And having promised, here's my interview with the man. Easily one of my favorite pieces I've ever done.
http://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2017/03/steve-roach-interview?linkId=35319969
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 10 March 2017 15:05 (seven years ago) link
Nice interview! I was hoping he was a relaxed sort of guy.
― erry red flag (f. hazel), Friday, 10 March 2017 18:08 (seven years ago) link
Yeah, no airs at all, just happily talking away.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 10 March 2017 18:12 (seven years ago) link
i'm shuffling steve roach on spotify now, don't think this guy's ever released a genuine dud. i only have Structures From Silence and Quiet Music. The former is the original CD release...how's the remastered special edition?
i'm always tempted to buy more whenever I'm at Amoeba but his section takes up about 2% of the store, it's a little overwhelming.
― nomar, Friday, 10 March 2017 18:15 (seven years ago) link
Hey that's one reason why the Bandcamp sites are handy, you can at least sample away. But I don't blame you for being overwhelmed! Both on this thread and in the article I mentioned a few faves so if I had to do a starter five beyond those two:
Dreamtime ReturnDynamic StillnessSigh of AgesImmersionDust To Dust (with Roger King)
PLENTY of others but I think that gives a real sense of strengths.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 10 March 2017 18:19 (seven years ago) link
And having mentioned said sites:
http://steveroach.bandcamp.com/
https://projektrecords.bandcamp.com/
Plus plenty of sampling via his own site:
http://steveroach.com/store/
http://steveroach.com/store/store.php?query=timeroom&details=y
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 10 March 2017 18:21 (seven years ago) link
thanks! looks like i picked the wrong week to keep to my music budget.
somewhat curiously (to me at least) on his spotify page his most "popular" tracks are five tracks from The Magnificent Void.
― nomar, Friday, 10 March 2017 18:29 (seven years ago) link
only bc he's released however many albums and that's the one the listening public on spotify is gravitating towards.
― nomar, Friday, 10 March 2017 18:30 (seven years ago) link
Oh and re: remastered Structures From Silence, I had this to say a while back:
http://www.wonderingsound.com/review/steve-roach-structures-silence-30th-anniversary-deluxe-remastered-edition/
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 10 March 2017 18:35 (seven years ago) link
The Delicate Forever is my current favorite.
― erry red flag (f. hazel), Friday, 10 March 2017 18:36 (seven years ago) link
You can get really lost in visual with the screen tracking everything. Then I find that you start to stop listening or hearing in the same way when you take away that element and you just are working through the sound field, meditating, staring, focusing intently on the space between the speakers with no screen. That’s a powerful place.
Best interview with the man I have read. Kudos, Ned!
― Wimmels, Saturday, 11 March 2017 20:55 (seven years ago) link
Thanks!
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 11 March 2017 20:57 (seven years ago) link
And yes I was really taken by that section as he spoke it -- a very vivid way to describe the experience, with as much concrete detail as conceptual.
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 11 March 2017 20:59 (seven years ago) link
cold, grim sequencer voyages through blackest space
I'm totally unfamiliar with this guy's work. Could you recommend a few titles that best fit this description/would sit comfortably alongside Zeit-era Tangerine Dream?
― Don Van Gorp, midwest regional VP, marketing (誤訳侮辱), Saturday, 11 March 2017 21:26 (seven years ago) link
The Magnificent Void is a keeper along those lines, referenced upthread a number of times. Dynamic Stillness is a personal fave of mine as mentioned.
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 11 March 2017 22:05 (seven years ago) link
This would likely also suit, given that it's a Lustmord collaboration:
https://steveroach.com/Music/discography.php?albumID=348
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 11 March 2017 22:07 (seven years ago) link
Thanks! Darkest Before Dawn also seems like it might fit the bill.
― Don Van Gorp, midwest regional VP, marketing (誤訳侮辱), Saturday, 11 March 2017 22:15 (seven years ago) link
That's one I've not heard but the title alone makes me think almost certainly.
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 11 March 2017 22:17 (seven years ago) link
great interview Ned
been hanging out a bit more often in Tuscon and Bisbee recently. this music sure makes a lot more sense after long road trips to Chiricahua and back.
― Milton Parker, Saturday, 11 March 2017 23:37 (seven years ago) link
Thanks indeed -- and yeah, his description of where he lives (didn't make the cut) was quite vivid.
