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PGM 1376 'TRIBAL AMBIENT 2' : july12-19

The primal sound of prehistoric hand drums, brought to the present by 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 new genre was originally called "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 past, but a dedicated group of electro-acoustic artists with a taste for rhythm-powered trance continue to explore the sound and release new music.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, another ethno-tronic journey on psychoactive rhythms, on a program called TRIBAL AMBIENT 2. Music is by STEVE ROACH & ROBERT RICH, BYRON METCALF + ARI URBAN & MARK SEELIG, FRORE & SHANE MORRIS, SERENA GABRIEL, SOLITAIRE, and STEVE ROACH solo.

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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.

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

PGM 1375 'AMERICAN HORIZON' : jun 28-july 5

The yearly anniversary of the signing of the American Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776, has become a festive national holiday with food, music, and fireworks, celebrated by millions of Americans of all ages and backgrounds, in every part of the United States.

It’s a good time to revisit the roots of Ambient Americana—influences from American folk songs, blues, jazz, and country, classics from the American songbook, and the pan-diatonic harmonies of AARON COPLAND. On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE we celebrate the spirit of American Independence, on a program called AMERICAN HORIZON.

Music is by BRIAN KEANE, MARK ISHAM, JEFF OSTER & VIN DOWNES & TOM EATON, SPENCER BREWER & PAUL McCANDLESS, GEORGE WINSTON, CHAD LAWSON, BARRY STRAMP, JOHN WILLIAMS, ("Ambient country" band) SUSS, CHUCK JOHNSON, and MARK PRESTON.

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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 1374 'ENCHANTED LANDS' : june 14-21

Armed with a studio full of synthesizers and powerful production software, many electronic musicians will create sonic images of vast, cold, cosmic space. Others will conjure up infectious sequencer rhythms, and attract a high energy crowd with electronic dance music. Still others, following the great European symphonic tradition, will electrify the orchestra, or create ambient electronic soundscapes.

A smaller group find inspiration in the environment, incorporating the sounds of nature in their music. But perhaps the most unusual are inspired by the supernatural—the worlds of myth and legend, literature and folklore. They create music for spirits, fairies, sprites and elves, wood and water nymphs, elementals, and other invisible denizens of the magic forest.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, it's a magical journey in supernatural spaces, on a program called "ENCHANTED LANDS." Music is by LEMONGRASS, ISHQ, DESENSITIZED, KEVIN BRAHENY FORTUNE, THE AMNIS INITIATIVE, RICHARD ROSS, and ALPHA WAVE MOVEMENT. 

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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 1373 'CHANTRESS SEBA' : may 31-apr.7

If there's a contemporary musical group that demonstrates the enormous changes that have overtaken the music business in the last 20 years, it's the husband and wife team of singer GEMINI FOWLER, and guitarist & "handpan" player FINN MILBURN, together known as CHANTRESS SEBA.

They emerged from the north England city of Leeds, a vibrant area, but not one known for musical innovation. Nevertheless, they've been able to attract a worldwide audience of millions--and they've done it while completely ignoring the established music business.

Their main publishing and streaming platform is YouTube, where by mid-2024 they have 22 one-hour-plus "long form" videos available, which have attracted from a few hundred thousand to 3.9 MILLION views!

By taking full advantage of the internet, they've reinvented New Age music. Streaming on YouTube and promotion on social media have replaced all the functions of a conventional record company, providing a worldwide platform for their entrancing live performances, without the compromises and loss of control of a conventional recording contract.

Their music is peaceful, harmonious, and contemplative. Here's how they describe it:

"CHANTRESS SEBA, Singer of the Stars, a voice to guide us home to our hearts. Gemini's powerful ethereal vocals and channeled light language from the shining stars above, combined with Finn's earthy, spacious instrumentation, create an atmosphere of deep remembering, allowing the divine to speak to the listener through mind, body, and soul." "We create music, host ceremonies and gatherings, and provide 1 to 1 shamanic sound healing."

It's a long-form journey from one of the new frontiers of new age music: CHANTRESS SEBA...on this transmission...of Hearts of Space.

