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SOUNDWAVE : 135 : AMBIENTBLOG

SOUNDWAVE : 135 : AMBIENTBLOG

Today’s guest deejay is Peter van Cooten, host of Ambientblog and DreamScenes on Concertzender.

I met Peter through Harrold Roeland and I invited Peter to guest deejay on the show (listen to his mix here). I did not anticipate that a mix from Peter would be something of an event. Peter’s mixes are more like epic tone poems that contain both the cosmic and the mundane in one listening experience.

 

Cloudwatching Sequence
Cloudwatching Sequence

Furthermore, Peter meticulously crafts his mixes. Peter might use a passage once from a song or as a leitmotif. His mixes are dense and multilayered. Peter’s skill is that despite the complexity of his mixes, they are seamless and fluid. You don’t need to know the immense effort that produced the mix you are listening to appreciate its beauty and artistry.

Because Peter mixes feel like an event, it felt appropriate to release today’s show for Halloween as we celebrate the darker half of the year.

Peter has some words about his mix below.

Join us next week when out guest deejay will be Mike Lazarev.

See you then.

 

Cloudwatching
Cloudwatching

Most (if not all) previous Ambientblog mixes always had some dark moments; they are never “just” relaxing. You can only feel release if you also feel tension.

This time, I wanted to avoid the darkness and create a “lighter mood mix.” Not of the “Ibiza Chillout Lounge” kind, but one that can be played in the background and is still exciting enough to listen to. I hope I succeeded, but of course, you’re the one to decide about that!

 

With two hours, Cloudwatching is longer than usual. Only a few tracks are included in their full length, but most are heavily edited or even just short fragments. Also, they are often overlayed, so you’ll hear the music in a different context. The extensive playlist below may help you track down the original in their full-length versions.

I hope you’ll enjoy watching these -imaginary- clouds!

Cloudwatching Playlist (includes start length, artist title, album title, year, and label).

  1. Francisco López “Untitled #373”
  2. Lawrence English “Pre-Approach”
  3. William Basinski & Janek Schaefer “. . . on reflection (four)”
  4. Arve Henriksen & Eivind Aarset & Jan Bang “The Swans Bend Their Necks Backward To See God”
  5. Masayoshi Fujita “Harp”
  6. Mombi Yuleman “Mental Telepathy”
  7. ASMUS TIETCHENS “Paralelle Ebene 1”
  8. Abul Mogard “Like Water”
  9. KEDA “La Lune De Corée”
  10. Tapani Rinne & Teho Majamäki “Reflection”
  11. Radboud Mens “Convolution”
  12. Alex Haas & Michel Banabila “The Woods (ft. Bill Laswell)”
  13. Imperial Valley “Fields North Of Kane Spring, Oct 8, 1938”
  14. James Murray “Clearings”
  15. Raum “Daughter”
  16. Tierro Cosmico “Eres Nocturna”
  17. Emmanuel Holterbach “Rivage (Shore)”
  18. Holland Patent Public Library “a road I’ve passed but never taken”
  19. Thomas Ragsdale & Richard Arnold “The View”
  20. David Cordero & Kenji Kihara “Grazalema”
  21. Abul Mogard “The Rain Has Gone”
  22. Robyn Miller “Gateroom”
  23. From The Mouth of the Sun “Paint & Stories”
  24. Olga Wojciechowska “Recreating Worlds”
  25. Biosphere “Aura In The Kitchen With The Candlesticks”
  26. Jolanda Moletta “Spell II: Daydream And Nightbloom”
  27. Budhaditya Chattopadhay “Dhvani”
  28. Cell “Geiger”
  29. Clarice Jensen “Fear”
  30. Erik Wøllo “Peace Bells”
  31. Tarotplane “Auximenes”
  32. NORMAN W. LONG “Return & Recovery”
  33. Marine Eyes & Antarctic Wastelands “Enshrouded”
  34. Ryoji Ikeda “Data.Tron (2007-14)”
  35. Masayoshi Fujita “Pons”
  36. Tetsuroh Konishi “Kevaan Aania”
  37. Madeleine Cocolas “Presence”
  38. PINKCOURTESYPHONE “Comfortable Predictability”
  39. Clarice Jensen “Love”
  40. Radboud Mens “Modular”
  41. Arve Henriksen “The Farmers Of Sonic Alchemy”
  42. Daigo Hanada “Kage”
  43. Ivan Cebrian | Victor Cerdan “Snow in silence”
  44. Robert Rich and Luca Formentini “First Day”
  45. Sofie Birch & Antonina Nowacka “Outro”
  46. Sven Laux & Fione “Stay”
  47. loscil “Dub For Cascadia”
  48. Powlos & Holt “Our Shimmering Breath”
  49. Anne Chris Bakker “Johan (In Memoriam)”
  50. Glåsbird “Sirsa”
  51. Trio Ramberget “D Minor Postlude”
  52. Galya Bisengalieva “The Crash”
  53. Madeleine Cocolas “Enfold”

