Protests blazed across the US, sparked by the killing of George Floyd, from the kindling of over 150 years of police brutality, systemic racism and hundreds of years of slavery. I watched police cars run into protesters. I watched police officers beat and shoot peaceful protesters. I watched protesters raze property, sometimes from their own communities. I’ve even watched a man armed with a bow with an arrow notched aiming it at protesters who quickly took him down.
It is nauseating.
It makes me ill that it’s come to this. I want to hope that out of all this anger, suffering and pain that some good will come of it. But I don’t think my country is ready to have an honest conversation about race that might lead to the healing that this nation so desperately needs.
I’m fried. Once again this show is a balm and a welcome distraction, brief as it is.
Our guest deejay on today’s SOUNDWAVE is Planet Boelex.
I met Planet Boelex through Travis Nobles of hiddenplace music. He suggested that I feature one of Planet Boelex’s live sets on solipsistic NATION, the electronic music show I produced. Planet Boelex’s sound music is impressive because aside from being beautiful it was also distinct. His personality is imprinted onto his music. Electronic music often sound anonymous because some musicians use stock sounds and loops. When you hear a song by Planet Boelex you know it.
I hope today’s show gives you some respite.
Next week’s guest deejay is Dronny Darko. I hope were all in a better place by then.
I’ll leave you with two quotes.
“I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.”
— James Baldwin
“One is responsible to life. It is the small beacon in that terrifying darkness from which we come and to which we return. One must negotiate this passage as nobly as possible, for the sake of those who are coming after us.”
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
Today’s a special show because this will be The Weekly Mix’s first broadcast on Bondfire Radio!
Bondfire Radio is an internet radio station our of Brooklyn. I first heard about the station when Macedonia from the Both Sides of the Surface podcast started spinning there a year or so ago. Macedonia has exquisite taste in music so I figured anything he was involved in and was passionate about was worth listening to, so I tuned in. And loved what I heard. So much so that when I launched The Weekly Mix I approached Keisha and asked if she’d be interested in carrying my show. I’m thrilled that I’ve been invited to be part of their family and rather than try and tell you what Bondfire Radio is all about I thought it would be easier, and more fun, to have Keisha talk about the station.
You can tune into my show on Bondfire Radio every Friday at 11:30 AM, Eastern Standard Time.
Every day I post a song to Twitter and Facebook (#songoftheday) that I think is so amazing and so great that I am compelled to share them with you. Some of the songs are new, some of the songs are old, but you really, really need to hear them.
At the end of the week I gather those songs into The Weekly Mix. When possible, I accompany each song with a brief introduction by the featured band or musician. Previous shows have included introductions from hip hop recording artist Tall Can, UK country singer Yola Carter, gospel singer Phyliss McKoy Joubert and Dick Valentine from Electric Six.
This week, I’m sad to say, will feature no introductions. I’m not suprised. This is only the fourth episode of The Weekly Mix and I’m still growing my audience and the show’s reputation. Frankly, I’m surprised I got as many people to participate in the show as I have and I’m thankful for their generosity.
If you enjoy the show and you would like to have more bands and musicians joins us each week on The Weekly Mix, you can help. And it’s the easiest thing in the world to do. Just tell a friend or co-worker, or anyone, really, to give The Weekly Mix a listen. The more people who listen to the show the more clout The Weekly Mix will have, which will attract more musical guests.
I’ve done it before. When I was producing my small WORKD talk show I was getting something like 40,000 listeners a month, and when I was producing solipsistic NATION, my electronic music show, I was getting 14 million listeners a month. All I need is your help. So please tell anyone you know who loves music about The Weekly Mix.
I’m keeping today’s show mellow. I’ve got a cold and I wanted to convey to you sonically what I’m feeling. I’m also not going to talk too much on today’s show because my throat is still alittle sore and I never know when I might cough and you don’t want to hear that.
Hello to all of you in Berlin who tuned in for today’s show.
In the early eighties there was a punk band called MDC and they frequently changed their name to a different acronym with every new record released. Some of the names included Millions of Dead Cops, More Dead Cops, Millions of Dead Children, Multi Death Corporations, Millions of Damn Christians and Missile Destroyed Civilization. The woman I was dating at the time and her friend would come up with their own acronyms for MDC and one them that struck me was Master of Dead Contortions. If there was ever a more appropriate name for today’s mix then Master of Dead Contortions is it.
I’ve noticed that a lot of electronic music podcasts are usually 30 minutes in length while my shows usually clock in an hour. Even without the interviews that sometimes occur on Solipsistic Nation I feel that I need an hour to really take you on a journey.
So here’s the question: would you prefer 30 minute installments of solipsistic NATION or do you think the show should continue to run for an hour? You can post your answer at solipsisticnation.com or email me at solipsisticnation@gmail.com.
The Saturnalia was a large and important public festival in Rome. It involved the conventional sacrifices, a couch (lectisternium) set out in front of the temple of Saturn and the untying of the ropes that bound the statue of Saturn during the rest of the year. Besides the public rites there were a series of holidays and customs celebrated privately. The celebrations included a school holiday, the making and giving of small presents (saturnalia et sigillaricia) and a special market (sigillaria). Gambling was allowed for all, even slaves; however, although it was officially condoned only during this period, one should not assume that it was rare or much remarked upon during the rest of the year. It was a time to eat, drink, and be merry. The toga was not worn, but rather the synthesis, i.e. colorful, informal “dinner clothes”; and the pileus (freedman’s hat) was worn by everyone. Slaves were exempt from punishment, and treated their masters with disrespect. The slaves celebrated a banquet: before, with, or served by the masters. A Saturnalicius princeps was elected master of ceremonies for the proceedings. Saturnalia became one of the most popular Roman festivals which led to more tomfoolery, marked chiefly by having masters and slaves ostensibly switch places. The banquet, for example, would often be prepared by the slaves, and they would prepare their masters’ dinner as well. It was license within careful boundaries; it reversed the social order without subverting it.
Photo Credit: Ray-of-Sun
Dean Martin “Jingle Bells (Dan The Automator Remix)”
Today’s show focuses on acid jazz and nu-jazz. Acid jazz combines elements of soul music, funk, disco and modal harmonies while nu-jazz lend jazz textures and sometimes jazz instrumentation, funk, electronic dance music, and free improvisation.
As a former punk I originally hated electronic music like acid jazz. I was into hardcore and the only music that mattered to me was the kind that was raw, abrassive and in your face. If it wan’t punk, hip hop or indutrial I couldn’t be bothered with it. Acid jazz was just to dainty of a thing for me to care about.
But that was soon to change.
At the time I was a DJ at WMFO and each weekend I would have live bands perform on my show. As you might imagine, they were all punk, industrial or hip hop acts. My engineer was a guy named Harry and prior and after a band’s set he would blast the speakers of his studio with all sorts electronic music I had never heard before. And it grooved!
I think the big turning point for me was one night after my radio show I headed over to a nightclub I worked at. The DJ was spinning acid jazz and house. It was very sexy watching people dance to the music, always slighty off beat but always riding the rhythm. Kind of like a jazz solo. For the first time I really started digging the music. The tab of acid I had just taken might have helped.
