hearts of space | news

PGM 1346 'INDIA NAVIGATION 2' : may 26-june 2

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.

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

PGM 1345 'THERAPEUTIC MUSIC' : may 12-19

For thousands of years, music has been used for therapy and healing. From the ancient lyre, the harp, and other stringed instruments, to the resonant percussion sounds of bells, bowls, gongs and cymbals, it’s long been known that music has the potential to heal both the physical body, and the psyche.

So it should be no surprise that from the earliest days of New Age music, some artists made claims for the therapeutic, stress-reducing, or healing qualities of their music. Here, language matters: therapeutic and stress-reducing express both the intention of the artist and the function of the music; healing is a much larger claim, more subjective, and much harder to prove.

On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE—we explore these stress-reducing sounds, and on a program we’ll call (conservatively...) THERAPEUTIC MUSIC. We have selections by English musician ESSIE JAIN, therapeutic music pioneer STEVEN HALPERN, MOSHI MOSHI DESU, MAUREEN-JI & UNIVERSAL SYMPHONIES, Norwegian musician EIRLYS, the Los Angeles duo BIOMUSIQUE, and crystal bowls by TRYSHE DHEVNEY.

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

PGM 1344 'GAME SCORES 2' : may 5-12

From humble beginnings as cheap electronic toys in the 1970s, video games have evolved into a multi-billion dollar worldwide industry, second only to television, and bigger than global sports, movies, radio, live and recorded music, audiobooks and podcasting…combined.

Today, video games can be comparable in technical and artistic quality to feature films. Over five decades, the technology developed to support high resolution video and audio, and video game music has become increasingly sophisticated.

On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE based on awesomely comprehensive music research by guest producers JOHN WEDGEWORTH and HUGUES of the NERD NOISE RADIO video game music podcast—ambient, electronic, orchestral and environmental music from video games, on a program called GAME SCORES 2.

We have music from the soundtracks of ECCO: THE TIDES OF TIME / FINAL FANTASY TEN / 3D MUSEUM / THE LAST STORY / FORECAST CHANNEL / SAMAROST 2 / ZWEI 2 / TWO DOTS / MYST 3: EXILE / OUT OF THIS WORLD / SUBNAUTICA 2: BELOW ZERO / STRAY /NO MAN’S SKY / CONTRADICTION / and MINECRAFT.

It’s another report on the fantastic immersive worlds of video games: GAME SCORES 2...on this transmission...of Hearts of Space.

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

PGM 1342 'TRANSONIC 2' : apr. 14-21

"Electro-acoustic"—a clumsy, literal name for an increasingly refined genre of contemporary music.

Of course 99% of the music made by humans over the centuries was made with acoustic instruments, some of which used the most advanced technologies of their time. The rate of change accelerated in the late 19th and early 20th century/ with the invention of telephony, radio, and recording. Along with new electronic instruments, electronics were applied to existing acoustic instruments, resulting in "electro-acoustic" hybrids like the electric guitar.

For a time, this led to a typical progressive versus conservative battle between acoustic and electronic music, but today most recording artists embrace both, and chose whatever instrument or processor gives them the expression they seek.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space...it's another journey along the electro-acoustic frontier, on a program called "TRANSONIC 2." 

Music is by "BROTHERS" WILL ACKERMAN, JEFF OSTER & TOM EATON, THIERRY DAVID, ROBIN GUTHRIE & HAROLD BUDD, DAVID DARLING & HANS CHRISTIAN, CARLOS DENGLER, ECHO COLLECTIVE with harpist MARGARET HERMANT, and harpist KIRSTEN AGRESTA COPELY.

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

PGM 1341 'A STEVE TIBBETTS CELEBRATION' : mar. 24-31

As we slog wearily but hopefully through the last storm of winter and welcome the transition to spring, it’s a good time to reconsider the music of the singular Minnesota guitarist and composer STEVE TIBBETTS—a man who fully lives the life of an artist, while still being a responsible citizen, a compassionate family man, an entertaining storyteller, an international traveler to the mountains of Nepal and the jungles of Bali—and a serious, open-minded musician.

