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PGM 1278 'IMMORTAL MELODIES 2' : apr.2-9

No European musician has achieved the status of JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH, who is regularly cited as the greatest composer in history. He dominated the Baroque era of 18th century Germany, and in retrospect, played a key transitional role in the evolution of Western classical music.

His virtuosity as a performer, productivity and brilliance as a composer, the vast range of his secular music and sublime profundity of his religious music — have never been equaled. An innovator in his time, he expanded the role of the pipe organ in the church and embraced new styles, while his adoption of the "well-tempered" scale set the course for the future.

Beyond its breadth, depth, intellectual and emotional power, the appeal of Bach's music can be attributed to something more basic: Bach was a master of melody. The spacious lyricism of his chorales and contemplative arias creates an atmosphere of sacred mysticism that's as relevant today as it was in Baroque Germany.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space from our regular guest producer for classical and sacred music ELLEN HOLMES, an all-Bach program called IMMORTAL MELODIES 2. Performances by pianists CHAD LAWSON, MARTA & GYORGY KURTÁG, and ANNA GOURARI, cellists YO-YO MA and ELISE ROBINEAU, organists FRANZ HAUK and OLIVIER LATRY, and strings by FRETWORK, the BBC PHILHARMONIC and the BBC SYMPHONY.

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PGM 1277 'SECRETS OF THE STARS' : mar.26-apr.2

It's well established that electronic music naturally creates images of cosmic space. Almost fifty years ago, it was given the logical name: spacemusic. The genre has two common modes: flying music is rhythm-powered and goal-oriented, moving through space bound for distant galaxies; floating music is static and timeless, resting peacefully in vast, silent starscapes.

As the genre evolved, electronic composers gave expression to the drama in the supreme adventure of exploring the cosmos — a feeling we share today even on missions close to our home planet. They ask the existential and extraterrestrial questions: Who are we? and Are we alone?

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, it's another cosmic-electronic journey, on a program called SECRETS OF THE STARS. Music is by EXTRAWORLD, STARTERRA, DAVE LUXTON, SEABAT, JONN SERRIE,  DREAMSTATE LOGIC, and JAJA.

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PGM 1276 'SIX STRING SPRING' : mar.19-26

This week we transit the Spring Equinox, the official beginning of spring and a good time to check in on the ambient space guitar. Acoustic or electric, live or sampled, looped or direct, straight up or processed, folk, jazz, or classical — even in the electronic age, the venerable six string guitar continues to make itself indispensable almost everywhere music happens.

Guitarists of the Ambient persuasion take it slow, quiet, and spatially expanded, leaving the virtuosic fireworks to their rock brothers and sisters. Occasionally...a heroic rock guitarist like JEFF BECK or BUCKETHEAD will journey to the contemplative side of the instrument just to do something completely different.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a spacey, twangy, laid-back, subtle, turn-of-the-season journey for ambient guitar — on a program called SIX STRING SPRING. Music is by CHRIS HAUGEN, LISA BELLA DONNA, CLAES NILSSON, CARL WEINGARTEN, BLUE STAR, and TONY GERBER, with PHIL KEAGGY and DREAMHUB. 

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PGM 1275 'OPTIMISM' : mar. 5-12

I think we can all agree that the last year of the pandemic — from March 2020 to March 2021 — has been one of the most difficult, disrupted, and disheartening in American history. One memorable commercial starring the devil and his girlfriend dubbed it "The Year From Hell." No one argued.

The unprecedented strain on our collective nerves led to a boom in therapeutic, calming, psychologically healing music and media. Much of it here on Hearts of Space was dark and melancholy, reflecting feelings of fear, isolation, depression, and loss.

With the arrival of powerful vaccines and new management, things have finally started to improve. And while it's not yet time to celebrate, we've begun to allow ourselves a positive view of the future. Optimism emerges when hope turns into real, positive change. Like prayer, hope is intangible—a hazy image of a better future. Optimism is hope fulfilled, based on real events and how they're moving.

Optimism inspires music with a positive tone, fresh energy, a sense of comfort, and expanding possibilities. It's a rest stop on the road to joy. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, optimistic ambient for improving times, on a program called — OPTIMISM.

Music is by THIERRY DAVID, DAVID HELPLING, DIGITONAL, and LIQUID MIND.

