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PGM 1218 'MOONTRIBE' : june 21-28

Summer officially arrives on the 21st of June — the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. For ambient musicians, the extra light and heat inspire influences from faraway warm-weather cultures; exotic acoustic instruments, tribal rhythms, and mind-bending shamanic rituals, combined with creative electronics and native soundscapes. It breeds an evolving genre originally called "techno-tribal." Today we call it "tribal ambient" — it evokes atavistic memories of our village past for our digital tribes, and creates a space for virtual travel, even if the body has to stay at home. 

On this transmission of Hearts of Space from guest producer DAVID J. EGAN, a tribal/ambient/solstice journey for summer, on a program called MOONTRIBE.

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PGM 1217 'INDO-TRONICA 3' : june 7-14

The Hindustani classical music of North India was little-known to westerners until the 1960's, when The Beatles famously introduced Indian sitar virtuoso RAVI SHANKAR to their audience and incorporated the instrument into their music. 

The long-necked lute called the sitar and it's bass version the surbahar, other unique Indian string instruments like the veena, the sarod, the sarangi and the esraj, along with the bansuri flute, have gradually become familiar to western listeners in the last hundred years. More recently, the microtonal scales of Indian music lent themselves to being combined with electronic instruments, giving rise to an ambient genre we call Indo-tronic. 

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, the fusion of microtonal melodies, exotic ornaments, and electronic tone colors — on a program called INDO-TRONICA 3.

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PGM 1216 'ADVENTURES IN PSYBIENT' : may 31-june 7

In the fervent, prolific, always evolving field of popular electronic music, genres rise, shine, and set—often with alarming speed. So it's reassuring to know that the relatively long-running streams of Psychedelic and Trance music have embraced the cool sonorities and spatial sound images of Ambient—giving birth to the variously named hybrids Psybient, Psytrance, or just Psy. It's a realm worth exploring. 

On this transmission of Hearts of Space...what happened when Psytrance Met Ambient—on a program called ADVENTURES IN PSYBIENT. It's a love story.

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PGM 1215 'VERNAL FLIGHT' : may 24-31

Spring has long been the most unpredictable of seasons—these days, more than ever. This week we had a bit of January in May here in Northern California; it was back to boots and raingear. Next week it'll be like high summer. Everything is changing, and the wind rushes in every direction in a futile effort at equilibrium. 

The seasonal winds inspire ambient musicians to create an airy, open music with flutes and electronics, and we can ride the sound currents like birds in search of new frontiers. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, an airy, windy, floating journey for spring, on a program called VERNAL FLIGHT.

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PGM 1214 'ANCESTRAL VOICES 2' : may 10-17

All most Americans know about Vietnam is that we fought a long and pointless war there in the 1960s and 70s. Today, if you live on the west coast, more likely than not there's a delicious Vietnamese restaurant in your community. But the ancient cultures, and the music of Southeast Asia and Vietnam in particular, is a mystery to most of us. 

A select group of Western composers and musicians have been drawn to these cultures, along with Southeast Asian musicians who've relocated to the West. They're creating a new fusion of traditional and contemporary music. 

On this transmission of Hearts of Space...subtle, exotic sounds from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia, on a program called ANCESTRAL VOICES 2.

Music is by GRAYHAWK, LÊ TỰ CƯỜNG, PEETER VÄHI, RICHARD HOROWITZ, PHAN KIM THÀNH, VANESSA VÕ, LÊ TUẤN HÙNG & ĐẶNG KIM HIỀN, TRÍ NGUYỄN & THE ILIOS QUARTET.

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PGM 1213 'PROGRESSIVE AMBIENT' : may 3-10

The "progressive" label is growing, and it has nothing to do with politics. 

In music, the term has a history that goes back to Progressive Folk in the 1930s. After that came Progressive Jazz from the 1940s to the 1970s, Progressive Rock, Pop, and Bluegrass in the 1960s, Progressive Country in the 1970s, Progressive Metal in the 1980s, and Progressive Electronic and Progressive House in the 1990s. Progressive is what happens when a genre has matured, and there's an abundance of highly skilled musicians who want to stay creatively challenged. 

On this transmission of Hearts of Space...if the progressive label means expanding stylistic and conceptual boundaries and synthesizing cultural influences—then I'm gonna say we're overdue for a genre—and a program—called PROGRESSIVE AMBIENT.

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PGM 1212 'CANTO OSTINATO' : apr.26-may 3

The contemporary classical genre called Minimalism arrived in the middle of the 20th century as a reaction against the rigid avant-garde theories of Serialism, which threw out the tonal center and harmonic systems of a thousand years of European music.

