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PGM 820R 'SPECTRAL VOICES' : feb.27-mar.6

The panorama of musical vocalization stretches across cultural time and space, from simple songs and chants to the most elaborate art music for chorus and orchestra. It's a medium that continues to evolve, incorporating the past while it forges into the future.

The origins of the Central Asian tradition of harmonic chanting or "overtone" singing are lost in time, but are alive today, both in source cultures like Tuva and Tibet, and in the work of experimental singers and composers.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a journey into the ghostly, floating world of harmonic singing called SPECTRAL VOICES. Music is by CHARLES B. KIM, TRIO MEDIEVAL, PAULINE OLIVEROS, STUART DEMPTER & PANAIOTIS, JIM COLE & SPECTRAL VOICES, SEATTLE HARMONIC VOICES, and SANCTUARY.

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PGM 1069 'ELECTRONIC NORTH 2' : feb.20-27

Electronic music is sometimes critically described as "cold." But when it comes to sonic evocations of winter, cold is good: electronic timbres can convey the frigid atmospheres, desaturated colors, and static silences of the northern landscape, and spin hypnotic images of the Northern Lights.

Musicians from Northern Europe and Scandinavia express these qualities in their music naturally. It's an austere but appealing sound that's been very influential, even on artists from warmer latitudes.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, another Ambient winter journey called ELECTRONIC NORTH 2. Music is by MARCONI UNION, ERIC WOLLO & BERNHARD WOSTHEINRICH, PJUSK, ALIO DIE & LORENZO MONTANA, ROBERT RICH, AL GROMER KHAN, PHILLIP WILKERSON, and CHRONOTOPE PROJECT.

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PGM 1068 'WINTERTONES 2' : feb.13-20

 

The latter days of winter bring a special kind of fatigue mixed with impatience. For residents of snow-crossed parts of the country, winter has begun to overstay its welcome; while here in California, the rain is back, the trees are blossoming, and February feels like spring.

As the sound of the season evolves, music of the far north and Arctic countries still resonates, connecting with contemplative acoustic mainstays like the cello and the piano. From deep minimalist patterns to Romantic melodicism, we find the soul and comfort to endure.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, wintry acoustic spacemusic for the season on a program called WINTERTONES 2.  With Icelandic musicians OLAFUR ARNALDS and HILDUR GUTHNADOTTIR, cellist DAVID DARLING with SYLVIA NAKKACH and JACQUELINE TSCHABOLD BHUYAN, MICHAEL HOPPE & HAROLD MOSES, BRUNO SANFILIPPO, and RALPH ZURMUHLE.

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PGM 1034R 'THE LONG NIGHT' : feb.6-13

We're at the nadir of winter in the Northern Hemisphere...a time when the yearly journey around our native star seems arbitrary and endless. Battered by storms, challenged by cold, starved for light, we have no choice but to wait...for the return of the sun and the bright promise of spring.

It's a trial we repeat in miniature each long winter night, as we turn away from the sun into the cosmic darkness. But while we can escape most of the night in sleep, winter...must be endured. It's a test of fortitude and patience, a confrontation with our own desires for ease and comfort.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space...a nocturnal winter journey called THE LONG NIGHT. Music is by JEFF GREINKE, ROBERT RICH, A PRODUCE, STEVE ROACH & KELLY DAVID, SEAN WASHBURN, and NUNC STANS & MYSTIFIED.

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PGM 791R2 'NORDIC SOUL' : jan.30-feb.6

The polar night creeps southward across the top of Europe, while the winter snows and ice hold the fjords and forests in their grip. In a land of dark and cold, the focus turns within, and the music of Scandinavia, the Baltics and Russia warms the heart and fills the soul. Classical, jazz and traditional folk sounds stretch from melancholy to an ethereal lightness: slow, majestic and beautiful.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a far north spacejazz and new music journey called NORDIC SOUL. Music is by STREIF, JAN GARBAREK, FRANCOIS COUTURIER, ANDREY DERGATCHEV, MICHELLE MAKARSKI, GALINA USTVOLSKAYA, and VALENTIN SILVESTROV.

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PGM 973R 'SOUNDING THE DEEP' : jan. 23-30

Like wine, ambient and contemplative music comes in many varieties — from acoustic to electronic, from solos to large ensembles, from subtle to powerful. But when it comes to power per gram, there's no doubt: the most potent instruments in the ambient music box are the resonant percussion family of bronze bells, bowls and gongs.

These instruments are psychoacoustic powerhouses, generating sounds that seem wired directly through our auditory systems to our inner core. In the hands of a sensitive musician, they can lead us to the quiet realm we like to call The Deep Zone. And while it normally takes most of a program to work our way into The Deep Zone...these instruments live there full time.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a wintry journey for resonant bronze called SOUNDING THE DEEP. Music is by DEUTER, APOLLONIUS+33 TETRAGAMMON, NEBULAE, 33 BOWLS, ED MANN and KARMA MOFFETT.

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Hearts of Space Vacation schedule

The weatherman seeks warmer spaces and tropical waters. We'll be taking a mid-winter vacation break and scheduling repeat shows for the next three weeks:

 JANUARY 23rd:  PGM 973 'SOUNDING THE DEEP' a wintry journey for resonant bronze w/music by Deuter, Apollonius+33 Tetragammon, Nebulae, 33 Bowls, Ed Mann and Karma Moffett.

 JANUARY 30th:  PGM 791 'NORDIC SOUL'—a far north spacejazz and new music journey—slow, majestic and beautiful, w/music by Streif, Jan Garbarek, Francois Couturier, and Valentin Silvestrov.

