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.
Welcome to Soundwave, where we dive deep into the experimental, electronic, and ambient soundscape.
Today’s episode takes us on a nostalgic journey with a retrospective mix of the groundbreaking Excursions in Ambience compilation series. These albums played a pivotal role in shaping the ambient music genre. From the first volume in 1993 to the final fourth installment in 1996, the Excursions in Ambience series explored the intersection of dance music and ambient sounds, capturing the essence of a musical movement that continues to influence artists today.
As a former deejay at WMFO 91.5 FM, these albums were a constant presence in my playlists, providing the perfect soundtrack to my late-night walks home after spinning records at the radio station.
We dedicate this week’s show to the memory of Michael Kandel, who made several appearances on the Excursions in Ambience series and passed away in 2015.
Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Hekla.
Each track from Sanderson’s mix carries its distinct tone and texture, yet they all resonate with a shared melancholy and longing.
Sanderson has over a decade of experience pushing the boundaries of electronic music. His productions are like a carefully crafted time machine, transporting the listener to otherworldly realms of sound and sensation. At least, that’s what my experience is like.
If you enjoy today’s mix, as I’m sure you will, and want to hear more music from Stasis Recodings, you can look forward to an album from Glo Phase this Where We At…, the label’s third compilation, will be released this May. Don’t want to wait that long? SubDan’s 12” EP, They Shine, is fresh off the presses.
Sanderson has some words about his mix below.
Join us next week when for our Excursions in Ambience compilation retrospective.
See you then.
Sanderson Dear
It’s often difficult to distill the ethos and mantra of an imprint into 60mins while still maintaining a purposed ebb and flow. That was my challenge with this mix. My name is Sanderson Dear. I’m the label manager for Stasis Recordings, a Canadian electronic label operating out of Toronto with an international cast of musicians lending their talents to shape our sonic character. We’ve been releasing music since 2010. This mix highlights and focuses heavily on the chilled-out side of the music ledger. Most of the tracks are from our catalog, but I’ve also snuck in a couple of gems from the crew on other labels I am a fan of.
“After” is one of those pieces by Louis which never fails to leave me speechless. The strings, the spatial dynamics, and just the overall emotional tone. Appears on his vinyl release for Indigo Aera, in my opinion it is the standout track.
“Breathing-In” is Louis’ contribution to our 2020 7” box compilation. The compilation is a decade celebration of releasing music. It’s a project we took 4yrs to organize, and it’s the release I’m most proud of us realizing.
“Entwine (reprise)” is from our upcoming 2023 vinyl LP by Glo Phase.
“Rising Tide” to this day, Urenga’s “Floating Island” release is my favourite out of all the titles we’ve released by him on Stasis Recordings.
“Caju (extended version)” is part of a special vinyl companion to our Time Capsule compilation we’re organizing and planning to calendar soon. It’s a tune by Adriano Mirabile which describes his downtempo chillin’ sound.
“Mistpouffers” a new Off Land jam, appears on our next label compilation hitting digital shops this May.
“Flow” is from our recent vinyl release by SubDan. a 4-track EP bonding 90s D&B elements with ambient chillage vibes.
“Ambrosia” label debut by Mellonius One. Best way to describe his sound, ambient scapes, and soundtrack composing meets downtempo breaks.
“Horizons” by Diahgonal. The production alias of Ruben Alonso Tamayo.. super proud to have some Mexicali techno representation on our little international imprint.
“The Detective” is a jazzy, downtempo track from my first long player.
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.
I met Petter through his brother Jakob Lindhagen. After Jakob shared his mix on Soundwave I asked him who he thought should guest deejay on the show and he highly recommended Petter and I’m so glad he did. Jakob also mentioned that
Petter recently released an absolutely incredible album, Thing. The production is top-notch, with a perfect balance of nostalgia and modernity. Thing showcases a wide range of styles, from downtempo and IDM, to house, techno and experimental music, much like today’s show! Petter’s mix has been the much needed kick in the ass to get my day started.
Petter has some words about his mix below.
Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Rhucle.
See you then.
Petter Lindhagen
This is a mix of music that inspired my latest album, Thing (released March 2022), and also a couple of songs from that album. My earlier albums with TiredTape Machine were more about harmonies and atmosphere, but for the last few years, I’ve been more interested in beats, rhythm, and sampling.
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 Bulut well over a decade ago while producing Solipsistic Nation, my electronic music podcast. I was a fan of his New Turkish Beat podcast, and we started an acquaintanceship on Twitter.
I’ve been reflecting on that time for the last few days. It was during Solipsistic Nation that I enjoyed Twitter the most. The network was becoming large enough that I could strike up great conversations and meet interesting people but still small enough that things didn’t get lost in the noise. I still love Twitter, but I admit that the number of genuine interactions I’ve had in the last few years has dwindled.
As I write this, Twitter seems like it might crash and burn. Something will emerge out of the wreckage, but it might not be anything we recognize as Twitter. But maybe that’s okay. Perhaps Twitter has served its purpose. I’m glad I met people like Bulut while it was still vibrant.