As you might expect from someone with such broad and diverse experience, STEVE TIBBETTS’ music is multi-faceted, wide-ranging, and absolutely unique. He plays both electric and 12 string guitars in a non-standard tuning, and cites influences from jazz, rock, and world music, as well as his lifelong musical partner, percussionist MARK ANDERSON, and producer MANFRED EICHER of his longtime label ECM Records.

On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, we focus on his more delicate and contemplative acoustic music, on "A STEVE TIBBETTS CELEBRATION."

We'll feature selections from his 2022 ECM Anthology HELLBOUND TRAIN; from his 1984 ECM album SAFE JOURNEY; and from SELWA, his 2004 collaboration with Tibetan nun and singer CHÖYING DROLMA.

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

 

PGM 1340 'STAR TRACER' : mar. 17-24

More than a hundred years into the evolution of electronic music, and a lot has changed, but some things remain the same. Synthesizers, samplers, Digital Audio Workstations, sound modification tools, and now music software and “plug-in” processors—have opened up an unlimited new creative environment—while the ancient principles of melody, harmony, and rhythm have been joined by the creation of virtual space. And when it comes to virtual space, electronic images of our cosmic environment continue to inspire what we like to call “spacemusic.”

On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE we’re back to our happy place, with a program of interstellar electronics called STAR TRACER. Music is by S1GNS OF L1FE, ALPHA WAVE MOVEMENT, SUBDREAM, DREAMSTATE LOGIC,TERMINUS VOID, JONN SERRIE, TOM MOORE & MIKE CLAY.

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

PGM 1339 'SECRET SOUNDS of TIBET' : mar.3-10

The otherworldly sound of Tibetan Buddhist chant: coarse and guttural in tone, yet powerfully calm and focused. For centuries it was a secret sound heard only in remote monasteries high on the Tibetan Plateau. It found its way west in the Tibetan diaspora, after the Chinese invasion and occupation of the mountain kingdom in 1951.

Along with the deep vocals came a full complement of unique metal instruments, from 16’ longhorns and powerful crashing cymbals, to resonant bowls, and delicate bells of astonishing clarity. A new genre was created by progressive Tibetan monks and adventurous western musicians like HENRY WOLFF and NANCY HENNINGS, with their groundbreaking 1972 album “TIBETAN BELLS.”

On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, we immerse ourselves in authentic Tibetan chant and cross-cultural creative hybrids, on a neo-Tibetan/Himalayan journey called SECRET SOUNDS OF TIBET.                                                       

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

PGM 1338 'MINIMAL SERENITY' : feb.24-mar.3

It's a perfectly complementary musical combination: the tuned metallic bell tones of the vibraphone and the natural wooden resonance of the marimba. They're both members of the family of mallet percussion instruments, but there's quite a difference in age. The marimba hails from sub-Saharan Africa and is centuries old, while the vibraphone—an updated version of the steel marimba—was invented in Indiana in the early 1920s.

Mallet instruments have been associated with the post-Classical genre of Minimalism since the beginning. They were part of the standard college curriculum in percussion performance, so the early music of TERRY RILEY and STEVE REICH used mallet ensembles to create the precision rhythm patterns in their music.

Today the psychoactive rhythms, consonant harmonies, and simplified elements of Minimalism have influenced many other genres—from post-Classical, Experimental Improvisation, and Contemplative Ambient—to Electronic Dance Music, Techno, and instrumental post-Rock. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we focus on the quiet side of Minimalism, on a program called MINIMAL SERENITY. Music is by the ARX DUO, MAX RICHTER, NICHOLAS CHASE, ADRIÁN DEMOĈ and ENSEMBLE RICERCATA, and the ABEL-STEINBERG-WINANT TRIO plays SOMEI SATO.

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

PGM 1337 'WINTERSPACE 2' : feb.10-17

WINTER—like “The Dude” in the Coen brothers classic THE BIG LEBOWSKI—abides.
Well, maybe endures would be a better way to characterize a season that often overstays its welcome, and is commonly fraught with challenges both natural and human, that test our patience and stretch our resilience.

