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PGM 675R 'LONG TONES Part 1 of 2—David Parsons tribute' : mar. 7-14

New Zealand musician DAVID PARSONS had a unique and fascinating musical career. In fact, you probably couldn't make it up if you tried.

Back in the early 1960s, he was a jazz drummer, longing for a more melodic instrument.  Years before The Beatles brought the sitar to pop music, Parsons heard a recital in New Zealand by RAVI SHANKAR. That was it. Inspired to make the sitar his new instrument, he spent three years trying to get one imported into NZ, then 8 years teaching himself to play it. At that point he was ready to get serious!…and he made several trips to India to study with one of the few female sitar masters, KRISHNA CHAKRAVARTY. 

In the late 1970s, fascinated by the sound of drones and long tones, Parsons discovered the connection between Indian music and synthesizers, and began creating electronic-Indian music fusions.  In the late 1980s, he went digital, incorporating samples of ethnic instruments and ambient sounds from his travels in Asia, including the chanting and ceremonial instruments of Tibetan monks.

His record company hired him to document ethnic music, a project that took him to exotic places like Iran, Armenia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Bali, and Malaysia.  Like many of these cultures, his own music is rooted in India—with the melodic construction of the raga, the rhythmic cycles of the tala, and the extended, contemplative space of the alap.  He created dozens of amazing albums, and doesn't read a note of music.

David Parsons passed away in February 2025 at 80. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, part 1 of a 2 part DAVID PARSONS RETROSPECTIVE called "LONG TONES." 

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PGM 1068R 'WINTERTONES 2'

The latter days of winter bring a special kind of fatigue mixed with impatience. For residents of snow-crossed parts of the country, winter has begun to overstay its welcome; while here in California, the trees are blossoming, and February feels like spring.

As the sound of the season evolves, music of the far north and Arctic countries still resonates, connecting with contemplative acoustic mainstays like the cello and the piano. From deep minimalist patterns to Romantic melodicism, we find the soul and comfort to endure.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, wintry acoustic spacemusic for the season, on a program called WINTERTONES 2. With Icelandic musicians OLAFUR ARNALDS and HILDUR GUTHNADOTTIR, cellist DAVID DARLING with SYLVIA NAKKACH and JACQUELINE TSCHABOLD BHUYAN, MICHAEL HOPPE & HAROLD MOSES, BRUNO SANFILIPPO, and RALPH ZURMUHLE. 

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PGM 1037R 'THE LONG NIGHT' : feb. 7-14

We're at the nadir of winter in the Northern Hemisphere...a time when the yearly journey around our native star seems arbitrary and endless. Battered by storms, challenged by cold, starved for light, we have no choice but to wait...for the return of the sun and the bright promise of spring.

It's a trial we repeat in miniature each long winter night, as we turn away from the sun into the cosmic darkness. But while we can escape most of the night in sleep, winter...must be endured. It's a test of fortitude and patience, a confrontation with our own desires for ease and comfort.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a nocturnal winter journey called "THE LONG NIGHT."  Music is by JEFF GREINKE, ROBERT RICH, A PRODUCE, STEVE ROACH & KELLY DAVID, SEAN WASHBURN, and NUNC STANS & MYSTIFIED.

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PGM 243 'SO DARK: a tribute to David Lynch' — jan. 24-31

If you’re old enough to have been watching network television in 1990, just the first two notes of this music should have sent an involuntary shiver down your spine. It conjures up atavistic, possibly suppressed, memories of the strange, disconcerting world of the late film and television director DAVID LYNCH—creator of the award-winning series “TWIN PEAKS,” who passed away in January, 2025.

It's a perfect example of the Lynch brand of “Visionary Surrealism,” a mixture of the banal, the beautiful, and the sinister —a juxtaposition of mysterious or menacing sounds and images with mundane, everyday environments. On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, a tribute to the banal, bizarre, beautiful, and disconcerting world of DAVID LYNCH, on a program called "SO DARK.”

Music is by ANGELO BADALAMENTI, JULEE CRUISE, TOM NEWMAN, JEFF GREINKE, and GABRIEL YARED.  

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PGM 1205R 'FROZEN TIME' : jan.10-17

The serene spaces of contemplative minimalism have attracted some strange bedfellows over the years, including classical, new music, and experimental composers, serious jazz artists, ambient-electronic sound sculptors, and native musicians from the far north. They share a taste for consonance, repetition, slow tempos, electro-acoustic instrumentation, and expanded ambience. 

