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Not just outside the box, but denying the existence of boxes.
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Steve Roach — Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces - 20th Anniversary Complete Edition
(Projekt 144, 2003/2023, 4CD)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2023-06-25

Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces - 20th Anniversary Complete Edition Cover art

There’s a bit of history here; 20 years ago Roach issued this monumental set of four discs, a truly massive epic of floating ambient music, roughly 76 minutes per disc, or nearly five hours in total if one goes at it in one sitting. The original release had all four discs (each with its own subtitle: Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces, disc 2 is Labyrinth, disc 3 is Recent Future and the final disc is Piece of Infinity) housed in a heavy cardboard box that fits nicely on your CD shelf. For whatever reason, the set was almost immediately reissued as two double CD sets, (Part 1) contained the first two discs and (Part 2) contained discs 3 and 4. Then, like all great and sought-after box sets, they went out of print. Around ten years ago the set was issued as WAV, FLAC and mp3 files, but this 20th Anniversary Complete Edition is the first time the set has been available on physical media since the originals went out of print, now in a 4CD eco-wallet bearing the original artwork. I’ll tell you another secret: Back in 2003 when this set first came out, my colleague Mike McLatchey and I wrote a roundtable review in Exposé print issue #27. To be sure I gave the four discs a fresh listen, re-read both reviews from 2003, and I still stand by my original review of the set, and Mike’s review goes into even greater detail than mine. Keep in mind the current edition under review is a straight reissue of the original, no further remastering (not needed, how do you improve on perfection?), only the packaging is different. It’s still a monumental masterpiece and an essential item in Steve Roach’s vast catalog of nearly 250 releases since the early 80s. And like the earlier CD sets, this one is a limited edition and won’t be around forever. Just sayin’.

Filed under: Reissues, 2023 releases, 2003 recordings

Related artist(s): Steve Roach

More info
http://projektrecords.bandcamp.com/album/mystic-chords-sacred-spaces-complete-edition

 

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