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SOUNDWAVE : 126 : MIKE CADOO

SOUNDWAVE : 126 : MIKE CADOO

Today’s guest deejay is Mike Cadoo, the founder of n5MD, a much loved and respected independent record label based out of Oakland, California. n5MD focuses on ambient, modern composition, post-rock, and experimental electronic music.

As a long-time fan of n5MD, I showcased Mike’s label on solipsistic NATION, my electronic music show, years ago. Mike guest deejayed on Soundwave in 2021 and returns today with a much-needed mix for me.

I can’t go into the details, but last week I nearly died. You’d never know it by looking at me. Physically I’m fine. But I’m shaken. I find that I quickly get emotional about things. Sometimes I have a profound respect for life, all lives. Sometimes I’m filled with existential despair. I’m told this will pass in a few months. In the meantime, I’m having these overwhelming experiences.

Mike doesn’t know this, but his mix helped get me through the week.

Mike has some words about today’s mix below.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Giulio Aldinucci.

See you then.

My song, “Sunrise at Ironhorse Trail,” included in today’s mix, is from a release that I will be releasing on my personal Bandcamp page on World Alzheimer’s Day. My father passed this January in what can best be described as complications due to mixed dementia. All proceeds will be donated to Hope Hospice, which was very integral in the comfort of my father in the last days of his life, as well as, and maybe even more importantly, my mother’s grief counseling after his passing.

  1. Jon Hopkins & 7RAYS “Ascending, Dawn Sky”
  2. Billow Observatory “Wash Away The Dust”
  3. awakened souls “No Other Place”
  4. Jason van Wyk “Surface Drones”
  5. OKADA “Annihilation”
  6. KMRU “Und”
  7. Mike Cadoo “Sunrise at Ironhorse Trail”
  8. Chris Child & Micah Frank “VarnAw”
  9. SVLBRD “The Vault”
  10. Haunted Ghost “Lost Footage”
  11. Gridlock “Under [Beat Mix] (unreleased)”
  12. Rinnovare feat. Benoit Pioulard “The Be in the Grey is Okay”
  13. Ex Confusion “When I Think of You”
  14. Brambles “Such Owls As You”
  15. Last Days “All the Lighthouses”
  16. Jan Wagner “Kapitel 28”

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SOUNDWAVE : 74 : ANTHÈNE

SOUNDWAVE : 74 : ANTHÈNE

Today’s guest deejay is Bradley Sean Alexander Deschamps, AKA Anthéne, curator of Polar Seas Recordings.

I discovered Anthéne when Ishmael Cormack (listen to his mix for Soundwave here) requested music recommendations on Twitter. There were some great suggrestions, and I listened to everything I could find on Bandcamp or Spotify. Anthéne’s music was warm, dreamy, and organic for all its etherealness. Naturally, I extended to Anthéne to guest deejay on Soundwave.

Last week I drove from San Diego to Sacramento with Jonanathan Ammons’s mix providing the soundtrack for that apocalyptic journey. This week Anthéne’s mix was the music for my night drive back to San Diego. This time there were no abandoned cars, wildfire smoke choked skies, or searing sunlight. Instead, a beautiful, three-quarter orange moon floated on the horizon while the stars came out, one by one. It was a long drive, and I played Anthéne’s mix several times, which got me as far as Los Angeles.

If you feel like sharing, please tell me where you listened to today’s show.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Complex Holiday.

 

Sean Alexander Deschamps, AKA Anthéne
Sean Alexander Deschamps, AKA Anthéne

  1. Mary Lattimore “Sometimes He’s In My Dreams”
  2. Drape “Solo In High Dreary”
  3. Sylvain Chauveau “Et peu à peu les flots respiraient comme on pleure”
  4. Keeley Forsyth “Photograph”
  5. Sarah Neufeld “Stories”
  6. Gia Margaret “No Sleep No Dream”
  7. Yasmin Williams “Juvenescence”
  8. Havenaire “Beta”
  9. Mount Eerie & Julie Doiron “Real Lost Wisdom”
  10. Leo Svirsky “River Without Banks”
  11. Slow Reels “Lakka”

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SOUNDWAVE : 66 : COREY PARLAMENTO

SOUNDWAVE : 66 : COREY PARLAMENTO

Today’s guest deejay is Corey Parlamento.

