Tag: experimental

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SOUNDWAVE : 32 : DANIEL MCCAGH

SOUNDWAVE : 32: DANIEL MCCAGH

Today on SOUNDWAVE our guest deejay is n5MD recording artist, Daniel McCagh. I’ll talk about Daniel’s mix shortly but first let me tell you about the election that just took place in the U.S.

As I write this Joe Biden has been declared the president-elect of the United States. The vice president-elect is Kamala Harris is the first Indian-American, the first African-American, and the first female vice president in U.S. history. It is so long overdue that someone like Harris becomes a vice president that it took a while for me to recognize the significance of this accomplishment. This should have been the norm a very long time ago. Of course a woman should be a vice president. Of course a woman of color should be vice president. There shouldn’t be anything remarkable about this at all. But here we are at long last.

Here in San Diego the mood is ebullient. There are motorcades, the honking of horns and cheering. You can feel the difference; the joy and the relief. After four years of mendacity, racism, cruelty and incompetence we are ready for a change.

SOUNDWAVE was created as a coping mechanism to the isolation and stress of COVID-19. President Trump and his administration bungled the management of the crisis of COVID-19 so badly that they contributed to the spread of the virus. So badly, in fact, that the Trump administration effectively gave up. I can only hope that Biden’s administration will reign in the virus and accelerate a cure. As Americans we need to get back to our lives and loved ones and we need an economy that will work for everyone.

I’m not naive. I know this presidency will disappoint and outrage me as all other presidencies have in the past. But at least it will be a normal disappointment and outrage and not that nauseating horror show I’ve had to endure for the last four years.

Let’s take a break from politics.

Planet Boelex's new album, Connect
Planet Boelex’s new album, Connect

Planet Boelex is a previous guest deejay on SOUNDWAVE and he has just released and new album called Connect. It’s about as beautiful as you’d expect and you can find it on Bandcamp for the very affordable price of $7.

Want more of Planet Boelex? You can listen to his mix for SOUNDWAVE here or listen to his live set for solipsistic NATION here.

Daniel McCagh
Daniel McCagh

Okay, let’s talk about our guest deejay, Daniel McCagh.

Daniel describes his mix as a collection of some favourite tunes both beautiful and sometimes uncomfortable for deep and immersive listening. It’s the kind of soundscape that’s perfect for the rare rainy day we’re having this weekend in San Diego. After you are done listening to Daniel’s mix you will know that you have just experienced something profound and that you will need time to process it.

Daniel’s mix comes to us by way of Mike Cadoo, the founder of n5MD. I interviewed Mike and featured music from his label on solipsistic NATION some years ago. When I launched SOUNDWAVE I reached out to Mike to do a mix for a show. Mike was busy at the time but suggested that Daniel put together a mix for SOUNDWAVE. Great idea, Mike. Oh, and I still want you to do a mix of your own when time permits.

Daniel McCagh is an electronic music producer and sound artist currently residing in Melbourne, Australia. Daniel uses acoustic instruments and digital manipulation to create powerful emotive and cinematic music. Daniel is also the sole composer and sound designer behind Gutterbox Audio, having composed music and designed sound for global companies such as Polestar, Huawei, Acura and Volkswagen.

You’re in good hands. Enjoy today’s mix!

Join us next week when we’ll listen to a mix featuring Cryo Chamber recording artist Paleowolf.

See you then!

  1. Proem “As They Go”
  2. Roly Porter “Known Space”
  3. Abul Mogard “Flooding Tide”
  4. Yair Elazar Glotman & Mats Erlandsson “Procession”
  5. Deru “Undertow”
  6. Martin Stig Andersen “City”
  7. Tim Hecker “In The Fog”

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SOUNDWAVE : 31 : OTHER FORMS OF CONSECRATED LIFE

SOUNDWAVE : 31: OTHER FORMS OF CONSECRATED LIFE

Today’s show is very special to me. I suppose I say that about every edition of SOUNDWAVE but this edition is particularly special to me.

When COVID-19 hit the U.S. and we all went under self-quarantine I found that I couldn't listen to music. All the bands and musicians I used to enjoy no longer spoke to our new reality. They sounded vapid and out of touch. The only music I found that I could listen to or gave me solace was ambient, classical, experimental and instrumental music. There were no lyrics to distract me and I could impose any meaning I wanted.

