Steve Roach creates an insidious organic sonic plasma that doesn't so much instill meditative states as absorb you into them in the six compositions that comprise Streams and Currents. Continuing in the direction begun on his best-selling disc, Midnight Moon (Projekt 2000), Steve uses treated guitars and looping devices to create sonic bits of flotsam, sending them out into space and then reintegrating them into an electrifying bold new entity. For those accustomed to Roach's glaciated formations and the continued evolution of ambient music, and his ingenious looping and effects processing, the album becomes required listening on the learning curve. As its title would suggest, Streams & Currents is a recording of transcendent beauty. It grew out of deeply inspired late night sessions between late August and Mid-September 2001. In his own words, Steve has these words to describe his new album, "Of my pieces, I feel these are perhaps the most intimate and directly expressive of 'being in the present moment.' As the CD evolves, a sense of quiet seems to engulf the tracks progressively; it is something I have never quite captured before in this way."

And luckily for the listener, Steve caught each moment of this sound oddessey in a visionary recording, creating a musical journey that's as mystical and subtle as its title, where Roach stirs the primitive spirit with its improvisational grace. The instrumentation consists of two electric guitars, (Stratocaster and Baritone Guitar), Ebow, extensive live looping and sound processing gear along with 'mantra beat', a percussion loop, on one piece. According to Steve, its about focusing on minimal-essential technology to bring out the maximum opportunity for subdued emotive expression. Roach is not a man to employ a lot of notes, and he is extremely adept at finding the space between the notes and using this silence to best effect. Caught "on the fly", each piece on the disc fits together like a completed puzzle of interlocking parts, seamlessly viewed as a canvas of creativity; magical, deep and inspired. -- Ben Kettlewell

#165 April 2002 | 8 out of 10 | Genuine sounds of silence from the master of music for the mind.Steve Roach is an artist who works intuitively and instinctually, and Streams & Currents comes closest to capturing the soundscapes that drift through his mind in his most introspective moments. As a continued exploration of - and not a sequel to - the guitar-based atmospherics first heard on Midnight Moon, Roach has created an album that compels the listener to reach into the subliminal darkness, to swim in a realm of passive thought. As a radical departure from the percussive power of Roach's tribal electronics, Streams & Currents is a unique work that evokes a space of contemplative silence. - Mark Burbey

From Steve Roach's Streams & Currents expect both the fluidity and electricity evoked by its title. As in 2000's MIDNIGHT MOON, the airwaves thrum with radiant guitar-sourced drones, rendered in Roach's own improvisational mode of spontaneous play. The skywardly ranging tracks were created "in the deep hours of night", without overdubs or post-processing, as evidenced by the live loops of present moment which swirl at various heights, shimmery skeins sparkling against deeper rumblings. Muffled drumbeats shuffle-step beneath the metallic gauze which opens spirit moves (28:18); the rhythm soon vanishes leaving the air filled with tonal puffs and gusts while warm rivulets ooze below. Similarly abstract evolutions occur in following 15- and 14-minute-long pieces, slow rising and almost touching, the latter seeming especially ephemeral though more overcast. The disc closes on a pair of shorter tracks, the quietly roiling fogbank of ebb and its partner in vague beauty, flow (4:00). Steve Roach releases something remarkably akin to (yet different from) his renowned audiovisions of wide-open western spaces, reaching those sprawled-out vistas via another mode of transportation. You can float for miles and miles on streams and currents of guitarsound with nary a riff or power chord to be heard... only the deceptively simple billowings of six-string-borne gaseousness. I'm moved... - David J Opdyke

