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PGM 1317 'TRANSONIC' : may 20-27

Acoustic versus electric: once upon a time it was an issue — infamously with Bob Dylan's plugged-in performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. Electric won that round, at least for guitars and popular music. But by the mid 1970's acoustic was back, with the rise of Windham Hill Records and its purist approach to so-called "American Primitive" guitar and piano.

Many innovations have come and gone in the evolution of music since then. We still have purely acoustic folk, jazz, new age, and classical music, but without much fuss, electro-acoustic hybrids have become increasingly mainstream. Acoustic instruments provide a familiar, comforting, organic sound, and support musical expression; electronics expand the subtle dimensions of tone, imagery, and ethereality. Together they make a potent contemporary combination.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we explore the transition from acoustic to electro-acoustic, on a program called TRANSONIC. Music is by WILL ACKERMAN, JEFF OSTER, & TOM EATON, DAVID MICHAEL, WILL ACKERMAN solo, RYAN JUDD, TOM EATON solo, JEFF PEARCE, RUSSEL WALDER, and DAGOBERT BÖHM.

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PGM 1214R 'ANCESTRAL VOICES 2' : may 13-20

All most Americans know about Vietnam is that we fought a long and pointless war there in the 1960s and 70s. Today, if you live on the west coast, more likely than not there's a delicious Vietnamese restaurant in your community. But the ancient cultures, and the music of Southeast Asia and Vietnam in particular, is a mystery to most of us. 

A select group of Western composers and musicians have been drawn to these cultures, along with Southeast Asian musicians who've relocated to the West. They're creating a new fusion of traditional and contemporary music. 

On this transmission of Hearts of Space...subtle sounds from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia, on a program called ANCESTRAL VOICES 2. Music is by GRAYHAWK, LÊ TỰ CƯỜNG, PEETER VÄHI, RICHARD HOROWITZ, PHAN KIM THÀNH, VANESSA VÕ, LÊ TUẤN HÙNG & ĐẶNG KIM HIỀN, TRÍ NGUYỄN & THE ILIOS QUARTET.

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PGM 651R 'KLAUS SCHULZE: CONTEMPORARY WORKS' : may 6-13

It's been more than 30 years since the German genius for music and technology encountered psychoactive chemistry at the end of the 1960s. The rest, as they say, is history; but when that history is finally written, the name of one musician will dominate the tale.

KLAUS SCHULZE was there from the very beginning, starting as a drummer in a psychedelic rock group, then embracing electronics when the first synthesizers arrived in Germany. He was a member of both of the seminal German electronic groups — Ash Ra Tempel and Tangerine Dream, then headed off on his own — thereby inventing the identity of the solo electronic musician, working in his personal studio to create original music.

Perhaps more than any single composer, he developed a musical language for electronic spacemusic that's become so pervasive and influential, it's now part of the environment. And since the early 1970s, his music has been one of the foundations of the sound of this program.

On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, we bring our long love affair with the music of Klaus Schulze up to date on a program called KLAUS SCHULZE : CONTEMPORARY WORKS.

Long careers in popular music are rare; long and prolific careers are exceptional.  But the output of Klaus Schulze has been so extraordinary that even his most dedicated fans are often overwhelmed.  By 2001, his discography included 35 solo albums, some 36 collaborations, and a group of monumental retrospective box sets, ranging from 10 to 50 albums each.

The new millennium did not diminish his creativity. In 2000, he released a new 10 CD set called CONTEMPORARY WORKS I, and followed it up in 2002 with a 5 disc set called CONTEMPORARY WORKS II.  As you can see, the problem in bringing you Klaus Schulze is not one of supply, but rather, of selection, from an overflowing fountain of new music. 

All the music on this program is taken from CONTEMPORARY WORKS 1 and 2. The deep focus electronic images, the sense of flying, floating, and cruising majestically through space, the soulful tones of the cello, English horn, oboe, and guitar, the entrancing cyclic rhythms –– all combine to make this music a distinctive and satisfying experience. 

Klaus Schulze died on April 26, 2022, at the age of 74. No other artist has had such a profound influence on the sound of contemporary ambient, techno, and trance music.