At the time I was listening to Warren Ellis’s now defunct podcast and reading his newsletter. Ellis turned me on to Paleowolf earlier in the year so I trusted his taste in music. When he recommended Acoxaca’s album, In Abeyance the Devouring Flame album I did not hesitate to buy it and listen to it immediately.

In Abeyance is a quietly sublime album.

It’s a mournful album that resonated with what I was experiencing in my insular world. And somehow in that mourning I felt a spiritual and emotional release from my woes, if only for a little while. And I clung to that respite like someone clinging to a life raft. I played that album over and over and over again.

It’s also a minimal album but the more I listened to it the more I heard. I remember one listening experience deep into the night I thought I heard a car alarm. But it wasn’t a car alarm. It was a wailing sound buried deeply in the mix. I kept finding things like that in In Abeyance.

In Abeyance was released on the Other Forms of Consecrated Life music label. I was so on love with the album that I purchased every album from the label. Like In Abeyance, each album is a singular experience and one that I revisited repeatedly.

When I launched SOUNDWAVE I reached out to E & S at Other Forms and asked if they’d put together a mix for the show. I wanted to share the music that got me through a difficult stretch of the lockdown. Maybe you’ll find solace in it, too. And if you love the music you hear on today’s show I encourage you to purchase the albums and share it with anyone you think needs to hear it.

E &S will share their thoughts on today’s mix below.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Daniel McCagh.

See you then!

Other Forms of Consecrated Life
Other Forms of Consecrated Life

This mix is a small label sampler for Other Forms of Consecrated Life, a platform for experimental artists with an interest in audiovisual phenomena, hypnagogia, or dissociative states. The mix begins with low, pulsing drones from the archive of Lynette Sandholm Evvers, a chromesthesic, whose work has been favorably compared by Disquiet to Éliane Radigue. It then continues with the choral, eremitic musics of The Penitential Station and Acoxaca, before concluding with the more abrasive sounds of Tepe Gawra and Elizabeth Cottern, the latter whose album was described by Brainwashed as an ‘instant classic’.

  1. Lynette Sandholm Evvers “Photism”
  2. The Penitential Station “The Powers of the Soul and the Manner of Her Working”
  3. Acoxaca “In Abeyance the Devouring Flame”
  4. Tepe Gawra “Tholoi, C”
  5. Elizabeth Cottern ”Akoasm I”

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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 : 27 : JONATHAN AMMONS

SOUNDWAVE : 27

Today’s guest deejay is Jonathan Ammons, a journalist, radio producer, and musician living in Asheville, North Carolina. You can find his music on Bandcamp and listen to his radio show from WPVM and Pacifica Radio Network at the Dirty Spoon.

Jonathan is yet another amazing person I was introduced to through my old friend, Steve Howard (listen to Steven’s SOUNDWAVE mix here). Meeting Jonathan is one of the unexpected pleasures in the evolution of SOUNDWAVE.

I launched SOUNDWAVE to help cope with the stress of the pandemic. In the first few months of COVID-19 it seemed that stepping outside your house might kill you. If that wasn’t terrifying enough, my family was scattered about the country so for a long time it was just me and my dog. That took a toll on me and my usual distractions, music, reading and television, could not hold my interest at all. In fact, they annoyed me or angered me. The only thing that provided any comfort was ambient, classical, experimental and instrumental music. I reasoned that if that music was giving me solace it might help others as well so I launched SOUNDWAVE. Very soon afterwards I decided to invite the talented people I know who might enjoy or, more importantly, need to share a mix of their own. And that very quickly led to asking my friends who they knew personally who might want to participate in the show. That decision introduced me to such wonderful people as Adrian Utley, Hannah Peel, Charles Hazlewood and Jonathan.

I don’t really know Jonathan, though. We’ve just had a few email exchanges arranging today’s show but through his mix I feel I know him more intimately than I might know him through a dozen conversations. That’s all projection, of course, but that is the power of music. It bypasses the rational and hits on emotional truths, which is why I launched SOUNDWAVE in the first place.

Jonathan has some words about today’s mix below.

Join us again next week when our guest deejay will be Axel Arturo Barceló.

See you then!

