electronica – Page 3

SOUNDWAVE : 91 : ALEX HAAS

Today’s guest deejay is Alex Haas.

I’ve been a fan of Alex’s music since the last century. It feels strange to write that, but it’s true.

I discovered Alex on his Cypher 7 album, Decoder that he recorded with Jeff Bova. Decoder came in all all-back CD jewel case. Very mysterious and very sexy. Decoder was released on Strata, Bill Laswell’s sub-label of Subharmonic Records, and that was all I needed to know in my decision-making process to purchase the album. I was not disappointed. Decoder was as mysterious and sexy as its CD case. The music was minimal, sinuous, and entrancing.

I’ve been listening to Alex’s music over the decades. When his album, The Woods, recorded with Michel Banabila and Bill Laswell, popped up on my Spotify Discover Weekly playlist, I immediately invited Alex to guest deejay on Soundwave.

Alex’s mix is exactly what I expected and delights with music from unexpected sources. You’re in for a treat.

Before I get out of here, I want to wish everyone happy holidays.

I also encourage you to follow Genius and Soul on your favorite podcast app. Genius and Soul is a weekly show featuring jazz, Black classical music, and more, with mixes lovingly selected by our guest deejays. Our first guest deejay will be legendary composer, pianist, singer, and flautist Brian Jackson. Genius and Soul launches on January 1, 2022.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be iu takahashi.

See you then!

Billow Obeservatory “Pankalia”
Synkro “Don’t Want“
Alex Haas / Bill Laswell “Empire State”
Yaga “Rigning Níu”
Simple Minds “Somebody Up There Likes You”
Jon Hassell “Last Night The Moon Came”
Alex Haas “Blue Nude”
Harold Budd And Brian Eno “Above Chiangmai”
Alex Haas, Michel Banabila, Bill Laswell “The Woods”
Karl Hyde “Shadow boy”
Bill Evans “Peace Piece”
Engineers “What It’s Worth”
Joni Mitchell “Jericho”
Bob Marley “Waiting In Vain (Bill Laswell Remix)”
Alex Haas “Lonely Ruins”
Alex Haas “Letting Go”

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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”

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SOUNDWAVE : 88 : DEAD MELODIES

Today’s guest deejay is Tom Moore, AKA Dead Melodies.

After listening to his latest album, Fabled Machines of Old, I invited Tom to guest deejay on Soundwave back in June. The album was released on Cryo Chamber, and it’s what I’ve come to expect from every release from the label: exquisitely crafted dark ambient music that takes you on an emotional journey. Sometimes harrowing, but always rewarding.

Today’s show has been a different experience for me than what I’ve become accustomed to. Usually, I receive mixes for Soundwave six months before I share them with you. I do this for practical reasons. I like to have the mixes well before the release date, so I don’t have to scramble to get shows out weekly. I listened to the mixes you repeatedly hear for months, a byproduct of this arrangement. I become intimately acquainted with the music. They become the soundtrack for my life.

Tom’s schedule did not permit him to send me his mix in advance. I only just got his mix for Soundwave two weeks ago. I didn’t think that would be time enough to allow Tom’s mix to “breather,” but fortunately, I was able to lose myself in the music, and Tom’s mix quickly became an old friend.

Tom has some words about today’s show below.

As always, the shadow of the pandemic looms over Soundwave.

Yesterday I spoke with a professional colleague, and he shared that his production partner had come down with COVID. He told me that he had contracted COVID some months ago, and as a result, his blood pressure is up by 20%; he has experienced liver damage, and his joints ache. I wished him a speedy recovery and that his partner would not suffer lasting effects from the virus. There but for the grace of God goes I, as they say. Except that I expect to catch the virus myself at some point. I don’t know where you listen to Soundwave, but here in the U.S., it seems we want the pandemic to last as long as possible.

But today, I’m still healthy. And I have a lovely show to share with you.

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

See you then!

Thanks for the invitation to put together a mix for the show. It was a fun challenge deciding what to do as I trawled through all my influences and favourite artists, but it wasn’t long before it dawned on me it was near impossible to capture even a fraction of the music that makes me tick in an hour-long cut. So I decided to look at my music, pick out some rarities and remixes, and see how best to present them. My output is pretty diverse, but these rarities seemed to tap into a dark-ambient meets post-rock style. I paired with a few popular tunes from my Cryo Chamber releases to keep on the theme and hopefully create a haunting yet soothing listening experience.

