3.5

Release data:

Steve Roach – Texture Maps
CD, Timeroom Editions, 2003

“Texture Maps” presents volume 3 in the “Lost Pieces”-series. This time (as the title suggests) we take a dive into vast textural landscapes which –by whatever reason- were shelved in Steve’s Timeroom studio.
These eight tracks give a further insight on how his music has developed through the past years, and how he was able to end up producing great albums like “The Magnificent Void” and “Mystic Chords”.

The 21-minute album-opener “Grey and Purple” is a standout piece of art. In a marvellous way it takes us back to the year 1987 with smooth, rich layers of melancholic synthwashes. Here, an analogue synth takes core position from time to time while transparent soundscapes flow around it.
Next is “Artifact Ghost”, a morphing piece with darker and lighter undercurrents, edited from a 90-minute track used as a “walk in” atmosphere for concerts performed around 1993.

In the three-fold “Spiral Triptych”, the listener encounters much elements and ideas which would later show up in twisted form on the “Mystic Chords” box, while “Bottomless 2” is an alternate version of the same track contributed to the Hypnos-sampler “Weightless, Effortless”.

The album finishes with “Quiet Sun” and “Soul Night”, both made in 2003. Both contain the same compelling and sometimes even surreal content as found on the “Mystic Chords”, but which will prove to ride the edges when you immerse it with a good pair of headphones.

The highly atmospheric “Texture Maps” is a worthy addition to the already extensive Roach-collection. It shows the various sonic sources found, assembled and reworked during the past period, but also paves the way for much more to come…

Website: www.steveroach.com

You can see what reviews I have done of this artist on the Steve Roach artist page