[excerpt] This recording is the second volume in a series which finds Roach exploring an instrument generally considered anathema to the environs of electronica: the guitar. As with 2000’s Midnight Moon, we’re in the land of nocturnal fractals here, a little nachtmusic, devoid of overdubs, realized via limited processing and virtually rhythm-free (excepting the engaging tribal throb that opens the lustrous and 28-minute+ “Spirit Moves”). Roach has stated around the time of Midnight Moon that his experiments with the textures of the guitar was mostly a ‘one-off’ project he would more than likely not return to. Obviously, his captivation with the string-driven thing stroked his muse enough to warrant further investigation. The water analog conjured by the album title is well-mirrored in the recording’s plangent tones and subtly shifting vapors—one can detect the metallic sheen so keen to the plucking of guitar strings, but sent through Roach’s mixing board, the myriad notes become tone clusters that reverb through the night much like the ripples that cascade away from an implosion in a lake.
Are there similarities to the gorgeous refrains found on Quiet Music? Absolutely. Roach isn’t afraid to reference his past work — his past ideations naturally re-occur from time to time in his recordings (as well they should), and the bulk of Streams and Currents indulges in the same fragile rhapsodies as on the classic Quiet. “Almost Touching” benefits from gently-stretched notes that shimmer along sonic hues bathed in various shades of light and darkness; the five minutes of “Ebb” use the most subtle of resonations to convey its shifting contours. And throughout the closing “Flow”, it’s not simply to let yourself get entangled in the track’s pearlescent drones—rather, the sounds beckon, coax and ultimately capture you in their soft embrace. This is the particular method to the Roach madness, where he engenders the listener into his new age, into his own singular space, to a region of his own unabashed—and, yes—ambience.

January 2002 | It's been a long time since I've taken the time to listen to an entire "atmospheric" record; when I was in my teens, I enjoyed atmospheric stuff, because I would read while taking in the sounds in the background. It's much different for me these days, but I must say there is true credibility to what Steve Roach is doing on Streams & Currents. The album, over 70 minutes long, is huge sonic wall of shimmery yet ghostly noises from guitars, e-bow tools, sounds loops, and drums. The music is very primal, and at times, tribal; this is the kind of music you might hear in your head if you were lost in a desert of snow in the dead of night. It's really quite beautiful, the sounds he makes with his guitar. Everything sounds very distant and it often sounds as if people are moaning in the distance... yet there moans are not of pain, but are of sheer, confused satisfaction. The second track, "Spirit Moves," plods with a heavy bass drum line, while reverb laden guitars pluck strange chords from a thousand miles away. The fourth song, "Almost Touching" does well to keep from "almost touching" the listener; there's barely any sounds for the first five minutes! The last two tracks, "Ebb" and "Flow," also have very few sounds. I'm not entirely sure why this record is so pleasant sounding... but it is. Keep in mind, though, that this record would be best used for reading, going to sleep, or other low impact things. I had never heard of Steve Roach before, but I do think I'll be checking out more of his stuff, and I think Streams & Currents is worth a listen to open-minded music fans. - Daniel L. Mitchell

This latest ambient effort by Steve Roach instructs the listener to play at a "low volume". It also asks for "continuous playback" - but does it warrant repeated hearings? Unlike bands like Future Sound Of London that intersperse their ambient moments with dance beats, Steve relies mostly on two electric guitars, an e-bow and various live looping and sound processing equipment. There is a heartbeat sound on "Spirit Moves" but you would have to be on some serious drugs to be able to dance to it. This track is 28 minutes long - so this isn't a album for those in a hurry. If you are someone that likes melodies you can hum, lyrics that make you think about the world or beats that you can dance to, then you're not going to like this album. Like most new age/ambient music you have to be in the right mood to listen to something like this. Music that inspires thoughts of beautiful whale song in one person, might equally sound like being trapped in an underwater nightmare to another. By being so laid back this album does inspire repeated listens, though sometimes it can sound like it is barely there at all.- Stuart Moses