FEBRUARY 6th: PGM 1037 'THE LONG NIGHT—a nocturnal winter journey w/music by Jeff Greinke, Robert Rich, A Produce, Steve Roach & Kelly David, Sean Washburn, and Nunc Stans & Mystified.

We return with a new season of essential Ambient on February 13th.

PGM 1067 'FLOATATION : jan.16-23

January 2015 would be the 100th birthday of DR. JOHN C. LILLY, one of the true visionaries of 20th-century science. Lilly's life and work at the frontiers of human knowledge embraces the major themes of 20th-century bioscience. In his 86 years, Lilly made significant contributions to psychology, brain research, computer theory, medicine, ethics, dolphinology, and interspecies communication. Of special relevance for this program, Lilly's interest in the nature of human consciousness led him to invent the isolation or floatation tank in the 1950s. Today there are thousands of Floatation Centers around the world.

The floatation tank is a large plastic container filled with 10 inches of warm water and 800 pounds of dissolved Epsom salt. This high-density liquid allows the body to float effortlessly, free for once from the burden of gravity. The water and air are both heated to skin temperature, so one soon loses the sense of the boundaries of the body. With no light and virtually no sound, it encourages a "sensory-reduced" state that promotes deep physical and mental relaxation, and ultimately allows the floater to explore "inner space."

Hmmm. Sound familiar? Floating is one of the most common words used to describe the effect of Ambient music.

Lilly began by investigating what would happen in an environment free of all sensory stimulation, but instead of the brain going to sleep as had been theorized, a whole new world of inner experience opened up. In the early 1960s, Lilly began experiments with LSD, and decided to take the drug in the isolation tank. Through this work, he arrived at a perspective that transcended the conflict between rationality and mysticism, religion and science.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a weightless journey in inner space...on a program called FLOATATION.

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PGM 1066 'ICE NIGHT' : jan.9-16

In the depths of winter, movement slows and time expands. Below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, flowing water becomes static crystals, locked and silent. At absolute zero, motion stops.

The sound of winter is low and slow: thick drones punctuated by dark bells and metallic overtones. The chilled air is heavy with water vapor, damping sounds and creating a hushed atmosphere. And when the storms come, the keening of the cold night wind creates an eerie wail.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space,far north winter electronics, on a program called ICE NIGHT. Music is by BIOSPHERE, SIMON LOMAX. DEEP CHILL NETWORK, HAROLD BUDD, CSILLAGKOD, BRAIN LAUGHTER, ALTUS, and JANNE HANHISUANTO.

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PGM 1065 'GYMNOSPHERE: Song of the Rose : jan.2-9

In 1975 Hearts of Space was a two-year old late night program on KPFA-FM in Berkeley, California. One rainy November midnight, a local artist named JORDAN DE LA SIERRA showed up unannounced at the back door of the radio station and demanded to play the piano on the program, which was already in progress! From that unforgettable encounter came a legendary recording of "experimental, explorational, Ambient/new age/neo-classical music" called GYMNOSPHERE: SONG OF THE ROSE.

I'm STEPHEN HILL and on this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, we revisit this timeless classic. We'll feature music from three of the four sides of the original double album. Along with PAUL HORN's Inside the Taj Mahal, it was among the first "acoustic-Ambient" albums. It was also the first original recording I produced — for Jordan de la Sierra was (and is) an exceptional artist in every way.

Born in Fresno in California's Central Valley, he studied music at the San Francisco Conservatory and Mills College, where he met TERRY RILEY, LA MONTE YOUNG and other avant-garde composers influenced by Khyal master PANDIT PRAN NATH, who were cross-pollinating Western and East Indian classical music. It was the beginning of the electronic music era, and out of this rich tapestry of cultural and technical possibilities came a contemplative classic.

Recorded in 1976 and released in 1978 on an early Northern California new age label, GYMNOSPHERE was an impressive double vinyl LP with a 20-page booklet. It was soon reduced to a single LP with no booklet, and then went out of print when the label failed a few years later. Thus began a long exile, punctuated by a cassette re-release in 1985 that also disappeared within a year. These were the realities of the "good old days" of the analog record business: all but the most popular music quickly went out of print.

Then in 2013, Jordan and I were approached by an independent label from Chicago called The Numero Group that specialized in reissuing lost-but-not-forgotten classics. And so in December 2014, after over 30 years in limbo, GYMNOSPHERE was re-released in its original double album and 20-page booklet format, on vinyl, CD, and digital download.

Several innovations contribute to the unique sound of this recording: the nine-foot concert grand piano is in a special "well-tuned" scale, rather than the conventional "well tempered" scale. This means that the notes ring and decay in elegant harmony — without any out-of-tune "beating" of the overtones. The felt dampers of the piano were raised for the entire recording, creating a sustained harmonic drone. Analog tape delay was used to create rhythmic repeats, creating a shimmering fractal texture.

And last but not least, the studio tapes were taken to Grace Cathedral — the premiere acoustic space in the Bay area — and played back through a large sound system where the reverberation of the great stone church was recorded and later mixed with the direct and delayed sound of the piano. In this way, the piano was "spatially expanded" into a vast, ancient space-harp that sings...for almost a minute.

In his notes, Jordan calls it "music as a form of spatial food for our finer being-bodies." Amen, Brother. JORDAN DE LA SIERRA's GYMNOSPHERE: SONG OF THE ROSE...reborn, on this transmission...of Hearts of Space.

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