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PGM 1059 'DARKSIDE RITUALS' : oct.31-nov.7

As the autumn sun withdraws, we enter the season of gloom and shadow: the darkside.

The ancient pagan harvest celebrations and the 16th-century Christian observance of All Hallows Eve have come down to us from the Celtic lands as the festival of Halloween, a time to honor the saints and recently departed souls, and recognize the dark emotions surrounding fear, death and decay.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, another Ambient journey for Halloween called DARKSIDE RITUALS.

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PGM 1058 'THE TWILIGHT ZONE' : oct.24-31

As we enter the astrological house of Scorpio, here in the northern hemisphere the light is waning, the natural world is withering, and hidden realms are emerging from the shadows. it's a time for music of dissonant harmonies, dark spaces and strange worlds.

I'm STEPHEN HILL and on this transmission of Hearts of Space, a dark autumn journey called...THE TWILIGHT ZONE. The title, of course, was made famous by the 1959 science fiction TV series written, produced and hosted by ROD SERLING, featuring stories of the futuristic, the paranormal and the supernatural.

My introductions to Hearts of Space are too often compared to Rod Serling's. Thank you, but have you actually listened to a TWILIGHT ZONE intro lately? Sorry, no way.

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PGM 1057 'AUTUMN SONG' : oct.17-24

Over a thousand years of what we now call Western Classical music comes down to us as a story about the evolution of musical styles. From monophonic to polyphonic; Medieval to Renaissance to Baroque; Classical to Romantic, and so on, to the contemporary "post-classical" and experimental musics of today.

Yet within this evolutionary panorama exists another approach to the musical experience that is found in all eras and styles: slow, calm, and quiet — in the Italian, adagio. This is music for reflective contemplation, deep emotion, and ethereal suspension.

Since 1985, our devoted guest producer ELLEN HOLMES has brought us a series of beautiful programs featuring the most sublime moments from the vast repertoire of western classical and sacred music — a labor of love if ever there was one.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a bit of a departure from Ellen's usual offerings of sacred music for the Christmas and Easter holidays — a program dedicated to the season called AUTUMN SONG.

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PGM 1024R 'RED ROCK CROSSING' : oct.10-17

The Native American flute is one of the world's simplest but most moving instruments. In the last 30 years, it's sparked an entire sub-genre of contemplative music.

Variations include the Anasazi plains flute of the Southwest, with its two-chamber design; the woodlands flute, a simple whistle; and the Aztec drone flute, used for accompaniment.

Native flutes are end-blown, and generally made from softwoods like cedar and juniper, for their fragrance and soft tone. But also from hardwoods, bamboo, cane, plastic or bone. Typically tuned to a minor pentatonic scale, their plaintive sound seems to resonate with the wistful emotions of the fall season and the endless spaces of the American Southwest.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, another Native flute journey, on a program called RED ROCK CROSSING. Music is by SCOTT AUGUST, JOHNNY WHITEHORSE, R.CARLOS NAKAI & WILL CLIPMAN, COYOTE OLDMAN, DAN POUND, MICHAEL BRANT DeMARIA, and ANN LICATER.

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PGM 1056 'ASTRAL TRAVELLER' : oct.3-10

The Astral Plane is said by esoteric scholars to be one the seven planes of existence. Whether you accept this metaphysical framework or not, the idea of non-physical dimensions that we inhabit or travel through after death has had a long and wide history, extending from ancient shamanic and mythological ideas, through Neoplatonism, to Theosophy, to the present.

Subtlety is the key to the hierarchy of planes from the physical to the divine, and that may be the reason why serious Ambient composers spin delicate sonic images of what have been called "imaginal landscapes."  On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE we journey in these subtle realms, on a program called ASTRAL TRAVELLER.

Music is by JONN SERRIE, MICHAEL STEARNS, ALPHA WAVE MOVEMENT, MEG BOWLES, HOLLAN HOLMES, and DARSHAN AMBIENT.

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