Corey was on Soundwave last summer, and his mix was unique because it was an extension of his show on AshevilleFM, where he played instrumental soundtracks. Sadly, Corey no longer produces that show. Fortunately for us, Corey kept to that format for today’s mix.

When I invite guest deejays on Soundwave, I’ll ask them to write up a description of their mix: the reason they chose songs, if there was a theme or story they wanted to convert through their mix, etc. The mixes speak for themselves, but I think it adds another level of appreciation for understanding their intentions.

If they don’t send me a description, I’ll usually write my impressions of their mix. But for today’s show, I decided to call Corey and hear in his own words the motivations behind his mix.

 

Corey Parlamento
Corey Parlamento

Corey’s mix is built around the kernel of Black to Comm’s “Stolen Androgens.” Corey said he listened to this track repeatedly long before he assembled today’s show. The song begins so abruptly and then loops itself around some fascinating accompaniment. He liked how voice is used in this track.

Corey has had Yasuaki Shimizu’s Music for Commercials album for quite some time and incorporated it into his radio show for segues. The faint sound of water drops is what attracted him to Shimizu’s “Seiko 2.”

Fatima Al Qadiri’s “Souleiman’s Theme” is taken from the Atlantic film score, Corey’s current favorite soundtracks of the last couple of years, and transitions nicely into Kali Malone’s “Hagakyrka Bells,” from her album, The Sacrificial Code.

Corey also selected a track from the remastered soundtrack for Lady Macbeth by Third Ear Band, followed by Mary Steele’s “Al Rosana (My Rose),” which is available through Canary Records. This label specializes in archival music. “Al Rosana (My Rose)” is recorded from the 1920s in New York City and features a sonic blend of many cultures. Corey told me this piece is eery and conveyed a sense of decaying time.

Lustmord follows Mary Steele with a piece from the First Reformed soundtrack. Up next is a track by Michael Gordon, a composer for the movie Decasia, directed by Bill Morrison, who assembles found damaged footage.

Loren Connors takes it down a notch after Gordon, who is one of Corey’s favorite guitarists.

Corey wanted to follow Connors with a longer track from Sean McCann’s “Puck” but settled on “Nightfall.” Corey describes the album that track was taken from as having a lot of space, weird vocalizations, subtle noises, drones, and crashing sounds.

Corey closes his mix with a track of his own which he recorded under the name Livingdog. The track is taken from his album, The Four Times, released by Cold Moon Records out of New York City. This is the one-year anniversary of The Four Times, and Corey says the album was inspired by Le Quattro Volte. The movie has no soundtrack, but Corey’s imagination was capture by the meditations on a goat farmer who is reincarnated into a goat, then reincarnated into a tree which then turns into smoke.

And there you have it, Corey’s mix.

Oh, and Corey wanted me to tell you that he’s got a new album coming out on July 23 called Many Aways. I will, of course, remind you when the album is released

 

Jon Hassell
Jon Hassell

Before I leave you to Corey’s wonderful and mysterious mix, I have some sad news. When I launched Soundwave, I didn’t anticipate having to say farewell to so many talented and wonderful musicians in one short year. Today it saddens me to tell you that Jon Hassell, a trumpet player pioneering electronic musician, left planet earth last week. Jon played with everyone, from Brian Eno to Peter Gabriel to Techno Animal. I first became aware of Jon on his appearance on the Myths 3 : La nouvelle sérénité compilation album, and he’s been part of the soundtrack to my life ever since. You owe it to yourself to make Jon part of the soundtrack to your own life. I encourage you to purchase his music or stream him on your favorite streaming service.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be felt body.

See you then!

  1. Black To Comm “Stolen Androgens”
  2. Yasuaki Shimizu “Seiko 2”
  3. Fatima Al Qadiri “Souleiman’s Theme”
  4. Kali Malone “Hagakyrka Bells”
  5. Third Ear Band “LADY MACBETH”
  6. Mary Steele “Al Rosana (My Rose)”
  7. Lustmord “Hanstown Kills”
  8. Michael Gordon “Decasia, Part 5”
  9. Loren Connors “No Goodbyes”
  10. Sean McCann “Nightfall”
  11. Livingdog “Body Of A Tree”

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SOUNDWAVE : 60 : NATE HEARD

SOUNDWAVE : 60 : NATE HEARD

Today’s guest deejay is Nate Heard.

