Usually when I post a new show I blather on about what’s been going on in my life for a bit. But not this week and that’s because our guest deejay is Strictly Kev, AKA, DJ Food!
I’ve been a fan of DJ Food since first discovering him (or them, at the time) on a Ninjatune compilation album. When I started producing my electronic music show, solipsistic NATION, I had DJ Food on my list of people I absolutely had to have on the show. It took a while but eventually Kev appeared on solipsistic NATION with a live recording of his album, The Search Engine, performed at the FullDome, in the UK. Kev later was also kind enough to contribute to my Friends Mix.
When I launched SOUNDWAVE I once again reached out to Kev to put together a mix for the show and once again Kev was generous enough to assemble an absolutely stunning mix of beauty. I know you’re going to love it as much as I do!
Before I get out of here I want to tell you about Kev’s latest project, an album called Citizen Void by Celestial Mechanic. The music is a companion to the debut novel by designer, illustrator and typographer, Rian Hughes, ‘XX – A Novel, Graphic’. It’s huge and is a beautifully-designed tome that clocks in at nearly 1,000 pages.
Join us next week when our guest deejay will be David Oliphant.
Today’s guest deejay is Corey Parlamento who comes to use by way of my old friend, Steven Howard (check out Steven’s SOUNDWAVE mix here).
I’ll be honest, I know absolutely nothing about Corey but when Steven Howard suggested I have Corey on SOUNDWAVE I didn’t ask any questions. Steven’s taste in music is impeccable and if he recommends a band or a deejay I will not hesitate to take him up on it. Corey is no exception.
Corey will talk about his music but I will spoil one thing here. Corey is a deejay at AshevilleFM and the focus of his show is soundtracks. The instrumental soundtracks. The atmospheric soundtracks. The foley work used in soundtracks. This resonates with me because as long as I can remember those are the parts of the soundtracks I love the most. Before I even knew there was such a thing as ambient music I desired to hear music that consisted of those moments of the soundtracks that filled me with wonder or gave me the chills. That’s exactly the kind of show Corey produces and the mix you are going to hear on today’s show. I know you’re going to love it.
This mix is a blend of my current preoccupation with film music and a new found affinity for South Florida. I live in Asheville, North Carolina and have a radio show called Scores For You and Yours where I broadcast film music for an hour on the weekend. I have been doing it for about three years and have learned a whole lot about film music. As far as South Florida goes, I grew up in Boynton Beach, not too far away from Miami. A stone’s throw from Mar-A-Lago (going to save that title for my Jimmy Buffet songwriting phase). I’ve never particularly liked South Florida. The landscape is overdeveloped and the weather is insane. However, when I visited last for Christmas I found myself mesmerized by what remained of the natural landscape and even some of the remnants of 70’s South Florida architecture. I felt a connection to it that I had not felt in the past. I made this mix imagining my connection to a South Florida that no longer exists. Maybe it does exist somewhere underneath all of the condos and sugar cane factories just waiting for its time to return.
The mix contains six songs from different films, a song that I wrote and produced for an art installation for the artist Sarah Knobel, and a track from my band Thought Relief (which was previously released on tape under the name Livingdog and Mike Johnson via Constellation Tatsu Records). In between each song I added in field recordings from my most recent trip to Florida and a clip of audio from an old home video. I hope that you enjoy it and create your own fictional landscapes from it.
Nothing new to report this week besides the usual COVID-19-related tragedies, social unrest and climate and ecological collapse. So let’s get right to today’s show.
Our guest deejay is Jason Engling.
I’m not sure how I first discovered Jason except that I fell in love with his music after hearing his track, “sometimes i lay in fields at night”. So much so that I invited Jason to come on solipsistic NATION to showcase his live performance that was recorded in the Darkroom in Chicago. And when I launched SOUNDWAVE Jason was one of the first people I approached to contribute to the show with a mix.
Jason will talk about today’s show below.
Join us again next week when our guest deejay will be Corey Parlamento.
See you then!
Jason Engling
This is mix is a cross section of my works from the last few years. I have continued creating ambient works that incorporate analogue and digital techniques and tools.
Recent works have incorporated lofi tools such as cassette tape loops and resample sounds through different amplification sources. My recent live performance have focused on using electro-acoustic techniques utilizing acoustic instruments, such as kalimba and melodica, alongside custom built sampling software and eurorack modules. Outside of my solo works my group,”Liquid Maus” has a cassette release on the Histaminetape label. I am also an active member of the North CoastModular Collective, who work to increase the skill, knowledge, and accessibility of electronic music artistry through the development of music, instruments, and community.
As I write this it is a Sunday morning in Northern California. Breakfast is being made and my friends and my boy are play Coup. Later, we’ll go hiking. Tomorrow it’ll be back work but this weekend has been a very much needed break. I hope you a chance to get away from it all, too.