 

Jonathan Ammons
Jonathan Ammons

Back in 2016 there were a series of forest fires that broke out throughout Western North Carolina, surrounding my home in Asheville. The air was thick with smoke, and a perpetual haze fell over everything. It just so happened that it fell right on the heels of a devastating national election, and for a moment, it truly felt like the whole world was on fire. 

I had just started spending time with a very lovely lady, and I asked her one night if she’d like to go watch the mountains burn.So I threw some camping chairs in the truck, grabbed a camera and a bottle of Champagne, and we headed out to the center of the fires. 

There’s a strange feeling when you sit and watch your home burn to the ground. Halloween orange glowing from every hilltop, brick red clouds in the night sky. Knowing that everything would grow back eventually, but that the sights you grew up seeing would be permanently scarred. The world would be better, maybe even healthier than it was before, but it would take a lot of ash and rubble to get there.

I started making my first ambient LP — First Sight — during those fires. At the time, my office was on my screened in porch, and I could sit while I composed and watch ash fall from the sky. I like to think that much of my approach to the way I currently make music came from that experience. 

I remember calling a friend one day, and saying, “you know how I’ve been complaining a lot about that knot in my stomach that wouldn’t go away? I think I finally figured out what that is. I think it’s despair. I just think it’s the first time I’ve ever felt it. Ithink I just didn’t realize it because it doesn’t feels as hopeless as I would have thought.”

From that point on, I was able to see the fragile, delicate things that fall apart, and not feel the overwhelming sense of loss I had initially felt. Instead, I understood it to be a burning of the dross, a disposal of things that were unnecessary. When a fire burns, after all, it makes way for far better things than grew there before. Sometimes you just have to let it burn.

I like to think of this mix as songs from the fire. Pieces of music that are as devastating as they are restorative. A little hazy, a little bleary, but beautiful in their own right. There are three original compositions in the mix, the first and last are from an as of yet unreleased record (this is actually their debut). The other, “Open Eyes”, is from my new album First Sight. The rest of the mix runs a gamut between crumbling organic sounds and stark synthesis. Ian William Craig actually wrote his new and beautiful record while also being surrounded by forest fires, Goldmund delivers gorgeous ambient versions of old Civil War era songs, and Oliver Patrice Weder delivers the most thoughtful, pensive piano performance… music to watch the world end. My favorite kind.

  1. Jonathan Ammons “Wishful Thinking”
  2. Tim Hecker “Chimeras”
  3. Wojciech Golczewski “Abner’s Wake”
  4. Jonathan Ammons “Open Eyes”
  5. Ben Goldberg “Demonic Possession is 9/10ths the Law”
  6. Oliver Patrice Weder “Sol’s Lullaby”
  7. Ian William Craig “Mountains Astray”
  8. Goldmund “The Flag of Columbia Shall Float O’er Us Still”
  9. Villages “Life Expectancy” 
  10. Jonathan Ammons “Dead Leaves”

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SOUNDWAVE : 26 : HANNAH PEEL

SOUNDWAVE : 26

On today’s SOUNDWAVE our guest deejay is Hannah Peel! I’ll tell you why I am so excited to have her on today’s show shortly.

I just got back from traveling to Chicago for a vacation. I love that city and each time I go to there the more I want to move there. Granted, we went there just before fall, which is the best time to visit Chicago. It was neither hot and humid or wet and frigid.

I got to spend time with my brother and sister-in-law, run to the lakeshore and watch the sunrise, and bike around the city but overall it was an eating vacation. I live near Los Angeles so my expectations for superior restaurants is high. Chicago surpasses those expectations. You simply can’t get a bad meal in that city. The restaurant that served the best meals was The Purple Pig but our favorite dining experience was Podhalanka. We met Greg, the owner, who made us feel welcome and ordered our meals for us and each dish was delicious. Greg clearly loves what he does and he cares deeply that you are well fed.

