Bluetech (Artist)   

Evan Bluetech's work is described as "electronic dub", and has been featured on WaveForm recordings as well as having CDs previous to this one. This is dance music, this is electronica at its finest. The tracks find a beat, and then layers soundscapes and electronic designs. The tracks flow one into the other but retain a freshness and originality from track to track. This side trip off of the ambient highway presents us with some expertly designed and executed works that are totally electronic dub. The music can be "spacey" with a very definite jazz influence as in "Enter the Lovely", the opening track. There are the electronic bubbles of sound, as in "Condensation", that tell you this is electronic music, but it is skillfully integrated into the compositions, allowing you to hear the elements, but accept them as part of the music. Sometimes it can be slightly brooding as in "Forgiveness", but it still maintains a very upbeat rhythm and feel.  Dec 2005

Delerium (Artist)   

Delerium completely changed their sound with this record. Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber combined pure synth hooks, slow moving basslines, and great chant samples to create amazingly sensual, trancey ethereal music. Two songs have lyric vocals, Flowers Become Screens and Incantation. Flowers Become Screens is arguably one of the best dance-pop songs of the 90's. Unfortunately, when the album was released, Nettwerk Records was short on cash and didn't have the resources to promote the album as much as its follow-up, the equally good, but more vocal, Karma. The song has simple drum and bass lines, and amazing vocals from the wide-ranged Kristy Thirsk, formerly of Rose Chronicles. Incantation is more of the same. Both are great tracks. The non-vocal songs are pure sonic ecstasy. VERY complex layered tracks with a lot going on.   Amazon $ 15.98  Release Date: 1994

Mysteria (Artist)   

Mysteria creates a celestial bridge, seamless and otherworldly revealing universal truths for mystics, poets and fabled heroes as they journey across treasured shores into far away lands and inspiring muses. Textured and timeless, seamless and dreamlike, Gregorian Chants, ethereal female vocals and angelic voices float upon the imagination of the dreamer. Embrace the sacred and the sensual as you awaken to the beauty of Tempting the Muse… very nice thematic music for relaxation. Some of the tunes really stick in your mind.   Amazon $ 14.99  Release Date: 2006

Tangerine Dream (Artist)   

Two CD set studio masterpiece from the legendary electro ambient pioneers, Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music group founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. Still led by founder Edgar Froese, Booster harkens back to the early sound of the classic albums Phaedra and Rubycon with touches of the group’s Grammy nominated masterpiece, Canyon Dreams! The band has undergone several personnel changes over the years, with Froese the only continuous member. Drummer and composer Klaus Schulze was a member of an early lineup, but the most stable version of the group during their influential mid-1970s period was as a keyboard trio with Froese, Christopher Franke, and Peter Baumann.   Amazon $14.99   Released: May 13, 2008

(Artist)   

Robert Rich's solo and collaborative recordings have proven extremely influential on a range of new school ambient and experimental artists. Although barely into his 30s, Rich's association with earlier space-music pioneers such as Steve Roach, Kevin Braheny, and Michael Stearns also makes him one of the few of that generation to have interfaced creatively with the new wave of experimental electronic composers.   Amazon $16.98   Released: Mar 25, 2008    

On Body Electric, Steve Roach returns to his chromium roots, or at least strips away some of the dirt that's gathered on them over the years. While it's not quite the sequencer dervish of early albums like Empetus, it does shift the timbral focus from the organic rhythms and textures to the electronic techno sound. He's joined on this album by Chicago-based electronica artist Vir Unis. Together these sonic alchemists create a world full of trance rhythms and atmospheres that swirl like a lava pool. The opening "Born of Fire" establishes their modus operandi of head-snapping electro-voodoo grooves with Omar Faruk Tekbelik's ney (Turkish flute) calling out like a lost soul in the maelstrom. From there, it's into the deep as the Roach-Unis world closes in around you. Walt Whitman sang the body electric. Steve Roach and Vir Unis plug you right in. This is a stunning piece of music craftsmanship.   Click on album cover for more info     Amazon $15.98

Electronic space music by composer-synthesist Meg Bowles. Meg co-produces her work with husband Richard Price, who is senior digital editor and Grammy award-winning mastering engineer for Squires Productions. Releases include the critically-acclaimed Blue Cosmos (1996), Inner Space (1993), and Solstice Dreams (1993) "The music still takes the listener to the darker corners of the universe, but hey, there is nothing depressing about going there with Meg Bowles! It is more like taking a journey of the heart and mind to those soft dark corners under the comforter, where you can just happen to see the universe in your hands. Meg Bowles is brilliant.

