devotional – Synecdoche

SOUNDWAVE : 148 : JOLANDA MOLETTA

Today’s guest deejay is Jolanda Moletta.

I was first introduced to Jolanda through her captivating work in Peter van Cooten’s mix for Soundwave (listen here), and I’ve been hooked ever since. I invited Jolanda to share a mix with us.

Jolanda’s mix features artists whose works are marked by their unique approach to sound and a profound sense of introspection. It is a haunting and deeply introspective exploration of the mystical power of sound.

Hailing from Italy, Jolanda has been making waves with her unique blend of organic and electronic soundscapes, drawing inspiration from her love of nature and the cosmos. Her album, Full Moon Session, was just released earlier this month, which includes live performances of songs from her Nine Spells album.

Jolanda also led the folk band She Owl, delivering two full-length albums and performing more than 300 concerts across Europe and the US. But in the past two years of isolation, Jolanda focused on a deeply personal project, one that connects her to her ancestral roots and promotes healing.

Jolanda has some words about her mix below.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Sanderson Dear.

See you then.

When I started working on my debut solo album Nine Spells, I wasn’t aware of other artists doing ambient/neoclassical/experimental music except for a few names. I didn’t know how my album would fit into these genres. I just had a vision of wanting to create something with only vocals and I imagined something meditative that was like a prayer, or an invocation. In months following the release of the first singles, it became clear that there was actually a community, and a scene, of these genres. My mix aims to put a spotlight on the many incredible women who are also creating beautiful music within this community. I am happy to now call some of these artists my friends, and others I would love to meet one day and maybe even collaborate with. So I truly do hope that you’ll warm to this mix and come to love their music as much as I have.

Karen Vogt “cloud thirty-seven”
Francesca Heart “Stella Rugiada”
Patricia Wolf “A Conversation With My Innocence”
Julia Kent “Drops”
Jolanda Moletta “Spell VIII”
Sarah Davachi “Canyon Walls”
Mary Lattimore “Your Glossy Camry”
Francesca Guccione “Utopia III”
Nailah Hunter “Talk Show Host”
lucy gooch “Ash and Orange”
marine eyes + IKSRE “San Francisquito Moonrise”
Anna Phoebe “Beyond Horizons”
Vargkvint “Stormen Kommer”

Subscribe to SOUNDWAVE on iTunes, Overcast, Castro and Pocketcasts.

Logo by Rik Oostenbroek

SOUNDWAVE : 89 : DANIEL FUZZTONE

Today’s guest deejay is danielfuzztone.

daniel’s mix is important to me for several reasons.

One reason is that I meant daniel through Soundwave guest deejay Michael Donaldson (listen to Michael’s mix here) when he posted an interview with daniel on his Micro.blog. Initially, I read the interview simply because it was on Micro.blog, a cool social media network I am a member of. But what hooked me was the interview itself and daniel’s exploration of sound through this music.

The other reason today’s show is important to me is that while I love all the mixes on Soundwave, and I mean that, daniel’s mix hit me in all the right places. He included some familiar and precious tracks from the likes of Miles Davis, This Mortal Coil and Skinny Puppy. This is stuff I immersed myself in the 80s and 90s, so it felt like putting on a well-worn sweater. But daniel’s mix included a lot of stuff I had never heard of before, like Oliver Coates, Besombes & Rizet, and Angelo Badalamenti. It was a perfect blend of the familiar and unfamiliar that his mix provided just under an hour’s with of dopamine hits.

The final reason is that I listened to daniel’s mix many places (while working, walking my dog, doing the dishes, etc.), but the place that had the most significance was in my car while driving my grandkid to day school. The experience is already special because I enjoy watching all the adults delivering their most precious of cargos and seeing the love and concern on their faces. daniel’s mix heightened and already tender experience.

daniel has words of his own regarding today’s mix below.

Join us next weekend when our guest deejay will be Sean Slight.

See you then!

