by Matt Howarth, Sonic Curiosity
2006
This release from 2006 offers a 75-minute DVD and a 73-minute CD.
Storm clouds and haunting (almost ominous) textures usher the audience into Roach's music. Sounds shudder with celestial vibrations, evoking a realm of immense promise, as the harmonics coalesce into formations of desperate substantiality. Then tribal rhythms erupt, tinged with a strange undercurrent of cybernetic whirlings, plunging the tuneage into a zone of portentous sonics. Tonalities reminiscent of vast expanses of clouds rise to coexist, their depths ringing with eerie pulsations. Suddenly, the music adopts a sparse, ethereal quality, as if contemplating the birth of time and space. Indeed, what follows shimmers with organic covenant, a passage seasoned with bubbling diodes and fluid streams that feed the listener's imagination. From this liquid zone emerges a territory dominated by slurred machines and marching beats muffled by electrified gelatin. An outburst of high velocity chords marks the genesis of consciousness in this viscous soundscape. Pulsations crowd each other as they strive to merge into new sonic lifeforms. Choppy notes slide on a sparkling surface possessing little friction. The frantic pace pauses for a stretch of pensive tones blending with sawing atmospherics, but the tuneage eventually plunges headlong into a finale of grand scope, replete with infinite vistas and eternally sustained resonances that bend and flex to signal the advent of evolution. Shivery sounds swim into the mix to mark new beginnings, and the flow collapses into a sedate outro of signature ambience.
Truly a milestone recording by Roach, exhibiting some stunning hyperactive melodies interspliced with enthralling ambience.
The DVD features a plethora of material, among them an impressive 75 minute video of visual effects inspired by several covers to past Roach CD's. It starts off with desert photography and progresses into evolutionary CGI art that excellently suits the music. Included are passages that resemble sea life, geometrics, liquid flowy visuals, and ice crystals resembling crumpled light. The music on the DVD corresponds to the CD tracks. Even the menu for the disc is entrancing.
 
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A Visual Music Odyssey Steve Roach 2006 Timeroom Visions (Video, CD) Reviewed by Back On the Tracks, Electroambient Space, e|i magazine, Guts of Darkness, Musique Machine, Ping Things, Sonic Curiosity The KAIROS DVD is a dynamic flow of visual wonder worlds created by five master light, film, and digital artists in collaboration with Steve. Drawing from a spectrum of visual techniques -- luminous organic analog light forms, dramatic Earth cinematography, cell-like computer animation -- micro and macro worlds join in a mind-expanding symbiotic flow between sound and visuals. Creation of the visuals evolved alongside the music over several years.
Total run-time 74:46. Video clips on the Feature page. |