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PGM 822R 'RESTRAINT : jan.29 - feb.5

IF THERE'S ONE QUALITY THAT APPLIES TO EVERY VARIETY OF JAZZ, it's great musicianship. These cats can really play, and sometimes they get so into it that virtuosity becomes the subject of the music. But there's another tradition in jazz, famously exemplified by MILES DAVIS' classic Kind of Blue. Lyrical. Quiet. Subtle. Spacious. It's not about how many notes you play: it's about how beautifully you play them. As one musician says, it's about "loving every note."

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we explore a quietly intense world of melody, space and feeling, on a Nordic spacejazz journey called RESTRAINT. Norwegian pianist TORD GUSTAVSEN is featured, plus PIERRE FAVRE, RUSSEL WALDER, MARK ISHAM & ART LANDE, MARJORIE DE MUYNCK, and the ALEX CLINE ENSEMBLE.

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

PGM 1101 'NORTHSCAPES' : jan.22-29

THERE'S NOTHING QUITE LIKE THE STILLNESS of a frigid winter night. Sensible humans retreat to their heated homes and warm beds, while the normal hyperactivity of the natural world is reduced to almost nothing by cold and dark. Even busy nocturnal creatures and insects take some time off, while flowing water turns to silent ice.

It's an environment that finds expression in a rarified genre of electronic music, which runs the gamut from cool, to chilled, to frozen. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, Ambient electronic music for quiet winter nights, on a program called NORTHSCAPES.

Music is by SOUNDS & SILENCE, SIMON LOMAX, CONNECT.OHM, MEG  BOWLES, STEVE ROACH, MARK BANNING, JAJA, and BLISS.

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

PGM 1100 'SPACE SONGS' : jan.15-22

THIS WEEK WE MARK OUR 1100TH PROGRAM and 33rd year of national broadcasting with another of our centennial specials. This time we're going to depart from our normal wordless all-instrumental format and bring you a special collection of epic and contemplative electro-Ambient songs from the ethereal world of "Dream Pop."

I know, this violates one of the prime directives of Ambient music programming, because song lyrics in a language you understand engage your cognitive mind and force your brain to listen differently from the diffuse, spatially aware way you listen to Ambient music.

It's a shame, because some of the world's most talented and successful artists, producers and engineers put their hearts and souls and Ambient sensibilities into these often awesome recordings. Even typical verse/chorus songs can deliver stirring sound images and passionate performances, while other artists create songs that march through vast virtual spaces, build monumental chorales inherited from the classical repertoire, or create the intimate contemplative spaces we love in non-vocal forms of Ambient music.

Sure, sometimes the subject matter is mundane, but there's an emotional reason that popular songs rule the charts and move millions. If you ignore what pop song artists are doing with Ambient sounds, you're going to miss some transcendent music. So on this centennial show, why not see what some of our pop song creators have been up to?

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a journey in the halls of Dream Pop, on a program called SPACE SONGS.  Music is by PORTER ROBINSON, BJORK, MS MR, BIRDY, BLISS, RADIOHEAD, KODA/STRAY THEORIES, CONJURE ONE, CREEP + LOU RHODES, BECK, BARCELONA, MELODY GARDOT, and TRACEY CHATTAWAY.

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

PGM 1099 'POLARIS' : jan.8-15

WINTER BRINGS CRYSTALLINE BELLS and metallic tones reverberating in chilled electronic soundscapes. In the far north, the long night sky fills with the hypnotic lights of the auroras, while infinite stars sparkle in the frigid air. Warm harmonies and fire in the hearth bring a sense of peace in an uncertain world.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space we set a course on the north star, with a wintry journey to the electronic north, on a program called POLARIS.

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

PGM 1034R 'MYSTIC METALS' : jan.1-8

THE STORY OF THE RESONANT PERCUSSION FAMILY is as unusual as it is old. The metallophones — bells, bowls, gongs and cymbals — have been used as ceremonial instruments by the world's religions for centuries, especially in the mountain Buddhist cultures of China and Tibet, and the Christian monasteries of Europe. They make sounds that exist at the borders of the physical and the spiritual: ethereal and psychoactive, calming and stimulating, all at once.

Bells sound particularly right in the cold, clear winter air. The crystalline structures of ice and snow seem to echo the crystalline metals of the instruments. The pure overtones of bells and bowls are the essence of clarity, while the rich harmonic sound fields of gongs and cymbals are like gray winter clouds and fog.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a winter journey for contemplative percussion, on a program called MYSTIC METALS. Music is by HIMALAYAN VOICES, PARADISO & RASAMAYI, KARMA MOFFETT, STEVE BRAND, HAROLD BUDD, RICHARD RUDIS, BRIAN ENO, and DEUTER.

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