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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 1372 'ELECTRON FLOW' : may 17-24

Electronic music has come a long way in the last 50 years. Beginning in the 1960s, the arrival of affordable mass-produced analog and digital synthesizers liberated electronic music from the rigidity of academic laboratories, the iconoclasm of avant-garde theories, and the dogmas of experimental music. Equipped with powerful instruments and their own recording studios, electronic musicians were free to take ideas and influences from all kinds of popular and historical music, leading to a fruitful period of cross-fertilization, invention, and collaboration.

Early electronic instruments were notably lacking in musical expression, but they proved to be exceptionally good at creating the impression of flying and floating in vast virtual spaces. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we fly on electronic winds and float on electronic clouds, on a program called ELECTRON FLOW.

Music is by GEORGE WALLACE, CHRONOTOPE PROJECT, COPAL RIVER, ROBERT SCOTT THOMPSON, STEVE ROACH, ANDREW LAHIFF, STEVE BRAND, and ADHAM SHAIKH.

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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.

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

PGM 1371 'HARMONIC WORLD' : may 3-10

"In turbulent times, ambient world musicians project calm and harmony."

It's an instinctive response to our super-charged environment, a way to transmute chaos and instability into order, reduce anxiety, restore regular breathing, and take down the temperature. Perhaps more remarkable, even in our electronic era, they do it mainly as they have for centuries — with traditional acoustic instruments and consonant harmonies.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a transcultural acoustic fusion of influences from South America, Jamaica, North Africa, the Middle East, Indonesia, and India — on a program called HARMONIC WORLD. Music is by SUZANNE TENG & GILBERT LEVY, STEPHAN MICUS, AUKAI, SHANTALA, CHANTRESS SEBA, and MIRABAI CEIBA. 

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

 

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. 

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

PGM 1370 'TRANSLUCENT GUITARS 2' : apr.19-26

If you've driven an electric car, you've experienced the feeling of smooth, silent power that conveys you almost effortlessly to your destination. Something similar happened to the venerable Spanish guitar when it got an electronic upgrade in the 20th century. In just a few years, a charming but limited folk instrument became a powerhouse — a vehicle for everything from heroic flights to subtle meditations.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we ride our favorite six string transporter to ethereal realms, on a program called 'TRANSLUCENT GUITARS 2'  Music is by ERIK WØLLO, DAVID HELPLING, HAMMOCK, JOHN GREGORIUS, JEFF PEARCE, CLIVE WRIGHT & HAROLD BUDD, CHUCK JOHNSON, and TOM CAUFIELD. 

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

PGM 1369 'TOTALITY' : apr.5-12

It's being called the "astronomical event of the decade." If you live in the middle third or the northeastern quarter of the United States—on a line from Texas to Maine—there's a good chance that a total solar eclipse of the sun will be visible on the afternoon of April 8th, 2024. Depending on the exact location, the darkening and cooling within the moon's shadow or "umbra" only lasts from two to seven and a half minutes, because the umbra moves across the earth's surface at over 1100 miles per hour.

Surprisingly, solar eclipses are not that rare. There are at least two, and up to five, somewhere on earth each year. For millennia, solar eclipses were attributed to supernatural causes or regarded as evil omens. Modern astronomers have taken most of the mystery and superstition—but not the strangeness and thrill—out of eclipses. They can now be accurately predicted hundreds of years into the future, but they still have a cosmic appeal that attracts millions of viewers and a worldwide community of "umbraphiles."

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, music for a total eclipse of the sun, on a program called TOTALITY. Music is by CHRONOTOPE PROJECT, SUBDREAM, STELLARIUM, LONEWARD, ZENON MARKO, ROBERT RICH, and STEVE ROACH.

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

PGM 1368 'SACRED SONGS of DEVOTION' : mar.29-apr.5

This week on Hearts of Space "SACRED SONGS OF DEVOTION" — a special program of choral and instrumental music for Easter, from our longtime guest producer for classical and sacred music ELLEN HOLMES. The show includes choral selections from Ellen's compilation "SACRED SONGS of MARY: Devotion"—the third in her series of albums showcasing music honoring the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus. "In Western culture," writes Ellen, “Mary is the personification of tenderness, compassion, forgiveness, protection, and unconditional love—emotions reflected in music praising her or beseeching her comfort and help.”