But I’m not here to talk about what I did on my vacation. I’m here to tell you that I’m grateful that I was able to spend time with family and friends. I hadn’t realized how much I needed a vacation until we landed in O’Hare. Usually it takes me a day or two to unwind but I instantly relaxed the moment we arrived. And I’m also grateful for our vacation because it gave me some time to process a lot of my thoughts and feelings regarding COVID-19 and how to lead my life going forward. I’m not going to go into the details here but what I will share with you is that COVID-19 has brought into sharp relief that our time on this planet is short and we could leave it at any moment. The last few months I’ve met many people who have I opened up and shared their deepest thoughts with me. And why not? Now’s the time to do it. And like a lot of people, I’ve been reevaluating my life and what I want to do with it during the time I have remaining. Despite the anxiety of COVID-19 I’m also excited about the possibilities that lie before all of us.

I began SOUNDWAVE to help cope with the stress of the pandemic but over the last half year my relationship to COVID-19 has changed dramatically. I hope it has for you as well. Carpe diem.

Let’s get to today’s show, shall we?

As I mentioned above, our guest deejay is Hannah Peel.

Until a few weeks ago I wasn’t familiar with Hannah and had only become acquainted with her when I asked SOUNDWAVE guest deejay, Charles Hazlewood, who he knew personally that might be interested in sharing a mix on the show. Charles put me in contact with Portishead’s Adrian Utley and Hannah Peel. Adrian’s mix was lovely and Hannah’s mix is no less so.

On today’s show Hannah will take you to some very surprising places and she begins her mix with a track from Joni Mitchel. So unexpected! You’re in her capable hands so enjoy the journey. I know you’re going to love today’s show.

As I said, I was unfamiliar with Hannah but I’ve been getting up to speed. And you should, too, because Hannah’s music is also unexpected. Her songs can be delicate and achingly familiar. She’’ll paint impressionistic music with swathes of sound but will also delight you with covers of pop songs from the ‘80s performed on music boxes. I catch myself singing Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love” constantly thanks to Hannah.

Join us again next week when our guest deejay will be Jonathan Ammons.

 

Hannah Peel
Hannah Peel

  1. Joni Mitchel “A Case of You”
  2. Darkstar “Blurred”
  3. Mort Garson “Music to Soothe the Savage Snakeplant”
  4. Nick Drake “River Man”
  5. Bobby Krlic “The House that Härga Built”
  6. Caroline Shaw “Plan & Elevation: IV. The Orangery”
  7. The Hermes Experiment “Uh Huh, Yeah”
  8. Julianna Barwick “Labyrinthine”

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SOUNDWAVE : 25 : ADRIAN UTLEY

SOUNDWAVE : 25

I’m very excited about today’s show because our guest deejay is Adrian Utley!

Most likely you know Adrian from Portishead, the band that put trip hop on the map late last century. Or you many know Adrian more recently for the work he did with Will Gregory for the soundtrack to the motion picture Arcadia, which I featured on the first episode of SOUNDWAVE. Adrian is a man who cares deeply about his craft and his love of sound and music is expressed in any project he is involved with.

I want to give special thanks to Charles Hazelwood for putting me in contact with Adrian. After Charles’s mix for SOUNDWAVE went live I asked him who he knew personally who might be interested in participating in the show and he suggested Adrian and Hannah Peel (who will be our guest deejay on next week’s show). It’s little things like that that make this show feel special and more intimate. At least to me, anyway.

Okay, time for me to wrap this up. My family and I are going to take a little but much needed vacation and get away from the wildfires and earthquakes that have wracked California.

I hope you are safe and well. See you next week.

 

Adrian Utley
Adrian Utley

  1. Pulled by Magnets “Nowhere Nothing”
  2. Philip Glass “Music in Similar Motion”
  3. Townes Van Zandt “Sky Blue”
  4. Asher Gamedze “Movement Three: Synthesis”
  5. Robert Fripp & Brian Eno “Evening Star”
  6. Sonic Youth “Dirty Boots”
  7. Lee Morgan “Search for a New Land”
  8. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds “Into My Arms”

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SOUNDWAVE : 16 : SHAD MARSH

SOUNDWAVE : 16

Our guest deejay on today’s SOUNDWAVE is Shad Marsh, who hosts 2000 Years on 103.3 AshevilleFM.

This is a rare instance where I don’t know out guest deejay at all. My good friend, Steven Howard, introduced us when I first launched SOUNDWAVE. Steven’s taste in music is impeccable and when he suggested Shad as a guest deejay I said yes without a moment’s hesitation. And I was right it trust Steven because Shad’s mix is singular. On his radio show Shad explores the genres of experimental, freeform, jazz and psychedelic music and while all of that informs today’s show the mix also like a foley’s wet dream. Shad’s mix feels extremely personal and takes you on an unexpected journey.