Fitz Gitler introduced me to Nate after I asked him who would be interested in doing a mix for Soundwave (listen to Fitz’s mix here). If Fitz recommends anything then I’m going to listen because that guy has excellent taste in music, so invited Nate to guest deejay on Soundwave without hesitation.

Nate did not disappoint. I’ve listened to his mix many times, usually with a cup of coffee while I’m starting my workday. Despite each listen, Nate’s mix sounds fresh even as it’s burnished with another lacquer of familiarity.

Nature said that today’s mix inspired him to dust off his Ableton and begin composing again. I look forward to whatever he decides to share.

Nate is a medical geographer who uses maps to support health programs around the world. When I asked him if there was anything I should mention on today’s show notes, he said he wanted to promote efforts such as 80,000 Hours (a London-based organization that conducts research on which careers have the most significant positive social impact and provides career advice based on that research), GiveWell (an American non-profit charity assessment and effective altruism-focused organization, focusing primarily on the cost-effectiveness of the organizations that it evaluates, rather than traditional metrics such as the percentage of the organization’s budget that is spent on overhead), and Animal Charity Evaluators (a US-based non-profit charity evaluator and effective altruism-focused organization that finds and promotes the most effective ways to help animals).

Nate was some words about his mix below.

As of Monday, I am fully vaccinated. Outwardly, you’d never know that being vaccinated has changed my life. I still wear my mask when I go out into the world. I still keep my distance from people. I don’t want to pass on the virus even though I may be immune to it, and I certainly don’t want to risk catching one of the variants. Inwardly, I feel like a weight has been lifted. I feel a little bit invincible.

Before the pandemic, I purchased tickets to see Swans perform in Los Angeles. The concert was rescheduled, rescheduled again, and finally canceled. I’m hoping that once enough people have been vaccinated that I’ll finally get to see them.

This week I’ve been putting my CDs in storage. While packing, I came across fantastic music by C – Schulz, Coil, Zoviet France, Techno Animal, Z’EV , and others that I plan to share on a future mix.

Okay, that’s it for me.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Jon Solo, AKA Naneum.

See you then!

 

Photo of Nate Heard taken by Miles Heard at Battleground National Cemetery, which was established after The Battle of Fort Stevens where President Abraham Lincoln came under direct fire from Confederate troops.
Nate Heard
Photo Credit: Miles Heard

Like many mixes that appear on Soundwave, this one captures a specific moment, even though these selections come together from a span of about 50 years. I received Joseph’s kind invitation to be a guest deejay the day after seditious white supremacists stormed the Capitol building. I was a mess. I happen to live in Washington, D.C., and have spent some time in those office buildings. Terre Thaemlitz’s “D.C. D.O.A.” (1997) came to mind and ended up anchoring this mix.

“I got a phone call. He wants us to join him.”

“In Washington.”

“Some kind of big demonstration.”

“They think they’ve finally got a shot.”

“I can’t go to Washington. I can’t even get out of bed!”

Julianna Barwick goes straight for catharsis with “Inspirit” (2020). It’s a purification. Listening to it feels like participating in a rite. Like “Inspirit,” Haruomi Hosono and Bill Laswell’s “Unfinished Screams” (1996) washes over you, but in alternating waves of drum & bass and ambient synth & insect passages. The outro forms a bridge to the musique concrète and collage pieces that compose the mix’s core.

The one electronic music class I’ve taken focused primarily on tape processing and the studio techniques Delia Derbyshire used, such as cutting and splicing magnetic tape with a razor. This excerpt of “Circle of Light” (1969) is a nod to Derbyshire’s brilliance with this medium and, like other excerpts in the mix, encourages seeking out the complete pieces.

“Espace/Escape” (1989) is one of the most tonally rich pieces of musique concrète I know and endlessly rewarding on repeated listening. Holger Czukay’s “Träum Mal Wieder” (1984), roughly “dream again,” is also built from ethereal, dreamlike sources but is held together by driving percussion and has much more structure than its name suggests.

The album “Pan De Sonic – Iso,” which includes the track “Evening Night fall – Fire, cricket, wine glass etc” (2021), will be available by the time this mix appears on Soundwave. Ai Yamamoto composed it entirely of “domestic field recordings” from the artist’s COVID lockdown in Melbourne. It promises to be an extraordinary release.

Chris Burke’s “Everything I Need” (1995) is at once jagged and tender, much like Joe Cocker’s source vocals. To my ear, Burke captures the essence of Cocker’s song with only variations on a four-second sample.