Click on album cover for more info     Amazon $14.99

"Ives' production crosses boundaries, being at times haunting, delicate and driving. Ives adds a unique dimension to every composition he creates. His work for Koch and Six Degrees, both diverse and well-respected labels always stands out from the pack. He has produced electronic dance music under the monikers of Menon and Oko Tek for some of the top underground dance labels in the world, including: John Digweed's Bedrock label, Deep Dish's Yoshitoshi and Shinichi labels, Ministry of Sound, Renaissance, Hope Recordings, Caffeine and MusicNow. He has remixed artists such as Bebel Gilberto, Moby and BT. He has released over 40 singles, and his tracks have been licensed by the world's top DJ's for over 20 mix compilations, including DeepDish's Global Underground Toronto. 

The story of Tetrasomia begins when Holmes Ives was commissioned by the San Francisco School of Circus Arts to compose the music for a full-scale acrobatic circus show. He was given total creative freedom, the only guideline being that the music must invoke movement. After five deep and intense months in the studio, Ives emerged with this body of work, and he knew that he had created the follow up to Satyriasis, his debut album. 

Persian artist Seroya contributed her elegant voice and writing talents to several of the album's compositions. Ives had previously produced Seroya's debut album Mystic Mahh. Eros and Mystic Roya, two stunning songs on the albums, have been remixed and released on Bedrock and Yoshitoshi Records, each of which has recieved critical acclaim from DJ's worldwide. Mystic Roya has also been featured on Bedrocks Layered Sounds Compilation.    Click on album cover for more info.

Audio CD (September 1, 2004) 
Original Release Date: September 1, 2004 
Number of Discs: 1  $13.99 at Amazon

"One of the main themes of modern literature in the 20th century was the position of the individual in society. Superficially speaking, many contemporary composers are seemingly concerned with a similar topic, namely the relating of their music with that of others around them. The big difference between the two, though, consists in the way the artist sees his or her external influences. In the case of prose, they were obstacles to be overcome. In music, they have turned into objects of reverence and the musician into a weaver of a carpet-like system of references. Quality today often means how expertly an album borrows from the huge, evergrowing sound pool, and not how much it contributes to it. This is why we need more albums like ARC OF PASSION .  Click picture for details. 

With some artists, the most important albums are also the most typical ones in their discography. With others, it is the headstrong works that stick out. ARC OF PASSION, interestingly enough, is both. This is why the album's title is so fitting in this respect: The arc stretches from the ambient aspect of Steve Roach's oeuvre to his more rhythmic side, from the golden feeling of puckering sequencer lines to digital pads and from enveloping softness to confrontational rawness. The title track then fuses these elements in a one hour long emotional landscape of fibrillating digital dots, hidden subsonic bass echoes, moments of intense, motionless stillness and a heartfelt string motive, which repeatedly erupts into passionate melodic outcries.

Steve Roach's new 2-CD set seamlessly fuses three long unfolding soundworlds into a vibrant sonic odyssey. The result can only be described as a living, breathing Arc of Passion. As one of the great pioneers of electronic music, Steve's career has many musical highpoints; Arc of Passion proves to be another definitive statement along the path. Advanced response from listeners places this album at the top of the long list of must-have releases from Steve s body of work. Steve reaches into his sonic palette to weave elements of his three definitive styles into a continuous, evolving flow. Rich harmonic chords, spiraling sequences and deep sky soundworlds move fluidly within this 2-hour set.
A vibrant immediacy is alive on Arc of Passion; the sonic textures and evolving nature of the pieces reach into the core of the present moment bringing it into form with elegance and energy.

The opening 19-minute track billows outwards with rich and shadowed harmonic movement; deep chords ebb and flow like the thunder clouds of a summer storm, entering the realm of the hauntingly serene Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces or Magnificent Void albums. The set flows into the 60-minute title track built from layers of percussive and melodic patterns interwoven and evolving while holding a steady pulse and direction. Waves of emotion from intertwining sequencers provide the foundation for the evolving trance patterns that develop into full mesmerizing, passionate form. The closing 20-minute piece is deep primal ambience mixed with processed didgeridoo hovering within an expansive soundscape. Long, arching tendril-like forms breathe within this infinite soundfield.

"This arc represents a trajectory of emotion infused with energy," Steve comments. Arc of Passion is a deep and vibrant expression of life lived passionately. 

Audio CD (January 29, 2008) 
Original Release Date: January 29, 2008 
Number of Discs: 2    $18.99 at Amazon