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PGM 1274 'SOLEMN HOPE' : feb.19-26

The ambient-neoclassical duo of pianist DUSTIN O'HALLORAN and electronic musician ADAM WILTZIE — collectively A WINGED VICTORY FOR THE SULLEN — have a name that not only sets them apart, but needs some explanation.

As you might expect for two Americans who met in Italy while touring, their music has more to do with European art than their roots in California and Texas. It starts with the Greek goddess Nike, who became the Roman goddess of victory, conveniently named Victoria. She's familiar to students of art history as a triumphal winged figure on coins, jewelry, and architecture. Her most famous monument is The Winged Victory of Samothrace, now in the Louvre—a masterpiece of Hellenistic sculpture and the very classical embodiment of the spirit of triumph.

So it's a stroke of post-classical genius to address their work to "the sullen," and a shrewd way of managing the expectations of a possibly cynical post-modern audience: the regal pace and transcendent beauty of their music brings a feeling of quiet reassurance. They're members of a popular group of modern classical composers with an integral ambient sensibility. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, reassuring neo-classical ambient for trying times, on a program called SOLEMN HOPE.

Music is by A WINGED VICTORY FOR THE SULLEN, TERJE RYPDAL, BEN LUKAS BOYSEN, JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON, JEFF GREINKE, VOLKER BERTELMANN & DUSTIN O'HALLORAN, and SLOW MEADOW.

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PGM 1273 'MYSTIC METALS 2' : feb.12-19

BELLS, BOWLS, and GONGS — charter members of the struck idiophone family of resonant percussion.

BELLS originated in Neolithic China in the 3rd millennium BC. They were made of bronze, glass, ceramic, or minerals like quartz with a crystalline molecular structure. When formed into a circular cup shape and struck, bells produce a pitched tone and harmonics, which fade away slowly. Mechanical resonance gives bells their characteristic ringing sound.

GONGS are another member of the resonant percussion family from East and Southeast Asia. Suspended gongs are flat circles that produce clouds of sound without a central pitch; bossed gongs have a raised center, and are tuned to produce pitched tones.

BOWLS or more accurately bowl gongs, are both; they start as a flat circle like a gong, and are then bent into a bowl shape like a bell. They also produce a pitched tone and are often called singing bowls.

So much for the physics — the real mystery is the metaphysics. For millennia, these simple instruments have been used for ritual and ceremony, religious services, meditation and contemplative experience. Today there's a quiet boom in subtle, psychoactive sound, with hundreds of dedicated artists creating "deep listening" concerts, "sound baths," and recordings. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, the wintry tones of bells, bowls and gongs, on a program called MYSTIC METALS 2.

Music is by JARGUNA, HANS CHRISTIAN, KARMA MOFFET, SATORIO, SHAWN FEENEY, SCOTT LAWLOR, and THE LOVELY MOON.

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PGM 1272 'RESONANT HEART' : feb. 5-12

In Part 1 of our posthumous retrospective of cellist DAVID DARLING called 'RESONANT DARK,' we focused on his groundbreaking early albums for the German ECM label. Darling told the story of his first session with ECM producer MANFRED EICHER, who set the agenda definitively by saying "I want you to go as deep as you can go." In ten albums from 1980 to 2000, they did just that, defining and setting a standard for darkly serious ambient chamber music.

But there was other music in David Darling's heart. In the early 1990s, he began to pursue a more varied, romantic, even playful direction in recordings for other labels. Rather than the two day recording schedule at ECM, he took his time. Working with patient, supportive engineer/producers like MICKEY HOULIHAN and TOMMY SKARUPA, Darling achieved new heights of beauty in his solo recordings, collaborated generously with other artists, and broadened his appeal. Through it all, he continued to inspire, teaching and leading improvisation workshops for his non-profit organization Music For People, and working with spiritual teachers like AL HUANG, SYLVIA NAKKACH, and COLEMAN BARKS.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we focus on David Darling's post-ECM recordings EIGHT STRING RELIGION, CELLO BLUE, GRATITUDE, HOMAGE TO KINDNESS, and his Grammy-winning PRAYER FOR COMPASSION.

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PGM 1271 'RESONANT DARK' (David Darling Retrospective Pt.1) - jan.22-29

The hypnotic pizzicato rhythm; the patient exploration of contemplative space; the ardent lyricism and emotional depth of the virtual string orchestra — these are hallmarks of the music of cellist DAVID DARLING, who left us at the beginning of 2021 after a long and exemplary life in music. When HOS launched our nationally syndicated program in 1983, David Darling was featured in program number one, and was already one of our core artists.