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PGM 1316 'PLANETARY UNFOLDING' : apr.28-may 6

Popular electronic music was born out of the creative ferment of the 1960s. As a result, it took on some of the character of the cultures from which it emerged. In academic settings, it was dry, intellectual and experimental; in Germany, technical and mechanistic; in France, lush and romantic; in England, it was integrated into Progressive Rock; in the U.S. and Japan, it became part of the commercial record business, with electronic versions of classical works by Bach, Debussy, Satie and Pachelbel. While in California — as you might expect — it was embraced by grassroots psychedelic and spiritual subcultures creating music for a New Age.

In Los Angeles and San Francisco, sonic explorers like TERRY RILEY, MICHAEL STEARNS, STEVE ROACH, KEVIN BRAHENY, IASOS, and DON ROBERTSON discovered the power of electronic music to take listeners on virtual journeys across time and space. Soon, an international cohort of electronic musicians—aided by drugs and new instruments—began to create an informal genre of electronic "spacemusic."

A young rock guitarist from Tucson, Arizona named MICHAEL STEARNS became fascinated with electronic music and moved to Los Angeles in 1975 to be part of the emerging scene. He learned to program synthesizers, started an independent record label, and began releasing his own music in 1977.

In 1981 he produced a classic of California electronic journey music called PLANETARY UNFOLDING. Long out of print, it was remastered and re-released by Projekt Records in 2022. Combining early analog synthesizers with natural ambient sounds, ethereal chorales, and powerful electronic effects, it's a profound journey across time and space.

On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, we feature PLANETARY UNFOLDING in two continuous "sides" (remember sides?) with an interlude by MICHAEL STEARNS from THE SOFT TOUCH OF MORNING LIGHT, and complete the hour with additional music by MICHAEL STEARNS from WITHIN: THE NINE DIMENSIONS.

MICHAEL STEARNS' PLANETARY UNFOLDING...on this transmission...of Hearts of Space.

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PGM 1315 'ECSTATIC RHYTHMS 2' : april 22-29

The Turkish-born, Montreal-based musician MERÇAN DEDE has long been a mainstay of our Middle Eastern ambient programs. In a world of hyper-conservative Islam that bans music entirely in some countries, Merçan Dede is a member of the diaspora of Middle Eastern artists who've reluctantly abandoned their homelands in search of personal and creative freedom.

Deeply influenced by the spirituality of the mystical Islamic sect of Sufism, his fusion of traditional acoustic sounds of the Middle East — the ney, the kanoun, the saz, and the oud (plus the Western violin) — with rhapsodic vocals and electronic soundscapes powered by the infectious rhythms of the darbuka hand drum — has brought him many awards, appearances at major world music festivals, film scoring work, and collaborations with other important artists.

On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE — the microtonal melodies, trance-inducing rhythms, and electronic ambience of Middle Eastern music you can trance to...on a program called ECSTATIC RHYTHMS 2. We feature MERÇAN DEDE, plus Persian-fusion from ZIKR PROJECT, LOGA RAMIN TORKIAN and MAMAK KHADEM.

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PGM 1107R 'AN EASTER CELEBRATION' : april 15-22

THIS WEEK Christians around the world observe the Easter holiday, remembering the epic story of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. The powerful themes of death and rebirth, and the related celebrations of Holy Week, give the event a depth and majesty that mark it as the most important Christian festival of the year.

As you'd expect, Easter has inspired some of the most sublime and exalted music of the Christian tradition. On this transmission of Hearts of Space from guest producer ELLEN HOLMES, choral and instrumental classics from across nine centuries of Christian sacred music, on a program called "AN EASTER CELEBRATION."

Music is by WILLIAM BYRD, HILDEGARD VON BINGEN, RIHARDS DUBRA, PATRICK HAWES, GABRIEL FAURE, OLA GJEILO, MANUEL CARDOSO, ANTOINE BRUMEL, JOHN JENKINS, HEINRICH SCHUTZ, J.S. BACH, LISA GERRARD & PATRICK CASSIDY, ARVO PART, and EDWARD ELGAR.

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PGM 1288R 'THE NEXT DIMENSION' : apr. 8-15

It's utterly without tension, reliably tonal and melodic, and wouldn't hurt a fly. Yet New Age music has been the subject of decades of casual ridicule.

Originally a grassroots phenomenon with a do-it-yourself creative ethic made possible by the home studio movement, after a period of mainstream success in the 1980s, it retreated to serving its core audience. Despite the criticism, New Age remained a popular niche, showing that a therapeutic music for relaxation, meditation, virtual travel, and alternative forms of spirituality had become something of a psychological necessity in high-intensity modern life. 