This wide-ranging program includes sacred choral music from the Russian Orthodox mass, a 12th Century song by HILDEGARD VON BINGEN, 17th century sacred music from Spain by ALONSO LOBO, sacred works by 19th and 20th century composers JOHN TAVENER, SERGEI RACHMANINOFF, PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY, and MAURICE DURUFLÉ, and contemporary works by SIGUR RÓS, LISA GERRARD, DAVID DARLING, MAX RICHTER, and ARVO PÄRT. 

Choral and instrumental music for Easter: SACRED SONGS OF DEVOTION…on this transmission of Hearts of Space.

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

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.

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

PGM 1367 'VIBRAPHONICS' : mar.15-22

The Vibraphone is an instrument in the metallophone family with a colorful history of American invention and competition.

Metallophones evolved from the wooden marimba. The predecessor of the vibraphone called the steel marimba, was invented by the J.C. DEAGAN company in Chicago around 1916. The first "vibraphone" was introduced in 1924 by LEEDY Manufacturing in Indianapolis. It was based on the Deagan steel marimba, and featured a vibrato effect created by a motor-driven fan inside the resonator tubes below each note. Not to be outdone, three years later the Deagan Company introduced an improved vibraphone, with better sounding tuned aluminum bars, and a damper mechanism operated by a foot pedal. It was an immediate success and became the model for all subsequent vibraphones.

By the 1930's the instrument was well-established in the burgeoning jazz scene at the hands of virtuoso players like Lionel Hampton. In addition to jazz, the vibraphone became part of the standard classical orchestra percussion section, and the standard college-level percussion performance curriculum. In the 1970's this led to use of vibraphones and marimbas in contemporary Minimalist music by Philip Glass and Steve Reich, and later in New Classical and Ambient. That's where we're going on this transmission of Hearts of Space, called VIBRAPHONICS.

Music is by GARY BURTON & CHICK COREA, PETER GARLAND, JASPON TREUTING, HANG MASSIVE, MICHAEL JON FINK, OLIVIÉR ALARY, OCEAN MOON, and GARY BURTON & PAUL BLEY.  

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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.

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

PGM 1366 'ELECTRON TRAVELER 6' : mar.1-8

The current boom in "immersive media" includes computer-assisted VR or Virtual Reality, AR or Augmented Reality, AR and VR glasses and headsets, immersive video games and films, panoramic projections, spatial audio systems, and specially designed theaters and concert venues, like The Sphere in Las Vegas. Regardless of size or complexity, they all have a similar purpose: to augment our existing world, or transport us to fantastic new synthetic worlds.

Interactivity and connectivity are the focus of these new technologies, but there's an older, simpler, more passive technology that can transport listeners to virtual worlds just by listening—electronic music.

It's been over a hundred years since the invention of practical electronic instruments, and the power of electronic sound to take us to exotic tonal and even cosmic environments is well-known to both musicians and listeners. On Hearts of Space, we've been documenting it for over 40 years, with hundreds of programs dedicated to the art of virtual travel on electronic waves. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, it's another journey in our electronic touring series, on a program called ELECTRON TRAVELER 6. Music is by THIERRY DAVID, MARTIN STÜRTZER, DREAMSTATE LOGIC, SUBDREAM, CHRONOTOPE PROJECT, STEVE ROACH, and ALPHA WAVE MOVEMENT.

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

PGM 938R2 'WAITING' : feb.23-mar.1

If ever there was a part of everyday life that almost everyone hates, it's waiting.

It's a shame because waiting is unavoidable, like death and taxes — and just about as popular.

Waiting in line...is barely tolerated. God help the person who tries to cut in.

Waiting while driving is even worse, breeding dangerous, irrational behavior.
We have a name for that: road rage.

Waiting causes impatience, anger, and stress. We have drugs for that.

We have special rooms for waiting. They're rarely happy places.

In short, waiting is almost always considered a waste of time. A bad thing.

But it doesn't have to be that way. If you have a smart phone, you've already discovered the joys of "continuous episodic computing." It makes waiting productive. Just please...not while you're driving.

With a change in attitude, waiting becomes an opportunity for exploration, a time for discovery.  A time to read, play, watch or listen, connect with friends, write. Or simply a quiet space to catch up with yourself. A good thing.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, an hour of ambient electronics for exploration and discovery, on a program called (wait for it)........WAITING.