Bulut has some words about his mix below.
Join us next weekend when out guest deejay will be Glyn Bush.
See you then.
My idea while recording this podcast was that the listener would pay some attention to the music at the beginning of the podcast. Then they would gradually let the sound disappear into the background after the second half. I call this mix “Relax” because I selected some tracks that I believe are relaxing from the beginning. The podcast gets dreamier toward the second half. The second half is super easy to ignore. I recommend starting with a volume that you consider medium or even louder. The podcast intentionally gets very quiet toward the end, so you may barely hear it. I thought this podcast could provide an hour-long atmosphere where you can ignore the sound towards the end by focusing on reading, studying, or falling asleep.
“Funky Zena” by Mickey Hart
Mickey Heart is the legendary drummer of Grateful Dead. There is definitely magic on this entire album. This is a surprisingly relaxing percussion album that is also good for dancing. I play the hand drums myself and I enjoy the meditational aspect of repetitive beats. There is magic in this track for sure.
“Big Man Cry” by Banco de Gaia
An English electronic musician named TobyMarks. This is one of my favorite tracks by Banco de Gaia.This sound sends your soul to a faraway place.
“Selig Sind, Die Da HierWeinen” by Popol Vuh
Popol Vuh was aGerman musical collective founded by Florian Fricke and FrankFiedler. Some say that Popol Vuh is a Krautrock band. I enjoy their relaxing psychedelic tracks and the good news is that they have a lot of good ones. This is what I call "comfortably numb ":)
“Letting Go of This Radiant Hive” by Vir Unis
Vir Unis is an American New Age Musician. The New Age music radiates positive energy. This track is exactly what we needed in this spot.
“Ancient Anatolia” by DJ.Bulut
The only instrument on this track is my electric guitar. I processed the sound to give this a slow and ambient vibe. There is repetition in this which should help us lose track of time very quickly. I believe that my track sounds relaxing at low volumes. It is a long track. In fact, it turned the volume down on the podcast recording so that the listeners can enjoy it quietly. Too quiet for you at this point? Feel free to turn it up 🙂
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.
Like so many of the guest deejays on Soundwave, Serge was highly recommended by a previous guest deejay. In this case, it was Gert De Meester (listen to his mixes here and here). As always, I listened to Serge’s music, loved what I heard and invited him to guest deejay on Soundwave.
I usually listen to Serge’s mix during the day while I’m working. Why not listen to gorgeous music while I’m being productive? But Serge’s mix comes alive in the night. If you’re lucky, a foggy night. Serge’s mix casts everything in mysterious shadows. Serge’s mix includes songs that sound as if they came from an Excursions in Ambience album; why there’s even a track that features Higher Intelligence Agency! Other tracks lean into trip-hop, not to mention the unexpected byways Serge takes us on in his mix.
Serge has some words about his mix below.
Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Dan Handrabur.
See you then.
Serge Timmers
Nachtraaf is a Flemish expression for someone who is most active at night. Most of the tracks on this album were made at night, as I almost always do. The track “Zenenacht” in this mix comes from this album. It’s old-Dutch for “Eternal Night.”
Planet Psyche comes from lighter times and features the track “Cosmonaut.”
In the mix, I’ve compiled some tracks from friends (Ashtoreth, Stratosphere, and Distant Fires Burning) along with the most important influences in my journey in slow and emotional music.
Today’s guest deejay is Stefan Beck, AKA Golden Brown.
I met Stefan through Steve Targo from Inner Islands after he guest deejayed on Soundwave. I asked Steve, whom he knew would share a mix on the show, and he recommended Stefan. I listened to Stefan’s music and lost myself in his gentle guitar playing, swathes of warm sounds, and field recordings. So we have Steve to thank for today’s gorgeous mix.
As is my habit, I reacquaint myself with the mixes sent my way two weeks before I share them with you. Stefan provided the soundtrack for hurricane Kay which hit Mexico this week. In the evenings, when it was cooler, I’d go for an hour-long walk and listen to Stefan’s mix. Wednesday was a very sensual night. There was a moment as I was walking past a canyon when a rivulet of sweat ran from my temple and behind my right ear. It cooled and evaporated immediately. There was a hint of sage in the air. And Stefan’s mix played over my AirPods. Delicious.
Friday, San Diego was awash with the rain from hurricane Kay. It was very dramatic. The sky was gloomy, the wind gusted from my patio door, and occasionally raindrops would land on my shoulders from my skylight window above me, all while Stefan’s mix playing in the background.
I hope Stefan’s mix provides an equally wonderful experience.
Stefan has a few words about his mix below.
Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Serge Timmers.
See you then.
Stefan Beck
The songs selected here don’t have any unifying theme apart from that they inspire me and put me in a certain 🌀zone🌀
I think they all have a lot of heart in them and make elegant use of space. Jerry Garcia appears here twice under the radar as well. I can’t resist.
