Praised for its eloquent portrayal of the desert experience, Ken Gruen of New Frontier asserted, "Western Spaces is as mysterious and captivating as the land from which it takes its name." Keyboard was also impressed with the recording's potency: "This stuff doesn't just lie there simpering, it gets up and walks."
Western Spaces opens with The Breathing Stone, a spacious, shimmering aural excursion by Roach. Kevin Braheny's Desert Walkabout is a celebration of the sense of freedom inspired by the timeless beauty of arid vistas. The two synthesists collaborate on Desert Prayer, a lyrical reflection that conveys a reverence for the serenity of this uncompromising landscape. Roach and Brennan's In The Heat Of Venus explores the mystery and sensuality of the extreme conditions that are always at play with one's perception and personal integrity in the desert. Roach, Braheny, and Burmer join forces on the title cut, an expansive musical commentary on infinite visions of bare rock and cloudless skies.
Combining Roach's ambiance with Braheny's lyrical passages on electronic woodwinds, Western Spaces was the first of two collaborations based on the landscapes of the American Southwest--in particular the Mojave and Sonoran deserts. The ambient "New Moon at Forbidden Mesa" contains hints of high winds, muted angelic voices, and echoing coyote howls, while "Desert Prayer," opening with a cathedralesque keyboard figure, introduces a synthesized vocal sound not unlike a violin or a Middle Eastern cantor. Where later Roach albums deal strictly in color and timbre, Spaces incorporates the idea of melodic text. The solo voices and arpeggiated figures become a narrative that knits together the streams of consciousness expressed through layers of drone and percussion--like a sidewinder leaving trails across the desert floor. --James Rotondi
