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PGM 837: "AMERICAN PRIMITIVE" : Week of April 25th...

The rich, slow, slightly dissonant acoustic guitar harmonies of WILL ACKERMAN. It's the sound that launched the Windham Hill label in 1976 and re-energized what pioneering steel string guitarist JOHN FAHEY called the "American primitive guitar."

Primitive because the emphasis was on personal experimentation and emotional authenticity; American because it drew upon our complex melting-pot of musical traditions — hymns, folk and popular songs, blues, jazz, maverick classical, ethnic rhythms and immigrant genres — a panorama of musical sources, freely reinvented.

With 30 years perspective, we can see that Ackerman struck a deep vein in American culture and enriched it with a new level of quality. His success inspired a generation of acoustic musicians to trust their instincts, stick to their instruments, keep it simple... and from the heart.

On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, another acoustic excursion in the American soundscape called AMERICAN PRIMITIVE. Music is by WILL ACKERMAN, BUTCH BALDESSARI, LISA LYNNE and ARYEH FRANKFURTER, DAVID MICHAEL and MICHAEL MANDRELL, and RUDY PERRONE.

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PGM 164R "ANCIENT EVENINGS" : Week of April 18th

This week we continue our 25th Anniversary retrospective series. On this transmission of Hearts of Space we go back to the early days of the techno-tribal sound, with a 1988 program called ANCIENT EVENINGS.

After years of nonstop electrification of popular music, the 1980s saw a turn toward so-called "world music" from ethnic, traditional and even aboriginal cultures. World music fusions by popular artists like PAUL SIMON on Graceland and PETER GABRIEL on his solo albums Melt and Security inspired spacemusic composers to ground the ethereal sound of electronic instruments by combining them with earthy rhythms, trance percussion and ritual sounds.

The program featured English composer GARRY HUGHES' second solo album Ancient Evenings, and STEVE ROACH's epic double album inspired by the ancient aboriginal soundscape of Australia, Dreamtime Return — plus music by world frame drum percussionist GLEN VELEZ from Seven Heaven, by GRATEFUL DEAD drummer and ethno-musicologist MICKEY HART from Dafos, and by spacemusic composers KEVIN BRAHENY and STEVE ROACH from Western Spaces.

In the mythology of the Aborigines, the "dreamtime" was a prehistoric era of continuous paradise. Documentary filmmaker DAVID STAHL met Steve Roach while working on a film about aboriginal rock paintings called ART OF THE DREAMTIME. David Stahl writes:

The ancient magic the initiated knew in the bush may already be lost, yet a different magic, a universal subconscious longing for a Dreamtime Return is firmly planted today in the mind of modern man and in his heart.

These artists are all exploring a deeper, older sense of time and space, which we can share.

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PGM 836 "SUSPENSION" : Week of April 11th...

Floating through the long transition between winter and spring. In times of uncertainty, we hold back, restrain action, and wait. Patience and experience help us endure the time. We relax, observe the signs, quietly mark the changes, remain ready...for what comes next.

In music, a suspension is an extended tone connecting one chord with the following chord, often marked by a temporary dissonance. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a floating journey for a time of transition and temporary dissonance called SUSPENSION.

Music is by LUDOVICO EINAUDI, RUDY ADRIAN, ROBIN GUTHRIE and HAROLD BUDD, BRUNO SANFILIPPO and MATHIAS GRASSOW, and FRANK BOGAERT.

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Radio Channel update

Deeper into the spring transition...

01    834     SEASON OF HOPE   a new age taste of spring
02    815     VIHUELA   an excursion in the Spanish-Moorish soundscape
03    814     KEYS TO CONTEMPLATION   the piano as a path to peace
04    811     CRESCENT MOON   a journey in the Turkish soundscape
05    807     GOSSAMER   subtle, refined textural-melodic spacemusic
06    775     AIRTRIBE   a techno-tribal excursion
07    774     FLAMENCO FUSION   an excursion in the Andalusian soundscape
08    764     DEEP GROOVE   downtempo, chill and ambient electronica
09    743     REMASTERPIECE   classical masterworks gone ambient/electronic
10    733     SPACE GUITARS 6   dreamy, twangy, timeless and deep
11    732     INDO-TRONICA   the vibrant intersection of Indian music and electronica
12    726     FLOWING INTO SPRING   fresh melodies and lush harmonies for spring
13    710     PEACE AND POWER 2   sky and rock, light and space, shadows and time
14    704     AEGEAN RHAPSODIES   the contemplative sounds of Greece
15    698     DESERT VISION 3   more romantic transcultural exile music of the Middle East
16    690     MOUNTAINS OF MARS   electronica meets chilled-out jazz
17    680     SUSPENDED TIME   contemplative classical introspections
18    674     RETROTRONICA    the halcyon days of early electronic, new age, and world fusion
19    665     MYSTIC CHORDS & SACRED SPACES   Steve Roach's epic 5 hour/4 CD box set
20    663     RISING SUN   Japanese-inspired spacemusic for spring
21    671     TRANS-TRIBAL EXPRESS   ambient electronics meet tribal rhythms
22    561     TRANCE-FORMATION   a trance-ambient introspection
23    760     UNDERSCORE   exploring the world of ambient film music
24    631     STILLNESS IN MOTION   world fusion from Eastern Europe, Spain, the Middle East & North Africa
25    459     SIX STRING RELIGION   focus on the contemplative acoustic guitar
26    484     ESSENTIAL   solo acoustic and small ensemble spacemusic
27    460     MICHAEL STEARNS RETROSPECTIVE   spacemusician and soundtrack composer
28    452     OCEANIC   oceanic sonics and the romance of the sea

PGM 835 "WUSHU" : Week of April 4th...

This week we find inspiration in a very strange place for Hearts of Space: the world of martial arts film soundtracks.

How martial arts and contemplative music relate...requires a bit of explanation. Chinese words are made of shorter words put together. The normal translation of the Chinese word wu is "fighting" or "military," while shu is "art." Wushu, therefore, means "the art of fighting" or "martial arts."

But there's a more philosophical translation, where wu is not "fighting" but "to stop fighting," and shu means "technique." So traditional Chinese wushu is about the technique of stopping or averting conflict. According to film director RONNY YU, "the better you are at wushu, the better peacemaker you are." Now there's a message that's relevant today.

So if the most skillful form of conflict leads to peace, then the most effective martial arts music should exhibit calm, balance, and serenity. On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, a journey in the world of Far East contemplative sound called WUSHU.

Music is by TAN DUN, SHIGERU UMEBAYASHI, ZHAO JIPING, XU QING-YUAN, RICHARD HIEBINGER, and THE LUMINOUS WORLD ORCHESTRA.

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