I’m very excited about today’s show because our guest deejay is Adrian Utley!
Most likely you know Adrian from Portishead, the band that put trip hop on the map late last century. Or you many know Adrian more recently for the work he did with Will Gregory for the soundtrack to the motion picture Arcadia, which I featured on the first episode of SOUNDWAVE. Adrian is a man who cares deeply about his craft and his love of sound and music is expressed in any project he is involved with.
I want to give special thanks to Charles Hazelwood for putting me in contact with Adrian. After Charles’s mix for SOUNDWAVE went live I asked him who he knew personally who might be interested in participating in the show and he suggested Adrian and Hannah Peel (who will be our guest deejay on next week’s show). It’s little things like that that make this show feel special and more intimate. At least to me, anyway.
Okay, time for me to wrap this up. My family and I are going to take a little but much needed vacation and get away from the wildfires and earthquakes that have wracked California.
I’m very excited about today’s show because our guest deejay is Elliott Sharp!
I told my wife about Elliott and she gave me a blank look. I get it. SOUNDWAVE is a niche show featuring niche musicians. But if you’re into this sort of thing then you’ll be just as thrilled as I am about today’s show.
I was introduced to Elliott’s music back when I was a deejay at WMFO. We broadcast under a freeform format and while I imagined myself as having broad tastes my fellow deejays turned me on to some fantastic experimental music and Elliott Sharp came up again and again.
When I came across Elliott on Instagram I immediately invited him to be a guest deejay on SOUNDWAVE and to my delight he obliged. I was curious what kind of mix he‘d put together and it’s just as expected as I expected and I know you‘ll love it just as much as I do.
Elliott will tell you all about his mix below. I gotta flex because we‘re dropping off a relative in Sacramento.
See you next week when our guest deejay will be Adrian Utley!
Elliott Sharp
A collection of pieces reflecting my mood as we near the end of Summer 2020, the summer of Covid-19, and the eve of a potentially apocalyptic American election.
The electrified mbira ensemble Konono N°1 from Congo Republic plays music that is simultaneously joyous and furious, danceable but stimulating cornersof the mind that reflect on history and colonialism, folk culture and electrified popular music.
With a wave of recent lynchings of African-Americans by uniformed police in the USA, forces that often see themelves as occupying armies, I’m reminded ofthis poignant blues by the legendary Blind Lemon Jefferson. While the singer laments that he will be executed for “doing something wrong”, one can’t help imagine that we are witness to a much more primitive form of justice, that of the lynch mob.
Some of my favorite guitar music of all time is vọng cổ music from Vietnam, performed on electric guitars with deeply scalloped fretboards and-built-in electronic effects. This music is deep blues, transnational and cosmic.
With the Linda Music track from what was the Central African Republic, we hear amusic now vanished, played by people extinguished in the civil war between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes. Tragic, beautiful music.
At this point, I humbly add my own composition Storm of the Eye performed by thefantastic virtuosi Hilary Hahn on violin and Cory Smythe on piano. Commissioned in 2009 by Hilary for her album In 27 Pieces, the piece makes great demands on the players both in use of extended techniques and in summoning a feeling for the times.
This program closesout with an excerpt from Quatermass by the great Tod Dockstader, a visionary pioneer of music concrete and electro acoustic music. He worked outside of the academy and therefore never received the recognition due him. His music was visceral and powerful, perfect for this moment.
One of the consequences of COVID-19 was that for four months I had a very sedentary lifestyle. I stopped exercising and began consuming several pints of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream each week. Not good, so I started exercising every day and eating healthier. In the space of a month and a half I dropped 20 pounds and I gelt lighter in both mind and body. A few weeks ago my friend Billy put me on a custom diet and workout plan and I feel even better and I look great, too. The point I’m trying to make is that the virus has altered all of our lives but I feel, I hope, we’re reaching some sort of equilibrium and getting on with things despite it. And if you are like me, you’re making changes in your life.
I’ve mentioned many times before that SOUNDWAVE was launched to help me cope with COVID-19. I found solace in the music and I decided to share that music with others so that they might, too.
Shortly afterwards I began inviting deejays to participate in the show. I’d ask my guests if they knew anyone personally they thought might want to share a mix on SOUNDWAVE and that’s introduced me to a lot of great people and turned me on to some fantastic music. SOUNDWAVE has evolved in ways I couldn’t have predicted and I’m grateful for that.
Today’s guest deejay is W. David Oliphant, who I was turned on to by my old friend, Steven Howard. I knew nothing about Oliphant but if Steve recommended him I knew I was in store for something special. I was not mistaken.
I received Oliphant’s mix several months ago and I listened to it in a different context. I was full of dread and anxiety due to COVID-19 and listening to Oliphant’s mix was like entering into someone’s fever dream. It felt exactly like the reality I was experiencing and I listened to his mix over and over again. Months later I’m in a different place and I was reluctant to re-enter that world Oliphant has waiting for us. But I was obligated to so I could write up today’s show notes. It was harrowing. But that’s a good thing. In general, when people think of ambient music they think of pretty, soothing sounds. That’s certainly a part of ambient music but it can also be haunting and challenging and when you’re done you know you’ve been through an experience that’s changed you. You will be a different person after listening to today’s show.
See you next week when our guest deejay will be Elliott Sharp.
See you then!
W. David Oliphant
By way of the kindness of Steven Howard I was asked by Joseph Aleo for an ambient mix. To be honest this asking for a mix is a first for me. I haven’t made mixes of others music since the 80’s, not for lack of interest but too little time outside of daily life which was myopically spent creating my own sounds…
Joseph has graciously let me make a mix of my own work for this. I gathered up a journey of sounds that focused on small textures rather than heavy drones. I was hoping to make something mysterious, ‘light’ and somehow hopeful sounding given the reason for this mix is due to our current pandemic situations. It has been a pleasure using my work as building blocks and making everything unique for this mix.
The Big Dipper “Excerpt”
Rag Dun “You were in a distant place where voices are kept In boxes of ice, each word frozen”
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.
