STRUCTURES FROM SILENCE

I always find ambient music to be one of the hardest genres to write for. Due to the lack of any really noticeable musical structure, most of it boils down to how the music feels, more than how it feels. It is a more textural genre. That being said, I think Steve Roach does a fine job in conveying a more textural experience. Sorry for my digression, but I have always been fascinated by Steve Roach, but never got around to actually listening to them. That has been changed.

If there is one mood that conveys this album well, it is loneliness. These reverberated notes and these space sounding textures all express a lonely-sentimental value that enhances the 3 songs off the album. It creates a highly moody atmosphere in the seams of the album. I feel like this is the album's biggest strong suit, just how it goes to these more melancholic passages of drone and synths that places a huge emphasis on the listener's emotions.

I have to say though, that this isn't really the most groundbreaking ambient album I have heard. It kinda feels like the rest of the stuff I heard from the genre, since all ambient records basically have one goal in mind: emphasizing moods over typical sound structure. This makes the genre easy to get into, but also kinda tricky to find something REALLY new. Structures From Silence doesn't bring anything new to the table, which is kind of a shame as this is generally considered a really good ambient record to many people, but I simply don't quite see it even after a bunch of listens.

A perfectly fine ambient record, but not one that gets me salivating for more of Roach's material. He is clearly good with his crafts, but he doesn't spark much originality in his wake.