Writing today’s show notes was a head trip. Carmen shared his first mix for Soundwave three years ago. That’s not a significant amount of time, but it feels like it. That was our first pandemic summer. You never knew if your next visit to the grocery store was going to be the one that exposed you to COVID and could kill you. Three years later and we’ve gotten along with our lives. Yes, COVID is still a threat, but now it’s manageable. Yes, we’ve all been changed by the experience, but hopefully, we’ve all grown somehow.
That’s where my mind went when I thought about what to say for today’s show notes.
Carmen Rizzo
I hope that Carmen takes this in the spirit intended. Camrens music has been part of the soundtrack for my pandemic. I was already a fan of his before launching Soundwave, and he was on my list of people I wanted to guest deejay on the show. During that time, Carmen’s music has appeared on mixes from other guest deejays and in shows and mixes I listen to on Mixcloud and Spotify. Carmen’s music has been a constant presence in my life for the last three years.
No words from Carmen on his mix. No playlist. Carmen’s mix is personal and lovingly hand selected. You’ll have to experience it. I’ve been listing to it as I write these show notes, and I assure you, you’re in for an emotional journey.
Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Henrick Öhberg.
I met Tim through Sanderson Dear, who get deejayed on Soundwave a few months ago (listen to Sanderson’s mix here). As is my want, I asked Sanderon who he thought would share a mix on Soundwave and he highly recommended Tim.
As it happens, both Tim and I are fellow devotees of the Excursions in Ambience compilation album series (listen to my Excursions in Ambience compilation retrospective here). That may explain why Tim’s mix, which features songs completely new to me, feels so familiar. It’s a delight to share Tim’s mix with you.
Tim has words about his mix below.
Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Raziel Panic.
My 2021 album Excursion was a release born through influence. It was inspired by improvised live electronics, a deep love of electronic music from the 1990’s, and even the compilation series Excursions in Ambience, of which the album was named after. I wanted to revisit those influences for this mix, crafting a similar sonic tapestry, through a different lens. I’ve included the inspiring music that influenced me to start making music, as well as some new works that elicit that same emotional frequency. Enjoy the journey.
Rhucle appeared on Soundwave in March of 2021 with a mix became the soundtrack to my walks with my dog. Today’s show promises to be as intimate and magical as the last.
Rhucle
Rhucle is an electronic music producer from Japan. His music is a blend of ambient, lo-fi, and field recordings featuring the sounds of nature. Rhucle’s music evokes a sense of calm and introspection and is perfect for relaxation or contemplation.
Today’s mix is like a dream of reuniting with long-lost friends and never wanting to wake from that dream.
Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Luke Entelis.
Last month I shared a retrospective mix from the Ambient Dub compilation series. It was a fantastic experience revisiting those albums, which also served as a touchstone to some beautiful times. Inspired, I reached out to as many of the musicians on the compilation album as possible, leading me to Glyn, whom I’ve always known as one-half of Original Rockers.
Glyn’s mix re-introduced me to gems from Durutti Column and Faust and introduced me to new favorites such as Chassol and Khotin. And Glyn’s mix is chock full of his music projects, such as Biggabush.
Glyn has some words about his mix below.
Join us next weekend when our guest deejay will be Rubén Tamayo.
See you then.
Glyn Bush
It was really nice to be asked to do an ambient mix as it’s a genre I always enjoy even if I don’t normally listen to it that much.
With Original Rockers/Rockers Hi-Fi, we were asked to do an “ambient dub” track by Mike Barnet from Beyond Records around 1992. We just went with our gut and very quickly produced “Sexy Selector.” I suppose we defined ambient dub as being quite lush, with deep chords, lots of space, sequences, and odd bits of vocal. At the time I was listening to The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld and going to a club called Oscillate in Birmingham and hearing quite a bit of what you might call ambient electronica, seeing people like Autechre play live, Alex Paterson on the decks and of course the Higher Intelligence Agency who ran the night.
So I’ve delved back into that era a bit in my mix and checked out some more contemporary stuff with tips from my daughter, re:ni, plus an ambient track we made together a couple of years ago using the sounds of glaciers crumbling, rainfall, and suchlike.
The opener by Richie Hawtin alias F.U.S.E. is one of my all-time fave tracks, just a slowly unfurling 303 looping over and over in its inimitable way.
I dropped a couple of bits from Chassol who makes really beautiful music, not necessarily defined as “ambient” but lush and interesting and full of surprises. He does incredible stuff with recordings of voices where he literally turns all the inflections of speech into musical notes. Check out his Barack Obama track too.
I included a track from my Sunken Foal Stories album, possibly my favourite release and unlike anything I’ve done before or since, with lots of random juxtapositions and happy accidents.
re:ni recommended a lovely track by MLO called ”Sleeper”, which didn’t make the cut, but I used a nice Wagon Christ remix of one of his tracks which I’d not heard before. I’m always happy to crowbar a Luke Vibert track into any mix.
Ghost Power is a collab between Tim Gane of Stereolab and Jeremy Novak of Dymaxion who do some really interesting stuff, mostly nothing like the track I used but all good.
Neotropic is Riz Maslen, who made lovely stuff in the early 90s. This was a fave on cassette back in the day.
Beak> is a Geoff Barrow from Portishead side project, doing a mix of krautrock-ish, motorik beats, plus some excellent synth work, quite soundtrack-y vibes.
