Steve Roach - Mystic Chords Sacred Spaces part 1 (15 tracks) +Album Reviews

Stunning Soundworlds for the Psychonaut

Frank MacEowen | 06/07/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces is truly among the creme de la creme of Steve's work. It is an astonishing series of recordings. At times I found myself facing the darkest of the dark in the collective unconscious. Just as I thought I had reached the edge of where I could go in my voyaging, a tonal shift would occur and carry me into a delicious and heart-achingly beautiful space of unparalleled hope and faith. These recordings are both initiatory, and a veritable soul-retrieval in this time of widespread soul loss. In essence, this is healing sound.Arranged as a collection of four discs: "Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces", "Labyrinth", "Recent Future", and "Piece of Infinity", each disc is a stand-alone musicscape experience. Yet, as a full collection Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces is nothing short of initiation, each disc building upon the energy of the previous one, opening out into vast domains and vistas, carrying us deep into subterranean realms of luminosity.As a listener you will be guided through a potent inward journey of four soundworlds, each of which is rich, powerful, and distinct, yet woven together Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces becomes a profound sonic voyage of purification, gestation, birth, and culmination. On such a voyage we encounter the archetypal themes of death and rebirth, creation and transformation, the moist domains of inner earth, and the spinning fractal cathedrals of the celestial worlds beyond. There is an expression that says "the soul is a feathered thing." Imbued with ancient memory, while simultaneously blazing new trails into the uncharted hinterlands of mind and space, Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces is where the feathered-soul finds her wind.
If this is your first exposure to the genius of soundcurrent maestro Steve Roach, prepare yourself for a stirring ride - a series of memorable visits to parallel worlds; a multi-textured mosaic of images, sensations, and quickening feelings. These recordings are not mere "tunes" or "songs." Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces is a vibrant topography, a map leading us to the dwelling places of sentient and divine energy.
Good Journeys--Frank MacEowen, author of The Mist-Filled Path, and the forthcoming The Spiral of Longing"

Total Immersion - A magnificent Journey!

G-Dexter | Lakewood, NY United States | 06/05/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Once again, the master of ambient music has woven his web of intricate patterns, deep resonate drones and subtle counterpoints to create an amazing sonic journey. On disc 1, (titled Mystic Chords and Sacred Spaces), we hear five long, expansive pieces that immerse the listener into a quiet yet satisfyingly complex environment devoid of rhythm, melody or harmony. All that is left are gorgeous, lush tones that wash over and through you in relentless waves of pure beauty. Disc 2 is appropriately titled Labyrinth, and it has quickly become one of my favorite discs in all of the massive Steve Roach catalog of works. On this disc, Roach combines his distinctive musical talents with atmospheric sounds and gentle rhythms to carry the listener through his fantastically expansive and complex maze. In this labyrinth, you will actually twist and turn, doubling back on your path to hear echoes of places you've already visited and catch glimpses of what lies ahead on your journey. Repeated listening to this disc will reward you with a richer experience as the echoes and foreshadowing become more evident. If you are able to find the complete four disc set, disc 3 (Recent Future) will present you with 13 connected tracks of shorter thematic pieces. Disc 4, (Piece of Infinity) is a single, 74 minute track of floating in boundless space; not dissimilar to Roach's Timeroom release: "Darkest Before Dawn" CD. If you are a fan of the ambient genre, you can't help but be pleased with these wonderful, surreal sonic landscapes."

First important electronic "symphony" of the 21st century

dronecaster | Baton Rouge, LA USA | 11/11/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In the autumn of 2002, the indefatigable Steve Roach carved a new path in his ambient explorations with Darkest Before Dawn, a barren, pitch-black soundscape which sounded alternately like a slow-motion journey to the edge of the universe and a sonic portrait of an aged post-apocalyptic landscape here on Earth, clearly his finest ambient composition since The Magnificent Void (Fathom, 1996). It's also one of the most brilliant uses of a melodic or, in this case, textural set of electronic drones since his 1984 work Structures From Silence, where the title track looped a 3 to 4 minute melodic figure for 30 minutes, creating a highly rarified meditative sound space that was both soothing and at times unsettling.

In many respects, the mammoth 4-four volume Mystic Chords and Sacred Spaces (which by the way took 4 years to complete) follows the same tenents as Structures and Darkest Before Dawn, yet proceeds to do so on a truly monumental scale. With this recording, the single biggest endeavor in his 25-year recording career thus far, Roach has also greatly expanded on the widescreen spacescapes of the The Magnificent Void and simultaneously stripped away virtually any melodic and rhythmic reference points in the process. For decades now, Roach has persistently proceeded along an astutely carved pathway constantly leading him toward a truly contemplative form of electronic music. This is the first true "symphony" of the 21st century, be it acoustic or electronically-generated, and as such with great artists, if Steve Roach hasn't been listed yet with the greatest minds in late 20th and now early 21st century music, it's time to do so.

For the purposes of retiring to a desert island: if you could only take 5 of Roach's recordings with you I would suggest Structures From Silence, Dreamtime Return, Origins, The Magnificent Void...and Mystic Chords and Sacred Spaces.

(Note: Keep in mind that Part Two of this set is only available through Roach's website [www.steveroach.com] and Projekt Records)"

I keep coming back to this...

dronecaster | 11/21/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I always thought of Steve Roach as the "deserts and digeridoos" sort of guy, which has never really been my cup of tea, but anyway I came across this disc and purchased it on a whim. Upon first listen I was digging the textured ambience and churning synths of disc one- all the while waiting for the clay drums and chaka flukes to bust in. But they never did. In fact, the entire disc droned away for more than an hour without even a hint of percussion. Just the hum, the throb of LFOs to keep the time.
So, I figured, OK... Disc two will be all about the percussion and hypnotic rhythms. Again, no dice. But wait... something is going on here, I thought. There is some real depth and texture to these drones, something memorable and substantive. This is no new age twaddle. This is pure sound hypnosis, like Eno used to do.So, I keep going back. I fall asleep to this disc almost every night now. It has worked itself into my life. Something is going on with these discs that makes me want to listen all the time. I think there must be some buried messages or something."

AMBIENCE WITH A DIFFERENCE

Larry L. Looney | Austin, Texas USA | 10/20/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The ambience of the music of Steve Roach belies the `background sound' aspect of the term - this is music that can be experienced on many levels. As with all of his releases, the music on these two cds is transporting and evocative - it's anything but aural wallpaper. Roach's spirit infuses all of his works with a sincerity and sense of the Quest that many of his peers seem to lack or even eschew - there is emotion here that reaches down to the depths of the mind (as opposed to the brain - and there IS a difference) in such a way as to resonate in the well of the listener's very soul. The tracks on these discs - MYSTIC CHORDS & SACRED SPACES and LABYRINTH flow gently, but with an unmistakable power. Each composition has a mood of its own, but the transition from piece to piece is never jarring or inappropriate - there is a path that exists from track to track, as there is one within us from thought to thought and from one level of consciousness to another. It is when the barriers between these levels are broken down, and they can interact, that progress and healing can begin - Roach's music is, in a way, an aural parallel of those techniques.Primal ambience? Steve Roach seems to have found the key to producing just that - let it carry you, both away from yourself and into yourself. This is one of his best works - and that's saying a lot about someone with such a huge catalogue of quality music to his credit."

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