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PGM 1029 'PANAGIA' : nov. 29 - dec.6

Here in the high tech era, it's understandable that Space and Ambient music are associated with electronic instruments and studios. But when you listen without preconceptions, it becomes clear that the contemplative sound experience at the heart of Space and Ambient music is actually centuries old.

Traditional acoustic instruments, played slowly, with quiet passion, in reverberant spaces...can create the musical depth and extended dimensions we associate with contemporary Ambient. It's a tradition that asks only that you listen, and rewards you with a whole world of sound.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space we travel deep on ancient acoustic strings, on a program called PANAGIA — one of the Greek names for the Virgin Mary. Music is by STEPHAN MICUS, KAYHAN KALHOR, MIZUYO KOMIYA, and HANS CHRISTIAN.

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PGM 1028 'SHADOWLANDS' : nov.15-22

Now there's a winning combination: the classic floating keyboard sound of German synthesist KLAUS SCHULZE, and the cor Anglais or English horn — actually neither English nor a horn, but an alto oboe, a member of the double reed family. They go together like peaches and...well, just pick your favorite food analogy.

While earlier artists often drew purist lines between electronic and acoustic instruments, today it's all fair game for the architects of space and Ambient music. And why not? It brings us the magic combination of unlimited electronic sound design and traditional instrument expression.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space...a journey in the dark forests and electro-acoustic soundscapes of late autumn, on a program called SHADOWLANDS. Music is by KLAUS SCHULZE, HAROLD BUDD, CHRONOTOPE PROJECT, FRORE, DIATONIS, MARK BANNING, and DAVID HELPLING & JON JENKINS.

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PGM 1027 'RUMINATIONS' : nov.8-15

In the cooling nights of autumn, we return to the treasury of music on the German ECM Records label. For quality, consistency, and unity of vision, ECM has no peer. In the post-genre, trans-cultural world of ECM, the motto is "The Most Beautiful Sound Next to Silence."

It began in 1969 as Editions of Contemporary Music and focused on European jazz. In the course of over 1200 albums, the repertoire has broadened to include classical music both old and new (on the ECM New Series), as well as innovative recordings of contemporary folk, world and experimental music.

Yet for all the breadth, depth and variety of the ECM repertoire, there are sonic and emotional streams that run through the entire catalog, the product of the refined sensibility and native perfectionism of ECM founder and producer MANFRED EICHER.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, the introspective, atmospheric sound of ECM Records, on a program called RUMINATIONS. Music is by ELENI KARAINDROU, JOHN SURMAN, MIROSLAV VITOUS & JAN GARBAREK, EBERHARD WEBER, and EIVIND AARSET.

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PGM 821R 'LOVELY THUNDER' : nov.1-8

Composer HAROLD BUDD really started something back in 1980 when he released The Plateaux of Mirror, the second album in BRIAN ENO's seminal Ambient Music series. The chiming tones of Budd's floating electric piano, combined with Eno's studio atmospheres, created what have been called "enchanted landscapes and underwater domains."

It's a sound that's still influential and popular today: accessible and enjoyable...while it quietly insinuates itself into the deepest reaches of your psyche. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a collection of foggy keyboards and dark ambient electronics called LOVELY THUNDER. Music is by RUBEN GARCIA, DWIGHT ASHLEY, MICHAEL JOHN FINK, and HAROLD BUDD.

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