Early Man (Steve Roach) - Definition

original 2000 release in slate package

2001 two disc rerelease

Early Man (2001) is an album by the American ambient musician Steve Roach. It was originally released in 2000 as a limited edition CD in a specially designed package made with two slabs of gray slate. It was then rereleased in 2001 with a second disc called “Early Man Decomposed”. The “decomposed” version contains remixed and rearranged versions of the original source material as well as some newly recorded material.

The music consists of droning electronic textures and various treated sound sources to create a complicated, primeval atmospheres.

Track listing

Disc one: “Early Man”

1. ”Early Dawn” (11:58)
2. ”Early Man” (25:28)
3. ”Begins Looking Skyward” (6:33)
4. ”Walking Upright” (11:28)
5. ”Hunting & Gathering” (12:33)
6. ”Flow Stone” (5:42)

Disc two: “Early Man Decomposed”

1. ”Slow Dissolve” (6:33)
2. ”Walking Upright II” (8:49)
3. ”Fossil and Fern” (9:49)
4. ”Mastodon” (4:58)
5. ”Elemental” (11:33)
6. ”Late Dawn” (10:39)
7. ”Timeline” (5:38)
8. ”Carbondate” (7:56)
9. ”Below Always” (4:30)

See also

• Steve Roach
• Ambient music
• Electronic music