Strata

Steve Roach, Robert Rich

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 1, 1991)
• Original Release Date: August 20, 1990
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Hearts of Space
• ASIN: B000000X5K
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #93,585 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording
Aural archaeologists Rich and Steve Roach delve deep into the strata of the primordial mind in this acclaimed 1990 collaboration. They forge a symbiotic artistic alliance where their signature sonic motifs are generally abandoned for the sake of a collective sound. Implementing their combined arsenal of synths, samplers, flutes, drums, and steel guitar, the duo creates a variety of moods and atmospheres--serene ambiences ("The Grotto of Time Lost"), ritualistic, rhythmic invocations ("Fearless"), intense dark ambient spaces ("Magma"), and surreal, bubbling soundscapes ("Persistence of Memory [For Dali]"). As with their other works, the composers utilize a balanced blend of organic and electronic instrumentation in an exploration of the human psyche that is simultaneously primal and cerebral. This album was a critical and commercial success, remaining on the Billboard New Age charts for several months after its initial release. --Bryan Reesman

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Timeless..., December 19, 2001

By	funktion (The Synaptic Gap) - See all my reviews

Master synthesists Roach and Rich excavate evolutionary layers of sound from their machines on STRATA, their first collaboration. The musicians are kindred spirits in both substance and style, and their probing, questing sonic architecture seeks not only to unearth the tangible from the unknown, but also to alight the unknown with a spectral quality. Instead of seismometers and pickaxes, Roach and Rich use their battery of analog and digital synthesizers to seize the geologic moment, embedding it in the amber of the studio.
Like the translucent layers of the mineral bearing its name, "Mica" reveals a quartz-like refraction of images and movements, constructed with Rich's interlocking vibe grooves, percussive gemstones, and Roach's dense synthesizer shadings. "The Grotto of Time Lost" pushes one back even further into the pre-dawn era. Roach and Rich's electronics and sundry noisemakers peel back the undergrowth to reveal tectonic plates convulsing with the breath of newly hatched organisms and moist jungle growth. STRATA is undoubtedly one of the best stylistic collaborations of the '90s.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Diverse, mesmerizing worlds of sound, January 13, 1999

By	Michael Paulsen (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This album marks the first of two brilliant collaborations between space-music masters, Robert Rich and Steve Roach, and it is truly a landmark journey -- a new fusion of world & tribal styles with space-music ambience. The album also has many very lucid dream qualities in its ability to paint images in the listener's mind.

"Strata" covers a lot of ground, and some may feel that the album is too diverse, reaching too far, but for me it makes it all the more incredible. Besides, it all flows very nicely: from tribal-beats ("Fearless", "Mica") to soothing tracks evocative of a journey ("Forever", "Grotto..."), and then into dark, haunting terrain ("Iguana", "Magma", "Persistence..."). The final three tracks round out the album beautifully as dreamy meditative pieces. "La Luna" is just as it sounds; for me, it conjures up wisps of clouds gliding across a full moon on a still winter night. That's the magic of this album -- it's ability to create vivid atmospheres and landscapes out of mere sound and music.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ambient deliciousness, March 3, 2004

By	jeremy (new zealand) - See all my reviews

I don't normally feel compelled to express my views for cds, games, or whatever, but for Strata, I finally felt I had to say something. It is just a lovely juicy slice of ambient deliciousness! I recently bought the older and much more acclaimed "Dreamtime Return" - while it is cool (why I was encouraged to get "Strata"), it really can't touch this gem. In fact, I would say that Strata makes Dreamtime seem longwinded and monotonous in comparison. Strata seems to use a much wider and richer array of wafty, floaty sounds and tinkling echoes than the mostly-woodblock-and-bongo-beating Dreamtime. The last time I was treated to ambient style music this good was perhaps 4 or 5 years ago when I was first knocked over by Future Sound of London's literally peerless "Lifeforms", an audio experience akin to falling on your face in an alien rainforest (one of my all time fave records, get it pronto). I don't think this topples Lifeforms (it has the edge - just - for sheer uniqueness and obscurity), but Strata is the only other record I've encountered that ever really came close enough to be worthy of a head-to-header. That's pretty high praise coming from such a picky listener as I!