Honourable mentions to the collaborating artists named on the tracks – a remix is always much more than a reforming of stems, but a respectful collaboration with layers of new instruments added, paying homage to the original piece while expanding the sound. Thanks to; Everyday Dust, Zenjungle, Understated Theory (my side project/band), and Owsey. Thanks to Cryo Chamber and Sparkwood Records, who have published a few of the included tunes.

Dead Melodies “Winter’s Bite”
Everyday Dust “Where Light Fails (Dead Melodies Solar Frenzy Mix)”
Dead Melodies “The Wake of Man”
Zenjungle “Elegy for The Will (Dead Melodies’ Perspective)”
Dead Melodies “Secrets Foretold”
Understated Theory “Solitary Demons”
Owsey “Thousands of Summer Twilights (Dead Melodies Remix)”
Dead Melodies “A Trial of Crows and Blood”
Dead Melodies “Certain Beasts”

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SOUNDWAVE : 86 : ALISÚ

Today’s guest deejay is Jessica Campos de la Paz, AKA Alisú.

Alisú is yet another musician that Soundwave guest deejay Axel Arturo Barceló introduced me to (listen to Axel’s mix here).

Jessica is a Chilean producer and graphic designer and Alisú is her electronic project. She began her career in 1998 performing live sets of dub, techno, IDM and experimental sounds, not only as Alisú but also in the project Manziping with Rodrigo Rivera and Antonio Díaz, performing at many South American festivals. On her first release for Bottom Forty, she composed three beautiful, purely hardware based tracks for her Rompiente EP with rhythmic vibes that take you from resonant underwater depths up into reflective cosmic atmospheres.

Alisú’s mix for today’s show is sexy and a little bit dangerous. Her mix also demonstrates the versatility of ambient and instrumental music. If you listen to these genres of music or listen to Soundwave, you alrready know what I’m talking about. But to the layperson, ambient and instrumental music conjures up swathes of pretty sounds. When I encounter such notions, I point them to the music from artists like Alisú.

I’m going to wrap this entry up because tonight I will be taking the reedy to to Boston. It will be the first time in several decades that my dad, brother, sister and I will be under the same roof. I’m pretty busy, but hit me up and maybe we can meet for some socially distanced coffee.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Textere Oris.

See you then!

Riz Maslen “The Lake Woods”
Alisú “Planeando sobre Valpo”
Valentina Berthelon feat Javi de la Rosa “Sangre”
Daniel Jeffs “Monkeys”
Daniel Klauser “When U Dancing”
F600 feat Fran Straube “Zoom”
Lars from Mars “Flatforming”
Delia “Sequence”
Obsolete Music Technology “Broken Siren”
Idealist “Time Lapse’
Alisú “Introspection”
Claro Intelecto “Patience”

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SOUNDWAVE : 85 : JOSÉ SOBRANES

Today’s guest deejay is José Sobranes.

I met José through Mauricio Sotelo, AKA Haiteku, who I met through Axel Arturo Barceló, who guest deejayed on Soundwave here and here. Soundwave has been around just long enough that it is beginning to form a rhizome-like network. I like that.

I also like José’s mix. I’m never quite sure where one song ends, and the next begins. The only boundary is the start and end of his mix. It exists in some liminal space that is akin to being awake and being asleep. I’m doing my best to describe José’s mix, but really, you need to let it wash over you and take you where it may.

José is a self-taught composer and recordist based in Mexico. His compositions explore the balance between electronics and environmental sounds, chaining narratives, context, and movement, all based on the felt of direct presence.

He is the current label manager and founder of Nova Fund Recordings an independent label focused on contemporary arts and music. All his productions was released in many countries around the globe for mention some: Whitelabrecs (UK), Faint (ES), Ediciones Éter (CO), Blaq Records (MX), WOS Colectivo (MX), Frente Pulquero (MX), Shimmering Moods Records (NL), USON (ES) and more…

José has some words about his mix below.

Because Soundwave was borne out of the isolation and stress of the pandemic, I feel obligated to mention it on the show. But what is there to say? The pandemic has become part of our lives, and we’ve come to expect the peaks and valleys of infections and deaths. We go about our days trying to maintain some semblance of normality while at the same time incorporating the disruption across the world as part of our new routine. We simultaneously desire to return to our lives before the pandemic while re-evaluating what’s important in our lives and where we want to go next. What will happen?

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

See you then!

Thanks to Joseph for the invitation, Mauricio Sotelo for trusting in my project, and all my listeners and artists friends who encourage me every day to keep going. Thanks to my girlfriend Brenda for inspiring me every day to keep going ahead on this path.