Born in Indiana in 1941, he studied cello at Indiana State University, became the first cellist of the pioneering jazz/classical fusion ensemble THE WINTER CONSORT in 1970, and played principal cello in the Nashville Symphony. His 1980 solo debut on the respected German jazz label ECM began a twenty year creative relationship with producer MANFRED EICHER, and ten albums that set a standard for creative contemporary string recordings.

In a unique career that extended over 50 years, David Darling distinguished himself as much more than a contemporary musician. His work as a music educator, contributions to humanitarian projects, and collaborations with poets and spiritual teachers, set an example of a musical life devoted to service and inspiration.

In addition to his ECM recordings, Darling sought out collaborations from outside the world of contemporary jazz, resulting in many diverse and richly romantic recordings, which we'll cover in a second retrospective. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, the ECM recordings of DAVID DARLING, on a program called RESONANT DARK.

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PGM 1270 'WINTER FOG' : jan.15-22

The forlorn, hypnotic sound of foghorns echoing over San Francisco Bay, recorded in 1981 by the pioneering environmental sound artist BILL FONTANA. It's an artifact of a bygone era: the fog horns are still there, but as an aid to navigation they've mostly been replaced by GPS. Fortunately, Fontana's work has now been memorialized in a deluxe CD edition from the Bay area New Music label Other Minds Records. It makes a lovely souvenir of foggy, hypothermic summer nights in San Francisco.

As an atmospheric phenomenon, fog has been with us since the earth cooled enough for water vapor to condense into tiny droplets that float on air. For humans, fog reduces visibility and makes it difficult, even dangerous, to move around; on the plus side, fog creates subtle monochromatic dreamworlds of endless beauty and fascination for both visual artists and ambient musicians.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, chilled, soft-focus, atmospheric dreamworlds...on a program called WINTER FOG. Music is by BILL FONTANA, INGRAM MARSHALL, BRIAN ENO, JEFF GREINKE, MICHAEL BRÜCKNER, and ROBERT RICH.

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PGM 1269 'TRANSLUCENT DRIFTS' : jan. 8-15

This is our second retrospective of the music of Southern California ambient/minimalist composer HAROLD BUDD. Part 1 covered 1978 to 2006, when he announced his "retirement" at age 70. He wasn't serious. After a brief rest, he was more active than ever. Between then and his death at the end of 2020, he added 16 additional collaborations, soundtracks, and solo albums to his already large catalog.

Early in his career, Budd rejected the ugly, dissonant sounds of the 20th century avant-garde, embraced traditional consonant tonality, and made it new: “In my music the focus has shifted to consonance as a thing in itself," he told The New York Times in 1987. "I hear an absolute whole life in consonant chords.”

His classic "soft pedal" piano style, described as "yearning piano motifs and reverb-laden impressionism," developed and matured during his work with BRIAN ENO. After making his reputation in England, Budd returned to Los Angeles and started a second family in his 60's. While the early years had been about establishing his approach to meditative, atmospheric music, now he worked with sympatico English ambient guitarists who instinctively understood the aesthetics of his "poetic dreamworlds" and "esoteric reveries." Budd relaxed into his comfort zone, while expanding into film and TV scoring and chamber music. His career had a certain inverse symmetry: after abandoning academic classical music in the beginning, at the end he was writing for string quartets.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, our second HAROLD BUDD retrospective called TRANSLUCENT DRIFTS, featuring late solo works and collaborations with ROBIN GUTHRIE, CLIVE WRIGHT, and JOHN FOXX.

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PGM 1268 'THE ETERNAL HARP' : dec. 11-18

Quick quiz: what's one of the oldest instruments in the world, heard in musical cultures in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas, and revered by folk, classical and contemporary musicians alike?  Here's a hint: you can think of it as a large guitar, or a small piano.

Give up? It's the harp — a descendant of the Persian chang and the Sumerian lyre — still with us after four thousand years. With tones ranging from seductively soft and warm to bright and bell-like, scales from diatonic to chromatic, and now acoustic and electric versions, the harp is both the original therapeutic instrument, and a vehicle for avant-garde experimentation. Now that is range.