Serialism was intellectually brilliant—unfortunately, the music was ugly, tedious, and unpopular. In the 1960s, a number of American composers including LA MONTE YOUNG, TERRY RILEY, STEVE REICH, and PHILIP GLASS found their way back to tonality, with a style based on "minimal" elements: consonant harmony, static drones or a steady pulse, and slowly changing thematic motifs.

Minimalism looked back and forward at the same time. Unlike Serialism, it was appealing and popular, and was eventually adopted by a number of European composers who've been featured on Hearts of Space, including MICHAEL NYMAN, GAVIN BRYARS, JOHN TAVENER, HENRYK GÓRECKI, and ARVO PÄRT. One that we missed—who must be the best-kept secret in European minimalism—is the late Dutch composer SIMEON TEN HOLT, who died in 2012.

After experimenting with complex chromaticism and serialism early in his career, Ten Holt arrived at his own style of "humanized" minimalism: infused with traditional musical values, rhythmically rigorous, wonderfully melodic, and flexible in performance. His most famous piece, composed in 1976, is called CANTO OSTINATO, which in Italian means "obstinate song," a reference to its continuous, repeating quintuplet rhythm base. Its structure is based on 106 "cells" of a few phrases each which allow great latitude for repeats and interpretation by the performers. The piece can take from two hours to more than a day, and there are dozens of versions for 1, 2, 3, and 4 pianos, pianos plus organ, harp, or marimba, pipe organ, strings, and synthesizer.

The piece has been a phenomenon in the Netherlands for 40 years and hundreds of sold out performances. Despite that, it's hardly ever been performed or broadcast in the U.S. I'm STEPHEN HILL and we're going to help fix that on this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, with a lyrical and rhythmically mesmerizing version for two pianos, performed by the Dutch husband/wife duo JEROEN and SANDRA VAN VEEN. The recording is from one of their live "LIGCONCERT" or "Lying Concerts," where the audience stretches out on mats and blankets on the floor of the venue for two hours of serious listening.

Simeon Ten Holt's CANTO OSTINATO, for two pianos, on this spring transmission...of Hearts of Space.

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PGM 1211 'ELECTRON TRAVELER 4' : april 12-19

Flying...and Floating.

As a literal description of the experience, it goes back to the early days of popular electronic music and the early days of Hearts of Space. Over the years we've done programs called Floating Whispers, Floating Worlds, Floating Gardens, Floating Reveries, Floating Waves, Floating Winds, and yes, Flying and Floating 1, 2, and 3. 

Back then I said "flying music is rhythm-powered and moves through space, heading for worlds beyond; floating music is goal-free—ethereal, static, and timeless."

You know, I can't really add anything to that. We still enjoy expanding into unlimited virtual spaces, and yearn for the quiet pleasure of weightless suspension in time.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space...another journey in our electronic touring series, on a program called ELECTRON TRAVELER 4. Music is by ASCENDANT, KEVIN KELLER, ALPHA WAVE MOVEMENT, DWIGHT LOOP, MASSERGY, and ERIK WØLLO.

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PGM 1210 'SENTIENT TOUCH' : mar.29-apr.6

Early electronic music had a reputation for being cold, austere, and technical. That was good if that's the feeling you were trying to express, but even in those early days some electronic musicians wanted to create something altogether warmer and more "organic"—a "humanized" electronic music if you will—inspired by the beauty and complexity of the natural world, including acoustic instruments and nature sounds, but with the new and almost limitless creative possibilities of electronic sound design. 

I met one of those artists in the early 1980s when he was a 19 year old student at CCRMA—(they called it KARMA) Stanford University's famous Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics. In those days ROBERT RICH was building his own electronic instruments and studying lucid dreaming. His early work helped define and expand the scope and quality of ambient, dark-ambient, tribal and trance music. For forty years and over 40 albums, he's pursued his vision of an organic electro-acoustic music, and become a core artist for Hearts of Space. 

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we focus on Robert Rich's 2019 double album TACTILE GROUND. He calls it "an exploration of the synesthesia of sound on skin"—on a program called SENTIENT TOUCH.

Music is by ROBERT RICH, LORENZO MONTANA, FORREST FANG, and JEFF GREINKE.

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PGM 1209 'THE INFINITE PIANO' : mar. 22-29

For an instrument that's been around for over three hundred years, the piano continues to surprise. Ever since the arrival of popular electronic instruments, ambient musicians have been busy reinventing the sound and the setting of the piano. 

