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PGM 1286 'SUMMER STARS' : june 25-july 2

Many kinds of music are associated with one of the seasons, but ambient and environmental electronic music? — more than most. The music has to BE the season: to reflect, inhabit, and merge with the space and feeling of the seasonal environment. And when it comes to summer ambient, the pace gets slower, the harmonies get warmer, and the ethereal sounds inspire weightless floating.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we float peacefully through the star fields on the warm breezes of a summer night, on a program called SUMMER STARS. Music is by ERIK WØLLO, SUFJAN STEVENS, STEVE ROACH, RUDY ADRIAN, and AMONGST MYSELVES.

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

PGM 1216 'ADVENTURES IN PSYBIENT' : june 18-25

In the fervent, prolific, always evolving field of popular electronic music, genres rise, shine, and set—often with alarming speed. So it's reassuring to know that the relatively long-running streams of Psychedelic and Trance music have embraced the cool sonorities and spatial sound images of Ambient—giving birth to the variously named hybrids Psybient, Psytrance, or just Psy. It's a realm worth exploring. 

On this transmission of Hearts of Space—what happened when Psytrance Met Ambient, on a program called ADVENTURES IN PSYBIENT. It's a love story, with music by SHPONGLE, AROKEM, MASTER MARGHERITA, LAB'S CLOUD, BLUETECH, ADHAM SHAIKH, and ISHQ.

[ view program page ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

PGM 1285 'SLACK KEY PARADISE' : june 11-18

Hawaii, ladies and gentlemen: our 50th state, a subtropical archipelago of 137 volcanic islands arising from the Pacific Ocean, 2000 miles southwest of the U.S. mainland. Unique in many ways, it's a rich multi-ethnic melting pot of indigenous Hawaiian, Polynesian, East and Southeast Asian, and North American cultures.

All this diversity gives Hawaiian music a sweetness and charm that led to popularity for the steel guitar and the ukulele in the early 20th century, and a revival of the so-called "slack key" or re-tuned finger-style guitar in the 1970s. The languid pace and tropical ambience of the music echoes the astonishing beauty of the natural setting. One visit to the Garden Island of Kauai turns a word like "paradise" from hyperbole...to description.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, the languid music and lush subtropical ambience of Hawaii, on a program called SLACK KEY PARADISE. Music is by BRUCE KAPHAN & JAKE SHIMABUKURO, BOB BROZMAN & LEDWARD KAAPANA, KEOLA BEAMER & R.CARLOS NAKAI, TAIMANE, KAWIKA KAHIAPO, and WAYNE POWELL.

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

PGM 1284 'FLOATING WORLDS 3' : june 4-11

The concept of a "soundscape" was defined in the 1960s as a combination of sounds that create an immersive environment. It includes sounds of the natural acoustic environment and weather—called the geophony; animals and insects—called the biophony; and sounds made by humans—the anthropophony.

In Canada, the soundscape idea was established for a whole generation of musicians by composer and educator R. MURRAY SCHAFER. Among his students were two young Canadian electronic musicians — MYCHAEL DANNA and TIM CLEMENT. In the mid 1980s they were creating what they called "environmental electronic music" like this classic track from the album SUMMERLAND.

DANNA went on to become an A-list film composer known for non-traditional scores for films like The Life of Pi, while the combination of natural acoustic environmental sounds and electronic music became one of the enduring trends in the ambient music of today. Like scores for imaginary films, they can entertain, challenge, or sooth us, sending signals to our ancient limbic alert system that tell us to be vigilant, or relax.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a collection of immersive environments and electro-acoustic soundscapes called FLOATING WORLDS 3. Music is by DANNA & CLÉMENT, SINEPEARL, TOM EATON, ALPHA WAVE MOVEMENT, ALIO DIE & REMCO HELBERS, and STEVE ROACH.

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