Tag: downtempo

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SOUNDWAVE : 52 : ROBIN RIMBAUD

Today’s guest deejay is Robin Rimbaud, AKA Scanner.

I discovered Robin last century on a compilation album. At the time, Robin was snatching phone conversations from the ether and incorporating them into his music. It was at once intimate and troubling because the very act of listening to Robin’s music made you complicit in his eavesdropping.

Those tracks, however, are just one area he explores in his music. If you delved into his work, you’d find that it is not incongruous to find him straddling minimalism, classical music, soundtracks and more.

When I showcased Robin’s music and featured one of his performances on solipsistic NATION I was as giddy as a fanboy. I had been listening to his releases since the ‘90s, and I was thrilled to have him on my show. It was only natural that I invited him to be a guest deejay on SOUNDWAVE, and I’m just excited about today’s show as when he was my guest on solipsistic NATION many years ago.

Robin has some words about his mix, which you can read below.

In pandemic news, California, like the rest of the U.S., has stepped up vaccinations. I know people who have been highly diligent regarding COVID-19 safety protocol and were still waylaid by the virus. I’m currently staying in Sacramento, and anecdotally, I can tell you that a lot of people here have stopped giving a fuck. I don’t want to catch the virus when we’re this close to the finish line, so I hope to be vaccinated within the next week or two.

Hopefully, this summer, I will be able to hug some of you who listen to SOUNDWAVE. Who knows, maybe I’ll throw a SOUNDWAVE festival. Wouldn’t that be a hoot?

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Peter van Cooten, host of Ambientblog.net and DreamScenes on Concertzender.

See you then!

 

Robin Rimbaud, AKA Scanner
Robin Rimbaud, AKA Scanner

I always find it challenging to know how to begin to choose music from literally hundreds of thousands of pieces of music that I own. Music lives with me from the moment I wake up early in the morning until I go to bed at night (at a very reasonable time). So, I thought it might be of interest to simply make a collage of a few of the many pieces of music that have accompanied me in the last seven days. These are playing as I work on emails, administration, accounts, and so on through my day. A brief picture of a moment in a day for my ears.

  1. Ø “Otava”
  2. Roméo Poirier “Thalassocratie”
  3. Stephen Vitiello “Light Readings”
  4. Nurse with Wound “Echo Poeme Sequence N° 2”
  5. Blank Gloss “Of a Vessel”
  6. Brian Eno “Top Boy”
  7. Disjecta “Are You an Echo”
  8. Benjamin Britten “Variations On A Theme Of Frank Bridge, Op. 10 – Chant”
  9. John Cage “Dream”
  10. strië “Hallilaul”
  11. Mark Pritchard “Beautiful People (feat. Thom Yorke)”
  12. Bersarin Quartett “Oktober”

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SOUNDWAVE : 41 : TINEIDAE

SOUNDWAVE : 41 : TINEIDAE

Today’s guest deejay is Pavlo Storonsky, AKA Tineidae.

I discovered Pavlo while perusing artists on the Cryo Chamber label on Bandcamp. Cryo Chamber has been one of my favorite music labels since being introduced to them through a friend who played music from their catalog to provide the soundtrack to our Vampire: The Masquerade game sessions. I’ve never heard a Cryo Chamber release I didn’t like; there are just some I like more than others. I was hooked when I heard Pavlo’s Exo album. It’s as dark, ominous, and cinematic as everything else on Cryo Chamber but with a science fiction-horror vibe.

That’s not to say that Pavlo’s mix for today’s show sounds like that. But it's undoubtedly moody, atmospheric, and beautiful. I’ve been listing to it all week, and it’s exactly what I needed to help get me through Trump’s attempted coup here in the U.S. and 4,000+ dying a day from COVID-19. It’s surreal that I just wrote that sentence, but here we are.

Tineidae
Elliott Sharp’s Filiseti Mekidesi album

Before I go, I wanted to mention that last month Elliott Sharp (who did a mix for SOUNDWAVE) released his new album, Filiseti Mekidesi. The album is a meditation on the search for safety and neutrality, a place free from danger. It’s an opera, yes, but it’s an opera by Elliott Sharp, so it’s as unique and distinct as the rest of his oeuvre.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Mike Cadoo, founder of the record label, n5MD.

