Encore Programs

PGM 1032R ‘POLAR VORTEX’ : jan. 30-feb. 5

Chicago during the polar vortex

This week a frigid mass of North Pole air spun south and descended on the United States. In addition to sub-zero temperatures, disruption of travel and general misery, it introduced a new phrase to describe extreme winter weather.

We were working on an Ambient electronic winter show and we already had a pretty good title for it, but this new phrase, well, it just blew it away.  On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a super-chilled winter journey called “POLAR VORTEX.”  Music is by IAN BODDY & ERIK WOLLO, SIMON LOMAX, STORMLOOP, DILATE, TUU, and NETHERWORLD.

[ view playlist ]  [ view Flickr image gallery ] 

PGM 898R “ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS” : jan.16-23

The winter skies are a broad, constantly changing panorama: flat, gray shadowless light… chilled fogs with subtle, desaturated colors… dramatic dark storm clouds… and brilliant clear days, with infinite horizons of the deepest transparent blue.

The ambient music inspired by these environments displays a corresponding range of tones, textures, and techniques: from foggy soundscapes and dark drones, to crystalline percussion and ethereal harmonics.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a program inspired by the winter skies called “ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS.” Music is by RUSSEL WALDER, JEFF GREINKE, KEVIN KELLER ENSEMBLE, PETER GARLAND, STUART DEMPSTER, TOM HEASLEY & ERIC GLICK RIEMAN, JOHN LUTHER ADAMS, and TIM STORY.

[ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ]

PGM 1135R “OVERCAST” : jan. 2-9/

The typical winter atmosphere is muted and monochrome, under a sky of dense grey-blue clouds. Above, chilled vapor waits to return to earth as cold rain, sleet or snow. On the ground, it’s a world of desaturated colors and diffuse shadows, punctuated by storms and relieved briefly by short bright days. Nature sleeps, awaiting the awakening of spring.

The sound of winter is slow, ethereal, subtle, with occasional accents of brilliant white or deep black. Bell sounds and the metal strings of the piano ring across the landscape, supported by profound dark drones.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we ride the sounds of winter to a place of deep calm, on a program called OVERCAST.

Music is by BEN LUKAS BOYSEN, JANNE HANHISUANTO, LIBRARY TAPES (DAVID WENNGREN), BRUNO SANFILIPPO & MATHIAS GRASSOW, BIOSPHERE, and SIGUR ROS.

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PGM 615R ‘THE CONSTANT FLAME’ : nov.28-dec.5

In the russet and golden days of autumn, we gather round the fire and the table with family, friends, and food—to give thanks. It’s an inflection point, a moment of warmth and communion in the busy days of year’s end.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space called ‘THE CONSTANT FLAME,’ we honor the emotional fire that fuels music with creativity and passion, and the inner flame in us that seeks it. In the words of composer ALEX CLINE, “it’s a fire that can warm, consume, illumine, destroy, purify, blind…or save.”

With music by SECRET GARDEN, BILL DOUGLAS, THE MARQUIS ENSEMBLE, GEORGE WINSTON, MICHAEL GETTEL, TIM STORY, ALEX CLINE ENSEMBLE, and MASAJI WATANABE.

[ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ]

PGM 1092R ‘SPIRIT OF ARMENIA’ : oct. 17-24

Armenian landscape with Mt. Ararat

THE ANCIENT LAND OF ARMENIA has had a complex and often contentious history. Sitting astride the Silk Road trade route in the southern Caucasus, east of Turkey and north of Iran and Azerbaijan, Armenia served as one of the gateways between Christian Europe and the non-Western cultures of the Middle East and Central Asia.

Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as the state religion in 301 A.D. Both location and history account for the rich set of cultural influences that became Armenian music, from roots in Zoroastrian and Pagan folk and sacred music, through the rise of Christianity, and continuing to evolve for over 1500 years.

The great historical figure of Armenian music was KOMITAS — the late 19th/early 20th century scholar, priest, folk song collector and arranger, composer, choir-master and singer. Educated in an Armenian seminary, then in western classical music in Berlin, Komitas combined traditional sacred and secular Armenian modal music with western classical practice, to create the foundation for an authentic Armenian classical music.

The German ECM label has been documenting new and traditional Armenian music for over 30 years, with a series of superb recordings, many of which have been featured on these programs. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we focus on two of these recordings, on a program called “SPIRIT OF ARMENIA.”

[ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ]

PGM 888R ‘TIME OF TRANSITION’ : oct.3-10

Four times a year, the seasons turn.
The changes can be subtle or dramatic.
These are the times of transition in the natural world —
the original, the most pervasive, varied, and far reaching
ambient soundscape of them all.

Societies and cultures go through their own transitions.
Sometimes they’re welcomed;
more often, they are resisted, even feared.
In nature, the wise, the lucky, and the flexible
evolve, and learn to adapt.

On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE,
we ride the receding energy of summer as it descends into fall,
on a program called TIME OF TRANSITION.

Music is by JON HOPKINS, BARCELONA, PSICODREAMICS, DAVID HELPLING & JON JENKINS, HAROLD BUDD & CLIVE WRIGHT, BRUNO SANFILIPPO & MATHIAS GRASSOW, DAVID DARLING, and FALLING YOU.

[ view program ] [ view Flickr image gallery ]

PGM 985R ‘BADLANDS’ : sept.19-26

Out on the western range, there’s places where the deep prairie meets the desert at the end of the line. Places where the tough get going and the outlaws go to hide: where the land’s eroded, the water’s scarce, the weather’s bad, the nights are dangerous, and everything you see…is a survivor. It’s called “The Badlands.” 

On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, a program inspired by this hard and beautiful environment…called BADLANDS. Music is by DANIEL LANOIS, ERIC TINGSTAD, CARL WEINGARTEN, BRUCE KAPHAN, EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY, JAPANCAKES and DAVID TORN.

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

PGM 1354R ‘WILD SANCTUARY’ : sept. 5-12

Trick question: Before recordings, before electronics, even before history—what was the original form of ambient music? Here’s a hint: it’s not what we normally call music, but it has a lot in common with music.

The answer is the natural soundscape: a combination of the geophony—non-biological natural sounds like wind, waves, water, and weather, and the biophony—the sounds produced by all the non-human organisms in a given habitat.

Documenting the natural soundscape has been the life work of “soundscape ecologist” BERNIE KRAUSE, who’s been recording and archiving natural soundscapes from around the world since 1979. Our 3-D sound localization ability is based on the evolutionary advantage of being able to identify the location, direction and distance of ambient sounds—and it’s this sensibility we use when we listen to ambient music.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, the magical combination of ambient nature sounds and ambient music…on a program called “WILD SANCTUARY.” Music is by ISHQ, BRIAN ENO, STEVE ROACH, PATRICK O’HEARN, ARIEL KALMA, RUTH HAPPEL, and DANNA & CLEMENT.

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PGM 1148R ‘INNER RHYTHMS’ : aug. 22-29

The trance rhythms of the Middle East, Asia and Africa are steady, continuous, and slowly changing. Rather than driving you forward like the ubiquitous military march beats of western rock, they patiently insinuate themselves on your nervous system, steady the breath, slow the pulse, and ultimately…transform your awareness. Psychologists call it “entrainment” or “dissociation.” The rest of us call it enchantment, rapture, ecstasy, or euphoria. It’s all part of the wide world of trance.

Trance rhythms have been used by priests and shamans in non-western cultures for centuries. More recently they’ve been rediscovered by western musicians seeking an alternative to conventional beats, used by so-called “minimalist” classical composers, and adopted by experimental musicians around the world for their psychoactive power and popular appeal. Trance is also a major genre of Electronic Dance Music, with mind-altering beats heard on dance floors around the world.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we insinuate ourselves on your nervous system—in a good way—with soft summer trance music, on a program called INNER RHYTHMS. Music is by JAMES HOOD, BYRON METCALF, LOREN NERELL, DREAM JUNGLE, and DON LI.  

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

PGM 883R ‘DESERT REALMS’ : aug. 8-15

The desert…a place where sun, heat, wind and sand conspire to make life a challenge for even the strongest organisms.

For humans, it’s where civilization ends, and we confront the earth at its most elemental — vast space, rugged terrain, extreme conditions, contemplative solitude, and often, eerie silence. It’s no wonder the desert continues to be a major source of inspiration for ambient musicians.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, another superheated journey in dehydrated spaces called DESERT REALMS.” Music is by STEVE ROACH & BYRON METCALF, RUDY ADRIAN, BRUNO SANFILIPPO & MAX CORBACHO, and MARTIN, KLAMPT & ROWND.
    
[ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]