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Reviews

Steve Roach — Streams & Currents
(Projekt 128, 2002, CD)

by Mike McLatchey, Published 2002-04-01

Streams & Currents Cover art

Streams & Currents acts as sort of a sequel to Roach’s Midnight Moon, a musical thread concentrating on his effected guitar improvisations. There are a number of differences between Roach’s guitar explorations and his electronic synthesizer oeuvre, primarily that there are few overdubs here, all of the music being created by two guitars, e-bow, loops, processing, and a light percussive beat on the long “Spirit Moves.” It seems that albums like this are sort of a catharsis for Roach, paralleling works where the synthesis of sound is more technically conceived. Throughout the album’s length, atmospheres resound in an almost disturbed sort of atmosphere, rambling and meandering without an overt direction or sense of formal learning, a stark contrast to his main discography. It’s an album that will not give a newcomer a good idea of the breadth and vision of his primary work, while complementing it in diversity. The lure of the sound ends up being more from the processing and atmospheric dimensions than the notes themselves. As a low-volume play, it creates an interesting, vague, late-night sort of atmosphere, but it’s difficult, at a closer level, to see this as anything but a personal diversion, honest as always and certainly intrepid, but not as eminently compelling as his major work.

Filed under: New releases, Issue 24, 2002 releases

Related artist(s): Steve Roach

More info
http://steveroach.bandcamp.com/album/streams-and-currents

 

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