“Avril 14th” (Aphex Twin) is recognizable from the opening bar of loscil’s remix of Wagner and Murcof’s cover (2017). But unlike the original or the cover, the melody doesn’t hit until 2:03, which for me, was one of the biggest payoffs in music I’d heard in a long time. It’s patient and brilliantly arranged.

The opening track on Pauline Oliveros, Stuart Dempster & Panaiotis‘s “Deep Listening” is “Lear” (1993) which, the more I thought about it, evoked the 45th president. The greed. The king’s solicitation of flattery. King Lear does not want the responsibility of power. Only the benefits. Shakespeare’s tragedies typically end with a restoration of order after chaos. Maybe less so with Lear.

I’d wanted to end this mix on an up note but settled for something absurd. Negativland’s “Time Zones” fit the moment and make for a clear bookend to Thaemlitz. The madness of Lear and the brain worms of conservative political talk radio. Some kind of big demonstration? “It’s not even funny.” Eleven tracks. “It’s ridiculous.”

  1. Terre Thaemlitz “D.C. D.O.A.”
  2. Julianna Barwick “Inspirit”
  3. 細野晴臣 & Bill Laswell “Unfinished Screams”
  4. Delia Derbyshire & Elsa Stansfield “Circle of Light – Part Two, excerpt”
  5. Francis Dhomont “Espace/Escape, excerpt”
  6. Holger Czukay “Traum Mal Wieder”
  7. Ai Yamamoto “Evening Night fall – Fire, cricket, wine glass etc”
  8. Chris Burke “Everything I Need”
  9. Vanessa Wagner x Murcof “Avril 14th – Loscil remix”
  10. Pauline Oliveros, Stuart Dempster, and Panaiotis “Lear, excerpt”
  11. Negativland “Times Zones, excerpt”

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SOUNDWAVE : 54 : MICHAŁ MILCZAREK

SOUNDWAVE : 54 : MICHAŁ MILCZAREK

Today’s guest deejay is Michał Milczarek.

Michał is based in Warsaw, Poland, and is an ambient electroacoustic artist that explores multimedia, sound art, and ambient genre through guitar soundscapes, field recordings, and samples. He is a conceptual leader of MM3, who creates 360° concepts of composing music, sound design, audio production, visual arts, and live performances. Michał is also a member of NUDA, a polish modern jazz/avantgarde band. Michał is currently working on different multimedia concepts and audio-visual works connecting the language of music and social commitment.

Michał is yet another musician I discovered on one of my deep dives on Bandcamp. I don’t have anything else to say about Bandcamp that I haven’t said here already. If you haven’t used Bandcamp’s service, please do. They do great work, and they make sure that the artists and music labels receive a high percentage of the money they make through selling music. You can buy the music you love and know that the musicians are fairly compensated for their work.

Michał’s mix for today’s show is a surprise. I suppose all the mixes on SOUNDWAVE are surprised. What I mean is that I invite people I respect to guest deejay on the show and give them the parameters that their mix focus on ambient, classical, experimental, and instrumental music. How they choose to interpret that is up to the guest deejay.

Therein lies what I think the charm of the show is. What music do these talented musicians love and want to share with us? It would be a mistake to believe that the guest deejays would select tracks like their own music, yet I make this mistake again and again.

Take Michał’s opening track, “When the World Ended.” It’s a beautiful piece of poetry that serves as a kind of a mission statement for today’s mix. At least, that how it seemed to me. There’s nothing in Michał’s own music that prepared me for it. Nor did I expect Radiohead’s Thom Yorke to make an appearance Michał’s mix, yet here we are. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so surprised by Yorke’s appearance after hearing him on Robin Rimbaud’s mix from a few weeks ago. You’ll hear more from Yorke on upcoming mixes on SOUNDWAVE as well.

I know you will take as much delight in Michał’s mix as I did.

Before I get out of Dodge, I want to briefly share my experience of getting my first shot of the Moderna vaccine. I’ll get my second dose the first weekend of May, but I already feel invincible. I still have to take the same precautions of social distancing and wearing a mask, but the background anxiety of going out into the world has melted away. It’s remarkable how much my outlook has changed. I’ve gone from learning how to live with the pandemic on a day-to-day basis to the feeling we have this virus on the ropes and that we can soon go back to our lives.

That raises an important question: how much of our old lives do we want to go back to? The pandemic has been harrowing, but in some ways, it’s made changes in my life for the better and opened me up to possibilities. How has your life changed under the pandemic?

