the project

On World's Edge, Steve Roach takes a leap of faith at the edge of contemporary electronic music and jumps headfirst into unfamiliar territory. World's Edge explores the enigmatic relationships between sound and silence, space and rhythm, ancient ritual and modern technology. The music is presented in Celestial Harmonies' duobox format, an innovative packaging design that places two CDs into a standard, single disk-sized jewel box by means of a modified inner compartment.

On World's Edge disk one, Roach's previous forays into Australian Aboriginal music have expanded into potent rhythmic essays. On disk two, the introspective soundscapes Roach pioneered on classics like Structures from Silence (17024) reach a new level of mastery through a single, 60 minute composition, To the Threshold of Silence.

Through it all, World's Edge is a powerful, musical commentary on living at the edge of crisis, evolution and renewal. Says Roach, "I've always enjoyed this metaphor of coming to the edge of an abyss and jumping off, building your wings before you hit the bottom and soaring with the culmination of all those feelings. On another level, I was thinking a lot about the disappearance of ancient cultures as modern life infiltrates. I wanted to convey a primordial voice in the modern technology, go to the edge in a shamanic sense and bring back sounds that carry inspiration and power. On yet another level, I feel the pieces are imbued with the feeling that the world is at a critical edge in many ways. The artist, as an open nerve, has a responsibility to transform all of this into something that will hopefully give off at least a spark of insight and inspiration. World's Edge is a chronicle of my own search for meaning in this often overwhelming time."

biography

discography

tracklist