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

PGM 1365 'EUROJAZZ' : feb.16-23

The British jazz saxophonist and clarinetist JOHN SURMAN has a style that's described as "intensely lyrical," a quality he attributes to his time as a choirboy, and his upbringing in the verdant landscapes of rural west England. Surman sees the 20th century origins of jazz by black musicians in the U.S. as a melting pot of world music, with African, Creole, Spanish and other influences. These were eventually transformed into the speed and virtuosity of Bebop, which dominated jazz at mid-century.

Between the world wars, Europe had become a major venue for American jazz musicians. The genre took on influences from European folk and classical music, as well as a wider range of world influences from the Middle East, Central Asia, and South America. As a result, European jazz tended to be less abstract, more melodic, and more atmospheric than American jazz. The essential German jazz and New Music label ECM, founded in 1969, continues to document this repertoire in a catalog of over 1800 superb recordings, from which this program is drawn.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, lyrical jazz from Europe with a focus on Norway, a small country that produces a remarkable amount of great music, on a program called EUROJAZZ. Music is by the TORD GUSTAVSEN QUARTET, TERJE RYPDAL, JOHN SURMAN, ARVE HENRIKSEN & HARMEN FRAANJE, THOMAS STRØNEN, CRAIG TABORN, and KRISTJAN RANDALU with BEN MONDER and MARKKU OUNASKARI. 

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

PGM 1101R 'NORTHSCAPES' : feb.9-16

THERE'S NOTHING QUITE LIKE THE STILLNESS of a frigid winter night. Sensible humans retreat to their heated homes and warm beds, while the normal hyperactivity of the natural world is reduced to almost nothing by cold and dark. Even busy nocturnal creatures and insects take some time off, while flowing water turns to silent ice.

It's an environment that finds expression in a rarified genre of electronic music, which runs the gamut from cool, to chilled, to frozen. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, Ambient electronic music for quiet winter nights, on a program called NORTHSCAPES.

Music is by SOUNDS & SILENCE, SIMON LOMAX, CONNECT.OHM, MEG  BOWLES, STEVE ROACH, MARK BANNING, JAJA, and BLISS.

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

PGM 1364 'ATMOSPHERIC CLASSICAL' : feb.2-9

The evolution of western classical art music is a story of evolving cultures, developing instruments, and continuous musical innovation. Over the course of some twelve centuries, acoustic strings, winds, horns, keyboards, and percussion instruments evolved into the symphony orchestra, as well as smaller groups: string orchestras, horn and wind ensembles, and intimate string quartets, trios, and duos. Each group was designed for a specific kind of music and social occasion.

The arrival of electronic instruments in the 20th century was a disruptive innovation that stimulated a different response than the slow evolution of acoustic instruments. Electronics promised the composer freedom from acoustic limitations, the ability to design completely new tones and new instruments, create spatial sound images and virtual environments. In time, these new capabilities led to new genres like Electronic Space and Ambient, with expansive cosmic spaces, infinite floating worlds, and subtle textures.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we explore the intersection of classical form and ambient electronics, on program called ATMOSPHERIC CLASSICAL. Music is by MAX RICHTER, A WINGED VICTORY FOR THE SULLEN, CHRISTIAN WITTMAN, HAMMOCK, JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON and JONAS COLSTRUP, WILLLIAM ST. HUGH, and BOB HOLROYD.

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

PGM 1203R 'INFINITE HORIZONS' : jan.26-feb.2

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 1363 'WINTERTONES 3' : jan.19-26

AT THE NADIR OF WINTER, the time of deepest cold and lowest natural activity, the sound of the resonant percussion family of instruments takes on an uncanny appeal. The metallophones—bells, bowls, gongs, chimes, and cymbals—speak eloquently in the chilled, quiet air.

Bells have been with us for over four thousand years. Besides everyday functions like sounding the time, they’ve played an essential role in religious ceremonies around the world. For hundreds of years, Christian churches used them for both. 

More recently, metallic and quartz crystal bells, bowls, and gongs have become central to Sound Healing and group meditation practices, as well as personal rituals. Simple, relatively inexpensive, powerful tools for creating sacred space, bells are adapting to the changes in religion and personal spirituality.

On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, a meditative journey for resonant percussion, on a program called WINTERTONES 3. Music is by SHAWN FEENEY, SCOTT LAWLOR, TRYSHE DHEVNEY, 33 BOWLS, and featuring veteran San Francisco bell ringer KARMA MOFFETT.

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