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Innesti.

 

Michał Milczarek
Michał Milczarek

  1. Envee “When the World Ended”
  2. IDRA “Indivisibilité”
  3. KMRU “Solace”
  4. meeting by chance “Not Alone”
  5. Julianna Barwick “Safe”
  6. Palette “It’s The Little Things, Pt. I”
  7. Thom Yorke “Not the News”
  8. Michał Milczarek “#4”

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SOUNDWAVE : 53 : AMBIENTBLOG

SOUNDWAVE : 53 : AMBIENTBLOG

Today’s guest deejay is Peter van Cooten, host of Ambientblog and DreamScenes on Concertzender.

I ask each guest to deejay who they know who would be interested in participating in the show with a mix. Harrold Roeland, who was a guest deejay on Soundwave back in December, suggested Peter. I’ve known about Ambientblog for years and have listened to many of Peter’s mixes on Mixcloud. I’m thankful that Harrold made the introduction because Peter’s mix is exceptional.

 

Peter’s Soundwave mix.
Peter’s Soundwave mix.

Mix is not the word for what Peter does on today’s show.

It’s more accurate to say that Peter composed a concept album masterfully weaved from a multitude of sampled material. Take a look at the “playlist” below to get an idea of the scope of today’s show. It’s a work of art you get to immerse yourself in for the next hour.

Peter’s mix, like all of his Ambientblog shows, is an experience. Follow Ambientblog on Mixcloud to hear more of his work.

I’ve included an excerpt about today’s show from Peter’s website below.

Today’s show is special because it’s also Soundwave’s one-year anniversary.

I launched Soundwave to help me cope with the stress and isolation of COVID-19.

This close to what we all hope is the finish line of the pandemic its easy to forget that we were all white-knuckling it for the first couple of months. Every day was filled with existential dread. Would this trip to the grocery store kill me or someone I love? It’s exhausting to live that way.

During that time, I could not watch tv or movies or listen to music because they were not speaking to the truth of our new reality. I’d watch a tv show and fret how there was no social distancing and why the cast wasn’t wearing masks. Pop music was particularly difficult to listen to because it was so painfully vapid. How am I supposed to enjoy a love song when I might be a patient or a vector in this pandemic?

The only music that I could tolerate and gave me solace was ambient, classical, experimental, and instrumental music. It was the soundtrack for my stay-at-home lockdown. And if I found some relief with this music, why not share it with others? Any why not ask people I respect to share their mixes?

I’m humbled by everyone’s gift of generosity of time and effort. We’re all going through this together, each in our way. I’m grateful that during this pandemic that each guest deejay lovingly crafted mixes to share with us.

 

My first vaccination shot.
My first vaccination shot.

Today’s show is also special because today, I also got my first shot for the COVID-19 vaccination.

I was shopping for groceries when the Mercy Plaza Pharmacy called me and told me they had extra doses. Could I stop by for a vaccination? Most definitely.

My cilantro stymied the woman who was ringing up my items at the grocery store: were they regular cilantro or organic? She was about to do a price check when I explained that I needed to get the hell out of there to be vaccinated. I didn’t care about the cilantro’s cost; ring me up so I can leave! She understood.

The folks at Mercy Plaza Pharmacy couldn’t be nicer. They’re a family-owned business, and the owner checked up on me after my shot to see how I was feeling. We talked about San Diego, Sacramento, and our kids. This is going to sound weird, but I had such a great time that I can’t wait to go back.

So here we are a year later. We’re almost at the finish line. Hopefully, next year, this will be behind us, and we can all enjoy each other’s company. I’m looking forward to meeting some of you in person. Maybe I’ll even get to meet Peter.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Michał Milczarek.

See you then!

 

Ambientblog album art.
Ambientblog album art.

It’s my honour to open the second year of this series with my contribution. Of course, we can only hope that the series will continue for musical reasons, not because of the pandemic.

Clicking through the list of contributions, you’ll find that most of them are what I call mixtape-style compilations: a head-tail-mix of (full) tracks. Traditionally, my (Ambientblog) mixes are different (which does not mean necessarily ‘better’, by the way) in that they incorporate many sampled parts of tracks (a full-length track is either an exception or a very short track itself), mixed in a layered collage-style. I always try to shuffle the collage’s fragments so that they seem to melt together and thus start telling a different story.

Whether this is successful or not can only be determined by the listener.

This mix is simply named after the podcast Soundwave. It is a happy coincidence that it literally starts with waves—sonically manipulated by Jos Smolders—and ends with the same waves morphing into the sound of a cheering crowd.