See you then!

Tineidae
Tineidae

  1. 36 “Cocoon”
  2. Burial “Forgive”
  3. Blackhill Transmitter “Five Twenty Seven”
  4. Access to Arasaka “char *argv[]”
  5. Valance Drakes “Until Either Comes To Pass”
  6. Lorn “SILHOUETTE”
  7. Bad Sector “Ampòs”
  8. Ghost Factory “It Will Be Okay. We Can Walk Through This Forest Together.”
  9. Subheim “Streets”
  10. the_empath “silberstreif”
  11. Glanko “AC”
  12. Mønic “Morse”
  13. Tineidae “Gas Mask (Ambient Version)”

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SOUNDWAVE : 40 : FITZ GITLER

SOUNDWAVE : 40 : FITZ GITLER

Today’s guest deejay is Fitz Gitler, and he has a beautiful mix to ease us into 2021.

I met Fitz when I asked Jason Randall Smith (listen to Jason’s mix here) who he knew would be interested in sharing a mix on SOUNDWAVE. Jason did not steer me wrong. Fitz is a musician, deejay, and designs sounds for theatrical productions, many of those in collaboration with director Tim Lee. He also creates under the name Techniken Defunkus or Techdef.

I’m particularly fond of this mix because it was the perfect soundtrack for an eight-hour wintery drive to Sacramento last week. Fitz’s mix had my tapping out rhythms on my steering wheel and grooving in my seat. Don’t be lulled by some of the jazz standards because there are plenty of surprises. More than once, I found myself scrambling to purchase albums featured on Fitz’s mix. As I write this I’m listening to Dan Tepfer’s album, Goldberg Variations​/​Variations, which is a delight.

If you love Fitz’s mix, and you will, check out his music on Bandcamp or his sets on Mixcloud.

Fitz has some words about his mix below.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Pavlo Storonsky AKA Tineidae.

See you then!

Fitz Gitler
Fitz Gitler
Photo credit: Cyndi Shattuck

Twenty years ago, I met Jason Randall Smith behind the decks in a tiny bar in New York’s East Village, and music forged our friendship. I’m honored to be in his company and the full cast of mixes that Joseph has artfully assembled.

Jason and I were thrown together by our friend, EL Soundscraper, who I’ve known since junior high, but fortuitously reconnected with because of our shared love of music. Enrique (Soundscraper) called my tracks meditation music—not the sound, but because of how it functioned for me. This mix I created for SOUNDWAVE does that; it’s a sort of spirit guide through the insomniac thoughts of the small hours, and a kind of requiem too. This year has had no shortage of tragedy; there’s enough to go around.

I already loved music in college, but then I met Bill Hileman, aka Ronin Tengu, aka DJ Payce, aka Gandalf Punk. He gave me his world: hip hop, techno, ambient, jungle, acid jazz, funk, plenty of mischief, and more. He passed last month, too young, taken by cancer, not COVID. Bill is with me in every mix, laughing and needling me to keep searching. Too few experienced his true wealth of knowledge and love, but he influenced many, and his spirit lives on in his musical descendants.

It falls somewhere among the worlds of jazz and electronic music, but really it’s a sound design of sorts. I’m still exploring the loose idea “free-format” that I first witnessed in the middle of the night on college radio in the early ‘90s.

  1. Techniken Defunkus “Pre-show for That Time”
  2. Teebs “The Endless”
  3. Colin Alexander “Bells and Strings”
  4. Tom Richards “Minor Breach”
  5. LV feat. Tigran Hamasyan “Hammers and Roses”
  6. Techniken Defunkus  “Ash Girl Post & Almost Nothing”
  7. The Art Of Noise “Robinson Crusoe (downshift)”
  8. Gabriella Swallow “Linear Construction (No. 5)”
  9. Johnny Mbizo Dyani “Afrikan blues (excerpt)”
  10. Aaron Novik  “Ballroom of Lost Faith-Lost Dignity-LostSoul”
  11. Rahsaan Roland Kirk “Haunted Feelings”
  12. David Boykin Reads Sun Ra “The Space Age Cannot Be Avoided”
  13. Buddy Peace “Day 138 – Been Glorious”
  14. Jean Grae “BITS part 2 – The Fear”
  15. Angel Bat Dawid “Transition East”
  16. Daniel Carter, Brad Farberman, Billy Martin “I Guess Everything Is Happening As It Should”
  17. Ill Considered “Retreat”
  18. Coleman Hawkins “Hawk’s Variations, Part 1”
  19. Dodo Marmarosa “Bopmatism”
  20. Ahmad Jamal “Ahmad’s Blues”
  21. Roy Eldridge “Echoes of Harlem”
  22. Dan Tepfer “Improvisation 12 / obsessive”