In these vast, frigid spaces, time seems to slow and even stop. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, timeless soundscapes inspired by the Arctic North, on a program called "FROZEN TIME."

Music is by CHRISTEL VERAART, JEFF GREINKE, TIGRAN HAMASYAN, JOHN LUTHER ADAMS, MICHAEL JON FINK, SOMEI SATOH, and OLAFUR ARNALDS.

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PGM 826 "TO THEE WE SING" : dec. 27-jan.3

The legacy of choral singing is never more cherished than during the holiday season, when it brings warmth and light to the winter darkness by opening the heart and feeding the soul. From the Christian churches and cathedrals of Europe and the U.S., to the Orthodox churches of Russia, central Asia, and the Holy Land, the human family gathers to listen, sing, and worship together.

After more than ten centuries of evolution, some of the finest choral music was written during the last 100 years by a special breed of contemporary composers, who respect and extend the tradition. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, another compilation of sublime choral pieces from our longtime guest producer ELLEN HOLMES called "TO THEE WE SING." Music is by the cream of liturgical composers from Russia, Estonia, Bulgaria and the U.S., including SERGEI RACHMANINOV, ARCHBISHOP IONAFAN, DOBRI CHRISTOV, MORTEN LAURIDSEN, and others.

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PGM 1031 'GLORIA' : dec.13-20

The eternally innocent sound of the boy soprano: whether you're Christian or not, it's a sound that floats high and pure, far above our worldly cares.

The boy soprano or "treble" voice has been used in Christian religious music for centuries, especially in England. True fact: Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones sang for Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Abbey as a boy soprano!

Since Medieval times, some of the Western world's greatest composers have written music for sacred services. The immersive ambience of great stone churches and cathedrals, the majestic tones of the pipe organ, and the massed voices of the choir and the worship community created the context; from it came a genre of sacred space music, including vocal and instrumental pieces, great liturgical works, and hymns and psalms of sublime beauty. It's a repertoire we come back to every year during the holiday season.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, another offering from our longtime guest producer for classical and sacred space music ELLEN HOLMES, featuring sacred choral and instrumental classics for the holiday season, on a program called "GLORIA."

Music is by the boy choir LIBERA, MOZART, HANDEL, VIVALDI, CHARPENTIER, PADOVANO, STRIGGIO, PALESTRINA, MONTEVERDI, MOUTON, BENCINI, PÄRT, LAURIDSEN, and HOLBORNE.

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PGM 996R 'ILLUMINATION' : nov. 29-dec.6

After the Thanksgiving holiday the chilled months of the winter season begin in earnest, and with them the celebration of light itself, conjoined with the year-end religious celebrations. From the pre-Christian and Pagan festivals of the sun, to Christian, Jewish and Hindu celebrations of light, we chase away the gloom of the season with a special radiance.

The music of midwinter embodies this transition from the dark harmonies of late autumn to the festive atmosphere of the year-end solstice and religious celebrations: lyrical, optimistic, and heartwarming. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, ambient chamber music for the transition to the season of light, on a program called ILLUMINATION. Featured artists are KEVIN KELLER, JENNIFER ZULLI, TIM STORY, and RUSSEL WALDER.

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

After the Thanksgiving holiday the chilled months of the winter season begin in earnest, and with them the celebration of light itself, conjoined with the year-end religious celebrations. From the pre-Christian and Pagan festivals of the sun, to Christian, Jewish and Hindu celebrations of light, we chase away the gloom of the season with a special radiance.

The music of midwinter embodies this transition from the dark harmonies of late autumn to the festive atmosphere of the year-end solstice and religious celebrations: lyrical, optimistic, and heartwarming. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, ambient chamber music for the transition to the season of light, on a program called ILLUMINATION. Featured artists are KEVIN KELLER, JENNIFER ZULLI, TIM STORY, and RUSSEL WALDER.

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

PGM 963R 'GIVING THANKS' : nov. 22-29

We live in a complex and ever-changing world. When things go wrong, it's all too easy to fall back on cynicism, worry, even despair. In difficult times, we tend to forget that despite our problems and injustices, our world is still supporting more people, at a higher standard of living, than at any time in human history.

That's why the Thanksgiving holiday is a welcome respite. From its origins as an after-harvest celebration, it evolved into something more: an opportunity to convene family and friends; share comfort food and conversation; and at the heart of the holiday, the simple act of pausing, looking back, and expressing gratitude for what life has brought us this year.

