PORTLAND
Steve Roach
A 2-hour sound + light immersion honoring 40 years of Structures From Silence
Saturday, March 16, 2024
First Congregational Church of Portland
7pm (doors) 8pm (performance)
All ages
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Welcome to 40 Years of Silence: a celebration of Steve Roach’s ambient masterpiece, Structures From Silence. Steve leads us on a 2-hour journey, mapping a sonic trajectory born from a life dedicated to the soundcurrent and the activation of the mythic Imagination.
Originally released in 1984, Structures From Silence is a timeless work of emotional depth and atmosphere that resonates even deeper today. Join us for a transcendent evening as Steve opens portals of unyielding beauty within this historic Portland church.
The Album
More than just another tape filed in the New Age section of the local record shop, Structures From Silence was a breakthrough. A vision.
From the opening textures of “Reflections in Suspension” to the celestial cloud drift of the title track, the entire album is transportative. An Oberheim synth, a Lexicon reverb, recorded direct to tape, and BOOM – the gentlest, most heartfelt synthesis of European art music and razor’s edge American technology. Where Kubrick envisioned an infinite plane of geometric apparitions, Roach burnished the edges into a soft wave of infinite, amorphic possibilities. Close your eyes, and it’ll last forever.
Steve Roach
Visionary synthesist Steve Roach draws on the beauty and power of the Earth's landscapes to create lush, meditative soundscapes. Inspired by Klaus Schulze, Popul Vuh, and Tangerine Dream, Roach’s sound design has captivated listeners for decades.
First emerging with the Berlin School-styled album Now in 1982, he came into his own with the 1984 minimalist epic Structures from Silence. Efforts such as 1988's equally heralded Dreamtime Return were directly inspired by desert life, incorporating field recordings and rhythms inspired by indigenous music traditions. Dark ambient works such as 1996's The Magnificent Void and 2000's Midnight Moon reflected the vast expanse of space.
During the 2010s, he began building an extensive modular synthesizer/sequencer system, revisiting his Berlin School roots with albums such as 2020's album Tomorrow. Roach has maintained an impossibly prolific work rate throughout his career without sacrificing quality or craftsmanship, resulting in countless hours of truly sublime, otherworldly music.
First Congregational Church of Portland
A rare American example of the Venetian Gothic style, the First Congregational Church was designed by Swiss architect Henry J. Hefty, with construction completed in 1895. Its 175-foot-high bell tower stood as the tallest structure in Portland for 60 years. The church organ incorporates the wind chests and bellow system from an original organ built in 1877. The building is an ADA accessible space.
1126 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97205
© Reflections 2024. In time, out of time ☀︎