For ambient electronic musicians, winter inspires the creation of vast, frozen soundscapes, with profound dark drones, cold harmonies, sonic mist, fog, and snow. On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, it's another superchilled electronic journey in the virtual north, on a program called WINTERSPACE 2. Music is by ERIK WØLLO, BRIAN ENO, GULAN, CARBON BASED LIFEFORMS, JEFF GREINKE, and ANDREA CALLIGARIS.

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

PGM 1336 'NORTHERN LIGHTS 4' : feb.3-10

Every winter we return to the superb folk, classical and contemporary music of Scandinavia and the Arctic north. These small but artistically mighty countries create music that's more significant than cultures a hundred times their size. Say what you will about democratic socialism, but their state-supported educational and cultural systems are second to none, and underwrite the development of creative talent in many genres.

Nourishing it all is the psychological power of the extraordinary natural environment: the cold North sea and volcanic islands, the dramatic coastal mountains and fjords, the vast boreal forests, the visual magic of fog, mist, and snow, and the otherworldly spectacle of the auroras — the famous Northern lights.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, wintry folk, ambient, and chamber music from Scandinavia and the Arctic north, on a program called NORTHERN LIGHTS 4. Music by ANNBJØRG LIEN, SKÁLD, HAGATHORN, MAIJA KAUHANEN, ARJA KASTINEN, HILDUR GUTHNADÓTTIR, TERJE ISUNGSET, JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON, and ÓLAFUR ARNALDS.

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

PGM 1335 'ESSENTIAL ASHRA' : dec.20-27

BERLIN, 1970: Out of the new creative territory opened up by electronics and mind-expanding chemistry comes a modest, hardworking electric guitarist named MANUEL GÖTTSCHING. He would go on to pioneer the sound of the electronic space guitar, help define popular instrumental spacemusic, and even influence the rhythmic foundation of techno and electronic dance music.

Riding the creative ferment of the 1970s, he founded the band ASH RA TEMPEL—later just ASHRA—then continued solo as MANUEL GÖTTSCHING. He was tireless in helping define the original German Kozmik Musik scene, along with KLAUS SCHULZE and legendary groups like TANGERINE DREAM, AGITATION FREE, KRAFTWERK, and CAN. While others got bogged down in theoretical or technical complexity, he concentrated on creating enjoyable music!

MANUEL GÖTTSCHING ascended to the cosmic soundscapes he created in December 2022 at age 70. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a MANUEL GÖTTSCHING posthumous retrospective, on a program called ESSENTIAL ASHRA.

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

PGM 1334 'NILS FRAHM: LONG, SLOW, & DEEP' : jan.13-20

NILS FRAHM emerged out of the third generation of post-electronic German musicians. Trained in classical piano, he moved to Berlin in his mid-20's, where he absorbed the artistic influence and technical orientation of the Berlin school of popular electronic music. He had a talent for memorable melodies, and the flexibility to shine in multiple genres—from solo piano, to electronic ambient, to film music.

With a string of solo piano albums and collaborations to his credit, in the last decade Frahm became an innovative live performer, combining several acoustic and electronic pianos with a battery of electronic instruments and processors into powerful solo performances.

When COVID-19 effectively put a temporary end to live music, Frahm expanded his personal studio and began working on a series of extended contemplative ambient pieces that reflected the atmosphere of solitude and isolation of the pandemic. Free from conventional notions of musical form or pace, Frahm compared them to watching a great waterfall that was both constantly changing and always the same.

What emerged after two years of work was a 3+ hour long triple album of immersive fractal rhythms and extended ambient tone color meditations, mysteriously titled MUSIC FOR ANIMALS. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, our selection of Frahm's elegant, ethereal, transcendent electronic and acoustic ambient from "MUSIC FOR ANIMALS," on a program called "NILS FRAHM: LONG, SLOW, and DEEP."