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SOUNDWAVE : 35 : MELORMAN

SOUNDWAVE : 35 : MELORMAN

On today’s show our guest deejay is Melorman.

Antonis Haniotakis is Melorman and he comes to us through Stratos Pilos. Stratos works for Inner-Ear and SDM Records, two of the most active independent labels in Greece, and contacted my way back in August about featuring music from those labels on solipsistic NATION, my defunct electronic music podcast. I suggested that an artist from his roster guest deejay and here we are with today’s show.

Melorman’s mix is short and sweet and will take you through an emotional journey. It’s been the soundtrack to my Thanksgiving week and I know you’re going to love it. I hope to have Melorman on SOUNDWAVE with another mix in 2021.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Joel Shearer.

See you then!

Melorman
Melorman

Melorman is the alias of Greek electronic producer Antonis Chaniotakis. For over 20 years, the Athens-based artist has been making electronic music, ranging in musical style from emotional and ambient electronica to experimental and glitch.

His sound is instantly recognizable, and his music is often described as warm and commanding, seeking to inspire nostalgia and create an emotional imagery through sound. The melodies are aerial and fluffy, often changing frequently. Melorman attempts to reach and capture the ultimate feeling and embodiment that melody has on the human emotional state.

He has released music on various labels such as Sun Sea Sky Productions, SymbolicInteraction, Archaic Horizon, Summer Rain Recordings, Shima Records, IVDT, CCT Records, Sixteen Steps Records, and Envizagae Records.

  1. Aiora “Cinnamon”
  2. Melorman “Eliquis”
  3. Hidden Orchestra “Palace End”
  4. naono “Untitled Merrow”
  5. Purl “Seraphine Tears”
  6. Porya Hatami “Fen (Segue Remix)”
  7. Illuvia “Summer Cloud”

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SOUNDWAVE : 28 : AXEL ARTURO BARCELÓ

SOUNDWAVE : 28 AXEL ARTURO BARCELÓ

Today’s guest deejay is Axel Arturo Barceló, who I met while interviewing him for solipsistic NATION about his netlabel, Discos Konfort. I enjoyed talking to Axel about his label and dug the music from his roster of artists that he was one of the first people I contacted when I started asking folks to guest deejay on SOUNDWAVE. I know you’re going to live his mix!

 

Axel Arturo Barceló
Axel Arturo Barceló

This is another one of those entries that I have to keep short because I have friends from out of town that I’m about to meet up with for dinner. A few things before I go…

A few weeks ago I saw a photo of apocalyptic skies due to the fires in NorCal that Robert Rich posted on Facebook. When I discovered that he and I lived in the same area I said we should hang out, and so we did. Robert is just a nice and thoughtful as you’d imagine. We was also generous and gave me a copy his latest CD, Offering to the Morning Fog. So cool to finally meet the guy whose music I’ve been listening to since last century. Check out Robert’s mix for SOUNDWAVE here.

 

Joseph Aleo and Robert Rich
Joseph Aleo and Robert Rich

This week I’ve been enjoying W. David Oliphant’s new album, Beyond All Defects: 2020, that he recorded with Sir Richard Bishop. Actually, I don’t know if enjoying is the right word. More like experiencing it. Oliphant’s music is haunting and that doesn’t even begin to capture the depth of his music. Look, just listen to the damn album and hear for yourself. Or listen to Oliphant’s mix for SOUNDWAVE.

Okay, that’s it. I got a flex. Join us next week when our guest deejay will be protoU.