On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE — folk, classical and contemporary music for acoustic and electric harp, on a program called THE ETERNAL HARP. Music is by LISA LYNNE & ARYEH FRANKFURTER, TRINE OPSAHL, LAVINIA MEIJER, CECILIA CHAILLY, SOMEI SATOH, and from Belgium ECHO COLLECTIVE.

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PGM 1267 'COSMIC ELECTRONIC 2' : dec.4-11

Just over a hundred years ago, English composer GUSTAV HOLST created the hugely popular orchestral suite THE PLANETS. He used conventional acoustic instruments. Just think of what he'd have done with the electronic instruments of today. In fact, if you give a musician a synth the odds are they'll use it to create some of the cosmic brand of ambient we like to call "spacemusic."

It's been that way since the earliest days of electronic music. The cool, abstract, non-material tones of electronic instruments were intuitively associated with the moon, the planets, the stars and the entire cosmic panorama.

Cosmic music led to another discovery: rhythm created by electronic tones generated by programmable machines called sequencers, instead of drums. Why? Because drums grounded the music in the physical world, and tethered the imagery of the music to acoustic space. The goal was the infinite release and infinite freedom...of infinite space.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, another cosmic electronic journey across the starfields to distant galaxies, on a program called COSMIC ELECTRONIC 2. Music is by STARTERRA, EXTRAWORLD, TRANSPONDER, ASC, OVNIMOON, and SYNC24.

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PGM 1266 'RECESSION 2' : nov. 27-dec. 4

In a normal year, the autumn season brings music with smoky timbres, dissonant harmonies, descending progressions, and gentle melancholy. This year we have to include the emotions that accompany a devastating global disease, isolation, and loss. We're challenged to reach into our battered hearts and summon up additional generosity, to give thanks for what we have.

Now the days grow short, the nights grow long, and a chill descends on the land as the northern hemisphere slowly tilts away from the sun. It's a time for quiet reflection and the cultivation of inner strength to confront the challenges ahead. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, ambient, chamber and sacred music for a haunted autumn, on a program called RECESSION 2. Music is by KEVIN KELLER, ÓLAFUR ARNALDS, DAVID DARLING, GUNNARD DOBOZE, and MAX RICHTER.

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PGM 1265 'SCORPIANO' : nov.13-20

 

The evolution of the pianoforte into the modern piano since the 18th century created an artistic platform for both players and composers. By the 1970s solo piano recordings emerged as a vehicle for personal expression and statements of musical identity. Ubiquitous and flexible, the piano supported virtuosity and musical complexity as readily as simplicity and sentimentality. Recordings ranged from the intense improvised outpourings of KEITH JARRETT and the folk impressionism of GEORGE WINSTON, to the "generative music" algorithms of BRIAN ENO.

Today the solo piano medium can be truly personal, while on a deeper level, quiet, spacious, serene ambient music addresses a collective psychological need for relief from the tension and intensity of daily life. That still leaves room for many different approaches. Along with typical new age sweetness and trancey minimalist repetition, we find artists attracted to dark worlds, somber tone colors, and dissonant harmonies, with sophisticated production techniques that add textural complexity and intrigue to the conventional sound of the acoustic piano.

As we transit the house of Scorpio in this plague year 2020 transmission of Hearts of Space...a darktime excursion, on a program called SCORPIANO. Music is by JILL TRACY, MATTHEW LABARGE, DAVID NORLAND, and BRUNO SANFILIPPO.

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PGM 1264 'DESCENDING DARK 3' : nov.6-13

In the cooling, darkening months of autumn, time seems to slow in the natural world. The leaves change color, wither and fade, while the animals are busy stocking up for the winter to come. For humans, this year is a somber season. In a time of pandemic, we're challenged to adapt to protective measures, and carry on with normal life in abnormal times.

The music of the season features downward progressions and complex harmonies. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a dark ambient autumn journey, on a program called DESCENDING DARK 3. Music by JEFF PEARCE, JEFF GREINKE, HOLLAN HOLMES, ERIK WØLLO & MICHAEL STEARNS, SAM ROSENTHAL, AL GROMER KHAN, ROBERT RICH, NIK PARKIN, and PATRICK O'HEARN.

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PGM 1263 'LAMENTO 4' : oct.30-nov.6

In troubled times, when dark forces disrupt our lives and challenge our communities, we find solace in the music of lamentation. It's an age-old expression of pain, grief and heartache—a step on the path to catharsis and healing.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, Renaissance, Baroque, folk and contemporary songs of loss, longing, and lamentation, on a program from guest producer ELLEN HOLMES called LAMENTO 4.

