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PGM 1144 'CONFLATION' : apr.28-may 5

The solo piano: a sound that's been evolving for over 300 years. It's perfectly happy all by itself, but it also plays exceptionally well with others. Flexible by design, the piano has been a mainstay in classical music and jazz, and a key element in traditional and popular music.

With the arrival of ambient, minimal and new age music in the 1970s, the piano was expanded and dematerialized through studio magic, and combined with ambient and electronic textures to create spatial sound images. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, the acoustic piano meets ambient atmospheres, on a program called CONFLATION.

Music is by JON HOPKINS, TALE OF US, BEN LUKAS BOYSEN, ROBERT RICH & MARKUS REUTER, HAROLD BUDD & CLIVE WRIGHT, CHRIS WALLA, and CHRISTOPHER WILLITS & RYUICHI SAKAMOTO.

NOTE: If you're thinking of buying one the new electronic/digital pianos, here's an excellent guide by Rob Beck.

 

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PGM 1143 'STARSCAPES 2' : april 21-28

From the very beginning, our prehistoric ancestors looked up at the night sky and tried to comprehend the vastness and mystery of the cosmic panorama. Since the invention of the telescope in the 17th century, the challenge has only increased: even the visually observable universe is vast beyond imagination.

Today, our high-tech deep space probes and space telescopes are stretching the boundaries of the universe even farther. Physical cosmology and astrophysics have become scientific speculations on infinite time and space, overlapping the domains of philosophy and religion.

Ambient electronic music can express the scale and mystery of the universe by creating virtual sound images of cosmic worlds for us to travel through. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, another deep space journey, on a program called STARSCAPES 2.

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

PGM 1142 'ANASTASIS' : apr.14-21

The concept of rebirth is a foundational element in many of the world's major religions. A rebirth implies a death — linked events in the eternal cycles of growth and transformation. Underlying the differences in doctrine and practice is the timeless experience of starting over, spiritual renewal, liberation, enlightenment.

The powerful themes of death and rebirth have also been a subject for serious composers for centuries, originally inspired by the rebirth of the natural world in spring, later the Christian celebration of the resurrection of Jesus at Easter, and more recently by contemporary composers of the movement called "mystic minimalism."

On this Easter week transmission of Hearts of Space, we honor the cycle of death and rebirth, on a program called ANASTASIS — the Greek word for "resurrection."

Music is by This week on Hearts of Space: ANASTASIS—the timeless theme of death and rebirth for Easter. 

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

PGM 908R 'CLOUD OF PROMISE' : apr. 7-14

 

The sound of a verdant landscape on a bright spring day. It reminds us of the natural environment that's nurtured us since the beginning of life on earth.

Looking out, our eyes come to rest on the horizon, the distant sky and delicate clouds. These are worlds that composers of environmental ambient music bring to us, melding sounds of the natural world into their music, and creating atmospheric soundscapes for us to travel in.

In the last 50 years, we've begun to recognize our responsibility to the environment — for ourselves and for generations to come. Forest, mountain, jungle, grassland, desert, tundra, ocean:  whatever your favorite, environmental music sends a message beyond ideology or politics — to cherish our relationship to the natural world and expand our hope for the future.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a terrestrial-ambient-future journey called CLOUD OF PROMISE. Music is by ATOMIC SKUNK, CHAD KETTERING, MICHAEL STEARNS, RESONANT DRIFT, MAX CORBACHO, and DAN POUND.

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