hearts of space | news

PGM 1399 'SIX STRING SUMMER' : jun 13-20

SUMMER...officially arrives in the Northern Hemisphere the third week in June. Also known as the Summer Solstice, it's the longest day and shortest night of the year. For fans of the ambient guitar, it's an event worth celebrating. The cold and dark of winter is forgotten; the bright promise of spring has come and gone; now, fair skies, gentle breezes, sweet melodies, and the warm harmonies of early summer invite us to melt...into the season of the sun.

Instrumental music for the guitar continues to evolve, and whether the genre is traditional acoustic, 20th century electric, or 21st century electronic, the slow pace and spatial sound images of the ambient guitar bring us new dimensions in atmospheric music. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, another seasonal journey for ambient guitar, on a program called "SIX STRING SUMMER."

Music is by SOULFOOD & BILLY McLAUGHLIN, TOM CAUFIELD, MIKHAIL MEDVEDEV, ASCHE & SPENCER, STEVE SMITH, CHUCK JOHNSON, ERRANT SPACE, MATT BORGHI, CLIVE WRIGHT, ROBERT FRIPP & BRIAN ENO. 

[ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

PGM 912R 'WARM FRONT' : jun 6-13

As spring slowly morphs into summer, the music becomes more energetic and expansive. In the long days and mild nights,the sounds and rhythms of the warm weather cultures call to us.

For ambient musicians, a brighter palette and hotter beats are in order, along with the changing sounds of an environment moving into overdrive.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space...an ambient excursion for the spring/summer transition called "WARM FRONT." Music is by TWILIGHT ARCHIVE, YAGYA, LEO ABRAHAMS & JON HOPKINS, ALPHA WAVE MOVEMENT, CYBERCHUMP, STEVE ROACH, and ERIK WØLLO.

[ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

PGM 1398 'RESTORATION' : may 30-jun 6

It’s been almost 50 years since 1978, when the influential English recording artist and producer BRIAN ENO—in a historic bit of cultural appropriation—took the name “ambient” for an emerging genre of atmospheric contemporary music, and started an independent record label to publish it.

The approach had been evolving since the early 20th century in artistic and experimental music circles, including impressionism, avant garde, electronic, psycho-acoustic soundscapes, new age, and minimalism.

If there was a common element in these diverse genres, it was an emphasis on tone, texture, atmosphere, and spatial sound images, over traditional musical theory and structure. The genre was unusually open to influences from slow, quiet music from other cultures and historical eras, where it found hypnotic repetitions, psychoactive fractal patterns, modal drones, and consonant harmony.

In time, modern listeners also came to appreciate the therapeutic power of ambient music to manage stress, enhance concentration, and support meditative and spiritual experience. Today, a new generation of dedicated ambient composers are creating new music of great subtlety and power.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, therapeutic ambient for unpredictable times, on a program called "RESTORATION." Music is by DAVID HELPLING & ERIC "THE" TAYLOR, MICHAEL STEARNS & CHRISTIAN HALTEN, ISHQ, MATTHEW STEWART, ANDREW HEATH, and STEVE ROACH.

[ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

PGM 1016R 'CHORDOPHONICS' : may 23-30

Consider, gentle listener, the chordophone family of musical instruments. It's a large, diverse brood including almost anything with stretched strings: zithers, lyres, harps, lutes, guitars, the violin family, hundreds of ethnic string instruments like the Japanese koto and the African kora, and not least — keyed zithers like the harpsichord and the piano.

Chordophones can be plucked, strummed, bowed, keyed, or struck. Looking back in time, zithers, lyres and harps were the foundational instruments of the chordophone family. They were used in antiquity to accompany recitations and promote healing.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we ride the soft strings of the harp and zither to a place close to silence, on a program called 'CHORDOPHONICS.'  Music is by PETER STERLING, HARP 46, LYSA LYNNE, DA WO's, HAROLD BUDD, CYMBER LILY QUINN, KLAUS WIESE, and LARAAJI.

[ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

PGM 1397 'AMBIENT TRAVELER 4' : may 16-23

At its core, Ambient is a sensibility — a way of perceiving or sensing the world around us. As a sensibility, it gives us a heightened awareness of our physical and cultural surroundings; as a contemporary music genre, the name may be new, but the music has old, even ancient roots, arising from the discovery that slow tempos, repeated patterns, hypnotic rhythms, and resonant enclosures can alter our sense of time, and transform our experience of space.

The 20th century saw the invention of electronic music, along with technical advances in communication, travel, sound recording, and music distribution—all of which sparked unprecedented exposure to non-western folk, classical, and tribal music from indigenous cultures around the world. In 1987, the European and North American music industry—determined to avoid the confusion and criticism that accompanied the choice of "New Age" for an earlier emerging genre—opted for simplicity and called the entire non-western traditional category "World Music."