I’m going to wrap things up because I blew out my knee last week and as a result I’m way behind on chores. Enjoy Shad’s mix and he encourages you to experience it with headphones.

Join us next week when out guest deejay will be Charles Hazlewood.

Take care!

 

Shad Marsh
Shad Marsh

  1. Daniel Bachman “Car”
  2. Israel Martínez “Mi Vida”
  3. Issac Shankler “Future Feelings”
  4. Yarn/Wire “Quartz and Feldspar”
  5. Loren Connors & Suzanne Langille “I Wish I Didn’t Dream”
  6. Gamelan Son of Lion “Sleeping Braid”
  7. connect_icut “Longing Forest”

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SOUNDWAVE : 14 : GERT DE MEESTER

SOUNDWAVE : 14

Hello again. Welcome back to SOUNDWAVE!

I just got back from a 4th of July party with my wife’s unit so I’m going to keep this short and sweet.

If you’re new to the show, I launched SOUNDWAVE to help cope with the stress of the first month of the lockdown due to COVID-19. Ambient, classical, experimental and instrumental music was the only music I could listen at that time. If it was helping me, I imagined it would help others.

Today was the first time in over four months of the lockdown I’ve been around this many people at once. It was great! It felt completely normal. And it gave me a charge. But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I was a little uneasy. Four months will do that to you.

If you’re in the U.S., I hope you had a fine holiday. For everyone in the world, I hope you’re having a lovely weekend.

We just got home and we’re winding down and this is the perfect opportunity to jot down today’s show notes. Our guest for today’s show is Gert De Meester of Distant Fires Burning.

I met Gert when I reached out to David Newman, founder of Audiobulb Records to participate on the show with a mix. David took pass but suggested I contact Gert and Kirk Markarian. I owe David because Kirk’s mix was fantastic and I’ve been waiting impatiently to take Gert’s mix live. I know you’re going to love it!

Gert’s going to rap with you about his mix below. Before I go, please join us again next week when our guest deejay is Carmen Rizzo. You’re in for a treat.

See you then!

 

Gert De Meester
Gert De Meester

Our first track is Autistici’s “Wire Cage For Tiny Birds.” Something that allways has attracted me to Autistici’s music, is the sense for new sounds and intricate sounddesign. This has allways been reflected in my music. I am quite happy with the fact that David has released my last album on his Audiobulb label. It fits there perfectly.

“K & J” is the opener of my last album. You hear a Jazzbass processed through ableton and a stockload of effects, basically my livesetup. “K & J” are the two most important people in my life.

Our third track is Taylor Deupree’s “Northern”. Taylor has allways been of great influence on me, besides Tim Hecker and Biosphere. But in Taylor’s music, I really find beauty, reminiscence, maybe a bit of wanderlust. It’s that freedom that speaks to me, that encounter with the new, but allways the hint at nature and down to earth noises.

“Scrape To Touch” is by Neuro… No Neuro and is one of my best labelmates and I saw him grow immensely in music making. His music really cought me by surprise as I host a Spotify playlist and i listen to all Audiobulb albums to give them a fair chance of getting included (me and David get along quite well, musically). But Kirk’s music really caught me on a permanent level.

“Geomagnetic Disturbance” is one of the first tracks where the Jazzbass got incorporated in my music. It was an outtake of 2010’s album Build on Me on U-Cover CDR Limited, but it got picked up by these great people of Consouling Sounds for this compilation. Quite a lot Hecker inspired, but hey, everybody’s got to learn sometimes…

Our last track is Svær’s “Broken Waltz Of Fukushima”. (Such a great 2019 discovery. He played as support of Tim Hecker in Brussels in 2019. What a great show that was, connected with him on Facebook, discovered he was a fellow Belgian too. And all of a sudden I got a message he released his debut album, the rest is history…

Cheers, I hope you enjoy this mix.