Music is by PALESTRINA, ZELENKA, MORAGO, ISAAC, CORREA de ARAUXO and BRITTEN, performed by JORDI SAVALL & HESPERION 21 and MATTHEW BARLEY,  plus folk and traditional songs by CHARLES STANFORD, THE KRONOS QUARTET, and NIEL GOW, and contemporary instrumentals by PATRICK HAWES, BARRINGTON PHELOUNG, ROSS EDWARDS, and MAX RICHTER.

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PGM 1262 'MYSTIC CANYONS' : oct. 16-23

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 1261 'SACRED SONGS 2' : oct.9-16

The traditions of sacred music and contemplative song are found in almost every culture on earth. They bring beauty, peace, and emotional fulfillment to millions. Since the mid 20th century, the sacred sounds of exotic world cultures have become increasingly popular with western listeners, even though they sound nothing like western sacred music. Despite our increasingly secular culture, sacred song maintains a special place in our holiday celebrations, and contemplative music provides a much-needed balm for battered spirits.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, deep song, devotional chant, sacred hymns, and contemplative instrumentals from Spain, the Middle East and India, on a program called SACRED SONGS 2. Music is by ADAM HURST, YUVAL RON & flamenco singer ESTRELLA MORENTE, MICHEL BANABILA, AZAM ALI & LOGA RAMIN TORKIAN, DEVA PREMAL, and SERENA GABRIEL & STEVE ROACH.

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PGM 1260 'CALM ABIDING' : sept.25 - oct.2

The theory and practice of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist meditation seem ideally suited to confronting the stressful challenges we're now living through in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Through a form of meditation called śamatha or "single-pointed attention," the meditator achieves vipaśyanā — in English vipassana or insight — "seeing into the nature of things." In Sanskrit, śamatha means "tranquility of mind," often called "calm abiding." Śamatha has five progressive stages: stable attention, powerful mindfulness, joy, tranquility, and finally, equanimity. The practice of calm abiding leads to insight.

Without any formal connection to Buddhist meditation but because of common goals, we can find śamatha in the deeper, quieter, more contemplative forms of ambient music. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a Buddhist-inspired ambient meditation, on a program called CALM ABIDING. Music is by ROBERT RICH, SPUNTIC, SAM ROSENTHAL & JARGUNA, NUMINA & ZERO OHMS, and KEITH BERRY.

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PGM 1259 'MASTERS OF SPACE' : sept.4-11

Maybe it was just a coincidence, a timely convergence, but the era of space exploration that began in the 1960s was also a formative decade for electronic music. At the time, German experimental composer KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN observed that there was a natural relationship between his electronic music and images of cosmic space. Maybe it was the drugs, but it seemed right.

In Germany, the late 1960s saw the rise of the "Kozmik Musik" genre; electronic nebulae blossomed all over Europe and the English speaking countries; SUN RA toured the world and played his own brand of Afro-cosmic funk, while JOHN COLTRANE and his wife ALICE released the album COSMIC MUSIC.

In the 1970's the COSMIC COURIERS record label was established, PROGRESSIVE ROCK went cosmic and became SPACE ROCK, BRIAN ENO invented Ambient, and PINK FLOYD became the biggest selling band in the world after Dark Side of the Moon. It was Good Times for space fans.

Today, electronic spacemusic is an established genre with a nice article in Wikipedia and a steady stream of significant new music from masters of the craft. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a classic journey in the electronic starfields, on a program called MASTERS OF SPACE.

Music is by ERIK WØLLO & MICHAEL STEARNS, DAVID HELPLING & JON JENKINS, JON DURANT & ROBERT JÜRJENDAL, PHILLIP WILKERSON, and JEFF GREINKE.

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PGM 1258 'SIX STRING UNIVERSE' : aug.28-sept.4

In stressful times, we seek the comfort of the familiar, the predictable, the tried and true. And in music, that often means returning to the joys and pleasures of the acoustic guitar. It's not just the foundation of what JOHN FAHEY memorably called "American primitive guitar;" in addition to its role accompanying singers, as a solo instrument it's a rich vehicle for personal expression, creative innovation, and contemplative immersion.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we touch all those possibilities, on a program called SIX STRING UNIVERSE. Music is by CHRIS HAUGEN, FLOW, ALEX DE GRASSI, RICHARD OSBORNE, MATTHEW MONTFORT, and CLAES NILSSON.

