Track Listing

1. Fearless
2. Mica
3. Forever
4. The Grottto Of Time Lost
5. Iguana
6. Magma
7. Persistence Of Memory (For Dali)
8. Rememberance
9. Ceremony Of Shadows
10. La Luna

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #76669 in Music
• Released on: 1991-07-01
• Number of discs: 1

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

outrageous.....ideal 1 AM to 2 AM music....
crank it up on the way up the I-5 from San Diego to Orange County.

sonically amazing, wonderful textures, and sublime percussion.

buy it.

Ambient deliciousness
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!

Sophisticated, Trance-Inducing Masterpiece
I'm a part-time massage therapist, and I have used this CD many times during massage sessions on clients with a wide variety of music tastes. It is no exaggeration when I say that every one of these people loved this CD, and I personally would put it on my Top 10 all-time best list. The music is incredibly serene and relaxing, while never becoming tedious. The multi-layered interaction between electronic instruments and exotic percussion is ever spontaneous and varied. Ambient/Techno-Tribal music at its very best.