IN THE 1970s a grassroots music movement emerged in the United States, Europe and Japan. Inspired by psychoactive chemistry and exotic forms of Eastern spirituality, enabled by inexpensive recording equipment and cheap publishing on cassettes, and supported by a burgeoning marketplace of specialized bookstores and boutiques, in the 1980s it received the dubious moniker "New Age Music." It was all about relaxation and a sonic pathway to inner experience.
New opportunities for success in independent music are rare. What began as a promising new culture was soon overrun by less inspired artists and a glut of mediocre albums that left the genre with a reputation for extravagant marketing claims but insipid, boring music. Yet like most genres, there were always exceptional artists releasing sensitive, beautiful and worthwhile music — you just had to find them.
Today there's been a revival of critical interest in the genre, with re-releases of lost classics and popular compilations. All the while, many of the best and most authentic New Age artists and record labels have quietly kept going. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, an hour of new age music worth listening to, on a program called SWEET SERENITY.
Music is by PAUL AVGERINOS, ANIMA, DEUTER, SHERRY FINZER & MARK HOLLAND, UMA, IASOS, LIQUID MIND, and GANDALF.
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