See you then!

  1. Jerry ZZZ “M”
  2. Rose McGowan “Canes Venatici”
  3. Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes “Storm before the Calm”
  4. Field Works “Formation 2, Revisited (Lusine Remix)”
  5. Liozn “Ascending”
  6. Local 86 “Sim Dreams”
  7. Pássaro “Ayaymama”
  8. mdol “aquablock”
  9. Machino “Navajas”
  10. OMAAR “Dancefloor (Like this)”
  11. Hexsystem “Cycles”
  12. Emmerichk “Dub 2”
  13. Bliz Nochi “Day Dreamwalker”
  14. Matías Pérez Fuentes & Joni Lobos “Magnetismo”

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SOUNDWAVE : 12 : JAIME IRLES

SOUNDWAVE : 12

It’s late and its been a long week so I’m going to keep this short.

The only thing I can think off the top of my head that’s COVID-19 related is that supposedly a bunch of teenagers on Tik Tok punked President Trump earlier today by reserving tickets for his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was supposed to pack a stadium full of supporters but instead it was barely half full. Was it teens that did this, though? At this point I wouldn’t be surprised if it was pulled of by Russian or Chinese hackers. In any case, whoever did it, well done. That means half as many people might get infected with the virus. Reading Trump’s rage tweets is going to be something.

Our guest deejay for today’s show is Jaime Irles.

Jaime was one half of Known Rebel, an electronic music duo from Ibiza. I very much wanted them to interview them for my electronic music show, solipsistic NATION but it never happened. I always regretted missing that opportunity so when I launched SOUNDWAVE Jaime was one of the first group of people I contacted to participate on the show.

Jaime was kind enough to send me this mix we’re going to listen to on today’s SOUNDWAVE. It’s spectacular and ranges from Burial to Ryuichi Sakamoto and I know you’re going to love it.

Jamie’s going to tell us all about his mix below but before I go I encourage you to pick up his latest album, Cardonova. I was expecting sometime more in the style of what he was recording when he was in Know Rebel but I was delightfully surprised to hear the new horizons he’s exploring. It’s got more of an 80s synthwave kind of sound. Go get it, its only a few a few dollars. The price of a cup of coffee, as they say. And while you’re at it, if you dig any of the the songs you hear on today’s show, go buy them too. Sure, you could stream it, but then the artists only get the tiniest fraction of a penny. They deserve more than that. Splurge and buy one of their songs. Better yet, buy an entire album.

Next week’s guest deejay is Tijs Ham. See you then!

 

Jaime Irles
Jaime Irles

The set I have recorded is a mix of organic soundscapes, melancholic melodies, textures and darkambient sounds with a strong cinematic touch.

Burial has been one of my musical referents for years and wanted tostart the set with one of his latests works. “State Forest” is full of gloomy ambient textures and foggy atmospheres.

Lorn is one of the usual artists on my spotify lists, this specific subject takes me straight to an imaginary cyberpunk movie.

I came across A Winged Victory For The Sullen’s “Retour au Champ-de-Mars” a while ago looking for movie soundtracks. I haven’t had the chance to see the French movie In the Shadow of Iris, but the soundtrack is just as beautiful as it is powerful.

“Encounter Me In The Orchard” is a relatively new track from Polish producer Jacaszek. I love the mix of reverb drenched melodies and sonic textures on thisone.

Lauge and Matt Tondut’s “Above the Clouds” is ambient music at it’s finest, melancholic soundscapes that keep the cinematic vibes of the set.

Nicolas Winding Refn is one of my favorite directors and Too Old To Die young one of the best series I’ve seen lately. Watching the show is like being in an art gallery, watching one beautiful moving painting after another and as an accompaniment to that visual work of art, the music of Cliff Martínez with one of his most outstanding works. “I’m Hunting” is the best fit on set but could have used any of them.

The “Annihilation” end-scene wouldn’t have been this impressive if not for this amazing piece of dark ambient. Not the typical Moderat song but I wish they would do more music on this direction.

Lorn again, not much to comment on, I just love “SILHOUETTE “ and his haunting landscapes of sounds.

