege of playing with him at a local gig. Steven Kent (dij) was the main act but I got to play hand drums for Kent along with Steve and a pal of mine. Pretty darn cool to share a stage with these two stellar players.

[Hour Candle]

I only have Structures from Silence, (the truly magnificent) The Magnificent Void, Darkest Before Dawn, his Immersion sets and a project he did with Michael Stearns called Kiva. I love what I'm hearing and I will be digging deaper into Steve's discography now.

[GuitarGeek]

If you are referring to "The Leaving Time", I believe it was released only on his "Exclusive" bandcamp page.
It is indeed an amazing album. I own an original CD release.

Scott

So how does one access this "Exclusive" page?

[srtd4]

So how does one access this "Exclusive" page?

This is the notification from his website from when he launched his "Exclusive" bandcamp page:

https://us4.campaign-archive.com/?u=...&id=6aa063fed3

https://steveroachexclusive.bandcamp.com

Scott

[soundsweird]

I used to have a bunch of his albums, but I keep paring it back. Still have a lot, especially since I have a lot of compilations that feature exclusive Steve Roach pieces. Looking at his Wiki page, he's got a ton of stuff I've never heard. A lot of his stuff starts to sound very similar; I wish he'd try some new tricks.

[Steve983]

I've been going on a bit of a binge for Electronic/Ambient/Space music lately. Just discovered the mountainous discography of Steve Roach and bought a download of the first cd of Structures From Silence - beautiful! I'm now going to explore further...wish me luck. Are there any new ones that are really good?

[dropforge]

I've been going on a bit of a binge for Electronic/Ambient/Space music lately. Just discovered the mountainous discography of Steve Roach and bought a download of the first cd of Structures From Silence - beautiful! I'm now going to explore further...wish me luck. Are there any new ones that are really good?

I'd get everything he released in the '80s!

Now/Traveler (his first two, available separately as downloads or as a 2-on-1 CD reissue with new cover)
Structures from Silence (you have this)
Empetus (his legendary sequencer album, a must)
Quiet Music 1–3 (also collected, you'll love these as they're more in line with Structures)
Western Spaces (another classic, that also features Kevin Braheny and the late Richard Burmer)
Dreamtime Return (the birth of tribal ambient, yet another time-tested classic)
The Leaving Time (with Michael Shrieve)
Stormwarning (a live album, more Empetus territory)

A few later releases of high regard:

Artifacts
Solitaire: Ritual Ground (with Elmar Schulte)
The Magnificent Void
Proof Positive (more sequencer pieces)
Streams & Currents
Day Out of Time
Life Sequence

P.S. Also check out the compilation series The Lost Pieces. More great stuff from the '80s there.

[battema]

^^ all excellent ones

His most recent is a pretty good one in the vein if Structures

https://steveroach.bandcamp.com/albu...ions-in-repose

[Steve983]

Thanks very much for the recommendations [emoji3]

Sent from my SM-T290 using Tapatalk

[Jacob]

I like some of his collaborations ...for example...Forgotten Gods with Jorge Reyes and Desert Solitaire with Michael Stearns are good starting points.

I liked Jorge Reyes and Michael Stearns for years and Steve Roach being a good blend with either artist as some of their collaborations have similarities to the style on Dreamtime Return.

[spacefreak]

An album I thoroughly enjoy and frequently revert to is his collaboration with Vidna Obmana Well Of Souls.

[Steve983]

An album I thoroughly enjoy and frequently revert to is his collaboration with Vidna Obmana Well Of Souls.

Thanks, will check that one out too - my cup overfloweth!

Just been listening to Quiet Music 1-3 and Reflections in Repose on Bandcamp- wow, just amazing.

[taliesin]

I'm very fond of Strata - the collaboration with Robert Rich. They did another called Soma that I haven't heard yet but it's on my list.