Like an evening in an immersion tank, Steve Roach's Streams & Currents is something rather more easily experienced than described. Roach, a longtime fixture of the non-genre unfortunately saddled with the term new age, composes long, contemplative pieces in which very little movement takes place, making those few shifts that do occur all the more momentous. Here, everything's live, all terms being relative: Playing a guitar through various processors in his Tucson studio, Roach erects glacial sound-structures that don't fade into the background of whatever room they're playing in so much as they insinuate themselves into the nooks and crannies of the listener's consciousness. Listening to the 14-minute "Almost Touching" is like watching the moon rise; there's no audible inflection here, just the fluid trajectory of the piece's almost imperceptible development. In place of normal compositional dynamics, Streams offers a quiet but intense focus on the depth of the overall sounds in play. Much of the music in the New Age section of your local record store is little more than muted film soundtrack stuff, and you'd be better off eliminating the middleman and listening to the love theme from Spartacus. Roach is different, hunkering down with music's most basic elements and giving them ample room to breathe. It's the sort of music one could imagine as accompaniment for spelunking expeditions or deep-sea diving: slow, rich tones whose comings and goings occur unannounced, more felt than heard. Over repeated listenings, the album's six dreamlike pieces reveal subtle shadings and gradations of mood and texture. "Created for low volume continuous playback," reads the legend on the back of the CD case. Follow the directions, and you can't go far wrong. - John Darnielle

March 2002 | 4 1/2 stars (out of 5) | What happens when an ambient synthesist switches to electric guitar? In the case of Steve Roach, he becomes an ambient guitarist. Roach had been molding sonic atmospheres since the early '80s, moving through electronic space music, techno-tribal didgeridoo primitivism and even a bit of country twang. After his Dust to Dust album with guitarist Roger King, Roach picked up the instrument himself and used it for the abstract sound design of his Midnight Moon album. He's developed a better command of the instrument on Streams & Currents, but even if he could whip it out like Eddie Van Halen, that isn't Steve Roach's concern. He works the guitar for texture, using e-bow, volume swells and delays to create sounds that arc and flow in wind-blown slow motion. Like sand drifting across the desert, complex and detailed patterns emerge out of seemingly random events. But his isn't an album for meditation, it's another Roach ode to the abyss, an interior space that's more psychological than spiritual. -John Dilberto

This 2002 CD features 74 minutes of ambience generated on the electric guitar. Do not expect jangly chords or ripping riffs, however, for Roach has filtered this guitarwork through a series of sound processors, rendering the strings into languid soundscapes that undulate timelessly through the air. These delicate tonalities drift like somber dust motes on aerial currents, guided into elongated harmonies by Roach's masterful ability to derive structure from sounds that teeter on the brink of silence. For all its passive qualities, this music possesses an undercurrent of vitality. These calming aural moods are dense with seemingly endless textures and soothing drones, but their softness is subtly alive with a subdued agitation accountable to their guitar origins. While "pure" electronics display an unearthly resonance, in Roach's expert hands the guitar proves itself to be just as capable of filling the air with ethereal sound. Where others may be satisfied to compile passages of raw scrapings and dreamy strumming, Roach treats the output of his guitars like an assortment of airborne mists, guiding these sonic vapors into introspective currents whose elegant contortions smoothly traverse space and time to generate a timeless zone of infinite expanse. For the CD's epic piece, "Spirit Moves", a mantra beat has been added to the haunting strains, delivering the composition from higher atmospherics into realms that exhibit more humanity and substance. This quasi-tribal percussive presence is utilized only for the beginning of this 28 minute track, allowing moodiness to resume control of the patient flow. This music is perfect for dreaming with both eyes open. - Matt Howarth

January 2002 | My first experience with Steve Roach was from the From Across This GrayLand No. 3 (1993) compilation with his piece "Three Reptiles Wait at the Opening to the Underworld".  I hadn't really heard much music with this approach before, and it quite intrigued me.  I loved the feeling it gave me, and the visuals as well.  That piece is so tangible, and it really opened up Steve Roach's world for me.

