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PGM 953 'SPACEJAZZ 7: Yearning — july 29-august 5

With slow-floating trumpet lines recalling the classic sound of jazz giant MILES DAVIS, this week on Hearts of Space we return to our long-running "spacejazz" series.

It began in 1983 and our first year of national broadcasting. The last installment with the "spacejazz" title was in 1991, and though we've done spacejazz shows with other names as recently as 2007, I have to admit we've been remiss in keeping up with the ambient side of jazz, so we have lots of fine material to bring you.

In jazz, the taste for space is not universal. Some artists have it naturally, while most focus on other aspects of their music. Virtuosity can actually get in the way: to play slowly, you have to feel it. In the case of one of our core sources, the great German ECM label, producer MANFRED EICHER seems to extract it magically from the musicians he works with.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we focus on the lyrical soundworlds of contemplative jazz, on a program called SPACEJAZZ 7: YEARNING. Music is by JEFF OSTER, MARIAH PARKER, the CENK ERDOGAN TRIO, JIM LAMPI & MICHAEL MANRING, RALPH TOWNER & PAOLO FRESU, the MARCIN WASILEWSKI TRIO, the HELGE LIEN TRIO, the TOMASZ STANKO QUINTET, and the TORD GUSTAVSEN TRIO. ;

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

PGM 738R 'TOUCHSTONE' : july 22-29

At the apogee of summer, with temperatures over three digits, one naturally thinks of the desert. And with global warming, we may have a lot more of it before long.

For ambient musicians, though, the desert has long been more than just an extreme climate — it's a mythic environment that inspires personal insight and creative expression. In the words of Western essayist and environmental writer EDWARD ABBEY, with its "panorama of light, space, rock and silence," the desert...is "a window onto eternity."

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a desert excursion with music by STEVE ROACH, MAX CORBACHO, BRIAN PARNHAM, SOLITAIRE, TOM HEASLEY and PAUL ELLIS, called TOUCHSTONE.

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

Hearts of Space Mobile Apps

   
                           ANDROID                                                                 iPHONE

LET'S REVIEW

We introduced our iPhone app in December 2010; a virtually identical Android app was released in late April 2011. If you are looking for Hearts of Space on-the-go, follow these links and download the app of your choice for just 99 cents.

  iPhone App Store                                   Android Market

Both these apps currently have a reduced set of features when compared to our main web site with its custom Flash player. To be specific, after free registration you can play

• a selection of free introductory content
• the current week's program (as often as you like)

Subscribers who purchase our "Radio Channel + This Week's Show" combo plan ($5 to $7 per month, depending on term and billing options) OR our "All Archive Access" plan ($10 to $13 per month, depending), also get unlimited access to our full time radio stream — the "All Archive Channel" — in both the mobile apps and online in all major web browsers. If you turn off the program voiceovers, this service is ideal for uninterrupted background music.

OUR NEXT UPGRADE

We have begun work on the next upgrade to both our mobile apps and our main web service. The enhancements include seven new full time "virtual radio channels" in addition to our current "All Archive Channel."  Here's the list of channels:

ALL ARCHIVE MIX (aka "All Archive Channel" — same as the current "Radio Channel")
ELECTRONIC SPACE
AMBIENT/DOWNTEMPO
CONTEMPORARY INSTRUMENTAL
ORCHESTRAL/CHAMBER/CHORAL
CLASSIC HOS MIX
WORLD FUSION MIX
CELTIC SPACE

Per user request, the next version of our mobile apps will also show and play MY PLAYLISTS that you've created on the web site.

One enhancement already being enjoyed by mobile users is that HOS programs in the ALL ARCHIVE MIX channel always start from the beginning — rather than being joined in progress, traditional radio-style. We will add this feature to our main web service Flash player in the next update.

LOOKING FORWARD

Our development roadmap for the near future is committed to supporting all features and services on both the web and mobile platforms. This means that whether you use the HOS music service on your desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile phone, the same content and features will be available to you — depending, of course, on the service level you choose. However, we won't get there until the revision after next.