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

PGM 1332 'WINTERTRONIC 3' : dec.9-16

Chalk it up to the German genius for music and technology, but technical innovations from the late 1960s and early 1970s like the "sequencer" (an early manual method of creating repeating rhythm patterns) have not only remained relevant — they've become an essential part of the language of electronic music. At the same time, the fierce, extended winters of Northern Europe created a context that favored clear, bright tones and vast, subzero atmospheres. It led to what came to be called "kosmische musik" or cosmic music.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, another wintry journey on electronic waves, on a program called WINTERTRONIC 3. Music is by S1GNS OF L1FE, MICHAEL WHALEN, RICHARD BONE, HOLLAN HOLMES, LOSCIL, KEVIN KELLER, and LIQUID MIND. 

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

PGM 1331 'CELLO ELEGIES 2" : nov.26-dec.2

Mournful...plaintive...melancholy...somber...sonorous...resonant: the cello is all this and more — a compact, versatile string orchestra in one instrument, with a four-octave range that comes fully alive in the dark days of autumn. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, an autumn journey featuring the plangent tones of the cello, on a program called "CELLO ELEGIES 2." Music is by DAVID DARLING, HANS CHRISTIAN, MAYA BEISER, BLACK TAPE for a BLUE GIRL, ERALDO BERNOCCHI & HOSHIKO YAMANE, JESSE AHMANN, MAX RICHTER, and MARCELLO DE FRANCISCI.

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

PGM 1330 'DEEP FLUTES' : nov.11-18

With all the attention given to guitars, keyboards, and synthesizers these days, it's easy to overlook the oldest musical instrument on the planet: the flute. With examples made from bird and animal bones going back over 40,000 years, the flute has played a seminal role in the evolution of music on six continents.

For simplicity, ancient flutes can't be beat: a tube, some holes — done!  In Europe, the modern concert flute evolved to play complex classical music, but since the 1960s, a dedicated group of Native, Ambient and New Age artists has embraced older, simpler ethnic flutes from Native American, South American, Asian, and western folk cultures — combining them with reverberant environments and resonant percussion instruments as vehicles for meditation and healing.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, the quiet evolution of indigenous aerophones, on a program called DEEP FLUTES. Music is by SHERRY FINZER & WILL CLIPMAN, R.CARLOS NAKAI, ANN LICATER, JAMES MARIENTHAL, VIANNEY LOPEZ, and RAPHAEL GROTEN.

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

PGM 1329 'NETHERSONIC' : oct.28-nov.4

Welcome to the astrological house of Scorpio...a time of darkening in the world around us, when Celtic mythology considered the veil between this world and the "world of the spirits" to be at its thinnest. The advent of Scorpio each year brings us the dark ambient genres of gloom, gothic, and dark atmospheres. This music displays a quest for strangeness, a taste for the ominous, and a fascination with darkness, death, and decay that's appropriate for the fall season, and celebrated on All Hallow's Eve.

Solemn sounds, fear, depression, doleful wailing, and mournful processions are the order of the day, but this music also has a mysterious restorative power that comes from the confrontation with challenging emotions. The Greeks called it...catharsis.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a doom-y, gloomy, dark ambient descent for Halloween called NETHERSONIC. Music is by ATRIUM CARCERI, MONOCUBE, HINTERLAND, RAISON D'ETRE, SOUND PHENOMENON, CAUL, FRANK BEISSEL & STEVE ROACH.

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

PGM 1328 'SPACEJAZZ 9 : 'RESTRAINED' - oct.21-28

When it comes to jazz, great musicianship is the standard. But there’s a bright line between virtuosity, power, and technical complexity, and the slow, modal, atmospheric lyricism of beloved artists like pianist BILL EVANS and trumpeter MILES DAVIS, on his classic album KIND OF BLUE.

Quiet. Subtle. Spacious.  It's not about how many notes you play, but how beautifully you play them. As one musician says, it's about "loving every note."

On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, lyrical, atmospheric European jazz from the German ECM label, on a program called SPACEJAZZ 9: RESTRAINED. Music is by the TORD GUSTAVSEN TRIO, the SOKRATIS SINOPOULOS QUARTET, the MATS EILERSEN TRIO, GIOVANNI GUIDI, ELENI KARAINDROU, and DOMINIC MILLER.

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

PGM 1327 'WANDERING' : oct. 7-14

One of the key built-in features of music is movement. Fast or slow, steady or changing, ascending or descending in musical space — music invites us to move within it when we listen, while also inspiring us physically to move with it.