With Ryuichi Sakamoto and Oneohtrix Point Never’s Rework you can’t go wrong. Daniel Lopatin is one of my main influences and this trackis a clear example of why. A beautiful piece of art.

“Naval” is the last track of from my Cardonova EP I released in April. The album is an eclectic mixture of downtempo, synthwave, and dark ambient sounds reminiscent of past decades,evoking soundscapes and leading the listener through a journeythrough the depths of oneself. I named the track in honor of Naval Ravikant, an Indian American entrepreneur and investor that really inspires me.

  1. Burial “State Forest”
  2. Lorn “Feed The Dogs For Me”
  3. A Winged Victory For The Sullen “Retour au Champ-de-Mars”
  4. Jacaszek “Encounter Me In The Orchard”
  5. Lauge & Matt Tondut “Above the Clouds”
  6. Cliff Martinez “I’m Hunting”
  7. Moderat “The Mark (Interlude)”
  8. Lorn “SILHOUETTE”
  9. Ryuichi Sakamoto “andata (Oneohtrix Point Never Remix)”
  10. Jaime Irles “Naval”

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SOUNDWAVE : 9 : KIRK MARKARIAN

SOUNDWAVE : 9

When I launched SOUNDWAVE I didn’t have a plan for the show beyond being a coping mechanism for COVID-19. The first could of weeks under the safe at home lockdown I was white-knuckling it every day. We’re we going to enter a Great Depression? A lot of the shelves in the supermarket were bare. When I used the keypad to pay for my groceries there was an undercurrent of anxiety. Would touching it might end up killing me? I’m sure you experienced your own version.

It became clear one of the few things that was providing solace was the ambient, classical, experimental and instrumental music I was listening to. I reasoned that if the music was listening to was giving me some relief then other folks might as well. And producing a monthly show would also provide a welcome distraction from my fears.

That was it. That was the plan.

But I quickly decided to update SOUNDWAVE’s schedule to a weekly basis for as long as the safe at home orders were in place. Almost immediately afterwards I began inviting guest deejays to contribute mixes to the show.

I did not anticipate was everyone’s generosity. Nearly everyone I asked to sent me a mix and as I write this I have shows scheduled to September. I’m tempted to release all the shows all at once à la Netflix so you can listen to the mixes à la carte. It feels criminal to have all this wonderful music to myself only to dole it out to you once a week.

When I made the decision to invite guest deejays to share their mixes I reached out to people I knew from my electronic music podcast, solipsistic NATION. One person I contacted was David Newman, founder of Audiobulb Records. I never had the opportunity to have David on the show but I was hoping to have him contribute a mix to SOUNDWAVE. David wasn’t able to participate but he did introduce me to Gert De Meester of Distant Fires Burning and Kirk Markarian of Neuro… No Neuro.

Kirk is our guest deejay today. I knew the show was in good hands when I listened to Kirk’s Electronic Frequencies, an excellent program on Concertzender Radio in Utrecht, that features ambient and experimental composers. More great music for us to enjoy!

Before Kirk talks about his mix I encourage you to purchase one or more of the songs you enjoyed on today’s show. The artists pour their hearts into each track. Your purchase of songs or albums helps them continue working on their craft but also puts food on their tables and a roof over their heads.

See you next Sunday. Our guest deejay is Planet Boelex!

 

Kirk Markarian
Kirk Markarian

This mix begins with a track by NOEL-KIT – “Summertime” – from their album, Tokyo Noise. Sounds pan about the audio field, growing, fading; bursting from underneath NOEL-KIT’s enthusiastic interpretation of the season.

Following this, we move into “Edall” by Autistici from their album Beneath Peaks. Almost like breathing, the track pulls one in and cycles to and fro until the cycle speeds up, and becomes off-kilter, shifting the listener into a gentle, calm, yet shiny future.

From there, out of the soothing wash, we have a longer track by the artist Distant Fires Burning – “Science Stops…” – from their album Build on Me. Starting with a beautiful electric keyboard sound that echos softly into the distance, the track blends into a harmonic freeze that shifts the listener into a hazy field.