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 12 March 2017 00:10 (seven years ago) link
Roach contains multitudes! Ned's piece made me curious about Dust To Dust, with Roger King. I own about 15 Steve Roach albums and I'd estimate that I've heard about double that number, but I've never heard him do anything like this, parts of which sound like what The Hired Hand soundtrack might have sounded like if it was released by Kranky in the 90s, or if Labradford had taken their ambient spaghetti western-isms to their logical conclusion. OK, some of it is that good, some of it isn't, but it's still a side of Roach I've never heard (harmonicas!) and I'm really enjoying it.
― Wimmels, Sunday, 12 March 2017 00:28 (seven years ago) link
It's a treat, and holds a special place for me since it's the first thing I ever heard from Roach that I can recall. He told me himself that it was a bit of a unique one-off!
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 12 March 2017 00:29 (seven years ago) link
I'm hot and cold with Roach, with my favorite period being the 1998-1994 tribal ambient of Dreamtime Return, Origins, Artifacts and the collaborations with Robert Rich and Jorge Reyes (who got there first). However Dust to Dust is off his map, and I file it with Ry Cooder soundtracks, A Small Good Thing, Long Desert Cowboy, and similar artists, rather than Roach proper.
― Sanpaku, Sunday, 12 March 2017 02:03 (seven years ago) link
Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces weirdly not on the Bandcamp but I consider that one indispensible
― though the tempest rages, (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Sunday, 12 March 2017 02:58 (seven years ago) link
yeah that one's my fav
― the raindrops and drop tops of lived, earned experience (BradNelson), Sunday, 12 March 2017 03:01 (seven years ago) link
That's one of the ones over on Projekt's site:
https://projektrecords.bandcamp.com/album/mystic-chords-sacred-spaces-complete-edition
And agreed, it's stellar.
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 12 March 2017 06:38 (seven years ago) link
Holy crap, I hadn't run across Dust To Dust before!
― Elvis Telecom, Sunday, 12 March 2017 07:58 (seven years ago) link
Ha, really? Yeah if any album is absolutely you, it's that one.
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 12 March 2017 14:22 (seven years ago) link
Currently enjoying Dust to Dust very much. Great interview, too.
I want a recommendation engine for 'wide open desert' music - stuff like Dust to Dust, the Hired Hand soundtrack, any Scott Tuma, Eyvind Kang's Live Low to the Ground...
― The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums (Chinaski), Saturday, 18 March 2017 19:39 (seven years ago) link
Thank ya!
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 18 March 2017 19:51 (seven years ago) link
― The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums (Chinaski), Saturday, March 18, 2017 3:39 PM (nineteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Those last three are the biggies, imo, assuming you probably already know the Paris, Texas soundtrack. Do you know a band called Padang Food Tigers? They definitely hit on this vibe quite a bit, despite being about as far from the desert landscape as you can get (UK, iirc). Also, there are a lot of people working this angle from a dronier / noisier angle, like pedal steel guitarist Chas Smith (not to be confused with drummer Ches Smith), William Fowler Collins, and probably a few others.
There are probably people who can direct you to the "right" Calexico records, too (there are instrumental albums that definitely touch on this style) but I'm not really well-versed enough to say
― Wimmels, Saturday, 18 March 2017 20:03 (seven years ago) link
Yes - love the Food Tigers! And, aye, definitely uk based. Paris, Texas is all-time. I'd forgotten Chas Smith. Santa Fe is a hell of a thing. Will check William Fowler Collins, for sure. Cheers.
― The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums (Chinaski), Saturday, 18 March 2017 20:10 (seven years ago) link
Calexico pals Friends of Dean Martinez, their discography is all wide open sounds, the album "Atardecer" is my personal favorite.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94CI1uLVl64
― nomar, Saturday, 18 March 2017 20:30 (seven years ago) link
Try Marco beltrami's film score for tommy lee jones' The Homesman. Actually his other scores for Jones kind of fit too.
― chip n dale recuse rangers (Jon not Jon), Saturday, 18 March 2017 20:38 (seven years ago) link
Seconding William Fowler Collins. Great live, too.