José Soberanes feat. Kiiote “Fallaos”
Dzyan “Orquídeae”
Alex Bober “Shielded”
Darren McClure “Smooth Manifold”
Francesco Giannico “Litania”
Kate Carr “Under An Ancient Fort”
Machinefabriek “Entrance ”
PCCL + Through “Ehécatl”
William Ryan Fritch “Floats feat. Powerdove”
Booka Shade “Moonstruck”
Brett Nauke “Executable Dreamtime”
Pepo Galán & Lee Yi “Zaragoza Rosa”

SOUNDWAVE : 84 : protoU

Today’s guest deejay is Sasha Puzan, AKA protoU.

Oleg Puzan of Line Spectrum, AKA Dronny Darko (listen to Dronny’s mix here and his Line Spectrum mix here), recommended his partner guest deejay on the show last year, and Sasha’s mix was beautiful and sublime. I invited Sasha back on Soundwave, and she’s delivered another fantastic mix.

While Sasha’s first mix for Soundwave was elemental and cosmic, today’s mix feels cozy and intimate. I’m listening to it as I write today’s show notes, and I wish San Diego would not be so characteristically warm and sunny, and a chilly and overcast day seems more appropriate for Sasha’s mix.

I’ve also been listening to Sasha’s mix while I work at the office. It has been an interesting experience because I launched Soundwave to cope with the stress and isolation of the early days of the pandemic. I’ve been working remotely and listening to Soundwave mixes for nearly two years, and it feels unsettling to listen to the mixes at my office. I’m sure I’ll adjust, but presently it feels out of context.

Where do you listen to Soundwave?

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be José Sobranes.

See you then!

12k “march 10, 2015 (march 3 ice rain)”

Connect.Ohm “Fossil”

Purl & protoU “Morning Light”

Sustainer “Prisma”

Miyuki “Ghostly Vibes”

protoU “Believe”

Dronny Darko “Circuits”

Dirk Serries “The Sleep Of Reason”

Venture “Autumn Sun”

loscil “Gymnote”

Shuttle358 “Models of Life”

Dronny Darko & protoU “Riparian Forest 300 million years ago ”

Fingers in the Noise “Drone Break”

protoU “Lucid Sequences”

Taylor Deupree “A Little Ecosystem”

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SOUNDWAVE : 82 : PCM

Today’s guest deejays are PCM, who are Francesco Perra (P), Matteo Cantaluppi (C), Matteo Milea (M).

n5MD founder Mike Cadoo put me in touch with PCM when I asked him after guest deejayed on Soundwave who he thought would want to share a mix on the show. PCM has crafted a mix that I adore. There’s so much to love.

One of the things I find exciting about Soundwave is that our guest deejays introduce me to music and artists I’m unfamiliar with. On the other hand, some musicians that I’ve been surprised have made an appearance on Soundwave nearly two years into the show. PCM remedy that with today’s mix. I’m talking about talent like Fennesz, Rafael Anton Irisarri, Coil (I’m surprised Coil aren’t on every show), and Morton Subotnick.

PCM: Francesco Perra (P), Matteo Cantaluppi (C), Matteo Milea (M)

PCM themselves make an appearance at the end of today’s show. You’ll want to hear more of their music. You can listen to their latest album, Macro, which came out earlier this year. Macro is equal parts expansive and constrained, and the magic happens between those two extremes.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Wife Signs.

See you then.

Fennesz “Liminality”
zakè “Infinite Ocean”
Takehisa Kosugi “Wave Code #E-1”
Nils Frahm “Talisman”
Rafael Anton Irisarri “Empire System”
Coil “Red Birds Will Fly Out Of The East And Destroy Paris In a Night”
Boards Of Canada “Everything You Do Is A Balloon”
loscil “Drained Lake”
Valentino Mora “Morphosa”
John Foxx “Oceanic II”
William Basinski “Melancholia”
Morton Subotnick “Touch. Pt. 1”
Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra “Promises”
Perry Frank “Janas”
Global Communication “9:25”
PCM “Macro”

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”

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SOUNDWAVE : 78 : TRIPLICATE RECORDS

Today’s guest deejay is Michael Southard of Triplicate Records.

A couple of months ago, Soundwave guest deejay Ishmael Cormack (listen to his mix here) asked for musical recommendations from his followers on Twitter.

Ismael got a lot of responses, and I listened to every suggestion on Spotify. If I heard something I liked, I’d invite the musician to guest deejay on Soundwave. Anthéne, for example, appeared on the show back in August. And today’s show, of course, features Triplicate Records.