From there, a soft segue into Wil Bolton’s long play “Woven Geometry” from their album Viridian Loops begins. Field recordings exist throughout the entire track while beautiful synthetics pulsate fade in and out around the beautiful padding underneath the entire piece.

For the final track, we fade into an uplifting rhythmic piece by mg&mw – “Seagulls” – off their album All Steamed Up. Analog synths, harmonica, bass, and electric percussion all blend into a very catchy tune that places the listener directly into a moment.

  1. NOEL-KIT “Summertime”
  2. Autistici “Edall”
  3. Distant Fires Burning “Science Stops…”
  4. Wil Bolton “Woven Geometry”
  5. mg&mw “Seagulls”

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SOUNDWAVE : 7 : FRANK RIGGIO

SOUNDWAVE : 7

During the first few weeks of lockdown under COVID-19 it became clear that previous entertainments and enjoyments no longer obtained.

Pre-COVID-19 I would be reading five books at once. I’d read a chapter or section from each book before moving on to the next. Post-COVID-19 and I’m lucky if I can muster up the concentration to read for 10 or 15 minutes. I hear this is a common phenomenon.

Likewise, television failed to provide distraction. Aside from the usual hurdle of deciding what to watch came the realization that none of the shows being promoted by Apple, Amazon, Hulu, etc spoke to me and even when they did, such as Contagion, I’d wonder why no one was wearing face masks or not standing at least six feet apart sooner.

Like books, I could barely pay attention to the podcasts I used to like so much. And music, like television, seemed irrelevant to the world I now lived in. Everything seemed inane. Except for music that fell under the categories of ambient, classical, experimental and instrumental. There were no lyrics to be frustrated by and the music I was listening to was the perfect soundtrack to my perosnal experience of the pandemic. Surely there were other people who’d appreciate it and maybe get some solace from the mjsic so I launched this show.

Very quickly decided to ask foks I know to guest deejay on SOUNDWAVE and its worked out very well. Sean Horton, founder fo the Decibel Festival and Nordic Soul, shared a mix that’s an emotional journey. My old friend Steven Howard wove a wonderful mix that incorporated field recordings that reminded me of the world that’s waiting for us. Vince Millett, founder of Broken Drum Records and host of the Secret Archives of the Vatican podcast delivered a mix that leaned towards the Asian and Middle Eastern music. Last week writer James Curcio spun a mix that mediated on mortality, isolation and simulacra.

This week’s show comes courtesy of Frank Riggio. I’m particularly excited about today’s because I’ve asked Frank to come on solipsistic NATION several times to talk about his music but Frank politely declined every single time. Frank is one of those artists who believes his music speaks for him. Fair enough. But if Frank wouldn’t do an interview maybe he’d do a mix for SOUNDWAVE. And lucky for us, he did. Frank selected some fantastic music that I know you’re going to love. I additional to great tunes, Frank also helps push the experimental aspects that I want SOUNDWAVE to explore.

Frank will talk about today’s music below. If you want to heat more of Franks’ music you’ll be happy to know that Frank recently released a new album under the name Aqka Torr and the album is called Fascina. It’s different from what you’ll hear on today’s mix and it’s very sexy and it’s mysterious.

Join us again next week when our guest deejay will be ambient musician Robert Rich.

See you then!

 

Frank Riggio
Frank Riggio

This mix was a great opportunity for me to put together some of the songs that I’m currently listening alongside new unreleased Frank Riggio tracks.

You’ll find here smooth transitions and cool mashups, especially the last one, this final 4 tracks mashup around that amazing LORN song with Hecq, Syl Kougaï and Amon Tobin.

I’m fascinated by all of these musicians featured in this mix, they’re consistently in my playlist, for years.

Music has always given me great recomfort in shitty moments in my life, even more in this crazy times. Being isolated that way with my daughter is not really something I expected experiencing in my life.

I truly believe humanity will never be the same after this pandemic, it’s the end of a cycle. I don’t want to sound defeatist but I’m definitely not enthusiastic for what’s coming next.

In a world where everything; every humans, every objects became “prohibited” to touch, the senses and feelings are really broken.

Music isn’t palpable, it’s odorless and invisible, it doesn’t really exist… so hearing, listening music is possibly the greatest thing you can do now, especially for your mental health.

