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 : 8 : ROBERT RICH

SOUNDWAVE : 8

Here we are in week whatever of the safe at home lockdown in California. I’m in really good spirits because I got to see my wifee for the first time in over two months. She’s in the military and her unit has been tasked to pack boxes for food banks. Being apart from her for so long was taking a toll and seeing her, if only for week, did me a world of good.

She was on bereavement leave for her grandmother’s funeral. It was a sad day but due to the Corona Virus I think everyone took extra solace being with family members. It was a little surreal seeing everyone wearing masks at the ceremony.

I’ve continued to find comfort and enjoyment in the mixes guest deejays have shared on SOUNDWAVE. Today’s show is significant to me because our guest deejay is musician and producer, Robert Rich. I’ve been a fan of Robert since first hearing his music on the From Here To Tranquility Volume 2 compilation album way back in 1993. I was excited to interview him for solipsistic NATION and share his performance at Fort Mason and the Morrison Planetarium and I’m equally excited to share Robert’s mix with you today! You can read Robert’s show notes below.

Join us again next week when our guest deejay will be Kirk Markarian, who composes music for video games, film, animation, stock music, and other projects.

See you then!

 

Robert Rich
Robert Rich

One thing that ties all of these together, is that I was involved in each of them. All but the first two are also unavailable to the public. I mixed and mastered Forrest’s Folklore album, and played a bit on it. I have also mastered almost all of his other albums, and I appear on his next one which I will also master soon.

Amoeba is a group I was in you that might know, then there’s the debut of my next album, and a live recordingof a Lou Harrison concert that I made in the dome of the observatory on top of Mt. Hamilton, as a favor to the gamelan group and to Lou. They debuted this composition at the concert, and it was the only time that piece was ever performed. This recording is the only one made. After Lou died I sent a spare copy to his archives in Joshua tree.

The last piece is one that I edited along with six others for the Mexican composer Arturo Salinas. I spent several weeks working with him in 1998, down in Tepoztlan, Mexico.He had a grant to complete the album, but then couldn’t find alabel to release it. It remains unreleased.

  1. Forrest Fang “The Bridge of Chan​-​Chou III. Falling Stones (Kuan Yin)”
  2. Amoeba “Origami”
  3. Robert Rich “Cantus For Hospitality”
  4. Lou Harrison with Gamelan Si Betty “Gending Max Beckman (Unreleased recording from Lick Observatory concert 17 July 1992)”
  5. Arturo Salinas “Munamukami”

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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 : 6 : JAMES CURCIO

SOUNDWAVE : 6

Today’s guest deejay is James Curcio.

I met James years ago back when I was hosting the small WORLD podcast. I was part of the second wave of podcasting and I was small WORLD as the punk rock Fresh Air. If by punk rock, you mean badly played music on out of tune instruments. Anyway, James Curcio was one of my guests and I believe we we talked about his book, Join My Cult!

During the course of producing small WORLD I noticed that James would pop up again again in various circles. Into culture jamming? James was there. Interested in philosophy. James is your man. Writing? James. Music? James again. Magick? Also James.

When I was putting together a list of guest deejays for SOUNDWAVE I included James because I was curious what kind of mix he’d put together. I suspected it would be a playlist that included Coil, Current 93 and Dead Moon. You know, some sort of musical art project attempting to turn lead into gold. Instead, I got a mix of David Bowie interspersed with industrial and Nordic folk music. Did not see that coming.

Before I let James introduced this week’s show, I want to thank everyone who is listening to the show and the kind words they’ve shared. I just ask that you do it in on iTunes. Leave SOUNDWAVE a quick review and whatever algorithm Apple uses pushes the show up their podcast charts. SOUNDWAVE is a super niche show so I don’t expect that it’d take much.

Come back next week. Out guest deejay will be electronic musician Frank Riggio.

 

James Curcio
James Curcio

This mix was probably inspired by spending 3 years writing and researching MASKS: Bowie & Artists of Artifice (especially the themes that come up in this long-form blog post, Masks All The Way Down). But it’s not a “Bowie mix” as such: mortality, futility, transience, being lost in the simulacra, isolation during coronavirus… and some great beats. Everything in our lives feel so fragile now, but of course the truth is it always was. The outro track is an original remix of Nine Inch Nail’s “Me I’m Not” that I did like 10 years back, and some live studio outtakes from a mushroom party.