Musically, the 19th century Romantic Classical composers who perfected the piano concerto inspired VANGELIS (and thousands of new age pianists) to create personal, "high affect," emotionally-centered music—while the gentle, ironic French proto-ambient composer ERIK SATIE inspired others to create quiet, unpretentious miniatures. Still others have taken the instrument into cosmic space, where it chimes and sings across the starfields. 

In the 21st century, the piano is (almost) everywhere. 

On this transmission of Hearts of Space...(with appreciation to MICHAEL BROOK, creator of the Infinite Guitar) the evolving sound of THE INFINITE PIANO. Music is by VANGELIS, CHAD LAWSON, TOM EATON, BILL DOUGLAS, BEN LUKAS BOYSEN, and NILS FRAHM.

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1207 'A FRAGILE BEAUTY' : mar. 1-8

For all the challenges that winter brings, it also offers a time for quiet, solitude, pristine stillness, rebirth, and renewal. This meditative aspect of the season has inspired contemporary post-classical composers to create sparse yet majestic soundscapes. 

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we bring together the serene melancholy of ambient chamber music, the patiently unfolding cadences of sacred minimalism, and the ethereal lightness of choral harmonies, on a program called A FRAGILE BEAUTY.

Music is by LUDOVICO EINAUDI, ELENI KARAINDROU, JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON, MAX RICHTER, and VOCES8.

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1206 'WINTERTRONIC' : feb.15-22

Winter...has a way of overstaying its welcome. After several months of sullen skies, numbing cold, and too many days of frigid rain, sleet, or snow—even the most ardent champions of the season fall silent. We've arrived...at forbearance. 

Here in California, the trees blossom in mid-February regardless of the weather. After a big rain, the ground is strewn with pink and white petals. Soon the storms will taper off and spring will arrive. For most of the country though, there's still a long time to wait. 

Ambient electronic artists find inspiration in the winter atmospheres, and create music with dark drones, virtual storms, chilled tones, and monochromatic harmonies. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, it's another wintry journey on electronic waves — on a program called WINTERTRONIC.

Music is by TRANSPONDER, HOLLAN HOLMES, SOLARIS, NETHERWORLD, BLUETECH, KIRSTY HAWKSHAW, JANNE HANHISUANTO, and ILUITEQ.

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1205 'FROZEN TIME'

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 1204 'MAGIC METALS 2' : jan.25-feb.1

Consider, dear listener, the "resonant percussion" family of instruments—bells, bowls, gongs, and cymbals. When struck, rubbed, stroked or vibrated, they can produce sustained tones and clouds of sound that take on a special resonance in the cold, crisp winter air. 

Simple but powerful, these venerable acoustic instruments attract a singular breed of musician: a connoisseur of pure sounds, an improviser, a conductor of contemplative experience. They've been used in worship and meditation for thousands of years. Today they're the foundation of the therapeutic field of Sound Healing; while in the studio they're being combined with ambient electronics to create spiritually charged virtual environments. 

On this transmission of Hearts of Space the contemplative world of resonant percussion, on a program called MAGIC METALS 2. Music is by ALPHA WAVE MOVEMENT, YUVAL RON, DIATONIS, KEVIN BRAHENY FORTUNE, KARMA MOFFETT, RIVER GUERGUERIAN, HANS CHRISTIAN, and DEUTER.

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PGM 1203 'INFINITE HORIZONS' : jan.18-25

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

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

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

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

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

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PGM 1202 'PIPE ORGAN MEDITATIONS' : jan.11-18

It's been far too long since we devoted a Hearts of Space program to the pipe organ. Yes, the pipe organ. Did you know that there's a public radio program dedicated entirely to the pipe organ called PIPEDREAMS? It's even older than Hearts of Space, and still going strong.

The pipe organ dates back to ancient Greece in the third century BCE. About a thousand years ago, it started making its way into churches. Because of its tonal character and volume, it proved the ideal instrument to lead people in singing. Over those 10 centuries, the organ evolved into an extremely high-tech machine. Its range, size, and importance grew along with the Christian religion—especially in Protestant churches, where the congregation sang together.

By about 1600, the pipe organ was the most complex machine that humans had created — massive assemblies of bellows, valves, wood and metal pipes that could fill the vast reverberant spaces of European cathedrals with powerful sound. Hundreds of years before amplified music, the pipe organ was the first full-spectrum, full volume, multi-voice, super-instrument. The organ console was what we'd now call an "advanced ergonomic user interface." It was—without a doubt—the king of instruments, used to lead sacred services and create sublime moments of elevated religious emotion.