Like prayer, the attitude of thanks is quiet, reflective, and humble. But while prayer is normally personal, giving thanks is something we like to share — an expression of the spirit of abundance, inclusion and generosity.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, music for acceptance and gratitude, on a program called "GIVING THANKS." Music is by JONATHAN ELIAS, ELENI KARAINDROU, KEVIN KELLER, PULUSHA, HECTOR ZAZOU and DAVID DARLING.

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PGM 868R 'INTO THE STORM' : nov. 8-15

In good times, life moves swiftly, with little time for reflection. Warnings of impending disaster may go unheeded — until it's too late: confusion and chaos rule the day.

In stormy times, the wise remain calm, even when the world around them is in turmoil. Turbulence may destroy structures that lack a firm foundation, but this is necessary to build stronger ones. In nature and in society, excess must be corrected. Destruction...is also a path to renewal.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, an electro-ambient journey for turbulent times called INTO THE STORM. Music is by MARCONI UNION, ADHAM SHAIKH & TIM FLOYD, MICHAEL STEARNS, DAN BARRIO, RUBEN GARCIA, IAN BODDY, PHILIPPE EMANUEL GEUBLE, and KIT WATKINS.

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PGM 1262R 'MYSTIC CANYONS' : oct 11-18

The gentle tones of the Native American cedar flute have propagated far beyond their origin — a rare case of a humble ethnic instrument succeeding on natural charm and sonic appeal.

Resurrected from decades of cultural neglect by native musicians in the mid 20th century, it proved to be a versatile and satisfying instrument for both amateur and professional musicians. We like to revisit it in the fall, when its pentatonic minor scale seems to magically express the deepening energy and complex colors of the season.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a Southwest autumn journey featuring the Native American flute, called MYSTIC CANYONS. Music is by COYOTE OLDMAN, JONN SERRIE & GARY STROUTSOS, SCOTT AUGUST, JOHNNY WHITEHORSE, JAMES MARIENTHAL, SHERRY FINZER, JOHN HULING, and KENNETH HOOPER.

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PGM 1181R 'CONFESSSIONS' : sept 27-oct 4

CONFESSION...it's simple in theory: to tell the truth. In practice? It's more complicated.

Confession plays a critical role in the justice system, in religion, in therapeutic and personal relationships. And at a time when the very idea of objective facts and truth is being challenged, confession is more important than ever.

A true confession is a revelation — a release of hidden knowledge. And it's often accompanied by powerful, even cathartic, emotions. No wonder confessional songs and music are found in some of the oldest cultures on earth.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space...the quiet sound of emotional truth, on a program called CONFESSIONS. Music is by ADAM HURST, ELINA DUNI, MIRABAI CEIBA, SAVINA YANNATOU, BADI ASSAD, JOSÉ LUIS MONTÓN, ESTÁS TONNÉ, ANDRÉ GERAISSATI, and AMBERFERN.

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PGM 1122R 'SUMMER'S END' : sept.13-20

It's only three short months from the summer solstice to the autumn equinox, and we make the most of them: travel, vacation, backyard parties, fun at the beach or the lake, and sports and water activities of every description. All that plus balmy nights, and the hypnotic rhythm of the crickets to lull us to sleep. Summer can be a magical respite in our complicated lives, but when mid-September comes, we know it's drawing to a close.

Instrumental music can express our complex feelings about the end of summer—good memories, a sense of nostalgia, a tinge of melancholy, and quiet acceptance. Acoustic instruments like piano, guitar and cello are perfect for the job, especially when enhanced by electronics. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, music for the summer/fall transition, on a program called SUMMER'S END. Music is by HELEN JANE LONG, JEFF PEARCE, KATHRYN KAYE, ANGELO RABAN, and the late DAVID DARLING.

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PGM 1349R 'OCEANIC REALMS 2' : aug 30-sept 6

It's been over 50 years since electronic music emerged from academic laboratories and embarked on the road to mainstream popularity. One of the most influential early artists was Greek musician EVANGELOS PAPATHANASSIOU—mercifully shortened to VANGELIS—who began as the keyboard player of the biggest rock band ever in Greece (APHRODITE'S CHILD), then quit and moved to London, where he began scoring films and documentaries.

While the Germans focused on technology, Vangelis adapted the Romantic Classical genre to electronic keyboards, created lush, melodic, emotionally expressive music, and became an A-list film composer. It's a style that still reverberates today.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, inspired by a classic Vangelis album celebrating the world's oceans, a deep blue journey called OCEANIC REALMS 2. Music is by VANGELIS, THE AMNIS INITIATIVE, APOCLIPTIC & ROMERIUM, LOSCIL, JEAN-MICHEL JARRE, RUDY ADRIAN, and LIQUID MIND.