Like much of the ambient-drone music I produce, this mix was born from a live performance and then manipulated in the digital domain via Audacity. Nothing beats the hardware-software hybrid.

While I’ve DJed for three decades years — including two long stretches of college radio — my skills were a bit rusty, to say the least. I wanted to showcase some of my long-time favorite artists — Brian Eno, Boards of Canada, Spacemen 3, Jean-Michel Jarre — along with several newer ones (and maybe even a few you wouldn’t necessarily think of in the ambient realm).

I performed the set in real time using two MacBooks as playback decks, connected to a cheapo RadioShack DJ mixer from the ’90s.* Recorded in Audacity. Numerous field recordings and samples were also added at this stage — including a mix-long drone of processed shortwave static.

The result is a dark, noisy vibe with bursts of melody, strands of light, and even occasional beats. It’s mysterious and romantic, a droning, pulsing soundtrack from the past 50 years. Enjoy and #DroneOn

— danielfuzztone

POST-SCRIPT: Look for several back-to-back releases in early 2022 via Bandcamp, as well as a live performance in January.

*Due to the lo-fi-meets-hi-fi nature of the recording, you’ll occasionally hear pops and ticks from some of the aging gear. Relax. It’s all part of the ride.

danielfuzztone “Prima Facie”
Brian Eno “Triennale”
The House in the Woods "Bucolica”
Mark Pritchard “?”
Miles Davis “In a Silent Way”
Steven R. Smith “Awake”
William Basinski “The Wheel of Fortune”
danielfuzztone “Nishiki 10-Speed Dream”
Boards of Canada “XYZ”
Cult48 “Deep Calls to Deep”
Gong “Magick Mother Invocation”
Besombes & Rizet “Evelyse”
Godspeed You! Black Emperor “The Dead Flag Blues”
Skinny Puppy “Fritter (Stella’s Home)”
This Mortal Coil “Acid, Bitter and Sad”
Sonic Youth “Providence”
Windy & Carl “Antarctica”
danielfuzztone “Transient Response”
Tim Hecker “Celestina”
Oliver Coates “Honey”
My Bloody Valentine “Glider”
Spacemen 3 “Ecstasy Symphony”
Terry Riley “Poppy Nogood and the Phantom Band”
M83 “Birds”
Jean-Michel Jarre “Equinoxe Part 1”
Emerald Web “The Dragon’s Gate”
Angelo Badalamenti “The Voice of Love”
Yo La Tengo “Shortwave”

Subscribe to SOUNDWAVE on iTunes, Overcast, Castro and Pocketcasts.

Logo by Rik Oostenbroek

SOUNDWAVE : 80 : LECU

Today’s guest deejay is Lecu.

I discovered Lecu a few months ago when Soundwave guest deejay Ishmael Cormack asked folks on Twitter for musical recommendations. Lecu suggested Sebastian Mullaert and Erland Cooper. Those were both great recommendations. Who was this Lecu? I checked out how Twitter profile, which led me to his Bandcamp page and listened to his albums. I extend an invitation to join us on Soundwave, and here we are today.

It was a breath of fresh air after last week’s mix from Line Spectrum. Don’t get me wrong, last week’s show was great, but listening to it on my AIrPod Pro with transparency mode felt more like an auditory hallucination than a mix. Lecu’s mix feels whimsical by comparison but no less fantastic than Line Spectrum’s mix.

If you’d like to hear more music from Lecu, check out show on 1020 Radio, every first Thursday of every month from 10 PM – 11 PM Pacific.

Lecu has some brief words about his mix below.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Inner Travels.

I’m happy to share my mix with you today. Lots of nice textures, both abstract and familiar, with some lush tracks along the way — one of which is a new one from me, which feels like the start of a new record and a new direction for me as an artist.

It was really fun to make, and I’m so honoured to be in very good company with your other guests

Much love from Plymouth, England, and wishing you all the very best.