  1. Autistici “Wire Cage For Tiny Birds”
  2. Distant Fires Burning “K & J”
  3. Taylor Deupree “Northern”
  4. Neuro… No Neuro “Scrape To Touch”
  5. Distant Fires Burning “Geomagnetic Disturbance”
  6. Svær “Broken Waltz Of Fukushima”

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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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Logo by Rik Oostenbroek

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SOUNDWAVE : 11 : DRONNY DARKO

SOUNDWAVE : 11

I’m writing this from a hotel room in Phoenix, Arizona. I’m wearing a N95 mask because we’re still in a pandemic, although Arizonans don’t seen to be taking it seriously because maybe 25% of the people I see are wearing masks and observing social distancing. That probably explains why Arizona is seeing a spike in infections. Anyway, I’m wearing a mask and it is clear that I should have brushed my teeth before sitting down to write today’s show notes because I’m basically inhaling the contents of my lungs. Gross.

Let me take care of that. Be right back.

So why am I in Arizona if it is a COVID-19 hotspot you might be asking yourself? I’m here to pick up my kid and his grandmother and bring them back with me to California.

The weekend before California shutdown my wife and I made the decision to take our kids to Arizona to be with their bio dad. They were going to spend spring break with him anyhow and it seemed prudent to leave them with him a few weeks early. I was going to be working from home and it was likely my wife was going to be relocated to help deal with COVID-19. But or boy is done with Arizona and wants to come home and his grandmother will be living with us.

It’s pretty much been me and my dog for the last three months and I’ve fallen into bachelor-like routines (staying up far too late, walking around all day in pajamas, eating breakfast for dinner, etc) so this will take a bit of readjustment for me. For all three of us, really.

So that’s why I’m in Arizona. And from what I’m seeing around here and from what I’ve been hearing from friends scattered about the U.S. it seems we’re going to be living with COVID-19 for quite a while. Which means SOUNDWAVE will continue indefinitely.

Today’s guest deejay is Dronny Darko and he’s got a mix of marvelous dark ambient music for us to enjoy.

When I launched SOUNDWAVE I reached out to friends and acquaintances to guest deejay on the show but I also reached out to folks whose music I’ve been enjoying for the last few years. There’s a net label out of Oregon called Cryo Chamber I discovered when I got back into role playing games. (RPGs) Seems music from Cryo Chamber is the default soundtrack for many horror RPGs. And for good reason, the music is atmospheric and often tinged with dread.

Most people unfamiliar with ambient music often mistake it for swaths of pretty sounds and while that’s true, it’s so much more than that. Ambient music has many moods and its the reason I was drawn to it when we were all under the stay-at-home self-quarantine. Pop music seemed inane and didn’t speak the truth of our new reality. But there are no lyrics in ambient music, just moods and sounds, and that I could listen to. Ambient, classical, experimental and instrumental music spoke to me in ways pop music could not. The dark ambient music from Cryo Chamber was the soundtrack to my existential dread, which helped my process everything I was experience in and come to some sort of terms with it.

One of the artists on Cryo Chamber that I particularly enjoy is Dronny Darko. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve listened to his album, Origin. He was the first artists from Cryo Chamber I reached out to when I began SOUNDWAVE because his music had the most impact on me. It’s darkly lush, quietly epic, and strangely beautiful. If you enjoy Dronny’s mix, and I know you will, I highly encourage you to purchase his album.

Speaking of purchasing music, if you dig any of the songs on today’s show, purchase them, too, if you have the means. As we’re all learning, we need art to help get us through the most trying of times. Musicians pour their heart and soul into their music, spending hours, days, weeks and months for something we listen to in minutes. And for most musicians are already working full time job on top of perfecting their craft. And as writer Bruce Sterling often says, “whatever happens to musicians will happen to all of us.” So out of solidarity, spend some cash on their music. They deserve it and need it.

Join us again next week when our guest deejay will be Jaime Irles. See you then!

Dronny Darko
Dronny Darko

  1. Red Fog “Arboria Institute”
  2. Dronny Darko “Noumenon”
  3. Line Spectrum “Unreleased”
  4. Richard Chartier “Sketch For Winter”
  5. protoU “Transparent Clusters”
  6. Cryogenic Weekend “Unreleased”
  7. Red Fog & Dronny Darko “Unreleased”
  8. Sleeping On Lotus Ashes “Failure of the Material”
  9. Ajna & Dronny Darko “Mutated DNA”

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Logo by Rik Oostenbroek