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PGM 1048R 'CLOUD NINE' : aug.16-23

SUMMER...inspires an even more ethereal brand of Ambient electronica. Whether flying or floating on the balmy breezes, the sounds are airy and the movement is light and buoyant. The words we use to describe the moods it creates are superlative: joyous, blissful, ecstatic, delightful — even heavenly. And when it comes to heaven, for some reason we prefer the seventh.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, an ambient-electronic-summer-journey called CLOUD NINE. Yes, we also number the clouds.

Music is by CHRONOTOPE PROJECT, FANGER & SCHONWALDER, JOHN LYELL, ARIEL KALMA, and DAVE LUXTON.

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PGM 1188R 'SUMMERTONES 3' : aug.2-9

BELIEVE IT OR NOT, the combination of ambient nature sounds and electronic music was actually an innovation in the 1970s. And you may be surprised that the idea had a history in European classical music, especially in England and France.

In England, it was the so-called "pastoral" composers like ARNOLD BAX and RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS, who created orchestral images of nature. In France, it was the Impressionists, from CLAUDE DEBUSSY to OLIVIER MESSIAEN. They didn't have recordings, so they created new instruments and playing techniques to imitate natural sounds like wind and birdsongs.

By the mid-20th century, we could record the sounds of nature, edit them and play them back at will. In the 1950s, avant-garde composers like JOHN CAGE were promoting an awareness of ambient sound as equal to music. Music...was how you listened. Incorporating nature sounds into music was the next step; beside, film soundtracks had been doing it for years.

The psychology is foundational: humans evolved listening to natural sounds, and they send a message we respond to instinctively. For example, birdsong on a gentle summer morning is delightful and calming. Blend in some subtle synthesizers, season with gourmet reverberation and you have what two young Canadians named MYCHAEL DANNA and TIM CLÉMENT called "environmental electronic music."

It's an idea that was embraced by New Age musicians and in time became a bit of a cliché. But it led to an electronic genre of extended tone-color journeys in virtual space, which is still alive and well. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, the fluid, airy sound of summer spacemusic, on a program called SUMMERTONES 3.

Music is by MEG BOWLES, DANNA & CLÉMENT, CHRONOTOPE PROJECT, ALTUS, and STELLIA.

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PGM 1285R 'SLACK KEY PARADISE' : july 19-26

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.

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PGM 770R 'THERMALS' : july 5-12

Flying and floating: two weightless activities we associate with the airy skies and watery delights of summer. Of course, spacemusic allows you to fly and float all year 'round, but somehow it's even more enjoyable in the warm weather months.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we ride the air currents and float on blissful waves, on a program of ambient electronics for summer called THERMALS. Music is by MARCONI UNION, ASHERA, GULAN, STU JENKS, and A PRODUCE.

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PGM 1051R 'DESERT SOUL' : june 21-28

Underlying the political and religious differences that have provoked centuries of unrest in the Middle East and North Africa is the landscape—an austere region of desert and mountains, transected by great rivers: the Nile, the Tigris, the Euphrates. This environment, along with centuries of cultural exchange, accounts for a rough musical unity across countries and ethnicities. Thus the music of Turkey, Israel and Palestine has similarities with the Arabic and Berber music of North Africa, and the Persian traditions of Iran.

Today, progressive artists working within these traditions have created a Virtual Middle East, a cultural blend that effectively ignores ethnic, religious and political differences, and brings us an image of what a peaceful future in the region might sound like.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, soulful sounds from the Virtual Middle East, on a program called DESERT SOUL. Music is by MICHEL BANABILA, DHAFER YOUSSEF, MARJAN VAHDAT, NIYAZ, ARCHETRIBE, and ANOUAR BRAHEM.

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PGM 881R 'SUMMERTRONICA 4' : jun 7-14

IT'S PROBABLY A REACTION to our increasingly safe, predictable, scheduled lives, but a longing for the ecstatic, the primitive, and the archaic has been sweeping through Western music for almost a hundred years.

IGOR STRAVINSKY's "Rite of Spring" — a fertility ritual — with its intense dissonances and pagan polyrhythms, took an opening shot across the bow of civilized European art in 1913. Its premiere, famously, caused a riot.