Jason and I are part of the second wave of podcasters. I’m not sure how we met but we both enjoyed and admired each other’s shows. I was producing solipsistic NATION, an electronic music show, and Jason was playing some of the best hip hop around, as well as such from other genres of music. I respected Jason’s taste in music so much that I invited him to be a guest deejay on solipsistic NATION. The other reason I admire Jason is that when he gets behind the mic he is the essence of sincerity. Like most of us, Jason is on a spiritual journey. The difference is with Jason you get to be along for the ride.
Enjoy today’s show. I know you will because you’re in good hands. Jason will chat about today’s mix below.
See you next week when our guest deejay will be Jason Engling. Take care!
Jason Randall Smith
First off, a huge thank you to Joseph Aleo for extending an invitation to me to be part of this mix series. My contribution is a brief collection of tunes ranging from dark ambient and electronic cuts to meditative jazz to indie rock and experimental works. For me, these selections hint at various emotional states being experienced during this extended period of isolation that we’re all making our way through. Think of this as a thirty-minute audio snapshot of The Great Disruption as seen from my apartment window, around-the-clock coronavirus news coverage, and social interactions online. I suppose this mix is my attempt to center my spirit while acknowledging that we’re in a truly troublesome place as a species right now…and it didn’t have to go down this way.
Wherever you are, I hope that this mix finds you safe and sane. Thank you for listening.
Today has been an emotionally devastating day. I’m heartbroken and so exhausted that simply typing the words you are reading is draining.
A few words about today’s show before I call it a night.
I launched SOUNDWAVE to help cope with the stress and isolation of COVID-19. Usually the mixes are melancholy or uplifting but either one gave me succor. Today’s mix from Metal Postcard Records founder, Sean Hocking, got me through today with it’s playfulness and sense of humor. I hope it will do the same for you.
I discovered Metal Postcard Records waaay back when I was a deejay at a private radio station in San Diego. I featured Metal Postcard Records on solipsistic NATION and have been in touch with Sean ever since and invited him to participate in my Friends Mix.
Sean’s mix is all over the place. If you enjoy today’s show, I encourage you to check out the music on his label, which is just as eclectic and runs the gamut to punk to psychedelia.
Join us again next week when our guest deejay will be brother in podcasting, Jason Randall Smith, of the Both Sides of the Surface podcast.
Today is a great day! Not only did I get to spend the weekend with my wife (since the COVID-19 lockdown in California we’ve spent maybe three weeks together) and throw a party for our youngest’s thirteenth birthday, today I finally get to release a mix from our guest deejay, Charles Hazlewood!
Charles is a musician, composer and orchestra conductor and I came across him during the first month of the lockdown while catching up on some documentaries I’ve been eating in to watch. One of the documentaries was Tones, Drones and Arpeggios: The Magic of Minimalism where Charles goes in search of minimalism by exploring the work of four great American composers who rebooted classical music in the 20th century.
It’s difficult to revisit the first month of the lockdown. The infection and death rate was exponential and there was no way of telling how high the numbers might climb. Each day was full of dread and anxiety and the fear that going outside or touching something might afflict me with a crippling illness if not killing me out right. And then there was the loneliness. It was just me and my dog. When would my family be under the same roof again? Weeks? Months? A year?
What gave me solace was listening to ambient, classical, experimental and instrumental music, which was the inspiration for SOUNDWAVE. If music was helping me get through COVID-19, surely it would help others. And after watching Charles interview luminaries such as La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Philip Glass and Steve Reich I reached out to him and asked if he could continue a mix for the show. And his mix is wonderful!
On today’s show we’ll hear from Ellen Allien, who I also interviewed when I showcased her label BPitch Control on solipsistic NATION, my electronic music show. We’ll also hear a track from Terry Riley’s album, Shri Camel and a track from Tony Conrad and Faust’s album, Outside the Dream Syndicate. New to me are two tracks form Kali Malone and Kieran Hebden. That’s one of the things I love about the guest deejays on SOUNDWAVE, they’re always turning on on to great music.
So, yes, a great day! I hope you enjoy today’s show. If you’ll excuse me, I’m off to have brunch with my wife and our friends.
This is a rare instance where I don’t know out guest deejay at all. My good friend, Steven Howard, introduced us when I first launched SOUNDWAVE. Steven’s taste in music is impeccable and when he suggested Shad as a guest deejay I said yes without a moment’s hesitation. And I was right it trust Steven because Shad’s mix is singular. On his radio show Shad explores the genres of experimental, freeform, jazz and psychedelic music and while all of that informs today’s show the mix also like a foley’s wet dream. Shad’s mix feels extremely personal and takes you on an unexpected journey.
I’m going to wrap things up because I blew out my knee last week and as a result I’m way behind on chores. Enjoy Shad’s mix and he encourages you to experience it with headphones.
This week’s SOUNDWAVE features an absolutely beautiful mix from our guest deejay, Carmen Rizzo!
Carmen is yet another musician I met through solipsistic NATION and when I launched SOUNDWAVE he was on my go to list. And Carmen’s mix is exactly the reason I wanted him tp participate on today’s show. Socket in your AirPods or crank up your speakers and you’ll see why.
As always, if you enjoy any of the songs you hear on today’s show, and how can you not, then please purchase one of their songs or even one of their albums.
