Search - Steve Roach :: Origins

Origins
Steve Roach
Origins
Genres: Dance & Electronic, Alternative Rock, International Music, Jazz, New Age, Pop, Rock
 
  •  Track Listings (6) - Disc #1

Like ancient cave etchings released from the stone they were carved upon, Steve Roach's evocative music on Origins rattles the subconscious, bringing our most elusive dreams and primeval memories into focus through potent ...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Steve Roach
Title: Origins
Members Wishing: 3
Total Copies: 0
Label: Fortuna Records
Release Date: 7/27/1993
Genres: Dance & Electronic, Alternative Rock, International Music, Jazz, New Age, Pop, Rock
Styles: Ambient, Indie & Lo-Fi, American Alternative, Europe, Continental Europe, Meditation, Progressive, Electronic
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPCs: 013711708127, 013711708141

Synopsis

Album Description
Like ancient cave etchings released from the stone they were carved upon, Steve Roach's evocative music on Origins rattles the subconscious, bringing our most elusive dreams and primeval memories into focus through potent sonic essays. Roach's twentieth recording documents the latest chapter in his ever expanding style; a highly instinctual vocabulary of futuristic, yet organic electronics combined with forms of expression, as old as man himself.Driven by hybrid percussion, enigmatic synthesized melodies, gravel-voiced chants, and intense cries of yearning, the opening piece Artifacts creates a sonic time warp that propels listeners into a surreal, almost alien, tribal landscape. This leads to some powerful didgeridoo playing on subsequent tracks as Roach deftly illustrates his growing virtuosity on the ancient Aboriginal instruments he learned to play during his extended stays in Australia. Even without electronic accompaniment, the didgeridoo conjures up some powerful imagery on Clay, Wood, Bone, Dirt, a stunning, entirely acoustic duo featuring Roach and Mexican multi-instrumentalist, Jorge Reyes who plays clay water pots on this selection.In The Face in the Fire, sinuous synthesized textures and mammoth drum beats build a rock solid foundation for Roach's gritty chants in some long forgotten language, while the cryptic cauldron of churning sounds in In the Eyes of the Spirit feature Reyes' performances on Aztec trumpet and other pre-Columbian instruments. Spanish artist, Suso Saiz provides his own brand of hypnotic guitar textures on several selections as well. Through it all, Steve Roach deftly brings to life a story of ancestors and heroes, medicine men and ceremonies at dusk, as he reminds us that one day we too will be artifacts in the minds of some future civilization.

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CD Reviews

A Masterpiece...
funktion | The Synaptic Gap | 12/19/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)

"ORIGINS may be the pinnacle of an ascent into the mystic and primordial places Roach began to visit on DREAMTIME RETURN and WORLD'S EDGE, and with the Suspended Memories project. The circulating didjeridu patterns that fully imbibe this record are not only its tonal center, but the electro-acoustic nature that is the heart of its sound, and Roach meticulously and passionately utilizes its earthy ferocity and multi-timbral frequencies to its fullest. "Clay, Wood, Bone, Dirt" uses the didjeridu's hoary sonic pyrotechnics and a tumbling avalanche of hand-struck percussion to illustrate a tribalistic canvas. This is a recording that immerses the participant in daunting, expansive landscapes and deeply entrenched cultures permeated throughout by a darker, ominous resonance, as mortified by the unsettling melodrama and formidable rhythms of "The Face in the Fire." Never before has Roach's electronic surface felt so earthen and weathered; all of the assertive ambience and environmental dissonance he's pressurized up to now reach critical mass in ORIGINS' molten core."
Transcendental Magic, A Soul Grabber
M. D. MCGINLEY | United States | 01/23/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)

""Origins" is another one of those rare, absolutely treasureable albums that you do not dare sell or remove from your CD collection. Released in 1993, it is nothing short of pure musical genius at work--gloriously free of corporate pressures or boundaries: purely harmonious with genuine Aboriginal overtones, deliberate in its intent, flowing, rhythmic, uninhibited by CEO say-so's. Steve, I want to party with you, brother.



Get ready to experience total mental freedom. Track 1, "Artifacts" (the name of an album produced by Roach a year earlier), a hefty twelve minutes long, begins with the haunting sound of the Bull Roarer, the traditional communication device made of mulga wood used by the Aborigines. Gradually, the perfectly harmonious sounds of the syncopated drum beats find their way into the subconscious, taking with it the stress after a hard day, pleasantly filled in the background with the comforting sounds of the didgeridoo, the ubiquitous long, wind instrument also played in traditional aboriginal music. "Connect Underground" on Track 2 is blended seamlessly, floating into an awesome flashback to Roach's 1988 Grand Masterpiece, "Dreamtime Return," filled with synthesized waveforms and assorted percussion instruments all the way to Track 5, "Face in The Fire," where we can hear Roach's tempting whispers in the backdrop and aboriginal yawps snapping us into a surreal, neolithic trek. I dare not call it new age. In fact, I won't spoil the rest for you. You can genuinely believe all positive reviews about this work, for only genius minds think alike and could themselves appreciate the work of a genius.



This album is unquestionably one of the best recordings to listen to while reading, writing and meditating, and is sure to enhance passionate indulgances between lovers, taking the experience to a new, never before visited level of bliss.



It is truly a pleasure to live in an age when we have such pure talent living with us now, as if we were parallel to the fortunate society who were blessed with the then fully unrecognized mastery of W.A. Mozart while he was still living. Except for Roach's darker, creepier "Well of Souls" (1998), "Origins," like "Artifacts" and "Quiet Music" (1988) are truly worth possessing, worth a thousand pairs of shoes and more. Not in material value, mind you, but in it's mystical abilities as a priceless therapeutic tool to relieve stress, anxiety and anger in a modern world. Can't say enough good things about it. Once you experience this album for yourself, always best journeyed with a good pair of headphones with cobalt drivers capable of reaching the full range of Roach's musical expressions, then others will wonder what your secret was to a pleasantly refreshed personality. No dramatics here. I only have the ability to call it as I see it. Don't wait. Beg, borrow, take a payday loan. Step 1: Place CD in tray. 2: Plug in headphones. 3: Set equalizer to maximum range. 4: Press REPEAT ON, then PLAY. 5: Enjoy--enjoy being thrust back into a time when the earth was pure, wonderfully absent of any petty cares or troubles that we may have in this world. Absolutely amazing! You can take a fascinating, unique and thoroughly invigorating journey into the subconscious and through time for a ridiculously small fare. Careful. You may not want to come back."
Structure...
M. D. MCGINLEY | 08/18/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you like techno-tribal a la Steve Roach (w/ Jorge Reyes), this is the one to get. I've returned to this CD many a time. I don't know why. Maybe it's the structure. Or the sheer "tribal essence" of it that my subconscious recognizes (and seeks). Ambient is OK to a point. But eventually it all starts to sound the same... Know what I mean? That's why I like "Origins". It evokes the primal like nothing else. Take the trip... You'll understand.........Tracks to emphasize in particular are Artifacts, Eyes of the Spirit, and Dreaming Now, Then. Also recommended is Suspended Memories, Forgotten Gods (again w/ Jorge and Suso). Same kind of trip. Enjoy."