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PGM 1221 'ONE SMALL STEP' : july 19-26

After centuries of talk about "the man in the moon," by 1969 humans finally had the technology to put men ON the moon. In 2019 we celebrate that epoch-making American achievement—the beginning of the age of space exploration, the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon, and astronaut NEIL ARMSTRONG's famous walk. It's a cultural touchstone—an event that's inspired a small sub-genre of electronic music and soundtracks from the 1980s to today. 

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we celebrate the spirit of space exploration and the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, on a program called ONE SMALL STEP.

Music is by BRIAN ENO with ROGER ENO & DANIEL LANOIS, JONN SERRIE, MARTIN HUBA, MATT MORTON, PALANCAR, and JAJA.

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PGM 1220 'AMBIENT TRAVELER 2' : july12-19

In the warm, bright days of summer, an ambient fan yearning for travel to exotic cultures will book a flight on Sequencer Airlines. With its steady pulse, it's a perfect rhythm for moving through space. 

The roots go back to 9th century Persia, but the music sequencer idea really got going in the 19th century after the Industrial Revolution, with popular devices like music boxes, mechanical organs, and player pianos. By the first generation of electronic synthesizers in the 1960s and 70s, the Step Sequencer was a machine that turned equal length notes into repeating rhythm patterns. They're simple, delightfully hypnotic, and fun to work with. 

Today things are more complicated, but a lot more powerful. We have audio sample sequencers, loop-based creative music software, phrase samplers, and digital audio recording software many times more powerful than the primitive sequencers of early synths—and hey! They're still fun to work with. 

On this transmission of Hearts of Space...a journey from kinetic sequencer patterns to exotic Southeast Asian ambient soundscapes—on a program called AMBIENT TRAVELER 2. 

Music by ATOMIC SKUNK, DAVID PARSONS, CHRISTEL VERAART, CHRONOTOPE PROJECT, LOREN NERELL, ALIO DIE & LORENZO MONTANA, RICHARD BONE.

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PGM 917R 'SUMMER DRUMMER' : july 5-12

Since time out of mind, drumming has been both a musical practice and a social magnet. In the warm zone cultures of the Caribbean, Africa, the Indo-Pacific, and Latin America — drumming music is king. When the temperature rises, the blood seems to thin and the body wants to move. For most, it's a time for dancing, but for others, it's an invitation to the hypnotic state of dynamic stillness: the use of rhythm to achieve deeper levels of concentration.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we follow the pulse of the season to its quiet heart, on program called SUMMER DRUMMER. Music is by GLEN VELEZ, JON IVERSON, RAVID, STEPHAN MICUS, LAURA INSERRA & DARREN GIBBS, and ED MANN.

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PGM 1219 'BEYOND THE COOL' : june 28-july 6

The legendary trumpeter MILES DAVIS from his 1969 classic IN A SILENT WAY—the album that established laid-back, atmospheric, electrified jazz fusion — built on the acoustic Cool Jazz of the 1950s. It's been called a "proto-ambient masterpiece." 

In retrospect, 1969 was the threshold of the electronic revolution in popular music that brought us the ambient electronic music of today. [Miles] Davis added two electric pianos, organ and electric guitar to his band, slowed down the tempos, and made music history. 

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we feature the sound of the trumpet and the flugelhorn in a journey from cool jazz, to space jazz, to ambient — on a program called BEYOND THE COOL. Music is by MILES DAVIS, JEFF OSTER, TWILIGHT ARCHIVE, TOM LUTHER, FRANK MAUCERI & MIKE WHITEHEAD, CHAD KETTERING, NILS PETTER MOLVAER, and MEG BOWLES.

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PGM 1218 'MOONTRIBE' : june 21-28

Summer officially arrives on the 21st of June — the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. For ambient musicians, the extra light and heat inspire influences from faraway warm-weather cultures; exotic acoustic instruments, tribal rhythms, and mind-bending shamanic rituals, combined with creative electronics and native soundscapes. It breeds an evolving genre originally called "techno-tribal." Today we call it "tribal ambient" — it evokes atavistic memories of our village past for our digital tribes, and creates a space for virtual travel, even if the body has to stay at home. 

On this transmission of Hearts of Space from guest producer DAVID J. EGAN, a tribal/ambient/solstice journey for summer, on a program called MOONTRIBE.

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PGM 1105R 'ATMOSPHERIC' : june 14-21

If there's one thing that Ambient electronic music excels at creating, it's the experience of floating in space. And when that space is high, light, and airy, we call it atmospheric.

Atmospheres have qualities — elevation, temperature, brightness, color, density, and a wide range of tones. When we immerse ourselves in sonic atmospheres, our normal sense of time seems to disappear: suspended in space, we lose track of time. Einstein probably had a special theory about that.

On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, an airy, immersive electronic journey, on a program called ATMOSPHERIC. Music is by KIT WATKINS, JACK HERTZ, CRAIG PADILLA, ROBERT SCOTT THOMPSON, ALPHA WAVE MOVEMENT, and DARSHAN AMBIENT.

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PGM 1217 'INDO-TRONICA 3' : june 7-14

The Hindustani classical music of North India was little-known to westerners until the 1960's, when The Beatles famously introduced Indian sitar virtuoso RAVI SHANKAR to their audience and incorporated the instrument into their music. 

The long-necked lute called the sitar and it's bass version the surbahar, other unique Indian string instruments like the veena, the sarod, the sarangi and the esraj, along with the bansuri flute, have gradually become familiar to western listeners in the last hundred years. More recently, the microtonal scales of Indian music lent themselves to being combined with electronic instruments, giving rise to an ambient genre we call Indo-tronic. 

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, the fusion of microtonal melodies, exotic ornaments, and electronic tone colors — on a program called INDO-TRONICA 3.

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PGM 1216 'ADVENTURES IN PSYBIENT' : may 31-june 7

In the fervent, prolific, always evolving field of popular electronic music, genres rise, shine, and set—often with alarming speed. So it's reassuring to know that the relatively long-running streams of Psychedelic and Trance music have embraced the cool sonorities and spatial sound images of Ambient—giving birth to the variously named hybrids Psybient, Psytrance, or just Psy. It's a realm worth exploring. 

On this transmission of Hearts of Space...what happened when Psytrance Met Ambient—on a program called ADVENTURES IN PSYBIENT. It's a love story.

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PGM 1215 'VERNAL FLIGHT' : may 24-31

Spring has long been the most unpredictable of seasons—these days, more than ever. This week we had a bit of January in May here in Northern California; it was back to boots and raingear. Next week it'll be like high summer. Everything is changing, and the wind rushes in every direction in a futile effort at equilibrium. 

The seasonal winds inspire ambient musicians to create an airy, open music with flutes and electronics, and we can ride the sound currents like birds in search of new frontiers. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, an airy, windy, floating journey for spring, on a program called VERNAL FLIGHT.

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PGM 1077R 'WINDS OF CHANGE' : may 17-24

Ahhh, the fullness of Spring! It arrives when we're not looking, concealed by fresh winds, bright clouds, and unpredictable weather. Beneath the superficial chaos beats a steady rhythm, as the natural world acclimates to more light and heat. The flora bloom and change, while the fauna increase their activity after the restrictions of winter. It's a time for production, and reproduction.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space we sound the fullness of spring, on a program called WINDS OF CHANGE. Music is by ERIK WØLLO, ATOMIC SKUNK, ISHQ, FORREST SMITHSON, DAN POUND, YUNOMI, ALPHA WAVE MOVEMENT, and LEMONGRASS.

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