Different kinds of soundwaves are all around us, every moment. Sometimes we’re aware; most of the time, we are not. This mix (hopefully) shows that it can be rewarding to take a moment’s rest to really listen and let the sounds affect you.

Thanks to Joseph Aleo for inviting me!

  1. Jos Smolders “Plate 7”
  2. Mia Zabelka & Icostech “The Final Stop”
  3. Robert Scott Thompson “Still The Syllables Of Water Whisper”
  4. Charley van Veldhoven & Túrion “Hemellichaam IV (Henrik Meierkord Recycle)”
  5. FM Einheit & Susie Green “Joyful Pleasure”
  6. Joey Largent “Below Diorite Waters”
  7. Barbara Ellison “De Auflaan de Pussychat”
  8. Jana Winderen “The Listener”
  9. Grace Ferguson “Barnumbirr”
  10. C-drík “An Imaginary Place Inhabited By Those Who Are Asleep”
  11. James Osland & Finn Kelvin “Things That Have Form Will Alway Disappear”
  12. Daniel Thomas Freeman “Crawling Out Of The Void”
  13. William Basinski “For Whom The Bell Tolls”
  14. Morgen Würde “Mittsommer”
  15. Biosphere “Stordjupta”
  16. Randal Collier-Ford “Eyes Of The Temple (feat. Northumbria)”
  17. Merope “Alma”
  18. Space Whisper “Park Date”
  19. Innesti “Dark Describes An Arc”
  20. Joost Lijbaart “Twinkling Night”
  21. Pinkcourtesyphone “Another Interior”
  22. f5point6 “Natural Selection”
  23. Andrew Heath “I Sleep Above The Forest”
  24. Lustmord “Journey Of The Dead Man”
  25. Bow Quintet feat. Aidan Baker “Bryanbaum Variation”
  26. Aase Frejadóttir “Saying It”
  27. James Rushford “Musica Callada, Book I – Angelico”
  28. Nick Luscombe “Tokyo Spring Birdsong”
  29. Akropolis Reed Quintet “Homage to Paradise Valley: I. Ghosts of Black Bottom”
  30. Kate Carr “I Spotted Some Backyard Dancing”
  31. Olivier Alary “Khaltoum”
  32. Kazuya Nagaya “the Book Of Sunken Memory”
  33. Jos Smolders “Plate 5”
  34. A Winged Victory For The Sullen “Every Solstice & Equinox”

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SOUNDWAVE : 42 : MIKE CADOO

SOUNDWAVE : 42 : MIKE CADOO

Today’s guest deejay is Mike Cadoo, the founder of n5MD, an independent record label based out of Oakland, California, that focuses on ambient, modern composition, post-rock, and experimental electronic music.

I showcased n5MD on solipsistic NATION some years ago. Let me share what I said about n5MD on that episode of solipsistic NATION, which explains why I invited Mike to be our guest deejay on today’s show.

“What I’ve always found so charming is that the releases on n5MD don’t just provide music that establishes a mood. The releases on n5MD take you on an emotional journey, which I find far more compelling and interesting. Anyone can play a chord in E minor that will evoke an emotional response. Still, it’s much more difficult to build an emotionally complex song and takes you places in your imagination. Let me take that back. There are plenty of people who can do that, there are a just few people who do it well and do it with sincerity, and I think that’s what n5MD is all about.”

Mike’s mix for today’s show captures everything I just said about his label. Mike is going to take you by the hand and gently guide you through an emotional journey.

Mike explained that while waiting for the Near The Parenthesis vinyl to arrive, he made an ambient mix that features no n5MD artists. Mike usually does one of these each year, and I’m thankful he shared it with us.

As I’ve mentioned many times before, I launched SOUNDWAVE to cope with the stress and isolation brought about by COVID-19. I did not expect how much I would need SOUNDWAVE, and Mike’s mix, in particular, to provide the solace I need during our nation’s attempted coup. I suspect I will need it more in the next few weeks, if not the next few months and years.

On that sad note…

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Steve Swartz.

See you then!