Okay, I gotta go. I’m in Silicon Valley with my wife and kid who I’ve been reunited with after four months of being apart. Thanks, COVID-19. This town is super expensive but it’s also super cute. In fact, I must say “cute” a half dozen times a day. I walk down the street and say “That house is cute.” Or “That fire station is cute.” Or “That park is cute.” Anyway, were’ going to go to the Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park and take in some nature with our friend Moby (no, not that Moby) so I’m going to keep this short and go.
Join us again next week when our guest deejay will be Shad Marsh.
In the mean time, go outside. Maybe go to a state park.
I just got back from a 4th of July party with my wife’s unit so I’m going to keep this short and sweet.
If you’re new to the show, I launched SOUNDWAVE to help cope with the stress of the first month of the lockdown due to COVID-19. Ambient, classical, experimental and instrumental music was the only music I could listen at that time. If it was helping me, I imagined it would help others.
Today was the first time in over four months of the lockdown I’ve been around this many people at once. It was great! It felt completely normal. And it gave me a charge. But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I was a little uneasy. Four months will do that to you.
If you’re in the U.S., I hope you had a fine holiday. For everyone in the world, I hope you’re having a lovely weekend.
We just got home and we’re winding down and this is the perfect opportunity to jot down today’s show notes. Our guest for today’s show is Gert De Meester of Distant Fires Burning.
I met Gert when I reached out to David Newman, founder of Audiobulb Records to participate on the show with a mix. David took pass but suggested I contact Gert and Kirk Markarian. I owe David because Kirk’s mix was fantastic and I’ve been waiting impatiently to take Gert’s mix live. I know you’re going to love it!
Gert’s going to rap with you about his mix below. Before I go, please join us again next week when our guest deejay is Carmen Rizzo. You’re in for a treat.
See you then!
Gert De Meester
Our first track is Autistici’s “Wire Cage For Tiny Birds.” Something that allways has attracted me to Autistici’s music, is the sense for new sounds and intricate sounddesign. This has allways been reflected in my music. I am quite happy with the fact that David has released my last album on his Audiobulb label. It fits there perfectly.
“K & J” is the opener of my last album. You hear a Jazzbass processed through ableton and a stockload of effects, basically my livesetup. “K & J” are the two most important people in my life.
Our third track is Taylor Deupree’s “Northern”. Taylor has allways been of great influence on me, besides Tim Hecker and Biosphere. But in Taylor’s music, I really find beauty, reminiscence, maybe a bit of wanderlust. It’s that freedom that speaks to me, that encounter with the new, but allways the hint at nature and down to earth noises.
“Scrape To Touch” is by Neuro… No Neuro and is one of my best labelmates and I saw him grow immensely in music making. His music really cought me by surprise as I host a Spotify playlist and i listen to all Audiobulb albums to give them a fair chance of getting included (me and David get along quite well, musically). But Kirk’s music really caught me on a permanent level.
“Geomagnetic Disturbance” is one of the first tracks where the Jazzbass got incorporated in my music. It was an outtake of 2010’s album Build on Me on U-Cover CDR Limited, but it got picked up by these great people of Consouling Sounds for this compilation. Quite a lot Hecker inspired, but hey, everybody’s got to learn sometimes…
Our last track is Svær’s “Broken Waltz Of Fukushima”. (Such a great 2019 discovery. He played as support of Tim Hecker in Brussels in 2019. What a great show that was, connected with him on Facebook, discovered he was a fellow Belgian too. And all of a sudden I got a message he released his debut album, the rest is history…
I’m going to keep today’s intro short because I learned that a family member tested positive for COVID-19. Our current understanding of the virus is that there is a 97-99% recovery rate. If you have pre-existing conditions then the chance of recovery lowers, and he has pre-existing conditions. I am optimistic that he’ll recover but our family is obviously rattled and I’m finding it difficult to concentrate on anything. Hence today’s brevity.
Our guest deejay on today’s show is Tijs Ham, who records under the name Tapage.
I was introduced to Tijs’s music when I interview Paul Nielsen, the founder of Tympanik Audio, on solipsistic NATION. I was impressed with Tijs seamless blending of ambient, breakcore and IDM that I broke one of my rules for solipsistic NATION, which is not playing an artist’s music more than once on the show. In fact, I featured Tijs’s music on the show quite times and invited him on solipsistic NATION to perform a live set. And that’s exactly why I invited Tijs to be a guest deejay on SOUNDWAVE.
Tijs will paint a picture of his mix below but before I go, please join us again ext week when our guest deejay will be Gert De Meester of Distant Fires Burning.
Until then, wear a mask and wash your hands and be safe.
Tijs Ham Photo credit: Cindy Voitus
A journey commences near the entrance of a cavern, stretching deep into a vast mountain. With each step the sunlight dims and fades until the dark remains. Balancing onuneven surfaces, the path leads further inwards, devoid of shapes and features, lost in time and space. Then, barely visible, a faintlight appears. Distant and flickering, like a candle in a slight summer breeze. As vision is slowly restored, the inevitable becomes clear. Are we back where we started?