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 18 March 2017 21:23 (seven years ago) link
I want a recommendation engine for 'wide open desert' music
See also:
Susan Alcorn - And i await the Resurrection (maybe not her best, but its what I have)Barn Owl - any Ry Cooder - Paris, Texas of course, also look for Trespass, Last Man Standing OSTsDead Texan - eponymous debutBruce Kaphan - Slider: Ambient Excursions for Pedal Steel GuitarLong Desert Cowboy - anyRainer (Ptacek) - Nocturnes
― Sanpaku, Sunday, 19 March 2017 06:14 (seven years ago) link
if Live Low To The Earth In The Iron Age is part of this genre, I'm starting a thread
― sleeve, Sunday, 19 March 2017 06:19 (seven years ago) link
"wide open desert music" S/D
― sleeve, Sunday, 19 March 2017 06:23 (seven years ago) link
Light Fantastic is one of my favorites by Steve Roach. That one has sections of meditations but then breaks into the big trancy Berlin like sequences.
― earlnash, Sunday, 19 March 2017 06:32 (seven years ago) link
regarding Mystic Chords, is it important for me to get the 3CD 'complete version' or am I fine with the still huge but less so editions? I have some emusic credits to burn.
― chip n dale recuse rangers (Jon not Jon), Wednesday, 29 March 2017 14:06 (seven years ago) link
I personally think the more Roach the better but some is better than none. And I can't remember if the complete edition has extra tracks or not on top of the original releases.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 29 March 2017 14:24 (seven years ago) link
i recently learned that roach did a record with michael shrieve in 1988, the leaving time. it is on youtube and is just as fucking awesome as one might hope. transfer station blue vibes.
― adam, Wednesday, 29 March 2017 14:32 (seven years ago) link
>regarding Mystic Chords, is it important for me to get the 3CD 'complete version' or am I fine with the still huge but less so editions? I have some emusic credits to burn.
I thought Mystic Chords was 4 CDs. At any rate, if you're at all interested, you're gonna want all of it eventually.
― J. Sam, Wednesday, 29 March 2017 14:42 (seven years ago) link
oh wait, haha... I have 17.00 emusic credits left this month and the mystic chords 4CD is 17.20 so maybe next month.
― chip n dale recuse rangers (Jon not Jon), Wednesday, 29 March 2017 15:32 (seven years ago) link
Mystic Chords is two 2-CD sets. The box set is literally just an outer box that holds both the sets. No extra tracks. I like discs 2 and 4 the best... Labyrinth and Piece of Infinity.
― erry red flag (f. hazel), Wednesday, 29 March 2017 15:32 (seven years ago) link
I wish he'd release a box set of the Immersion discs! Those are great if you favor the meditative/drone stuff. But I guess it would be, what... an 8-disc set?
― erry red flag (f. hazel), Wednesday, 29 March 2017 15:35 (seven years ago) link
I'd largely avoided Roach up until now - mainly because I think I'd misread him as gimmicky or new age* (in the pejorative sense). What with Ned's interview and various bits on here and the wide open space thread, I am happy to say I was horribly, gloriously wrong. I'm now frantically(so to speak) trying to navigate his discography trying to work out where to go next.
*this is within the bounds of fairness, right? See a man with a mullet holding a didgeridoo and I tend to wander the other way...
― The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums (Chinaski), Saturday, 1 April 2017 17:05 (seven years ago) link
Well I am now on a Steve Roach kick.
Listening mostly to the earliest stuff, when he still sounds a lot like Tangerine Dream. And actually, I kind of like it better than TD -- shorter songs, not as much cheese. Actually, one of the best things I've heard is an epic track called "Harmonia Mundi" that was a bonus on the reissue of Empetus. 45-minutes of immaculate Berlin school patterns, and sounds like it could be the soundtrack for an entire season of Stranger Things by itself.
― Dominique, Monday, 22 May 2017 17:26 (seven years ago) link
thanks! what other early years highlights have you got?
― twink peas it is happening again (Jon not Jon), Monday, 22 May 2017 17:45 (seven years ago) link
I would say Now, Traveler and Empetus are all strong Berlin school styled records, with scattered floaty ambient that you would expect from Roach. Traveler & Empetus (with the bonus track) are particularly strong
― Dominique, Monday, 22 May 2017 17:48 (seven years ago) link