Durutti Column was making ambient guitar stuff in the early 80s, of which this is a fine example and always makes me think of sunshine.
PLO Man and C3D-E are on the coveted Acting Press label, which I’d not heard of before re:ni gave me a tip, but it’s high-quality stuff. Likewise, Khotin – is a Canadian producer doing some lovely things on Bandcamp.
Faust was a bunch of crazy German guys who lived in their studio, recorded shedloads of improvisations, and wrote some beautiful songs. The two Faust tracks are from the The Faust Tapes, another all-time fave album of mine compiled from their unreleased tapes from the early 70s.
A couple of Bigga Bush tracks, one called “The Bells,” written in the mid-90s, and the collab mentioned above with re:ni, which was written for a DJs for Climate Action campaign using natural found sounds.
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
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
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!
Sasha is the closest thing Soundwave has to an in-house deejay. I was introduced to her through Dronny Darko (listen to his mix for Soundwave here). Sasha’s first mix was elemental and cosmic. Her second mix was cozy and intimate. Sasha, as Robocat, shared anthemic bangers to celebrate Pride on her third mix for Soundwave.
Sasha Puzan, AKA protoU
Sasha returns with a mix that is, for the most part, a compilation of select tracks from Tehnofonika Records. It’s been my soundtrack as San Diego transitions from summer to fall. It’s dark, rhythmic, atmospheric, and sexy.
Sasha’s new album, Untitledcloud, will be released next month on her birthday, November 10th, through ECOUL SND. If you enjoy Sasha’s music and mixes, consider purchasing her album as a gift to her and yourself. More importantly, she asks that you support Ukraine.
Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Peter van Cooten.
Today’s show features a retrospective mix of the Ambient Dub compilation albums from the ’90s.
A couple of months ago, I realized I had an open slot in the Soundwave schedule. I could have quickly filled that slot, but since I rarely get to deejay on my own show, I save those available slots for myself. As it happens, I had just finished a mix featuring music from the Ambient Dub compilation albums.
If you’re unfamiliar with Ambient Dub, they were a series of compilation albums released through the Beyond label. Electronic music was mutating at a furious pace, and it was only a matter of time before ambient and dub would intertwine and become its own genre.
As I recall, I first came across the Ambient Dub Volume 3: Aqua album while digging through the racks at Newbury Comics in Harvard Square. The album cover caught my imagination. It was a minimalist take on the techno/rave flyer album covers at the time.
I’ve had these albums on rotation for decades. I’ve included songs from these cherished albums when I was a deejay at WMFO, often winding down 5 am set with Insanity Sect’s “Choctaw Ridge.” This mix came together from muscle memory. It was effortless. It was so much fun that whenever a slot opens up in the next few months, I’ll showcase retrospective mixes featuring music from the Excursions in Ambience and From Here to Tranquility compilation series.
Join us next week when our guest deejay will be returning guest deejay Pierre Laplace.
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.
Today’s guest deejay is Michael Jakucs, AKA Sunwarper.
After hearing Michael’s music in both Brian Sangmeister and Forest Robots’s mixes for Soundwave, I invited Michael to share a mix. Based on Michael’s music, I knew we were in good hands. But I did not anticipate the surprising directions he took his mix and yet felt utterly familiar.
Let me explain.
The focus of Soundwave is ambient, classical, experimental, and instrumental music, with an emphasis on the ambient. And that’s fine. I’m all about that ambient life. But for me, it’s always a delight when a guest shares a mix that leans into the show’s classical, experimental, and instrumental aspects. Christian Sager’s doom metal/math rock/hip hop mix comes to mind. As does Charles Hazlewood’s mimimalist/modern classical/free jazz mix.
What makes today’s show special, for me, is that it’s very much steeped in shoegaze and dream pop. So while I only know several of the artists in Michael’s mix, I already feel well acquainted with the music I’m unfamiliar with. It’s very déjà vu. I keep asking myself, “Isn’t this a 4AD release?”
Michael Jakucs, AKA Sunwarper
Michael just released a track composed for the season finale of the webcomic The Eagle and the Snake called “Forever Becoming.” He also has a full-length album, Radiant Visage, that will be released on October 14 and available for pre-order on September 9.
Join us next week when our guest deejay will be n5MD founder Mike Cadoo.
Today’s guest deejay is Robert Farrugia, co-founder of Complex Holiday, an itinerant label for inside-out ambient and sound art tomfoolery.
Robert was our guest deejay last fall, and he returns to Soundwave sharing another lustrous mix.
For me, Robert’s mix captures the essence of ambient music, as explained by Brian Eno, who compared ambient music to a painting. You can enjoy a painting on two levels. On one level, you engage with the painting, looking at it, studying it, and reacting to it. But on another level, the same painting is on the periphery of your consciousness. But it’s still there, subtly affecting you.
I’d find myself immersed in Robert’s mix and then be distracted by an email or text message, lost in thought, and slowly becoming aware that Robert had shifted the territory in his sonic landscape. And then the cycle began again.
Robert Farrugia, Photograph by Chris Vella / Storbju
Robert has included a few releases from Complex Holiday on today’s show. Ben Mifsud Joslin album, New Life (Robert was involved in the recording process and performed additional instrumentation on Ben’s album), and Daniel Vujcic’s album, Palinopsia, will be released later this year. Robert himself makes an appearance with “Iota.”
Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Riz Maslen.