Hope you enjoy this mix, be safe an take care of you and yours.

  1. Frank Riggio “Forthcoming/Unreleased”
  2. Amon Tobin “Heart Of The Sun”
  3. LORN “BROKEN MANTRA”
  4. Frank Riggio “Forthcoming/Unreleased”
  5. Amon Tobin “Red Moon”
  6. Frank Riggio “Forthcoming/Unreleased”
  7. LORN “PERFEKT DARK”
  8. Frank Riggio “Forthcoming/Unreleased”
  9. Flying Lotus “Land Of Honey”
  10. LORN “UNFOLDING”
  11. HECQ “Typhon”
  12. Syl Kougaï “Corvus (Vulcain Mix)”
  13. Amon Tobin “Feed”

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SOUNDWAVE : 3 : SEAN HORTON

SOUNDWAVE : 3

Let me rehash some stuff with you before we got to today’s excellent show featuring a lustrous mix from Sean Horton.

I launched SOUNDWAVE because it was my way of coping with COVID-19. My wife is away for the next month with her unit and our kids our with their dad for the foreseeable future. It’s just me and my dog. Work keeps me busy during the day but at night it gets lonely. I found myself listening to a lot of ambient, classical, experimental and instrumental music and I decided to share it with my friends and created the show you’re listening to now.

My intention was to release a new show once a month. After the first show I decided I would release SOUNDWAVE weekly until the stay at home order ends. But then it occurred to me that pretty much everyone else on the planet is also stuck at home so I invited friends, deejays, musicians, producers, etc to participate on the show. And that brings us to our first guest deejay, Sean Horton.

I interviewed Sean Horton for solipsistic NATION to talk about Decibel Festival, an annual music and digital arts festival in Seattle that ran from 2004 to 2015. Decibel Festival was unique platform for exposing attendees to leading-edge multimedia art from around the globe. With a focus on live performance, interactive multimedia art, state-of-the-art sound and technology based education; Decibel solidified itself as one of the premier electronic music festivals and promotional organizations in the world. In 2014, Sean was named #43 on Rolling Stone’s “50 Most Important People in EDM.”

Sean also records under them name Nordic Soul where he distills his love for techno, house, hip hop, jazz, soul, industrial, ambient and dub. As Nordic Soul, Sean has shared the stage with an eclectic mix of musicians from Grimes to Moby to The Orb to Major Lazer to… well, the list goes on. Sean has also performed at several major festivals world-wide, including Dimensions (Croatia), MUTEK (Montreal) and Communikey (Boulder). Nordic Soul has released music on a wide variety of labels including K Records, Buttermilk Records, Peloton and basic_sounds.

Given all that, you understand Sean was one of the first people I invited to join me and SOUNDWAVE. Funny thing, Sean and I have struck up a friendship online which moved from talking about music to our favorite books, tv shows and movies and then to living under COVID-19. An unexpected and welcome development of the pandemic. I look forward to meeting Sean in Los Angeles after this dies down a bit and hoisting a pint with him. From a safe six feet, of course.

Sean has crafted a beautiful mix, but I expected no less from him. Prepare for an emotional journey and see where it takes you. I’ll let Sean introduce his mix below. I know you’re going to love it just as much as I do.

I’ll see you all next week when we are joined by our next guest deejay, my old and dear friend, Steven Howard.

 

Sean Horton
Sean Horton

During this time in isolation I’ve been rediscovering my love of ambient music. I first discovered ambient music working at Harmony House records in Detroit my junior year in high school in 1992. It was the early days of the Rave Movement and Detroit was a hot bed for warehouse parties and Techno Music at the time. This was also a remarkable time where nearly every Rave would have two rooms, a “Dance Room” and an “Ambient Room.” I was an “Ambient Room” individual largely in part because I fell in love the music.

Out of all of the ambient music albums I’ve encountered over the years, the two that I come back to the most are the first and second ambient albums I ever knowingly experienced, Brian Eno’s Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks and Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works Vol. 2. This mix features two of my favorite selections from each album.

