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PGM 1084 'TRANCE PLANET' : july 31-aug 7

It doesn't take much: a quiet drone, soft skin drums, and hand claps in this case — but it opens up an immersive perceptual world that's encoded in the word "trance."

Trance music has a surprisingly long provenance, stretching back from the electronic beats of today to the mists of prehistory. Whether fuelled by psychoactive substances, ecstatic group experiences, or just applied boredom, the world of trance music has proven both durable and adaptable. There's acid trance, epic trance, euro-trance, tech and progressive trance, vocal trance, and dream trance — just to mention the electronic dance variations.

From the traditional acoustic drumming of North Africa/ to the relentless pounding of 140 beats per minute on the electronic dance floor, repetition and the power of extended, slowly changing rhythms are the foundation. Add infinite feedback guitar and Ambient electronics, and you have a sonic vehicle for travel to exotic virtual spaces.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, an ethno-tronic journey on psycho-active trance rhythms, on a program called TRANCE PLANET. If the name sounds familiar, it was used in the 1990s for a series of World Music compilations on the late Triloka Records label.

Music is by TIM GERWING, FRORE & SHANE MORRIS, MICHEL BANABILA, ROBERT RICH, JON HASSELL, MA JA LE & VIR UNIS, and STILLPOINT.

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

PGM 949R 'BLUE SKY BLUE' : july 24-31

In the brief, happy interlude between the tempests of spring and the hurricanes of late summer, we pass through an ideal moment in the cycle of the seasons.

It comes in gentle word-pairs: Clear and Sunny; Warm and Breezy; Fair and Mild; Blue skies and White clouds. Even the pollen seems to abate for a bit, and we're granted a period of naturally-fuelled optimism in our storm-tossed world.

It's a time for classic electronic music for flying and floating in translucent blue atmospheres. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, an hour of spacemusic for early summer, on a program called BLUE SKY BLUE. Music is by ERIK WOLLO, STEVE ROACH, RUDY ADRIAN, SENSITIVE CHAOS, DIATONIS, and JONN SERRIE.

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

PGM 1083 'SPANISH SOUL' : july 17-24

It only takes a few lightning notes to fall into the unmistakable world of the Spanish guitar and the passionate sound of flamenco. It's a music that's evolved over hundreds of years, with influences dating from the Moorish conquest of Spain in the 700s to today.

It was a team effort: from North Africa came Arabic rhythms and the oud, and later the Spanish guitar; from the Sephardic Jews came folk songs and deep melodies; and from the Romani Gypsies came a powerful group performance practice, a world of dark harmonies and intense emotions called duende. It all came together in southern Spain in the late 18th century as flamenco.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, another journey in the atmospheric soundworld of Andalusia, on a program called SPANISH SOUL. Music is by ROMERO, JESSE COOK, ADAM HURST, ARMIK, OTTMAR LIEBERT, JOSÉ LUIS MONTÓN, JEFF DWARSHUIS, SHAWKIE ROTH, and BENEDETTI & SVOBODA.

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

PGM 1082 'SUMMERTRONICA 6' : july 10-17

 

SUMMER opens up the doors and windows, allowing the sounds of nature in, and the humans out. Summer also opens up the palette of active sounds and rhythms; while warm nights create the perfect ambience for sultry, languid, ethereal waveforms.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, summer Ambient for flying, floating, and shameless chilling, on a program called SUMMERTRONICA 6.

Music is by THIERRY DAVID, ASCENDANT, DIGITONAL, ANOTHER FINE DAY, LOSCIL, ISHQ, and SOLA TRANSLATIO.

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PGM 628R 'AMERICAN SKIES' : july 3-10

The 20th century American photographer ANSEL ADAMS was a tireless advocate for the cause of wilderness and the environment. His images became icons of the landscape of the American west, intensifying and purifying the experience of natural beauty. In his photographs, he created a sense of the magnificence of nature that filled the viewer with the emotional equivalent of wilderness — often more powerful than the actual thing.

Something similar happened at the edges of 20th century American music. Drawing together influences from the 19th century romantics, the French Impressionists, the serene mysticism of OLIVIER MESSIAEN, the ideas of JOHN CAGE, and the new technologies of sound recording, composers began to incorporate man made or actual sounds of nature into their compositions and recordings.

Film soundtracks typically mixed music and sound effects with dialog; during the 1960s commercial nature sound records become popular, and countless albums of music and nature sounds eventually became a cliche at the hands of new age composers — but when used with real sensitivity, the combination can achieve a kind of magic, setting the music into sound images of an idealized natural landscape, and psychologically transporting the listener from their normal environment.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we explore the mixture of natural sounds and music, on a program called AMERICAN SKIES. Music is by DAVID DARLING, PAUL WINTER, R. CARLOS NAKAI, BILL DOUGLAS, BRIAN KEANE, and BARRY STRAMP.

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