Look for our upgraded mobile apps and upgraded web service with 8 full-time channels this fall. Our "full featured" mobile apps will follow, hopefully in the first quarter of 2012.

:: Stephen Hill and the HOS team

 

PGM 952 'BOROBUDUR' : july 15-22

According to the mythology of the Javanese people, the metallophonic music of Indonesia was created by the native bronze age culture almost two thousand years ago. The legendary god-king who ruled Java needed a way to summon the other gods, so he invented the gong. Later, he added other gongs, and thus began the gamelan orchestra. Today the gamelan includes dozens of unique gongs, metallophones, and xylophones, plus drums, bamboo flutes, spike fiddles, and other instruments.

The earliest image of the gamelan comes from stone carvings on the great 8th-century Buddhist temple of Borobudur in central Indonesia. The current form evolved in the royal courts of Java in the 12th century.

These vibrant percussion ensembles have long attracted and influenced Western admirers, including composers Claude Debussy, Erik Satie, John Cage, Lou Harrison, Steve Reich, Philip Glass and others, as well as pop artists like Mike Oldfield, King Crimson, The Residents, and Mouse on Mars.

In Bali and Java, the gamelan is a community affair, with public practice sessions and performances at all civic and religious ceremonies, even in the smallest villages. Everyone participates — from children to grandparents.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, the gamelan and its ambient progeny, on a program called BOROBUDUR. Music is by JON IVERSON, LOREN NERELL, ROBERT RICH, MICHAEL STEARNS, TUU, IASOS, and ATOMIC SKUNK.

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

PGM 951 'NEURONIUM' : july 8-15

The Belgian-born, Barcelona-based artist MICHEL HUYGEN has been pursuing his brand of electronic music since 1976. Born of a more innocent, optimistic era of space exploration, new discoveries in music and a dawning cosmic consciousness fueled by science, exotic religions and ethnobotany, he called his music "psycho-tronic."

Starting as a three piece band called NEURONIUM in 1977, they enjoyed great success with QUASAR 2C361, the first album of cosmic music ever recorded in Spain. After signing with a major label, they collaborated with singer NICO and played big concerts in bullrings and stadiums.

By 1980 NEURONIUM is a keyboard duo, collaborating with Spanish guitarist SANTI PICO. The next year, VANGELIS invites them to London to appear together on the television show "Musical Express." But even small bands are hard to keep together, and by 1982 and its fifth album CHROMIUM ECHOES, NEURONIUM has become the solo project of Michel Huygen.

The years that follow are a blur of albums, labels, collaborations, concerts in museums, planetariums and electronic music festivals in Europe, and in 1987, a ten-year retrospective album called ALMA: Spanish for "soul."

The second decade of NEURONIUM is focused on Spain, as Michel Huygen continues to evolve his sound with dozens of collaborations, soundtrack projects, concerts and album releases, including the double album ONIRIA — his 20th recording. In 1995, there's a joint project with cosmic visuals by artist TOMÁS GILSANZ called ASTRALIA, and in 1997 a second collaboration with VANGELIS called A SEPARATE AFFAIR.

NEURONIUM's third decade features more cosmic electronics, including ULTRACOSMOS, and an album of imaginary music from extraterrestrial civilizations called ALIENIKON. In 2002, marking 25 years, Michel creates his own record label — NEURONIUM RECORDS —releasing a landmark album called MYSTYKATEA in 2005, followed by a string of exotic albums based on the sounds and spaces of CAMBODIA and THAILAND. In 2011, he's still going strong! a testimony to following your muse — plus commitment and a lot of hard work.

On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, a MICHEL HUYGEN retrospective called NEURONIUM. We've compiled from across his 35-year long career from the albums IN LONDON, SYNAPSIA, MYSTYKATEA, ETYKAGNOSTYKA, ASTRALIA, NIHILOPHOBIA, ONIRIA, HYDRO, and IRAWADI.

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

PGM 917R 'SUMMER DRUMMER' : july 1-8

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 & BRIAN HAND.

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