  1. dj healer “Protectionspell”
  2. Stars of the Lid “Mullholland”
  3. Jon Hopkins featuring King Creosote “Immunity”
  4. Neil Cowley & Ben Lukas Boysen “A Grain of Truth”
  5. The Ideal Setback “Whittle”
  6. Black Swan “Slow Oblivion, Part I”
  7. Chronovalve “Something to Hope For”
  8. Holy Fawn “Tethered”
  9. loscil “Neve”
  10. Nils Frahm “A Shine”
  11. ILUITEQ “Moon Disconnected”
  12. KMRU “degree of change”
  13. r beny “Golden Larch Emerging fin Spring”
  14. Julianna Barwick “Same”
  15. KMRU “Whir”
  16. Carlos Ferreira “Epilogue”
  17. Sea Oleena “Portugal (A Lift)”
  18. bvdub “I Would Have Waited”

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SOUNDWAVE : 36 : JOEL SHEARER

SOUNDWAVE : 36 : JOEL SHEARER

This week our guest deejay is Joel Shearer, an international and highly regarded session and touring musician, composer and producer based in Los Angeles, CA.

I met Joel through Carmen Rizzo when he was our guest deejay back back in July (check out Carmen’s mix here). Carmen’s mix was beautiful and as is my wont I asked Carmen who he knew personally that would be interested in participating in the show and he recommended Joel. I can’t thank Carmen enough for introducing me to Joel because we very much need to hear Joel’s mix.

If you’re new to SOUNDWAVE then you should know that I launched the show to help cope with the isolation of stress of COVID-19 and the stay at home orders back in March. The only thing that gave me solace was ambient, classical, instrumental and experimental music and I decided to share what I was listening to whoever else might need to hear it as well.

Here we are nine months later in the second wave of COVID-19 infections and deaths. It's going entirely as predicted. What I don’t think think anyone could have predicted is the absolute magnitude of our current administrations ineptness at handling the pandemic. Several vaccines to combat the virus have been developed at astounding speed. That's breathtaking. Equally breathtaking is that instead of the 300 million doses the administration had promised before the end of the year the plan is now to only distribute 35 to 40 million doses. We’re at the beginning of a second wave with over 288,000 deaths and there’s finally a light at the end of the tunnel except that light is being blocked by an administration that seems to go out if its way to bungle the distribution of the vaccines.

When I began SOUNDWAVE there is no way I could have predicted these infuriating and crazy making responses to the pandemic by our current administration, which is why I, and maybe you, need to take comfort in Joel’s mix. It's exactly the kind of succor we need. I’m Listening to Joel’s mix as I write this and I find myself wrapping it around me like a cherished and well worn coat to keep me warm in the winter.

Joel has some words to share about today’s mix below but before we get to that I wanted let you know that guest deejay Robert Rich has released his new album, Neurogenesis, earlier this week.

Robert Rich's Neurogenesis album
Robert Rich’s Neurogenesis album

I’ve been listening to Robert’s music since last century when I heard I discovered him on the From Here To Tranquility Volume 2 compilation album. I later interviewed him and when I featured his live set on solipsistic NATION. I had the pleasure of finally meeting Robert face-to-face (at a safe and respectable six foot distance, of course) this summer while I was in Northern California and Robert was kind enough to play me a few tracks from Neurogenesis in his studio.

Robert started recording Neurogenesis in Spring of 2019 inspired by a lucid dream. Robert says Neurogenesis expresses optimism about the potential for human consciousness. At the start of pandemic lockdown in March he stopped working on Neurogenesis to record Offering to the Morning Fog because listeners were asking for something calm. He got back to work on Neurogenesis in June, and finished in late October. I’ve been listening to Neurogenesis all week and I’m glad Robert is able to share his album with the world.

You can hear more music from Robert in his mix for SOUNDWAVE here.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Christian Sager.

See you then!

Let’s hear from Joel about today's mix.

Joel Shearer
Joel Shearer

This playlist is intended to turn folks onto new music from known and unknown ambient artists.

Joseph August is new artist out of Los Angeles and a frequent guest for Secular Sabbath with Rhye, Diplo, Flume.

Clarice Jenson is best known for being the cellist for Max Richter’s Sleep amongst many others and an incredible solo artist in her own right.

“March” comes from my second release from my latest album, Hours, available on all digital outlets.

Orpheo McCord is the founding member of Ed Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros, this song is off Orpheo’s first solo release. Epic ambient marimba beauty.

Naneum is an ambient artist out of New York, who’s played for many artists including Angus and Julia Stone and Passenger.

Jónsi is a member of Sigur Rós and composer and “Boy” is from Alex Somers’ second release.

  1. Joseph August “A Soft Reflect”
  2. Clarice Jensen “Final”
  3. Joel Shearer “March”
  4. Orpheo McCord “As Within”
  5. Naneum “Accretion”
  6. Jónsi and Alex “Boy”

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