Leo / Lecu

H. Takahashi “Absorption (Granulated)”
H. Takahashi “Absorption”
Bubble Keiki “Network Gardening”
KMRU “Inter Alia”
Julius Theory “SSRI Prophet (excerpt)”
Dane Law “Southbound To Denshaw”
Morimoto Naoki “A Day”
Lecu “Familiar i*”
Phexionensystem “Water Resonance”

Field Recordings & Sounds

Listen In “Watering The Garden”
Four Tet “Parallel 5”
Lecu “Water Bowl Through Nebulae”
Lecu “Field Recording: Interacting with Woodland Leaves”

Subscribe to SOUNDWAVE on iTunes, Overcast, Castro and Pocketcasts.

Logo by Rik Oostenbroek

SOUNDWAVE : 75 : COMPLEX HOLIDAY

Today’s guest deejay is Robert Farrugia, co-founder of Complex Holiday, an itinerant label for inside-out ambient and sound art tomfoolery.

I’m usually fastidious about tracking how I come to know guest deejays on Soundwave. Unfortunately, my initial conversation with Robert began on Facebook Messenger and that chat is lost to the ether. Well, really, Facebook has that conversation stored somewhere. But it’s as good as gone for me.

Whatever lead me to Robert, I’m glad I invited him to join us.

What you may or may not know is that I get the mixes you hear months in advance. I usually enjoy it for a week or two before I move on to listen to the next guest deejay’s mix. I’ll also re-listen to the mix a few weeks before their show is released. I listen to the mixes a lot.

Robert Farrugia, *Photograph by Chris Vella / Storbju*

Robert’s mix was a welcome companion for the last week. Nationally, the U.S. is caught between wildfires and hurricanes. Internationally, the U.S. has left Afghanistan. And on a personal note, the was my kid’s first week at high school. While our area is 75% vaccinated, I’m still anxious about how this will work out. Within the first week there’s already been a report of a student with COVID-19. Robert’s mix felt like an echo of how I’ve been feeling about all of it.

There’s a tension that builds up early in Robert’s mix that unravels nearly halfway through before exploring different sonic territory. The mix ends hauntingly and somberly.

That feels right.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Michael Donaldson.

See you then!

Dylan Henner “I Was Reading the News But I Felt So Sad I had to Stop”
Snap Dragon “Breathe”
Benoît Pioulard “Whose Palms Create”
Robert Farrugia “Tlellix”
Warmth “Cirrus”
David Cordero “Sevredol (Sight Below Remix)”
Marsha Fisher “Chapter House”
Kurt Buttigieg “Confiance en quoi”

Subscribe to SOUNDWAVE on iTunes, Overcast, Castro and Pocketcasts.

Logo by Rik Oostenbroek

SOUNDWAVE : 69 : FROM OVERSEAS

This week’s deejay is Kévin Séry, AKA From Overseas. Kévin is also the label manager for Past Inside the Present, a label, and resource for the ambient listener.

From Overseas is Kévin’s ambient project. Using his guitar as his tool of expression and looping techniques, he creates a multiplicity of layers, intense drones, and mesmerizing soundscapes both in the studio and in live performances.

Originally from the tiny French Overseas Department and Region, Reunion Island, he routinely bounces between his home island, a small port town on the east coast of the US, and continental Europe, picking up fresh ideas and inspiration along the way.

Kévin’s mix is very familiar, even though I’m unfamiliar with every song and musician featured in his mix. There’s something about Kévin’s mix that evokes the sound and feel of 4AD, a label that was known for alternative rock, post-punk, gothic rock, and dream pop albums. But if I had to narrow it down, I’d say that Kévin captures the spirit of 4AD’s This Mortal Coil. There’s something haunted in the selection of his songs but still quietly triumphant.

Kévin has some words below about his mix.

Join us next week when our guest deejays will be brothers Sebastian and Daniel Selke of CEEYS.

It’s an honor to be part of the Soundwave series. I love doing mixes like this. It’s a great way to go on a unique journey and to immerse yourself in the work of amazing and influential artists. This mix was made on February 23rd, 2021, when winter was slowly giving space to spring. Hopefully, people feel what I feel and can discover a few gems.