Around 2004, a critical reappraisal of the genre began, led by music blogger Douglas Mcgowan and by serious music collectors, Gen X'ers and Millennials who were children during the glory days of New Age. Evaluating musicians on their own merit rather than writing off the entire genre led to the conviction that some of the artists had been underappreciated, and the genre itself had been overcriticized.

On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, New Age music reconsidered — on a program called THE NEXT DIMENSION. Music is by DEAN EVENSON, SCOTT HUCKABAY & PHIL HEAVEN, JONNY LIPFORD, DAVE EGGAR, HIROKI OKONO, UMA SILBEY, MICHAEL BRANT DEMARIA, FORREST SMITHSON, MIKE CLAY, IASOS, and PAUL AVGERINOS.  

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PGM 1314 'STELLAR QUEST' : apr.1-8

When we listen to ambient electronic music, the first question is "Where am I?" 

From the names of the artists and the titles of the music, one of the most popular locations is cosmic space, and the virtual experience of flying through it and floating in it. What's the appeal? Well, in the now politically incorrect language of Star Trek — the thrill of going "where no man has gone before," the promise of adventure, and the bliss of expanding into vast, limitless space.

All this is despite the fact that real interstellar space is either a frigid vacuum hundreds of degrees below zero, or super-hot filaments of ionized plasma at 100,000 degrees or more, shot through by lethal streams of cosmic radiation from stars. In short, not a very hospitable place for delicate humans. And it takes decades to visit the neighbors. A virtual sonic journey is safer, warmer, and ultimately more satisfying.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a journey through endless starfields and brilliant galaxies, on a program called STELLAR QUEST. Music is by STARTERRA, DEEPSPACE, TERMINUS VOID, DREAMSTATE LOGIC, and TRANSPONDER.

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PGM 1313 'PIANO PURO' : mar.25 - apr.1

A quiet movement in contemporary music got started unintentionally in 1973, when a lanky, laid back American folk musician named GEORGE WINSTON released an album of ballads, blues, and ragtime called PIANO SOLOS. Influenced by the folk music revival of the 1960s, it was a modest success that attracted the attention of the rising Windham Hill label. In 1980 Winston released AUTUMN, an album of impressionistic solo piano ballads that caught the spirit of the times, sold over a million copies, and helped establish the success of what later came to be called New Age music.

Of course, European classical composers had been writing sophisticated music for solo piano ever since the pianoforte was invented at the beginning of the 18th century. But Winston's "rural folk piano" (as he called it) was something different: simple, lyrical, quiet, imagistic, and American as cherry pie. By avoiding the technical virtuosity and complexity of European classical music, Winston opened up a populist alternative. Today, musicians all over the world continue to create personal music for solo piano that combines the sophistication of European classical with the effortless appeal of folk music.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a program of recent contemplative music for solo piano called PIANO PURO. Music is by NILS FRAHM, LUDOVICO EINAUDI, MAX RICHTER, RODELIUS & TIM STORY, PETE KUZMA, and MATTHEW LABARGE.

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PGM 1312 'BEYOND EARTH & SKY' : mar. 18-25

What makes ambient electronic spacemusic different from other music genres?

Well, think of it as a kind of sonic "imagery" — a term from literature, art history, and photography. But unlike literary or pictorial images, the sound images of ambient electronic music reveal an underlying quest for psychological expansion into a world of infinite space, and ultimately, a way to transcend the limits of the physical world we live in.

In the formative years of ambient and electronic spacemusic in the 1970's and 80's, leading artists influenced by the ecology and environmental movements explored terrestrial themes, with albums like "SEA & SKY" by Japanese progressive musician STOMU YAMASH'TA, and "EARTH" and "SOIL FESTIVITIES" by VANGELIS. Other electronic artists found earthly themes too limited, sought release in the vastness of cosmic and contemplative space, and created the ambient soundscape we have today.

That quest for expansion is still with us, not just in music, but as a plan for human survival in ELON MUSK's project to colonize Mars. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we embrace the quest for infinite space...on a program called BEYOND EARTH AND SKY. Music is by MICHAEL STEARNS & STEVE ROACH, MICHAEL STEARNS & ERIK WØLLO, MASSERGY, ANDREW LAHIFF, and MAX CORBACHO. 

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