For those seeking a transcendent and immersive musical experience, the Steve Roach Quiet Music 35th Anniversary Remastered 3-Hour Collection is a must-have addition to any ambient music collection. This beautifully remastered 3CD set features over three hours of Steve Roach's serene and deeply meditative compositions, originally released in 1986. Roach's signature blend of atmospheric textures, minimalism, and harmonic tonalities creates a sense of timelessness and inner peace that is perfect for relaxation, meditation, and deep listening. This special anniversary release captures the essence of Roach's pioneering work in the ambient music genre and is a definitive representation of his mastery as a sound sculptor. Whether you're a long-time fan of Steve Roach's music or a newcomer to the ambient scene, the Quiet Music 35th Anniversary Remastered 3-Hour Collection is sure to take you on a transformative sonic journey.
The meditative, ambient minimalism of Steve Roach’s classic 1983-86 Quiet Music series is rereleased in its entirety with a meticulously remastered 35th anniversary 3CD edition. The luscious quality and subtle tonal beauty reveal the essence-of-tone of the multi-track master. Originally published on cassette and later in a truncated 2CD edition, Projekt now presents this landmark album as Roach envisioned it.
Created in respect for silence, Quiet Music originates from the same era as Roach’s classic 1984 release Structures From Silence. This series finds the gentle electronics of synthesizers mixing with flute, electric piano and natural sounds flowing like breath, enveloping the listener in a sustained, delicate, translucent atmosphere.
Much of this music began as a series of early-’80s recordings commissioned by healing-arts programs and later used for everything from personal meditation to birthing music. Today these pieces stand as a cornerstone in body-work, yoga, and healing therapies.
The enduring nature of this music is even more significant when placed in the context of the period from which it originated. Listening to the release anew, one senses Roach’s emerging vision of expressing a rarified, tranquil inner experience through sound and music: a vision both emotional and vivid. The soothing, introspective nature of Quiet Music flows at a time-suspending pace, gently evolving and using space to expand and explore the essence of silence. The space between the notes and the breathing quality brings the listener to a deeper awareness of the present moment.
“In looking at the arc of my music, 35 years after creating Quiet Music,” Roach reflects, “I still feel an unbroken connection to this same inner breath and pulse I was discovering within myself and my creative life at that time. Even with everything that was going on in the early ’80s — musically, culturally, politically – this music came to exist in its own dimension, outside of that time, separate from the day-to-day climate in which I was surrounded. I was yearning to express a timeless and universal soul-tone, a safe haven within the music. I had tapped into a reliable way to access this quiet repose at several favorite getaways in nature which was the main influence of this music.”
Reviews
Harold Budd, Los Angeles, 1986: “I think Steve Roach’s Quiet Music is his best album. It’s not that it’s simply pretty (which it is), but there’s an odd edge lurking in the background that moves it miles away from ‘New Age’ torpor. This is a lovely album from a composer working at the top of his skills.”
Allmusic.com: “Quiet Music is the essence of pure, meditative ambience. Steve Roach has always been a visionary performer; his work defines ‘elegant futurism.’ He released these on cassette in 1986, and it remains in the forefront of introspective minimalism. This series set the stage for all minimalists to follow. He was one of the first to demonstrate that ambient minimalism does not have to be dark, that it can be bright and hopeful without becoming maudlin or too new age. This is groundbreaking space music from an epic and legendary performer. He is peerless in his corner of the perpendicular universe.”
“Roach’s classic minimalist paean of austere beauty is both profound and timeless with its delicately folding textures seemingly minted from the very skeins of heaven itself.” – Darren Bergstein, One Thousand Pulses.
Steve Roach | Quiet Music | 35th Anniversary Remastered 3-Hour Collection | 3CD
Disc 1:
1. The Green Place, Part I 31:06
2. The Green Place, Part II 30:19Disc 2:
3. See Things 05:45
4. Towards the Blue 03:20
5. Something in Tears 05:18
6. A Few More Moments 13:05
7. Air and Light 32:05Disc 3:
8. Dreaming and Sleep 21:44
9. Quiet Canon 07:51
10. Sleep and Dreaming 30:13