The pipe organ enjoyed a kind of golden age in Baroque Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries, with rapid technological development and a growing repertoire of ecclesiastical works. By the early 20th century, French avant-garde composers were pushing the instrument to its limits—from delicate meditations and orchestrated tone poems, to bombastic showpieces exploring dissonance and extreme tonalities. Where Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque organ music had been limited to the church, the new music was also secular and experimental. In France, one devout Catholic composer embraced both the church and the avant-garde: OLIVIER MESSIAEN's music illustrated themes from Christian history and mythology, using an advanced musical language and playing techniques.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we bring together contemplative classics by OLIVIER MESSIAEN with contemporary composer-performers, on a program called PIPE ORGAN MEDITATIONS.

Music is by OLIVIER MESSIAEN, KIT DOWNES, ARVO PÄRT, ZVONIMIR NAGY, and PETER MICHAEL HAMEL.

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PGM 1201 'SPACE GUITAR SUPERSTARS' Part 2 : dec.28-jan.4

This week, dear spacefan, we conclude our two-part mini-documentary on the electronic space guitar celebrating our 1200th program—with music by American, English and Norwegian artists who extended the dimensions of the instrument in the 21st century. 

On these centennial programs, we take a retrospective look at the music we feature, often documentary-style, rather than our normal uninterrupted format. Of course, if you listen on our web service or mobile apps, you can turn off the voiceovers with one click or tap and still hear uninterrupted music. 

On this transmission of Hearts of Space: SPACE GUITAR SUPERSTARS — Part 2. Music is by BUCKETHEAD, DANIEL LANOIS, LEO ABRAHAMS, EIVIND AARSET, CLIVE WRIGHT, JON DURANT, DAVID HELPLING, ROBIN GUTHRIE, CARL WEINGARTEN, HAMMOCK, and JEFF PEARCE.

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PGM 1200 'SPACE GUITAR SUPERSTARS' Part 1 : dec.14-21

This week, dear spacefan, we reach another milestone in our journey through musical time and space, with our 1200th transmission in the Hearts of Space series. It's taken 35 years. 

On these centennial programs, we like to take a retrospective look back at the music we feature, often documentary-style, rather than our normal uninterrupted format. (Of course, if you listen on our web site or with our mobile apps, you can turn off the voiceovers with one click or tap and still hear uninterrupted music.) 

This time we focus on the evolution of the electronic and ambient guitar since the 1970s—on Part 1 of a two-part program called SPACE GUITAR SUPERSTARS. 

And let's admit right up front that even with two hours, the subject is so extensive that we can't possibly include every artist who's made a contribution: these are just some of the highlights we've featured on Hearts of Space. 

Let's first recall that in the mid-20th century musical world of ERIC CLAPTON and JIMI HENDRIX, the electric guitar was transcendent—the lead voice and dominant sound in popular music. 

But the confluence of musical innovation, new audio technology, and psychedelic drugs led to an unexpected development: the electric guitar became electronic, and with "effects" the sound of the instrument expanded and de-materialized into a vehicle for travel in virtual acoustic space. 

SPACE GUITAR SUPERSTARS (Part 1)... on this transmission of Hearts of Space.

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PGM 1199 'WINTER STRINGS' : nov. 30 - dec. 6

December arrives on the heels of the Thanksgiving holiday, and we settle into winter in earnest. From the chilly forest countries of northern Europe—Germany, Poland, Ukraine, England and Estonia—comes a post-modern neo-classical music that's traditionally tonal and modal—warm, slow and contemplative. It's a deliberate step away from the old avant-garde frontiers of atonality and serialism to a style that's spiritually resonant and broadly popular. 

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a program called WINTER STRINGS. Music is by MAX RICHTER, ARVO PÄRT, VALENTIN SILVESTROV, FRANZ SCHUBERT, STEFANO SCODANIBBIO, HENRYK GÓRECKI, BEN LUCAS BOYSEN, and LUDOVICO EINAUDI.

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PGM 1198 'LITTLE ETERNITIES' : nov.16-23

You may be surprised to learn that in philosophy, there are two kinds of eternity: one exists outside of time; the other exists within time but is of indefinite duration. That kind of eternal is called sempiternity or everlastingness. 

Whichever kind of eternity you prefer, the idea of something that goes on forever, endless and infinite, has a powerful psychological appeal in an age of rapid, constant, disorienting change. It's a radical absolute—one of the few concepts religion, science and philosophy share; and more therapeutically, a place where our overburdened minds can go to rest. 

Inspired by these heady speculations, contemporary composers have sought to create a kind of timeless music. Whether acoustic or electronic or both, it creates a sense of unlimited time in musical space. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we seek the timeless...on a program called LITTLE ETERNITIES.

