Dreaming...Now, Then (A Retrospective 1982-1997)

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
Because Steve Roach releases so many recordings, it sometimes appears as if he's in the same groove, when actually we are seeing every microscopic evolutionary step of a vision that has remained unerringly true since his debut. This compilation, spanning the synthesist's career from 1982 to 1997, reveals the giant leaps he has taken in his first 15 years of recording.

Dreaming ... Now, Then is divided into the two broad strokes of Roach's music, one active and one in the drone zone. You can hear his early influences on tracks from Traveler, and Empetus, with repeating sequencer patterns borrowed from German space music and overlapping melodic and rhythmic patterns taken from minimalism. In 1987 he began to reveal his textured soundscapes inspired by the desert Southwest where he lives. That evolved into his highly influential techno-tribal sound, initiated with Dreamtime Return. The second disc is culled from Roach's more ambient works, notably the spacious, sensual unfolding of Structures from Silence, and includes a previously unreleased piece. A misprint on the CD spine calls this an "Introspective," but I think that's an accurate take on music circumscribing an interior world. --John Diliberto

Amazon.com
Because Steve Roach releases so many recordings, it sometimes appears as if he's in the same groove, when actually we are seeing every microscopic evolutionary step of a vision that has remained unerringly true since his debut. This compilation, spanning the synthesist's career from 1982 to 1997, reveals the giant leaps he has taken in his first 15 years of recording.

Dreaming...Now, Then (A Retrospective 1982-1997),Steve Roach,Celestial Harmonies,Ambient,Electronic,Ethnic Fusion,Europe,Jazz Music,New Age,New Age / Meditation,Pop,Progressive Electronic,Space,Spiritual,Techno-Tribal

Tracks:

the ritual continues
comeback
seeking
conquest
the breathing stone
flatlands
towards the dream
the continent
steel and bone
artifacts
dreaming now
ancestral horizon

Tracks:

magnificient gallery
slow turning
something in tears
quiet friend
cloud motion
the memory
temple of the frog
drift
the passing time

Amazon.com essential recording

Because Steve Roach releases so many recordings, it sometimes appears as if he's in the same groove, when actually we are seeing every microscopic evolutionary step of a vision that has remained unerringly true since his debut. This compilation, spanning the synthesist's career from 1982 to 1997, reveals the giant leaps he has taken in his first 15 years of recording.

Dreaming ... Now, Then is divided into the two broad strokes of Roach's music, one active and one in the drone zone. You can hear his early influences on tracks from Traveler, and Empetus, with repeating sequencer patterns borrowed from German space music and overlapping melodic and rhythmic patterns taken from minimalism. In 1987 he began to reveal his textured soundscapes inspired by the desert Southwest where he lives. That evolved into his highly influential techno-tribal sound, initiated with Dreamtime Return. The second disc is culled from Roach's more ambient works, notably the spacious, sensual unfolding of Structures from Silence, and includes a previously unreleased piece. A misprint on the CD spine calls this an "Introspective," but I think that's an accurate take on music circumscribing an interior world. --John Diliberto

Amazon.com

Album Description

Dreaming...Now, Then offers a fascinating perspective on Steve Roach's innovative sonic travels for new and seasoned listeners alike. A double CD, it features selected pieces from his large body of work on the Fortuna Records label which is distributed by Celestial Harmonies. Carefully selected and sequenced by Steve himself the process of choosing the music quickly took on a complex array of twists and turns. He wanted to create a sonic stream that was musically connected on an artistic level and emotionally significant on a personal level. At the same time, he found himself rediscovering the music through different ears, even as he felt the threads from those earlier releases weaving through his current work.

With the final sequence in place, the pieces from the various releases seemed to cast a new light onto each other. Even though they represented different phases in his life and art, the selections Steve chose for Disk 1 flowed naturally, each piece fitting into the next like a puzzle revealing the organic creative process he has always felt at work. Disk 2, on the other hand, created its own continuum with complete disregard for chronological order. The atmospheric pieces instead called for a non-linear sequence from different points across the 15 years of their creations, as if they always had and always will exist in a place that has little regard for the limitations of time.

Disk 1 presents the rhythmic-electro-tribal side of his work in nearly chronological order, starting with The Ritual Continues from 1982 and winding down with a previously unreleased live montage from 1997.

Disk 2 presents an overview from the vast atmospheric soundworlds that only Steve can brew up. A stirring, spiraling, unreleased archive piece closes the second disk in a subtle yet profound way, illustrating why this influential artist continues to inspire listeners worldwide.

Customer Reviews:

A nearly unknown gallery of stunning beauty!.......2006-03-04

Perhaps it stems from me being a hardcore New Age music fanatic but this 2-CD compilation of Steve Roach's works during his first 15 years is a stunningly beautiful collections of his works during this time.

Disc One is the more 'active' part of this collection with more energetic songs with a defined rhythm ranging from 1982's "Ritual Continues" and "Comeback" to 1997's dark heavenly "Ancestral Horizon". Even the first two sound FAR ahead of their time.

The second disc is the calmer, more atmospheric half that focuses on the more purely atmospheric works of his. This is full of stunningly beautiful music depending on the kind of New Age you enjoy. "Magnificent Gallery" and "Something In Tears" having a very eerie haunting ambience that reminds me of the memories of looking at the orange thunderstorm clouds as the storms moved out into the east while still illuminated. "The Memory" almost brought tears to my eyes in it's mournful beauty and remoteness.

Space Music fans will love this collection. Steve Roach has since done untold many albums since this release but for those who are eager to try out his music for the first time, "Dreaming Now and Then" is the perfect start. After that, get "Magnificent Void".

Moody sounds.......2000-06-21

That's a very good compilation of Steve Roach and his (sometimes previously unreleased) music, which is very moody and leaves much room for your imagination. If someone can bring the width of space to your mind then it is Steve Roach. His music is mainly on synthesizer.

Nice ethereal music.......2000-06-14

The music is nice , though not what I expected. Perhaps it's because not all my favorite recordings were represented. On the whole a label worth having for the first time listener

Pop Music:

Pop Music

pop music

Recommended Music:

Rich Man's Wardrobe: Concise History Of [Import]

Dark Fires: 20th Century Music for Piano

Cuttin' Loose

Music: My My My [CD-single]

Disco Fox Party 2005 [Import]

Euphorica

Closer [EP]

Duit on Mon Dei / Sandman [Original recording remastered] [Import]

Day You Went Away [CD-single] [Import]

Film Music Classics: Macbeth/Golgotha/Don Quichotte [Soundtrack]

Far Away Places

Ecstasy on the Edge [Import]

Gracias Amor

Tuesday's Child

Elixir