Steve Roach
Long Thoughts

THE REVIEW

Steve Roach is a genius: he practically reinvented ambient music. The Californian musician began his dazzling career in the '80s with albums like Now and Traveller that revealed his association with the Cosmic Couriers. It is no secret that Roach nourished himself to exhaustion with milestones like Klaus Schulze's Timewind. Over time, Steve Roach, much like similar musicians to him such as Robert Rich and Michael Stearns, gradually refined his language, effectively evolving the ambient theories of Brian Eno. Roach gave a metaphysical dimension to his music starting with the seminal Structures From Silence from 1984, reaching up to the timeless masterpiece Dreamtime Return, a true cathartic journey into the primordial myths of Australia and the Aboriginals. This is a work of fundamental importance on which many have thrived. Over the years, he has consistently demonstrated an inexhaustible creativity, leading him to release an endless series of albums including gems like The Dream Circle, The Magnificent Void, On This Planet and Core to name a few. There have been those, perhaps not unjustly, who criticized this overproduction leading to an inflation of the ambient genre. To some extent, that's true, but Roach remains an integral musician who always has something to say, as demonstrated by this Long Thoughts released in 2017, which follows his more cosmic and psychedelic stream. The album consists of a single track over 70 minutes long: it's meditative music that will bring out the mystical animal within you, a long minimal and hypnotic sound flow rich in good vibrations that will reconcile you with your self. We are not far from a new age aesthetic, but Roach, though associated with the genre, stands apart for a class and depth that surpass it. Highly recommended for "cosmic travelers.” Available on Bandcamp at the following link: https://steveroach.bandcamp.com/album/long-thoughts.