  1. IAMX “Stardust (Video Mix)”
  2. David Bowie “No Plan”
  3. Forest Swords “Panic”
  4. David Bowie “Love is Lost (Hello Steve Reich Mix)”
  5. Eivør “Í tokuni” (lyrics translation)
  6. David Bowie “The Motel/Sunday
  7. Onuka “Zenit (intercut with sections of Davi Bowie’s ‘Sunday’)” (lyrics translation)
  8. Perturbator “Tactical Precision Disarray”
  9. Igorrr “Downgrade Desert”
  10. SKYND “Tyler Hadley”
  11. David Bowie “Killing A Little Time”
  12. Nine Inch Nails “Me I’m Not (James Curcio Original Remix)”
  13. James Curcio “Mother Hive Brain (Recorded at OrangeFace)”

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SOUNDWAVE : 4 : STEVEN HOWARD

SOUNDWAVE : 4

I’ve expanded the scope of SOUNDWAVE by inviting musicians, deejays, podcasters, etc to contribute mixes to the show. I’ve been overwhelmed with their generosity and support.

Last Sunday’s show featured our first guest deejay, Sean Horton, who provided a gorgeous mix of music. All week long people have shared with me how much it meant to them. On today’s show we’ll hear another mix of music no less beautiful than Sean’s, this time from my old and dear friend, Steven Howard.

I met Steven last century one day while I was wrapping up my show at WMFO. He was their be trained by one of our staff but for whatever reasons that deejay failed to show up. I gave Steven a 15 minute crash course on how to operate our board, wished him well, and ran off to work.

Steven and I became fast friends and he introduced me to so much music. Over the decades I’ve watched Steven meet the girlfriend he would later marry, become a proud father of two boys, move from Boston to Asheville and help launch two radio stations. You can catch his show, Mental Notes, on AshevilleFM.

Steven was one of the first people I asked to participate in SOUNDWAVE. You will, of course, love his mix but what I think you will really enjoy is the field recordings he weaved into the music. It’s a reminder of the world that’s out there waiting for us when it’s safer to leave our homes.

Before I let Steven talk about today’s show I implore you to purchase any of the songs you hear on today’s mix or any mix you hear on SOUNDWAVE. The artists are pouring their hearts into each track. Your purchases of songs or albums not only helps them continue working on their craft but also puts food on their tables or pays for the roof over their heads.

See you next Sunday when our guest deejay is Vince Millett, the founder of Broken Drum Records and the host of the Secret Archives of the Vatican podcast.

 

Steven Howard
Steven Howard

It’s kind of silly to say this here:

I knew I had some field recordings on my phone. My intention was always to use them somehow. As I started going through files of artists in my digital library, I dropped tracks into a folder for your project. It was easy to pick the tracks I wanted. I only picked 9 between A-O in my experimental section of my digital library. I then sequenced those into an order roughly resembling a fantasy walk in nature.

Often when I would drive to work in South Boston at 4 am, I’d listen to ambient music like Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works Vol II. I always loved how the city looked with the backdrop of dark ambient playing. When I moved to Western North Carolina I would take drives into the mountains or onto the parkway sometimes alone. Ambient worked well there, too.

Being in many different time slots on the radio has moved me further away from experimental sounds over the past handful of years. I have always felt that way about experimental radio. Sometimes I’ve felt like I’ve made all the segues I needed to make. Then you come along and ask me to do a short 30 minute project. I realize if I’m to make a piece, it has to include some original work.

In the layering of these pieces as I sequenced them, I imagined walking in some unknown place, as if superimposed on a green screen and looking down a crater at pulsing orb embedded in a forest. While it looked ominous there was no danger. I passed along wind whipped water of a mountain lake and looked up and saw the late morning sky and heard a plane’s echo of the mountainside. Behind some five miles back, that orb has flown off. I hear it and look.

My heart is exhilarated. I feel good. I’m nearer my goal with the others at camp. The stars are coming up and it’s been a long day. It’s time to feed.