My experiences with the music of Steve Roach since have varied a great deal.  In 1996 I saw him open for the Projekt Fest (both nights); I was amazed at the depth and overwhelming presence of his music there.  And to have it come alive in front of me, even improvised, wow.  And as for his recordings, I've fallen in love with many of his releases, from his most eventful works like KIVA (his collaboration with Michael Stearns and Ron Sunsinger) to his darkest and deepest like *Well of Souls* (his first collaboration with Vidna Obmana).  And there's a plethora of solo works as well, though I tend to favor the collaborations.  One of the things I like best about streams & currents is that it's not a repeat of one of the numerous recordings from Steve Roach, but a new approach to his own style.

streams & currents is probably the lightest Steve Roach recording I've ever hear.  That's not to say it doesn't have depth, because it does; Steve Roach reaches further and further.  But it's not such a heavy depth here.  Something about this release reminds me of the Dreamtime Returns release, but steams & currents is even more open and spacious.  Curiously other than a mantra beat on the second track, the album is entirely created on guitars, improvised and looped live.  Steve Roach mentions developing the intuitive performance, and that helps keep it very fresh.

While the recordings were created with guitars, you wouldn't know it by listening.  These could be bits of his stretched and manipulated synths he's worked with so long.  The knowledge that these are guitar creations makes it a bit more interesting, and the psychology of the creation that much more enjoyable.  While it's often not important to understand the process undertaken by a band or musician, it's very interesting to reflect on Steve Roach's process for these recordings.  It's almost therapeutic to envision him in a room with two guitars and the lights of his processing equipment going at it with ebow in hand.

And as for the music itself.  It moves very slowly, very sweeping, very open.  The album lets you move and breathe, and it lets you sleep if you need.  While it's not particularly eventful, it doesn't fall in the boring category at all.  I also wouldn't call it particularly depressive, happy, or even necessarily introspective.  I think this is music for the body, the way you might either relax or swim in a pool or river and they're very effective for either activity. steams & currents is not necessarily the best place to start if you've never heard Steve Roach, but if you know Steve Roach's work, I think this is a very interesting release.

It is difficult when describing gentle instrumentations, not to use words like "cosmic" or "ethereal." Steve Roach's newest CD Streams & Currents is a very grounded and rich music. As live recordings, the pieces have a connection to the movement and sound of water. Tracks such as "Spirit Move," "Slow Rising," "Ebb" and "Flow" illustrate this connection. Introspective but not dull, "Slow Rising" is outstanding in the restraint Steve Roach brings to the track. The percussion builds slowly, almost languidly yet the piece never indulges in vain creation. These six separate titles blend to form a whole composition, moving beyond the references to water and nature, they become a full dialogue, softly building tension, which ends in a lyrical discussion. It is a slower, more contemplative CD, but well worth the wait. - Jennifer Lemming

February 8, 2002 | The guitar is, by no means, the primary focus of Steve Roach's work. Perhaps America's premiere ambient figure, he has summoned ethereal sounds from all manner of source material, including didjeridus, percussion and synthesizers. Since the late '70s he has released approximately 40 albums. The guitar has made numerous appearances on Roach's records, especially in the hands of others. He teamed with guitarist Roger King in 1998 for Dust to Dust (also on Projekt), a duo album that summoned the desert spirit of the American southwest, with an obvious debt to Ennio Morricone, the great film-soundtrack composer. Roach has also recorded with David Torn, a musician who use the guitar as an ambience-generator. Streams and Currents, however, is Roach on his lonesome -- and not just alone, but recording live, equipped with (to quote the album's liner notes) "2 electric guitars, Ebow, various live looping and sound processing equipment." This "live in the moment" recording process is essential to Roach's belief that performing music is a kind of ritual. Streams and Currents should be heard as the document of a service, a heavenly accumulation of sounds that ebbs and flows, like some dreamtime current. He's sort of like a Les Paul for the 21st century. Whereas Les Paul astounded us with the guitar's various sonic possibilities, and with the powers of multi-track recording, Steve Roach astounds us with how much one person can do, all alone, without the benefits of post-production or overdubbing.