I remember back in the 80’s listening to the soundtrack to Birdy by Peter Gabriel and wishing some musicians would record music for imaginary soundtracks. Such music existed, but I wasn’t aware of it until the following year when I was turned on to Brian Eno’s Ambient 4: On Land and Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks. Finding Eno, and musicians like him, was everything I hoped for and more.

Over the decades, I’ve seen more and more record labels dedicated to ambient, modern classical, experimental and instrumental music. 12k comes to mind, as does n5MD and Ultimae Records.

Music from Triplicate Records was already popping up on my Spotify Discover Weekly playlist and music I was discovering on Bandcamp. When Triplicate Records was recommended to Ishmael on Twitter, it felt like the universe was telling me to invite them on the show.

Triplicate Records is a boutique record label working primarily with instrumental electronic music. They are 100% artist-run, by producers Michael Southard (Time Rival), Bryan Kraft (BVSMV), and George Ernst (Suncastle). Despite the pandemic, they have gained a following with their unique musical tastes, striking artwork, and consistent output.

You’re going to love today’s mix. If you want to hear more from Triplicate Records, listen to their Spotify playlist here.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Oleg Puzan of Line Spectrum.

See you then!

Belly Full of Stars “Pattern 3”
Building a Building “As an Animal I Roamed Fearless and Free Over The Hills In The Warmth of the Sun”
Ian Hawgood “Flutter Echo Refrain”
Gary Rees “Flora & Fauna”
Hverheij “Inklings”
Time Rival “Light Pollution”
Belial Pelegrim “The Trillings of Nightingales”
BVSMV “Rubicon”
Survey Channel “Seppy Divide”
Crest of the Syndicate “The Orchard”
Devras Plexi “Radii Central Source”
Suncastle “Boutique”
Glass Roots “The Daily Male”
Chris Randall “Twisted Airwaves”
Chaircrusher “Freue Mich”

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SOUNDWAVE : 77 : GERT DE MEESTER

Today’s guest deejay is Gert De Meester.

Gert appeared on Soundwave last year, and I enjoyed his mix so much I invited him back. Today’s show is equally fantastic. Gert can expect another invitation from me in 2022.

Gert says today’s show features a perfect mixture of tracks that have influenced him and tracks that currently influence him. He said they’re all such beautiful tracks, and what’s best, you can find them all on Bandcamp, some of them entirely for free.

Today’s mix also includes a track form Gert’s project, Distant Fires Burning. You’re gong to love today’s mix and you’ll want to hear more music from Gert. Good news! You can find his latest album, Inperspectycon Vol.1, here.

One thing that’s interesting about the 21st century is music is so freely available, and it’s nearly endless. Consequently, I don’t think most music gets the attention due, and I’m not wagging my finger. I’m just as guilty. It’s exceedingly rare that I will listen to a song or an album repeatedly. There’s so much I want to listen to, and I’m often impatient to listen to the next song, even while I’m listening to something that very moment.

Take today’s show. It’s spectacular. But you’ll listen to it once. Some of you might even listen to it twice. And then you’re on to the next show. Or the next song. Or the next video.

As the producer of Soundwave, however, I have a very different relationship with the music you hear.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but I receive these mixes months before I publish them on Soundwave. I live with these mixes. I marinate in these mixes.

I’ve become very familiar with Gert’s mix. It’s a gorgeous experience. But after repeated listening, I’ve come to appreciate just how dense the songs that appear in today’s show are. I’ve become intimately acquainted with every snap, crackle, and pop. I lose myself in the swooshes, the sizzle, and grit.

Gert’s mix is made for repeated listening. I encourage you to do so.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Michael Southard of Triplicate Records.

See you then!

Taylor Dupree “Everything’s Gone Grey”
Neuro… No Neuro “Blend With Internal Mirror”
Loscil “First Narrows”
Biosphere “Endurium”
For Greater Good “Love You Terrorist (Stockholm Syndrome Mix by Distant Fires Burning)”
Boards Of Canada “XYZ (Peel Session)”
He Can Jog “My (Mother’s) Records”
Umlaut “Audio(bulbs)”
Jon Doe One “Karper”
Autistici “Edall”
Distant Fires Burning & Seigo Aoyama “Or The Horror Of It Now”
Ashtoreth & Stratosphere “The Burning Spirit”
Dadavistic Orchestra “Strung Valve Checkout”
Oubys “ToweringWindTowering”
Roel Funcken “Graydon Margolis AMB”
Sonmi451 “Hippocampus”
Darren McClure “Time Takes It’s Course”

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