In time the World Music genre expanded to include ethnic fusions, crossovers, and hybrids, and the ethereal sounds of Tribal Electronic and World Ambient. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we journey over the high desert mesas, wind-blown dunes, and endless plains of the Ethno-Ambient soundscape, on a program called "AMBIENT TRAVELER 4."

Music is by LAYNE REDMOND & TOMMY BRUNGES, BYRON METCALF & ARI URBAN, SUZANNE TENG & GILBERT LEVY, MARLA LEIGH, STEPHAN MICUS, and ANOUSHKA SHANKAR.

[ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

PGM 0726 'FLOWING INTO SPRING' : may 9-16

SPRING CREEPS IN with delicate leaves and fragrant flowers. The winds sweep through, the rains wash away the accumulated debris of winter, and we bathe in new light and energy. It's a time for music that flows with grace and melody—a confirmation of the release we feel.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, the music is fresh and the harmonies are lush...on a program called 'FLOWING INTO SPRING'. Music is by SECRET GARDEN, ANDREAS VOLLENWEIDER, NANCY RUMBEL, BILL DOUGLAS, SAVINA YANNATOU & PRIMAVERA EN SALONICO, LEE JOHNSON, and SANCTUARY.

[ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

PGM 1396 'WARMING TREND' : may 2-9

Ahhhh, spring at last. Or is it? Our most anticipated season has a habit of arriving in fits and starts: a few days of temperate glory...and then a chilled rerun of late winter; a sweet day of sunshine and birdsong...and then, a nasty day of cold rain and hail. It breeds a kind of disorientation you feel in your body...and makes you question where you are.

When ambient musicians focus on spring, they're thinking of brighter timbres, more energetic rhythms, and warmer harmonies. Will the weather take the hint? It's a toss-up, but the psychological effect, at least, can be comforting.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space...ambient electronics to summon and celebrate spring, on a program called WARMING TREND. Music by ERIK WØLLO, RUDY ADRIAN, STEVE ROACH, ANDREW LAHIFF, AMONGST MYSELVES, TOM EATON, and PATRICK O'HEARN.

[ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

PGM 1108R 'VERNAL TRANSIT' : apr.25-may 2

THE ARRIVAL OF SPRING is, as they say about the future, "unequally distributed." While our friends in the northern states and upper elevations are enjoying a last round of snow, the seasonal transition has been underway here in California for over two months.

Whatever your weather, after the grey skies and dark drones of winter, we're due for some spring spacemusic: light, airy, energetic, ready to venture out and enjoy the world around us. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, an hour of sparkling Ambient electronics for spring, on a program called 'VERNAL TRANSIT.'

Music is by ASCENDENT, CONNECT.OHM, STATE AZUR, RAY SAMMARTANO, CHRONOTOPE PROJECT, and ISHQ.

[ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

PGN 1395 'OF SOUND AND SPIRIT' : apr.18-25

THE MUSIC OF EASTER—with its traditional themes of death and rebirth—touches the extremes of the emotional spectrum, from deepest anguish to radiant joy.

Over the past 40 years, Hearts of Space has often celebrated this special holiday with the help of our longtime guest producer for classical and sacred music, ELLEN HOLMES. This year, once again, Ellen brings us a collection of sublime choral and instrumental music for Easter, on a program she calls “OF SOUND AND SPIRIT.” 

“Traditionally,” she says, “on Easter Sunday and during the week before Easter—concerts of majestic music are performed all over the world…celebrating the miracle…of life’s eternal renewal. This special Easter program follows that tradition, featuring exceptionally beautiful pieces and performances from ancient to contemporary.”

With music by FRANZ SCHUBERT, HENRIK ØDEGAARD, JORDI SAVALL, J.S. BACH, SIGVALDI KALDALÓNS, GUSTAVE MAHLER, MAX RICHTER, CHARLES GOUNOD, and others. 

[ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

PGM 1374R 'ENCHANTED LANDS' : apr.11-18

Armed with a studio full of synthesizers and powerful production software, many electronic musicians will create sonic images of vast, cold, cosmic space. Others will conjure up infectious sequencer rhythms, and attract a high energy crowd with electronic dance music. Still others, following the great European symphonic tradition, will electrify the orchestra, or create ambient electronic soundscapes.

A smaller group find inspiration in the environment, incorporating the sounds of nature in their music. But perhaps the most unusual are inspired by the supernatural—the worlds of myth and legend, literature and folklore. They create music for spirits, fairies, sprites and elves, wood and water nymphs, elementals, and other invisible denizens of the magic forest.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, it's a magical journey in supernatural spaces, on a program called "ENCHANTED LANDS." Music is by LEMONGRASS, ISHQ, DESENSITIZED, KEVIN BRAHENY FORTUNE, THE AMNIS INITIATIVE, RICHARD ROSS, and ALPHA WAVE MOVEMENT. 

[ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]