From the polite 19th century Romantic fascination with the "noble savage," through R&B and the rock 'n' roll stance of "Elvis the Pelvis," to the trancey ethnic rhythms of today's techno-tribal dance and ambient music — we continue to seek the energy and the release...of the ecstatic.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, another techno-triba-delic journey called SUMMERTRONICA 4. Music is by DREAM JUNGLE, TUU, JORGE REYES & PIET JAN BLAUW, TONY GERBER, RESONANT DRIFT, DAN POUND, and KEVIN BRAHENY FORTUNE.

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PGM 1346R 'INDIA NAVIGATION 2' : may 24-31

It’s been almost seventy years since the arrival of Indian classical music in Europe and the United States. Starting in 1956, English violinist YEHUDI MENUHIN’s interest in Indian music led to collaborations and concert tours with two of the then hottest young musicians in India—sitar master RAVI SHANKAR and sarod master ALI AKBAR KHAN. It was the beginning of a period of cross-fertilization of Indian and Western classical music. And in the 1960’s, the famous adoption of the Indian sitar by GEORGE HARRISON of THE BEATLES brought awareness of Indian music to the mainstream.

Today, recordings, films, videos, and digital networks have led to a broadening of cultural communication, where influence and interaction occur across many genres simultaneously. Western musicians study Indian microtonal scales, play Indian instruments, and create new hybrid styles—while Indian musicians study western tempered scales, harmony, and orchestration, play electronic instruments, and extend the traditions of Indian music to an international audience.

On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, contemporary, traditional, and sacred sounds of India, on a program called INDIA NAVIGATION 2.

Music is by sitarists JASDEEP SINGH DEGUN, ANOUSHKA SHANKAR, and NILADRI KUMAR, bansuri flutists MARK SEELIG and VIRGINIA NICOLI, sarod and santur by CHINMAYA DUNSTER, and producer CRAIG PRUESS and the great devotional singer ANURADHA PAUDWAL.

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PGM 1144R 'CONFLATION' : may 10-17

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 947R 'ETHEREA' : april 26-may 3

PYTHAGORAS was the ancient Greek philosopher who taught that the cosmos is constructed of spheres, and that air (or a transparent mist called "aether") was the "arche" or substratum of everything — thus the word archetype. In 19th century Victorian science, the "luminiferous ether" was a medium for the propagation of light. In the early 20th century, the Theosophists and Rosicrucians theorized an "etheric plane" — a nonmaterial level of reality above the physical plane.

When applied to music, ethereal means subtle, airy and light — immaterial and weightless. It's a word often applied to electronic music, where the sounds are not produced by physical instruments and have an abstract, immaterial quality.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we push off from the bright spaces and watery sounds of spring, journey into rarified realms of light and space, and return to verdant images of spring — on a program called ETHEREA. Music is by ISHQ, KUUTANA, MOTIONFIELD, IASOS, JEFFREY KOEPPER, and AMONGST MYSELVES. 

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PGM 1043R : 'EXPANSION' mar. 22-29

Ahhh, the advent of spring. It arrives in fits and starts... a few warm days punctuated by brisk winds and unpredictable storms. In March, we pass the spring equinox and have a bright new season. The trees bud and blossom, and the natural world stirs and awakes. After the constriction and enclosure of winter, it's a time to stretch, breathe deep, and expand.

The Ambient soundscapes of the season are brighter, bolder, larger, with a sense of possibility, even hope. The long winter is past, the joy of spring and the blissful days of summer are at hand.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a journey in the vernal soundscape, on a program called EXPANSION. Music is by DAVID HELPLING & JON JENKINS, PATRICK O'HEARN, JOHN LYELL, ALPHA WAVE MOVEMENT, PHILLIP WILKERSON, HAR, and HAROLD BUDD.

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PGM 937R 'STARRY NIGHT' : mar.9-16

The heavenly spectacle is never more brilliant than during the cold winter months. On those glorious crystal clear nights, the chilled fog, freezing rain and snow is forgotten, and we look out to the stars and look back into time itself. It's a vision that can truly be said to have a timeless fascination: if not for its beauty, then for its mystery.

The starry night is the subject of a powerful song by DON McLEAN, which is not about stars and planets at all, but the life — and death — of Vincent Van Gogh:

They could not love you,
But still your love was true.
And when no hope was left in sight
On that starry, starry night,
You took your life, as lovers often do.
But I could have told you, Vincent,
This world was never meant for one
As beautiful as you.

On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, acoustic and electronic music inspired by the night sky and the quiet melancholy of the winter atmosphere, on a program called STARRY NIGHT. Music is by MURIEL ANDERSON & JOHN DOAN, CAROL TATUM, CECILIA CHAILLY, JEFF GREINKE, and TIM STORY.

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