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PGM 1203R 'INFINITE HORIZONS' : jan.26-feb.2

This time on Hearts of Space, we're back to the floating worlds of ambient-electronic music.

It's an open-ended medium—almost unlimited in its ability to invent new sounds and use them to create virtual soundscapes. Despite epic changes in the business of recorded music over the last twenty years, the ambient-electronic genre is healthy and slowly expanding as a studio-based art. Composers on five continents hone their craft in personal studios, create albums, and release them on independent platforms like BANDCAMP.com and the major streaming services. 

They're "unsigned artists" and they like it that way. They collaborate with kindred ambient artists, and even work with independent record labels whose taste they like. Many of them have families and a skilled day job and their music is a serious avocation; others have found a way to survive on their music and related activity. 

Right now, everybody wins on the important thing: there's something at the heart of the ambient experience that feeds both the musicians and the audience, with a rich stream of serious new releases and a growing catalog of classics. 

On this transmission of Hearts of Space...another ambient electronic journey, on a program called INFINITE HORIZONS. Music is by ILUITEQ, ERIK WØLLO, IAN BODDY & ERIK WØLLO, JUHA-MATTI RAUTIAINEN, and STEVE ROACH.

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

PGM 1363 'WINTERTONES 3' : jan.19-26

AT THE NADIR OF WINTER, the time of deepest cold and lowest natural activity, the sound of the resonant percussion family of instruments takes on an uncanny appeal. The metallophones—bells, bowls, gongs, chimes, and cymbals—speak eloquently in the chilled, quiet air.

Bells have been with us for over four thousand years. Besides everyday functions like sounding the time, they’ve played an essential role in religious ceremonies around the world. For hundreds of years, Christian churches used them for both. 

More recently, metallic and quartz crystal bells, bowls, and gongs have become central to Sound Healing and group meditation practices, as well as personal rituals. Simple, relatively inexpensive, powerful tools for creating sacred space, bells are adapting to the changes in religion and personal spirituality.

On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, a meditative journey for resonant percussion, on a program called WINTERTONES 3. Music is by SHAWN FEENEY, SCOTT LAWLOR, TRYSHE DHEVNEY, 33 BOWLS, and featuring veteran San Francisco bell ringer KARMA MOFFETT.

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

 

 

 

PGM 1036R 'WINTER HARMONIES 2' : jan 12-19

As another massive storm disrupts the Eastern United States, there can be no doubt that winter is upon us with all its power. A gray-white tempest of snow, sleet, ice and freezing rain, punctuated by periods of intense cold — winter slows us down and challenges us to maintain our lives in its wake. Music of the northern countries provides a respite, with melodies and harmonies that wrap us in a feeling of warmth and space.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space we focus on the piano and strings, on a program called WINTER HARMONIES 2. Featured artists include LUDOVICO EINAUDI, KATHRYN KAYE, KEVIN KELLER, DAVID LANZ, BLOW UP HOLLYWOOD, CHAD LAWSON, DARSHAN AMBIENT, and KETIL BJORNSTAD & SVANTE HENRYSON.

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

PGM 1362 'WINTER CALM' : jan.5-12

WINTER brings a special challenge for ambient musicians—a wider range of atmospheric, visual, and sonic themes than other seasons. In the northern hemisphere, the chilled arctic latitudes and mountain heights see powerful storms with snow, sleet, and ice, creating a frozen world of winter white; on the temperate coasts, we have cycles of rain — a fertile world of winter wet; while in the southern latitudes, it’s a cool world of winter green.

On clear winter nights, as the temperature drops, activity slows and stops. Nature rests...in a quiet world of meditative stillness, under the slowly changing cosmic panorama.

On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, chilled ambient soundscapes for quiet winter nights, on a program called WINTER CALM. Music is by PANGAEA PROJECT, ISOSTATIC, ÓLAFUR ARNALDS, ARIN AKSBERG, BIOSPHERE, NETHERWORLD, AMONGST MYSELVES, JEFF GREINKE, and STORMLOOP. 

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