Music is by JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON, CHAD LAWSON, TALE OF US, TOM CAUFIELD, KEVIN KELLER, ÓLAFUR ARNALDS, A WINGED VICTORY FOR THE SULLEN, and JEFF GREINKE.

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PGM 1197 'TWILIGHT EARTH 4' : nov. 9-16

The dulcet tones of the Native American cedar flute have inspired a soothing sub-genre of contemplative music. Pioneered by native musicians from the American Southwest, over the last 30 years the genre has attracted non-native musicians, who expanded into electronics and exotic percussion. It's a sound we enjoy in the fall, when it complements the mellow light and withering colors of the landscape, and evokes the vast, echoing canyons of the high desert. 

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, an Indian Summer journey for Native American cedar flute, on a program called TWILIGHT EARTH 4.

Music is by ANN LICATER, COYOTE JUMP, COYOTE OLDMAN, BYRON METCALF, JOHNNY WHITEHORSE, PAMELA WHITMAN & RICH KURTZ, TONY GERBER, MYSTERIES OF THE NIGHT, and SCOTT AUGUST.

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PGM 1196 'GHOSTLY SHADOWS' : oct. 26-nov. 3

Halloween comes at the end of October, a very different celebration of the dark side of the human psyche. It's the time we willingly immerse ourselves in stories of death, fear, the supernatural...and the myths and rituals we create around them. 

Credit for the tradition generally goes to our Celtic ancestors, who combined the old pagan harvest celebration of Samhain—with its exciting nighttime bonfires—and the three-part Christian festival of Allhallowtide: a mournful commemoration of recently departed souls, saints and martyrs, whose spirits were said to wander the earth at this time of year in search of...hospitality. 

These traditions are a rich creative field for musicians of the "Dark Ambient" genre. They weave together deep drones, disembodied voices, melancholy wailing, frigid bells, and gloomy strings—with a dark galaxy of powerful electronic and environmental effects to create truly epic electro-acoustic worlds—soundtracks to films you'd rather hear...than see. 

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a gloomy-stormy-floaty Dark Ambient journey, on a program by Canadian guest producer DAVID J. EGAN called: GHOSTLY SHADOWS.

Music is by DARK SANCTUARY, THE GHOST BETWEEN THE STRINGS, ARKTAU EOS, TAPHEPHOBIA, NEVOD, LUSRUTA, BASS COMMUNION, SKAVEN, DEAN DE BENEDICTUS, and NEST.

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PGM 1195 'DESCENDING DARK 2' : oct.19-26

This could be the sound of the Sugar Plum Fairies in the netherworld — we're coming up on Nutcracker time, after all — but no: it's the on-ramp to a journey into the cooling, darkening, deepening autumn soundscape. It's time to join the animals and prepare for the long winter ahead; time to focus, plan and complete those lingering projects, and get together with friends you missed over the summer. 

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a seasonal electronic journey in the autumn soundscape, on a program called DESCENDING DARK 2. 

Music is by SLEEPY TOWN MANUFACTURE, SOLARIS, PAULINA CASSIDY, DEBORAH MARTIN, KIT WATKINS, KLAUS SCHULZE, ERRANT SPACE, and BOB HOLROYD.

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PGM 1194 'EAST MEETS NORTH' : oct. 12-19

In 35 years of Hearts of Space, there've only been a handful of occasions when we devoted an entire program to a single album or composition. This week we do it with a superb collaboration between Iranian singer MAHSA VAHDAT and Norway's 50 voice SKRUK CHOIR, under the direction of PER ODDVAR HILDRE, with music and arrangements by the great Norwegian pianist TORD GUSTAVSEN from the album I VINENS SPEIL—In the Mirror of Wine. 

It's a journey across time, space, and culture, a moving encounter between traditional Persian songs, Norwegian church music, and jazz. A program called EAST MEETS NORTH, on this transmission of Hearts of Space.

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PGM 1193 'FLOATING WORLDS 2' : sept.21-28

One of the core experiences of ambient and electronic spacemusic is the feeling of weightless floating. These subtle sounds seem to dematerialize us, expand our personal space, and slow our sense of time. It's kind of magical — and for many of us, highly pleasurable, even addictive. 

Since the introduction of mass-produced electronic instruments in the 1970s, anyone can create floating textures, but even if you're just a listener, the experience is widely enjoyed and often described in therapeutic terms as relaxing, healing, and transformative. 

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, another anti-gravity journey on electronic waves, on a program called FLOATING WORLDS 2.

Music is by PAUL AVGERINOS, ERIK WØLLO, HOWARD GIVENS & CRAIG PADILLA, PHILLIP WILKERSON, and MAX CORBACHO.

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