  1. Steven Howard “Field Recording: crows in trees before sunrise (Three Lakes, Wisconsin – July 7, 2019)”
  2. Oren Ambarchi “This Evening So Soon”
  3. Biosphere “Antennaria”
  4. Annea Lockwood “floating world: Part 1”
  5. BJ Nilsen “Black Light”
  6. Sylvain Chauveau “A
  7. Colleen “Your Heart Is So Loud”
  8. Pauline Oliveros & Miya Masaoka “Twilight – Bashou (Tolling Of A Bell)”
  9. Geir Jenssen “Cho Oyu Basecamp – Morning”
  10. Steven Howard “Field Recording: katydids from our backyard (Asheville, North Carolina – July 19, 2019)”

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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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SOUNDWAVE : 2 : JOSEPH ALEO

SOUNDWAVE : 2

Last week I said that SOUNDWAVE would be a monthly show. I’ve changed my mind and decided to release the show on a weekly basis for as long as we are told to stay at home to flatten COVID-19’s curve. I’ve also invited friends, podcasters, musicians, deejays and record label owners to contribute mixes to SOUNDWAVE so expect to hear from them shortly.

Okay, today’s show…

We open with a track from Richard Moult’s Celestial King for a Year album. I came across Moult while listening to writer Warren Ellis’s excellent SPEKTRMODULE podcast. A casual Google search didn’t turn up much information but I did learn that Moult warrants an unofficial fan page on Facebook.

From there we segue into “Regnantem sempiterna” by Jan Garbarek and The Hilliard Ensemble. If you’ve been watching Alex Garland’s Devs you’ll recognize it immediately. I’ve been following Garland’s career since he wrote the screenplay for 28 Days Later but Devs is quite possibly the best thing he’s ever done, and he’s accomplished a lot, but he really gets to shine in a long-form tv series. The writing is great, the acting is great, the cinematography is great, etc. and the music department have been selecting absolute gems and “Regnantem sempiterna” gave me the chills and is the emotional cornerstone for this week’s show.

The next track is from the soundtrack from the horror film Hagazussa by MMMD. I’m not going to spoil the movie but I will say this, if you’re listening to “Hagazussa” over your speakers, and you really should to experience it fully, prepare for your windows to rattle and for plates and glasses to vibrate off your kitchen table.

Our penultimate track is Colin Stetson’s “Sorrow: II – Lento Largo—Tranquillissimo” from his SORROW – a reimagining of Górecki’s 3rd Symphony album. I’ve been listening to Henryk Górecki’s Symphony No. 3 for a couple decades now and it never fails to rend my heart. I’ve also been a fan of Colin Stetson for quite a few years. He’s played with everyone from Godspeed You! Black Emperor to Tom Waits to Bill Laswell and a gaggle of other stellar artists. When I learned he had released an album of his interpretation of Górecki’s Symphony No. 3 I purchased it without question and Stetson did not fail to deliver. It’s actually quite faithful to the original, but with Stetson’s own unique take, of course.

We close today’s show with Kazuya Nagaya’s “Thanatos” from his Dream Interpretation album. I discovered Nagaya on the Bandcamp Daily blog and fell in love with his music and this track in particular. When I released last week’s show I sent the episode to my mom knowing that she’d enjoy it. She did, mostly. She found the mix beautiful but Nine Inch Nails “The Cursed Clock” was a bit too solemn for her. I get it, especially during these days of COVID-19. I don’t think today’s show will agree with her but if you are listening, mom, I think you will find solace in Nagaya’s “Thanatos.”

If you enjoy SOUNDWAVE, please share it with someone you think will also appreciate it.

See you next week for more lustrous music.

  1. Richard Moult “Celestial King for a Year (Pt. 2)”
  2. Jan Garbarek, The Hilliard Ensemble “Regnantem sempiterna”
  3. MMMD “Hagazussa”
  4. Colin Stetson “Sorrow: II – Lento Largo—Tranquillissimo”
  5. Kazuya Nagaya “Thanatos”

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SOUNDWAVE : 1 : JOSEPH ALEO

SOUNDWAVE : 1

Today’s first edition of SOUNDWAVE comes courtesy of COVID-19.

