Kevin Aiyers June

Western Spaces is a collaborative album by the American ambient musicians Steve Roach, Kevin Braheny and Richard Burmer. This album is the first of Steve Roach’s many musical tributes to the Southwestern Desert. This recording conjures up the desert vistas and the vast stark beauty of the American southwest through a collection of pieces that play like a soundtrack to a road trip through the Mojave Desert, Death Valley and Joshua Tree, California. All of these locales were the inspiration for the musicians during the creation of the music.

During the rehearsals for the string quartet version of "White Man Sleeps," a strong artistic bond developed between the work's performers, the renowned Kronos Quartet, and its composer, Kevin Volans. This led Kronos to commission a second-string quartet from Volans, especially written for the musicians. Like "White Man Sleeps," it is a stunning piece of music, recommended to every world music lover who wants to cross the bridge to contemporary, modern music. The work comes in three movements, each one with a different character. Most remarkably are the Ethiopian influences in the beginning bars of the first movement (compare this motive with the vocal style of the distinguished Ethiopian singer Aster Aweke) and the joyous Southern African dance-like motive featuring after the more contemplative opening of the second movement. The slightly melancholic song-like structure of the short third movement draws the work to a close.