January 29, 2012
Greetings Soundcurrent friends!
Here we are, almost all the way through January and the momentum of the new year is already in full stride at The Timeroom Headquarters. I have been trying to get this newsletter out for weeks, but the constant pull of the studio took over, not to mention the steady flow of Box Set orders and the hand assembly of these. Finally, I am touching down for a moment to send out the first newsletter of 2012.
As surreal as it is to see 2012 on the calendar, this year marks the 30-year point from when I released my first recording "Now" as a self-produced and self-released cassette in 1982. I remember it like yesterday; the unfolding creative process I was discovering and its title was all about stepping into the present moment as fully as possible, placing my hands directly on the flow of the now with the tools of the time and drawing forth, expressing the great mystery and beauty of life.
While so much has changed in this world since then, my desire and dedication to keep reaching deeper into to the mystery of the moment and shape the sands of time into these audible forms has never been stronger. The days are never long enough as the inspiration from this 30-year journey constantly pulls me into the creative vortex, be it 8:00 in the morning or 1:00 in the morning. I am on-call to the soundcurrent. Your feedback and support of the music is a vital part of this story. Many thanks to you for this over all these years. All the best for 2012!
Steve
To the news...
- The 2012 Box Set is now officially available and shipping. Inside are "Back to Life" and "Groove Immersion".
- "Now", Steve's first solo release from 1982, is now at the iTunes Store. The audio etching of early man's first expression hints at what was to come. The electronic, tribal and atmospheric were all expressed on this piece of audio archeology.
- "Traveler", Steve's second release and first vinyl LP, is coming to the iTunes Store shortly.
- Coming soon, an exclusive from steveroach.com and Spotted Peccary: a 3-CD bundle pack of Erik Wøllo's early releases, signed and numbered. Included is "Traces" from the early 80's, one of Steve top-10 "desert-island discs" and the release that first inspired Steve to collaborate with Erik.
- A sweeping new work from Steve Roach and Byron Metcalf is on the front burner. The release is a mind and body-expanding adventure into the heart of the tribal-ambient realms first tapped into on "The Serpent's Lair". The energy and range of these pieces in progress is already staggering, differing from their recent collaborations. The tapestry of uber-deep trance states and psychoactive zones maps out a new continent of audio-accessed consciousness. More on this soon.
- Several new solo atmospheric and dynamic electronic works are in progress. Look for "Immersion: Six" to hover on the horizon in late Spring.
"Back to Life" (2-CD) and "Groove Immersion"
Steve Roach
Available as a signed and numbered Box Set or individually
"Back to Life" is a masterful expression drawing from the deep end of Steve Roach's mythic imagination; an enveloping experience of vast beauty and mystery.
Described by Steve as a new phase of his long-form symphonic ambient works, this direction has been evolving over the course of the benchmark releases "The Magnificent Void", "Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces", "Dynamic Stillness" and "Sigh Of Ages". The symphonic comparison comes from the presence of movements and passages along with reoccurring themes created from sounds and textures. These harmonically rich, multi-layered pieces breathe with an elemental ebb and flow, and seem to contain an energy from within that builds with each listening experience.
"Back to Life" speaks directly to the the multi-nuanced, non-verbal portion of our perception. The pieces draw nourishment from the essence of nature, the timeless expressions of the human experience in art and music, the sharing of life's beauty in wordless wonder-filled reflections and reveries in the amber light of the waning sunset. Back to the subtle beauty of life, indeed.
In early 2011, Steve returned to the studio to place complete focus on composing, creating new sounds, and "hitting the reset button on the foundation of my life beyond music." Through this personal reset, Roach forged deeper into his devotion to the rarified soundcurrent connection that runs constant through all of his work and that is recognized and appreciated by his audience worldwide.
"Groove Immersion" reveals an entrancing facet within Steve's evolving Immersion series. With the first four Immersion releases focusing on harmonic meditations and glacial forms, "Immersion Five - Circadian Rhythms" began the introduction of movement into the series. "Groove Immersion" massages the senses by finding the ultra sweet-spot blending of "infinite" grooves and mercurial soundworlds, holding this space for the course of 70 minutes. A fasinating sense of the present moment constantly updates itself with micro shifts inside mandala-like rhythms. At times, an almost weightless sense of being becomes another part of this of mind-altering "Groove Immersion" experience.