Steve Roach - Midnight Moon
	Released: 2000 Label: Projekt Cat. No.: Projekt 99 Total Time: 71:49
	Reviewed by: Stephanie Sollow, July 2000 There is a very strong cinematic quality to Midnight Moon - something dark and mysterious. I picture the woods at night, though nothing quite so ominous as, say, the Blair Witch Project. While an album cover (conceived by Vir Unis) can convey the mood, and can influence one's reaction, here it is more the slowly shifting tones. Eschewing keyboards and synths, Roach has created this thick atmosphere of sound using only (!) processed electric guitar, Ebow, and fretless bass. What awaits isn't necessarily sinister, as I said, but with track titles like "Midnight Loom," "Deadwood," and "Broken Town" we aren't talking a romantic moonlit walk. "Ancestors Circle" which opens the album is full of reverence and, again, mystery. There a sense of a "strange" power of presence - of history. I always enjoy a Steve Roach release, whether solo, as he is here, or in tandem with others. Each release takes you on a journey, but isn't a forced journey - he gives you the setting only, it's up to you to set the course. I think Midnight Moon is one of his strongest, and is different from recent releases. The different instrumentation allows Roach to explore different areas of sound, of mood, and effects. Light, but tension filled guitar notes contrast nicely against the deep resonant bass notes in "Broken Town." Each undulates with a pulse of a dying heartbeat. The guitar has just enough twang to suggest the Southwest (not surprising given Roach's resides in that region). In fact, picture a 19th Century frontier town, abandoned, lit only by moonlight. The ghosts of its past haunt the shadows and alleyways. Just simply another incredible work by Steve Roach. More about Midnight Moon: Track Listing: Ancestor's Circle (8:58) / Midnight Loom (21:50) / Deadwood (7:33) / Broken Town (10:37) / Hope (5:00) / Later Phase (11:45) / Moon And Star (7:26) Musicians: Steve Roach - processed electric guitar, ebow, and fretless bass Contact: Website: www.steveroach.com Note: will open new browser window Email: info@steveroach.com Discography Now (1982) Traveler (1983) Empetus (1986) Stormwarning (Live) Structures From Silence (1984) Starflight (multi-artist compilation) (1986) Western Spaces (with Kevin Braheny) (1987) Quiet Music 1 (1988) Quiet Music 2 (1986) The Leaving Time (with Michael Stearns) (1988) Dreamtime Return (1988) Desert Solitaire (with Braheny and Stearns) (1989) Australia: Sound of the Earth (w/David Hudson and Sarah Hopkins)       (1990) Strata (with Robert Rich) (1992) World's Edge (1992) Soma (with Rich) (1992) Origins (1993) Ritual Ground (1993) Forgotten Gods (with Jorge Reyes and Suso Saiz as        Suspended Memories) (1993) The Lost Pieces (1993) Earth Island (w/Reyes and Saiz, as Suspended Memories) (1994) Artifacts (1994) The Dream Circle (1994) Amplexus: Collected Works (w/ Thom Brennan and Vidna Obmana)      (1995) Kiva (with Stearns and Ron Sunsinger) (1995) Well of Souls (w/Obmana) (1995) The Lost Pieces (1995) The Magnificient Void (1996) Caverns Of Sirens (w/Obmana) (1996) Halcyon Days (with Stephen Kent and Kenneth Newby) (1996) On This Planet (1997) Dust To Dust w/Roger King (1998) Slow Heat (1998) Steve Roach: Dreaming... Now, Then: A Retrospective 1982 - 1997 (1998) Body Electric (with Vir Unis) (1999) The Ambient Expanse (w/ Patrick O'Hearn, Obmana,...) (1999) Ascension Of Shadows -- Meditations for the Millennium (w/Obmana) Quiet Music -- Complete Edition (1999 reissue) Steve Roach: Truth & Beauty: The Lost Pieces Volume Two (1999) Light Fantastic (w/Obmana, Unis, and Stefin Gordon) (1999) Live Archive (w/Vidna Obmana) (2000) Midnight Moon (2000) Vine, Bark and Spore (w/Jorge Reyes) (2000) Atmospheric (2000) Core (2001)
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