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PGM 975R 'VERNAL CROSSING' : mar.27-apr.3

Call it neo-paganism if you like, but when you work with ambient music, you can't help but be more aware of the natural environment — the time of year, the weather, the turning of the seasons, the solstices, the equinoxes. In fact the seasons are always turning, but there are special moments, and this week we passed through one of them: the Vernal Equinox.

Around the 20th of March, the center of the sun aligns directly with the earth's equator and day and night are approximately equal everywhere on earth. It's the point of balance in the solar energy cycle, halfway between the extremes of winter and summer. Here in the northern hemisphere, most of us are enjoying more daylight, warmer temperatures, flowing water, and more time outdoors.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, the sound of the seasonal transition with an hour of ambient electronics for early spring, on a program called VERNAL CROSSING.  Music is by AMONGST MYSELVES, ISHQ, HEAVENLY MUSIC CORPORATION, DAN POUND, SINEPEARL, JOHN LYELL, TAKASHI SUZUKI, and STEVE ROACH.

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PGM 1072 'HYPNOTRONIC' : march 20-27

Back in the late 18th and early 19th century, a German doctor named FRANZ MESMER had a far out theory about energy transference between animate and inanimate objects. He called it "animal magnetism."

A Scottish doctor named JAMES BAIRD developed the idea and called it "nervous sleep" or "neuro-hypnotism," and later just "hypnosis." The word comes from the Greek hypnos for "sleep" and osis "to put to sleep."

These days, thanks to the American Psychological Association, we have a formal definition of hypnosis as "a state of consciousness created by 'hypnotic induction' and characterized by relaxation, focused attention and increased suggestibility, with alterations in perception, sensation, emotion, thought or behavior." Others define it as psychological regression, dissociation, or an altered state of functioning.

However you define it, hypnosis has a lot in common with ambient music, which also creates a relaxed state with focused attention. Whether it causes increased suggestibility and altered perception...well, that's up to you.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, electronic music for mental alteration, on a program called HYPNOTRONIC. Music is by ORCHESTRA SOLITAIRE, CHRONOTOPE PROJECT, THIERRY DAVID, HOWARD GIVENS & CRAIG PADILLA, A PRODUCE, PHILLIP WILKERSON, STEVE ROACH, and VIC HENNEGAN.

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

PGM 1071 'CELTIC LEGACY 3' : mar.13-20

Another year rolls by, and with it our early spring celebration of St. Patrick's Day and all things Celtic. And when it comes to traditional Celtic music, it seems to be a bit bipolar — half lively, manic jigs and reels; half sad, some might say depressive, ballads. But it's all good, because you'll not find a more beautiful folk music tradition anywhere.

Of course these days the Celtic homelands are all thoroughly modern countries, but the music lives on, ready to be reborn by a new generation of musicians, and rediscovered by a new generation of listeners.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, another journey in the slow and quiet side of Celtic music, on a program called CELTIC LEGACY 3. Music is by JEFF JOHNSON/BRIAN DUNNING/WENDY GOODWIN, MAIRE BRENNAN, PHIL COULTER, SECRET GARDEN, WILLIAM DOWDALL, AINE MINOGUE, and JOHN DOAN.

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

PGM 1070 'NORTHJAZZ' : mar.6-13

The far north jazz of Scandinavia and Northern Europe has a distinctive sound: typically lyrical and melodic, often restrained and contemplative. It's a combination that fills the long, cold winter spaces and warms the arctic nights.

Since 1969 the great German ECM label, under the expert direction of producer MANFRED EICHER, has been (shall-we-say) instrumental in bringing Nordic Jazz to worldwide attention, with hundreds of impeccable recordings and austere, elegant graphics that convey the mood perfectly.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, warm spacejazz from chilly Scandinavia, on a program called NORTHJAZZ. Music is by KETIL BJORNSTAD, TORD GUSTAVSEN, HELGE LIEN, TOMASZ STANKO, KARL SEGLEM, and KEITH JARRETT.

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