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PGM 1257 'VISIONS OF INFINITY' : aug. 21-28

Let's talk about electronic music. As with acoustic instruments, we have freedom of expression with the core musical variables: melody, rhythm, tempo, and harmony. But we've gained the ability to create the tone, the timbre, the character, and even the spatial dimension of the electronic sound. In fact, the space or ambience of the sound becomes a fundamental artistic choice. Electronic music can create "soundscapes"—immersive images of virtual environments.

Unlike the literal sound images of acoustic instruments, these electronic images can be deliberately amorphous...boundless...endless...unlimited. They can imply vast, fluid, diffuse, virtual spaces, whose dimensions are perceptually infinite.

We can even make this quality the subject of the music, and call it "spacemusic"—a descriptive term that arose organically in the early days of popular electronic music. Today, ambient-electronic artists are creating sonic images of infinity—endless virtual spaces we can expand into, bathe in, savor, and explore.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, the quest for unlimited spaces in electronic sound, on a program called VISIONS OF INFINITY. Music is by DEEPSPACE, STEVE ROACH, KEVIN BRAHENY FORTUNE, MAX CORBACHO, and JEFF PEARCE.

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PGM 1256 'TECHNO-TRIBAL' : aug 7-14

Centuries ago, a music emerged out of the world's deserts and tribal cultures. It was built on trance-like rhythms and the most primitive instruments: flutes, rattles, and drums. Against all odds, in the late 20th century elements of this ancient indigenous music were embraced by electronic musicians searching for an earthy, vital sound to balance the dematerialized tones of electronic instruments, and ground the atmospheric soundscapes of ambient.

Their quest led to a hybrid electro-acoustic genre originally called "techno-tribal" and later "tribal ambient." In retrospect, it was part of a wider movement ethno-botanist TERENCE McKENNA famously termed The Archaic Revival. Why would a sophisticated, technologically advanced culture want to revive an ancient, supposedly primitive one? In an era where our experience is increasingly mediated, artificial, and virtual — we seek authenticity, direct experience, and a deeper connection to our environment, our history, and our inner worlds.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, ambient electronics meet flutes, rattles, drums, and drones, on a journey across the desert mesas, wind-blown dunes, and rocky plains of the tribal ambient soundscape called TECHNO-TRIBAL.

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PGM 1255 'DESERT CROSSING 2' : july 31-aug 7

MENA is an acronym for the geographical region of the Middle East and North Africa, encompassing give or take 19 countries with a long, complicated history and a shared musical culture. Political conflict and anti-music fundamentalism in the region over the last 50 years led to a diaspora of MENA musicians to cities all over Europe, Canada and the U.S.

Leaving one's home and native culture is almost always difficult and unpredictable, but for music it can be a good thing, exposing musicians to new influences, new creative relationships, and unexpected cross-fertilizations. The classic example is DICK DALE, the inventor of Surf Rock—the original 1960s fusion of Middle Eastern scales and tremolo electric guitar drowned in reverb.

Today the rich traditions of Middle Eastern and North African music combine freely with jazz, rock, rap, electronic, ambient and even new age, in a brilliant diversity of sound and style.On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, the trance-inducing rhythms and deep modal melodies of the MENA diaspora, on a program called DESERT CROSSING 2.

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PGM 1254 'TERRASONIC' : july 24-31

Over the last 75 years, composers were gradually freed from creating music with notes on paper, and the limitations of acoustically generated sounds. Slowly at first, then in a rush of innovation in the 20th century, they were given the tools to create music directly from recorded and electronically generated sounds. The electronic studio itself became the master instrument, and imagination was unbound.

It's hard to overstate how revolutionary this was. It led to a much expanded palette of musical sounds, an explosion of popular electronic dance music, and immersive music with a focus on imagery, ambience, and virtual travel in sonic space. Composers became "sound designers," and listeners became sonic cosmonauts.

Environmental sounds captured by high quality portable recorders lent a new psychological dimension to music, making us more aware of the natural ambient sounds around us. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a journey in electro-acoustic spaces at sea and on land, on a program called TERRASONIC. Music is by ATOMIC SKUNK, ISHQ, RUDY ADRIAN, and LONEWARD.

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