Historically ambient music has predominantly been characterized as synthetic, but over the past fifteen years or so there has been growing movement of more organic forms of ambient music and film scores which are often referred to as neo classical (i.e. Nils Frahm, Max Richter, Ólafur Arnalds, Hauschka, Jóhann Jóhannsson , Hildur Guðnadóttir, Stars of the Lid, etc.). Where Ambient music fueled my teen-early 20’s love of electronic music; neo classical music fueled my love of melody and organic tone. I firmly believe that both ambient and neo classical music can and should co-exist.

This particular mix evolved out of a playlist I put together in late March 2020 featuring some of my favorite ambient and neo classical artists and songs. As common with a lot of ambient music, these selections are all void of rhythm and nearly void of all voice. That said, this is an ideal mix for reading, writing, sleeping, meditation, yoga, etc. My hope is this mix will instill a sense of calm and mental clarity with the listener.

  1. Cliff Martinez “Will She Come Back”
  2. John Foxx and Harold Budd “Subtext”
  3. Eluvium “Individuation”
  4. Aphex Twin “#20”
  5. Apparat “44”
  6. Hauschka “Destination Unknown”
  7. bvdub “Your Painted Armor Aches to Crack”
  8. Windy & Carl “Forest Trails”
  9. Tim Hecker “Radiance”
  10. Stars of the Lid “A Meaningful Moment Through a Meaning(less) Process”
  11. David August “MUSES AND ASHES”
  12. Brambles “To Speak of Solitude”
  13. Grouper “Parking Lot”
  14. Ólafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm “20:17”
  15. Jon Hopkins “The Wider Sun”
  16. Jonsi & Alex Somers “Daníell In The Sea”
  17. Ben Lukas Boysen “Sleeper Beat Theme”
  18. Helios “Seeming”
  19. Ólafur Arnalds “Doria”
  20. Robert Fripp & Brian Eno “Wind on Wind”
  21. Brian Eno “An Ending (Ascent)”

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Weekly Mix 27: July 9, 2017

Last night my girlfriend watched I T2 Trainspotting. I haven’t seen Trainspotting since it was released back in 1996 and I thought it’d be fun to revisit those lovable junkies and hooligans from the first movie. And it was fun. The dialogue was whip-smart and the cinematography was was breathtaking and the actors were fantastic. But it was fun in a Trainspotting sort of way because it you remember the first movie it was about a bunch of Gen X kids who use heroin because they’re lives have been hallowed out by Thatcherism, consumerism and boredom. In T2 Trainspotting we get to revisit those characters except this time they’re older, a little thicker in the middle and they’re nostalgic while at the same time they’re considering they’re mortality.

I’m a Gen X kid. I’m older. I’m a little thicker in the middle. I think about my mortality. But I’m not nostalgic. The 90s were just another decade for me and then I moved on. Each decade had it’s peaks and valleys and some friends dropped out of my life but they were replaced by new friends. But the 90s were special, special to me, anyway, because I was a young man with a bright future ahead of me and my life was so vivid because I was experiencing everything for the first time. I got to fall in love as an adult for the first time. I also got to experience my first heartbreak as an adult. I got to meet friends for the first time that I’ll probably know until the day I die. Or until they die. Hopefully they go first.

And I was always listening to music and the first five songs you’ll hear on today’s show were part of the soundtrack to my life at that time. The stuff is heavy. As usual, I listened to a lot of different kinds of music back in the 90s, everything from hip hop to avant-garde jazz, but hardcore and industrial was the music that I really responded to. Can you blame me? America was fighting in the first Gulf War and it was clear that it was going to come back and bite us in the ass further down the road. The Republican and Democratic parties were just starting to become recalcitrant and hyper-consumerism was becoming a cultural value.

I’ll see you again next week. I promise it won’t be as heavy as today’s show. See you then!

  1. Godflesh “Love Is A Dog From Hell”
  2. Bastro “(I’ve) Ben Brown”
  3. Loving Six “U.S. World”
  4. Gore “Mean Man’s Dream”
  5. Head of David “Dog Day Sunrise”
  6. The Bug & Earth “Dog (feat. JK Flesh)”
  7. Pale Sketcher “Plans That Fade (Faded Dub)”

Illustration: GDBee ©2017