Bahamut Posted January 14, 2007 Share Posted January 14, 2007 STEVE ROACH - KAIROS 1. Soul's Time 2. Core Regeneration 3. Resonation Portal 4. Etheric Planet 5. Lifeforming 6. Biogenesis 7. Womb of Light 8. The Great Return DVD with visuals & music + CD with the music DVD bonus: Live montage Music, direction, production: Steve Roach Visual Artists: Lynn Augstein, Steve Lazur, Steven Rooke, John Wadsworth, John Vega preview can be watched or downloaded here: http://www.steveroach.com/Features/Kairos/ http://www.steveroach.com/Features/Kairos/download.php An epic release from ambient maestro extraordinaire Steve Roach. The ever evolving visuals are beautiful and entertaining to watch and combined with the music can have relaxing, entrancing and psychedelic effect. It starts with images of flying over exotic rock formations/canyons, but soon earth is left behind to travel through the realms of space and far beyond (the rest is basicly computer generated). Great stuff. The music is a mixture of existing and new material from Steve. I hear elements from albums such as Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces, Possible Planet and Proof Positive. While these albums can get tiresome for their seemingly endless explorations of the same theme(s) (especially if you're not a fan or not familiar with Roach), Kairos combines the coolest elements from these albums into a highly enjoyable mix of deep soundscapes, liquid grooves, beautiful chords and sequences. My favorite section has got to be Lifeforming. When I played it loud on headphones I started to feel warm and cold at the same time and shake a bit from the pure joy of auditory input. Simply awesome. This is a high-tech release and the cinematic sound quality is as good as it's gonna get. Steve Roach is a sonic wizard and I doubt if there's any other ambient/synth artist who can match the sheer depth and quality of his sound. There's no point to the visuals or the music. The point is the experience itself, the journey. So, if you're a spacehead like me and would like to float away on deep ambient while watching cool imagery, get it now... Because of its variation this would be an excellent release to start with if you want to check out this great artist. I can also imagine this is interesting material to experience under the influence of certain substances... Anyway, not exactly an objective review but... 10/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drosophila Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 This one is amazing! I havent had the time to experince the depth anf richness of this cd before now, and its really something!' I can recommend this for anyone who would like to have a seriuos ambient trip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bahamut Posted January 31, 2007 Author Share Posted January 31, 2007 Psy people claim to like trippy music, and some are into trippy visuals etc. too. So in my view, this could be a fantastic trip for psy people. Yet stuff like this is usually ignored by the psy people....... but really, IMO, the greatest trippy/psychedelic electronic music that is not meant for dancefloors, has never come out of the psy scene at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Time_Trap Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 Psy people claim to like trippy music, and some are into trippy visuals etc. too. So in my view, this could be a fantastic trip for psy people. Yet stuff like this is usually ignored by the psy people....... but really, IMO, the greatest trippy/psychedelic electronic music that is not meant for dancefloors, has never come out of the psy scene at all. I agree True.. A lot of 'psy' people ignore ambient music like Steve Roach, Brian Eno, Vidna Obmana,Biosphere, Matthew Florianz etc etc And indeed ambient can be really trippy, especially artists such as the above mentioned, however I would also refer to certain IDMish electronica being very trippy in a braindance way (although a lot of tracks could probably work on the dancefloor if the listener is a bit familiar with it) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trolsk Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 I agree True.. A lot of 'psy' people ignore ambient music like Steve Roach, Brian Eno, Vidna Obmana,Biosphere, Matthew Florianz etc etc And indeed ambient can be really trippy, especially artists such as the above mentioned, however I would also refer to certain IDMish electronica being very trippy in a braindance way (although a lot of tracks could probably work on the dancefloor if the listener is a bit familiar with it) A lot of psy people enjoy ambient if it's released on a psy label, because then it's automatically psy, and they usually think it's excellent and groundbreaking although it has been done many times outside of the narrow-minded psy scene. That's the so called open-mindness of the psy scene. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bahamut Posted February 4, 2007 Author Share Posted February 4, 2007 Here's a nice review that describes the contents better than I could. This release from 2006 offers a 75-minute DVD and a 73-minute CD. Storm clouds and haunting (almost ominous) textures usher the audience into Roach's music. Sounds shudder with celestial vibrations, evoking a realm of immense promise, as the harmonics coalesce into formations of desperate substantiality. Then tribal rhythms erupt, tinged with a strange undercurrent of cybernetic whirlings, plunging the tuneage into a zone of portentous sonics. Tonalities reminiscent of vast expanses of clouds rise to coexist, their depths ringing with eerie pulsations. Suddenly, the music adopts a sparse, ethereal quality, as if contemplating the birth of time and space. Indeed, what follows shimmers with organic covenant, a passage seasoned with bubbling diodes and fluid streams that feed the listener's imagination. From this liquid zone emerges a territory dominated by slurred machines and marching beats muffled by electrified gelatin. An outburst of high velocity chords marks the genesis of consciousness in this viscous soundscape. Pulsations crowd each other as they strive to merge into new sonic lifeforms. Choppy notes slide on a sparkling surface possessing little friction. The frantic pace pauses for a stretch of pensive tones blending with sawing atmospherics, but the tuneage eventually plunges headlong into a finale of grand scope, replete with infinite vistas and eternally sustained resonances that bend and flex to signal the advent of evolution. Shivery sounds swim into the mix to mark new beginnings, and the flow collapses into a sedate outro of signature ambience. Truly a milestone recording by Roach, exhibiting some stunning hyperactive melodies interspliced with enthralling ambience. The DVD features a plethora of material, among them an impressive 75 minute video of visual effects inspired by several covers to past Roach CD's. It starts off with desert photography and progresses into evolutionary CGI art that excellently suits the music. Included are passages that resemble sea life, geometrics, liquid flowy visuals, and ice crystals resembling crumpled light. The music on the DVD corresponds to the CD tracks. Even the menu for the disc is entrancing. by Matt Howarth, Sonic Curiosity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bahamut Posted June 25, 2007 Author Share Posted June 25, 2007 Nobody else got this or is even interested? I could praise the music and artists again, but let me just point you to the 12 minute preview that's very tasty http://www.steveroach.com/Features/Kairos/download.php Watch it with headphones....if you dont want to have quicktime installed, get VLC mediaplayer to watch this http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ Anyway, last bump.... just trying to get some attention for it cuz I think some ppl here may really like it. :drama: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drosophila Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 Very psychedelic ambient! This for sure need some more attention! Go watch that preview it got me hooked on getting this album (and DVD) anyways... If u have just the slightest love for chilled psychedelic u have to try this! Its a mind-opener! And as Bahamut says it has to be tried with headphones :wank: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snapinho Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Downloading preview right now... thing with the abovementioned artists is that I never really know where to start. They released so incredibly much that it's almost undoable starting somewhere random. Maybe a list of essentials would be a good idea? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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