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PGM 1310 'A NEW MUSIC IMMERSION' : feb.25-mar.4

The Venn diagram was invented in the 1880s by English mathematician JOHN VENN, to show the logical relation between sets. The overlapping circles of the diagram show where different sets have characteristics in common.

The Venn diagram of Ambient Music includes radically different genres: traditional folk ballads, classical adagios and choral music, cool jazz, ethnic and religious music, electronics, drones, and avant-garde and experimental music.

What these different genres have in common is a sensibility — a taste for slow, contemplative, space-creating, even trance-inducing sounds, and an appreciation of the magic of slow tempos, harmonic relationships, and spatial imagery.

In the 20th century, classical music evolved in many non-traditional directions. For a while it was thrown into a generic category simply called "New Music." More conceptual and experimental than other approaches, it's given us a consistently important catalog of ambient and contemplative music.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we focus on music by MICHAEL HARRISON, JASON TREUTING, CHAS SMITH, JOHN LUTHER ADAMS, and RICK COX from the COLD BLUE and CANTALOUPE MUSIC labels — on a program called A NEW MUSIC IMMERSION.

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

PGM 1309 'TRANQUILITY GATE' : feb.18-25

Let us imagine, dear listener, the plight of an electronic musician. Even in a very modest studio, he or she commands a near-infinite choice of sounds to work with, and a near-infinite number of ways to modify and transform them. That's near-infinity squared — a paralyzingly large number. This "paradox of choice" once moved ambient godfather BRIAN ENO to declare that when working with electronic instruments, limitations are good.

Acoustic instruments evolved over the centuries to be playable, and support musical expression. They require physical skill to master, but once learned, they become familiar and dependable. Electronic instruments can be orders of magnitude more complex; their ergonomics run the gamut from limited to virtually unplayable, and they've now become constantly evolving software, challenging even the most technically competent.

Electronic keyboard instruments are a strategic compromise: they aim to combine the playability of an acoustic keyboard with the infinite sonic potential of electronics. But all those knobs, patch cords, processors, and choices tend to slow down the creation and performance of electronic music. For acoustic music that's a limitation, but ambient-electronic artists have embraced it to focus on slowly evolving, contemplative soundscapes and therapeutic sound journeys.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, why slow is good in electronic music, on a program called TRANQUILITY GATE.  Music is by HINTERLAND, APERUS, STEVE ROACH, MATTHEW FLORIANZ, and KELLY DAVID.

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PGM 902R 'SACRED SINGING METALS' : feb.11-18

Gongs, bells, and bowls. This trio of metal instruments pack a sonic and psychological punch way out of proportion with their utter simplicity.

Long revered for their role in religious ceremonies, almost magical in their ability to delight and entrance, they stand virtually alone in the resonant space between music and pure sound. They've been joined in recent years by the synthesizer. It's not simple, but it can create sounds unconstrained by the physical limitations of vibrating materials. As you'll hear...it's a marriage made in heaven.

On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, another journey in the resonant space of bells, bowls, gongs — and synthesizers — on a program called SACRED SINGING METALS. 

Music and sound experiences are by XUMANTRA, HUMAN METRONOME and 33 TETRAGAMMON, STEVEN HALPERN, LIQUID BELLS, DEUTER, and KLAUS WIESE.

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

PGM 1308 'NORTHERN NIGHTS 3' : feb. 4-11

The heart of a long, cold winter is a good time to return to the far north folk music of Scandinavia: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland. While not as celebrated as the music of its Celtic neighbors to the south, it's every bit as warm and soulful.

Originally distinguished by traditional instruments like the Finnish box zither called the kantele, and the Norwegian hardanger fiddle with its sympathetic strings — like other folk genres, in recent years electronics and studio recording techniques have been added to enrich and modernize the sound.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, traditional and contemporary winter music from Scandinavia, on a program called NORTHERN NIGHTS 3. Music is by BUKKENE BRUSE, ANNBJØRG LIEN, PRISCILLA HERNANDEZ, SINIKKA LANGELAND, ARJA KASTINEN & PETER PHIPPEN, TRINA OPSAHL, LAKKI PATEY, and ØYSTEIN SEVÅG.

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