36 & awakened souls “Guide Me Home (awakened souls – Shoegaze Version) ”
Lucy Gooch “Ash and Orange”
Emily A. Sprague “Woven”
Chuck Johnson “Raz-de-Marée”
Illuvia Iridescence”
Ilyas Ahmed & Jefre Cantu-Ledesma “Ocean Blue”
From Overseas “Rêve”
Christina Giannone “Untitled111”
Alex Somers “Sooner”
Mogwai “Dry Fantasy”

Subscribe to SOUNDWAVE on iTunes, Overcast, Castro and Pocketcasts.

Logo by Rik Oostenbroek

SOUNDWAVE : 58 : COSMIC CHAMBO

Today’s guest deejay is Daniel Chamberlin.

Daniel and I met on Twitter over our shared appreciation of Paleowolf (listen to the Paleowolf mix on Soundwave here). I learned he is the host of Inter-Dimensional Music, a syndicated weekly community radio broadcast of “heavy mellow, kosmische slop, and void contemplation tactics.” After enjoying a couple of his shows, I invited Daniel to guest deejay on Soundwave.

What I love about Daniel’s mix is that his segues are so seamless that I often am unaware that he’s transitioned into another track. Granted, the music featured on Soundwave lends itself to those kinds of segues, but Daniel is particularly deft at it.

The other remarkable thing about Daniel’s mix, for me at least, is that he selected songs that feel very familiar to me. Except that I’ve never heard them before. They feel intimate and worn in.

Finally, Daniel’s mix took me on a sonic and emotional journey. I’d get lost in his mix. When it ended, I was satisfied but would have been just as happy to have it continue indefinitely.

You can find Daniel on Instagram, Mixcloud, Twitter, YouTube, Bandcamp and his blog, Into the Green.

Before I wrap up today’s show notes, there a couple of things I want to mention.

Monday I got my second dose of the Moderna vaccination. I was prepared for the worst: a very sore arm, chills, fevers, body aches, etc. I experienced none of that. I did sleep for over 24 hours, though.

Michael Donaldson was inspired by mix from Krautrock legend Hans-Joachim Roedelius to write a post on Roedelius’s musical career on his blog. It’s a good overview of Roedelius, so please read it if you’d like to learn more about the man.

Back to Beyond and Cycle — *Back to Beyond* and *Cycle*

Guest deejay protoU has released a new album, Back to Beyond with Alphaxone. Listen to protoU’s mix for Soundwave here. Rhucle, who has also guest deejayed on Soundwave, has released his new album, Cycle. Both albums are fantastic and unique to each artist.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Mauricio Sotelo, AKA Haiteku.

See you then!

Here’s an hour of heavy mellow meditation.

Cosmic Chambo presents a heavy mellow ritual soundtrack for meditation, yoga, and other mindfulness practices in the service of transcending false binaries and dismantling white supremacy. Listen for hypnotic choral music, metal-informed jazz drone, heavyweight ambient dub, and organic industrial rhythms.

Wife Signs “Void Contemplation Tactic”
With Great Care “Bloodflow”
Anna von Hausswolff “Dolore di Orsini”
David Hykes and the Harmonic Choir “Solstice Kyrie”
itta “Moonlight”
Kevin Richard Martin “Back to where i belong”
Divide and Dissolve “We Are Really Worried About You”
DEAFKIDS & PETBRICK “O Antropoceno”
Azu Tiwaline “Terremer”
KMRU “behind there”
Ancestral Duo “Trajesty”
Dedekind Cut “The Crossing Guard”
Jamire Williams “God’s Morning Invitation (featuring Chassol & Carlos Niño)”
Path of the Sun “Aquatic Sun”

Subscribe to SOUNDWAVE on iTunes, Overcast, Castro and Pocketcasts.

Logo by Rik Oostenbroek