Like most people, I’m staying at home and social distancing. I’m fortunate enough to work from home but left to my own devices in the evenings. Television fails to capture my interest, so I’m unable to Netflix and chill. I’ve only just found myself able to enjoy books again. Barely. But I have had the itch to deejay, hence today’s show.

So let me tell you what you can expect to hear on this mix.

We begin with “I” from Rocks & Waves Song Circle, which I discovered on one of the many music blogs I follow. It’s a blend of languid surf guitar accompanied by a Mexican choir and a Haitian solist. It’s precisely the kind of music to find solace.

“Bonny Boy” comes from the Arcadia soundtrack from Adrian Utley and Will Gregory. Adrian is a member of Portishead, and Willis a member of Goldfrapp. While that’s reason enough to listen to Arcadia, the real reason I got excited about this soundtrack was the stunning vocals of Anne Briggs. Who was this young, upcoming talent I had never heard of? A quick search on Wikipedia revealed the Anne is an English singer from the 1960s. How have I not known about her?

Writer Warren Ellis turned me on to to Mending, which is a project from Kate Adams and Joshua Dumas called We Gathered at Wakerobin Hollow, a four hour, forty song cycle, released in nine Chapters every two months from 2018-2019. That’s a lot of music, and “Julia Writes to Marsha” is my favorite track from that work.

“It’s a Rainy Day On The Cosmic Shore” is by ana Roxanne and I found her through a review of her on Bandcamp. This track comes from her album, ~~~. I don’t know how you would pronounce that. Tilda, Tilda, Tilda, maybe? No matter, I love this song and the feelings it evokes.

We wrap up today’s show with “The Cursed Clock,” which comes from Nine Inch Nails latest album, Ghosts VI: Locusts, and the cursed clock is how I feel about my COVID-19 days. Kind of a bummer way to end this, I know.

I hope today’s show provided you with some beauty and a welcome distraction. See you next month.

  1. Rocks & Waves Song Circle “I”
  2. Adrian Utley & Will Gregory “Bonny Boy (Anne Briggs)”
  3. Mending “Julia Writes to Marsha”
  4. ana roxanne “It’s a Rainy Day On The Cosmic Shore”
  5. Nine Inch Nails “The Cursed Clock”

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Weekly Mix 28: July 16, 2017

A lot of new listeners tuned in to last week’s show and one of them was Jon Fine, who played with David Grubbs in the band Bitch Magnet. Jon was really excited to hear Loving Six on last week’s mix. He had heard about Loving Six and had been waiting to hear their music for almost 30 years. We got to talking and it turns out that Jon has also written a book called Your Band Sucks: What I Saw at Indie Rock’s Failed Revolution (But Can No Longer Hear), which has been described as a cult favorite musician’s memoir. Jon said his book touches on some of the things Chip and I talked about on last weeks show. You should go buy it because I’m going to read the Your Band Sucksand have Jon on the show in a couple of weeks to talk about his book.

On last week’s show I also played a song that was a collaboration between The Bug and Earth. I’ve known about Earth for at least 20 years but had never listened to their music before. I went on Twitter and asked what songs or albums I should listen to and I got a lot of excellent suggestions. Ben Burnham said I should start off with Earth’s album, Hex: Or Printing in the Infernal Method.Corey Brewer suggested I listen to their songs ”Ouroboros is Broken” or “Old Black” and Holly Carson said I should listen to their Pentastar: In the Style of Demons album. Thanks for the suggestions! I’ll be listening to Earth for the next few weeks and will play them on a future Weekly Mix.

Okay, let’s get to today’s show. See you next week!

  1. Dawg Yawp “I’ll Quit Tomorrow”
  2. Reddish Blu “When I Get Too Sad”
  3. L8LOOMER “Right Side (feat. Doja Cat)”
  4. Kevin Abstract “American Boyfriend”
  5. Devoted To God “Hidden Track”
  6. Kamasi Washington “Truth”
  7. Robert Turman “Veiling Reflections – excerpt”

Illustration: GDBee ©2017

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