When we move in physical space, we normally have a destination, goal, or purpose. But when we explore a new environment, we like to be goal-free, take our time, and savor the experience. We can do this with the virtual environments of ambient music.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, the underrated pleasure of unplanned exploration, on a program called WANDERING.

Music is by ROBERT RICH & LUCA FORMENTINI, BJÖRN MEYER, JON DURANT & ROBERT JÜRJENDAL & PETER CHILVERS, SECONDFACE, and EIVIND AARSET.

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

PGM 1326 'RECESSION 3' : sept.23-30

As the sun sinks below the equator and into the southern hemisphere, what used to be an orderly transition from summer heat to autumn cool is now disrupted by extreme weather events. Seasonal changes have become more unpredictable, and we must learn to navigate the new reality of our intensified climate — droughts, heat waves, mega-fires, monsoons, floods, hurricanes, cyclones, and a new class of superstorms are all on the menu, bringing new challenges to a changing world.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a fond look back on those formerly gentle seasonal transitions, on a late summer/early autumn journey called RECESSION 3. Music is by DAVID HELPLING, ERIK WØLLO, MEG BOWLES, IAN BODDY, and STEVE ROACH.

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

PGM 1325 'HANS ZIMMER's SCORE FOR DUNE' : sept. 16-23

Of all the great science fiction of the 20th century, FRANK HERBERT's 1965 novel "DUNE" has been perhaps the most enduring and successful, giving rise to five sequels by Herbert, nine additional novels, and a committed world-wide audience. It was prescient in its visions of future politics, religion, ecology, technology, and the power of women in society.

After two unsuccessful attempts to film the novel by directors ALLEJANDRO JODOROWSKY and DAVID LYNCH, and a Sci-Fi Channel mini-series, in 2017 a new film version was commissioned by Canadian director DENIS VILLENEUVE with music by HANS ZIMMER, which went on to win six Oscars.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we devote the entire program to HANS ZIMMER's magnificent score. Synthesizers, solo vocals and chorus, world-winds and percussion, newly invented instruments, and influences from North Africa and the Middle East, create a powerful organic-electronic world described by Zimmer as "retro-futuristic."

Hans Zimmer's academy award-winning score for DUNE...on this transmission...of Hearts of Space.

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

PGM 1324 'WEST AFRICAN SPIRITS' : aug. 19-26

For the almost 40 years we've been producing Hearts of Space, our mission has been to bring you "Ambient, Space, and Contemplative music from around the world and across the centuries."

We've done it in dozens of countries and musical genres. Yet despite its rich and influential musical culture, we've only managed to create a handful of programs of the music of Africa. And within Africa, the music of West Africa and its signature instrument, the 22-string harp/lute called the kora—stands out for its melodic beauty and charm.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space from guest producer DAVID J. EGAN, we focus on the gentle joy of West African music and the kora, on a program called 'WEST AFRICAN SPIRITS.' Music is by RODERICK McLEOD & VINOD PRASANNA, AYUB OGADA, SONA JOBARTEH, STEPHAN MICUS, SEBATIERRA, ABLAYE CISSOKO & VOLKER GOETZE, and DEREK GRIPPER.

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

PGM 1323 'TRIBAL AMBIENT REVISITED' : aug. 5-12

The timeless sound of prehistoric hand drums, brought to the present with space-defining ambient electronics. In the 1980s, elements of ancient indigenous music were embraced by electronic musicians searching for an earthy, vital sound to balance the dematerialized tones of electronic instruments, ground the atmospheric soundscapes of ambient, and gain the power of ritual experience.  

The genre was originally termed “Techno-Tribal,” but as the Techno label became associated with electronic dance music, it was renamed “Tribal Ambient.” Today, the period of discovery is long over, but a core group of electro-acoustic artists with a taste for psychedelic experience and a talent for rhythm, continue to refine the sound and release new albums.

On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, another report from the creative intersection of tribal rhythms and ambient electronics, on a program called TRIBAL AMBIENT REVISITED. Music is by BYRON METCALF, FRORE & SHANE MORRIS, STEVE ROACH & MICHAEL STEARNS, SERENA GABRIEL, BIFF JOHNSON, and REMANENCE.

