Dreaming...Now, Then (A Retrospective 1982-1997)
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, Thenis 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 fromTraveler, andEmpetus, 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 withDreamtime Return. The second disc is culled from Roach's  more ambient works, notably the spacious, sensual unfolding ofStructures 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