Steve Roach - Darkest Before Dawn

I have to mention Steve Roach though I know it may seem slightly obvious. I found out about his stuff a bit late I think so I had a lot of catching up to do and havent covered half of his back catalogue yet, I realise.

Steve Roach is a marvel, the master of long-form, amorphous abstraction with a substantial catalogue to explore and a range of styles covered since his earliest works in the 80s.

I will mention one favourite here and save others til later. Darkest Before Dawn.




This is one track over an hour long, no rhythm, no melody, just waves of rolling sounds, swirling around notes which blur and overlap around each other like smoke - your ears try to grasp it and it slips away and morphs into something else. And so it goes on, continuing to roll and swirl around the same poles. I find it dark, slightly spooky but  also mesmerising and calm. Deeply beautiful.

Highly recommended.