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

PGM 1322 'PHRYGIAN PHANTOMS' : july 29-aug. 5

In traditional music, a mode is a set of notes or tones that go together to create a distinctive, culturally valued ethos or character.

Modes go back to ancient Greece, and have been redefined over the centuries. In Greece the 5th harmonic minor mode was originally called the Dorian or Aeolian mode, and later the Phrygian mode, inspired by the passionate people of the kingdom of Phrygia in the wild Anatolian mountains of modern day Turkey. It was part of the modal music system of the Medieval Catholic church; and in the folk and classical music of Spain, the Phrygian dominant mode is known as the “Spanish gypsy scale,” because it’s found in Flamenco, and the hypnotic Berber rhythms of North Africa.

On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, we return to the distinctive sound of the Phrygian mode as it echoes down the centuries to the contemporary Spanish-Moorish soundscape, on a program called 'PHRYGIAN PHANTOMS.' Music is by guitarists MILOŠ, OTTMAR LIEBERT, ADAM HURST, BENEDETTI & SVOBODA, JOSÉ LUIS MONTÓN, and the fusion group AL-ANDALUS.  

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

PGM 1321 'VANGELIS 2' : july 2-9

We continue our tribute and retrospective for the singular recording artist and film composer VANGELIS, who joined the immortals in May 2022 at age 79.

EVANGELOS ODYSSEAS PAPATHANASSIOU was born in Greece in 1943. He showed a natural early talent for music and was entirely self-taught. In his 20s he was the keyboard player in the hugely successful Greek progressive rock band APHRODITE’S CHILD, but he chose to abandon a conventional pop music career and began working as a film composer in Greece.

In the early 1970s he moved to Paris, where he worked with French film director FREDERIC ROSSIF creating lush electronic scores for animal documentaries. They became so popular they helped establish him as a solo recording artist. In 1975 he relocated to London in and built Nemo Studios, where he created his Academy Award-winning electronic score for CHARIOTS OF FIRE, and classic scores for BLADE RUNNER, MISSING, ANTARCTICA, THE BOUNTY, 1492: CONQUEST OF PARADISE, ALEXANDER, the 1980 PBS documentary series COSMOS, and many others.

His gift for opulent melodies and a retrogressive style based on 19th century Romantic classicism was balanced by his early embrace of the tools and techniques of electronic music—a highly effective combination of old and new.

Vangelis never learned to read or write music, but he and his engineers pioneered a virtuoso working method and technical setup that allowed him to compose, play, and record simultaneously, often in one “take.”  On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, we celebrate the second half of his stellar career, on a program called VANGELIS Part 2.

=    We'll feature music from his solo albums SPIRAL, OCEANIC, NOCTURNE, JUNO TO JUPITER, and ROSETTA;
=    and film scores for OPERA SAUVAGE, 1492 CONQUEST OF PARADISE, and BLADE RUNNER.

It’s Part 2 of our posthumous retrospective of VANGELIS, on this transmission…of Hearts of Space.

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

PGM 1320 'INDO-TRONICA 4' : june 17-24

When the definitive history of cross-cultural musical fusions and hybrids is written, there will be an honored place for the congruence of Indian classical and ambient-electronic music.

Of all the experiments that were attempted after electronic instruments matured to the point of viability in the mid 20th century, this combination was one of the earliest and most successful. Synthesizers expanded the role of microtones and drones in Indian music, while raga and tala—the traditional melodic and rhythm systems of Indian classical music—brought a welcome sophistication to electronic music. It's an area we've explored since the earliest days of this program.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, another journey where Indian classical meets ambient/trance, on a program called "INDO-TRONICA 4."

Music is by DAVID HELPLING with NIDHI BHATMULEY and BENJY WERTHEIMER, DAVID PARSONS, WOUTER KELLERMAN & DAVID ARKENSTONE, DJ CHEB I SABBAH, MYCHAEL DANNA, BEN LEINBACH & JAI UTTAL, and AL GROMER KHAN.

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