Last May, I discovered Iu on Bandcamp’s The Best Ambient Music blog post and instantly became a fan. Iu’s songs delicately unfold as you listen to them. It feels that her music might immediately unravel with any sudden movement. Calmness and patience are required, which reinforces the experience of Iu’s gentle songs.
Iu Takahashi
Iu herself does not appear in her mix, but I encourage you to listen to her new releases, both of which were released in December.
One release is her “Stay” EP from A RED THREAD. Iu made this work thinking about her grandparents, who have dementia. Both of them are now living in a facility. She stayed for a few days at their house, where no one lived, and was inspired by the clothing, dishes, and plants left there. For the sound source, she used environmental sounds coming from the house’s windows and an old electronic organ that she used to play when she was a kid. In the midst of realizing the changes in her daily life, the sounds of construction, cars, and crows cawing that may otherwise sound like noise make it feel as if time has stopped only in this house.
Iu’s second release is her “Interspace” EP from The Slow Music Movement. In these three tracks, she intentionally created gaps by reducing the number of notes, and she wanted to enjoy the coincidence and awareness with the outside sounds.
I can’t think of a better way to be in the New Year than listening to Iu’s music. And today’s mix, of course.
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 is Brian Jackson, an American keyboardist, flautist, singer, composer, and producer. Brian has recorded and performed with everyone from Gil Scott-Heron to Stevie Wonder, and recently released an album with Jazz Is Dead’s Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad.
You can listen to our first episode on your favorite podcast app or listen here.
Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Christoph Berg.
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.
Gert De Meester
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.
Corey was on Soundwave last summer, and his mix was unique because it was an extension of his show on AshevilleFM, where he played instrumental soundtracks. Sadly, Corey no longer produces that show. Fortunately for us, Corey kept to that format for today’s mix.
When I invite guest deejays on Soundwave, I’ll ask them to write up a description of their mix: the reason they chose songs, if there was a theme or story they wanted to convert through their mix, etc. The mixes speak for themselves, but I think it adds another level of appreciation for understanding their intentions.
If they don’t send me a description, I’ll usually write my impressions of their mix. But for today’s show, I decided to call Corey and hear in his own words the motivations behind his mix.
Corey Parlamento
Corey’s mix is built around the kernel of Black to Comm’s “Stolen Androgens.” Corey said he listened to this track repeatedly long before he assembled today’s show. The song begins so abruptly and then loops itself around some fascinating accompaniment. He liked how voice is used in this track.
Corey has had Yasuaki Shimizu’s Music for Commercials album for quite some time and incorporated it into his radio show for segues. The faint sound of water drops is what attracted him to Shimizu’s “Seiko 2.”
Fatima Al Qadiri’s “Souleiman’s Theme” is taken from the Atlantic film score, Corey’s current favorite soundtracks of the last couple of years, and transitions nicely into Kali Malone’s “Hagakyrka Bells,” from her album, The Sacrificial Code.
Corey also selected a track from the remastered soundtrack for Lady Macbeth by Third Ear Band, followed by Mary Steele’s “Al Rosana (My Rose),” which is available through Canary Records. This label specializes in archival music. “Al Rosana (My Rose)” is recorded from the 1920s in New York City and features a sonic blend of many cultures. Corey told me this piece is eery and conveyed a sense of decaying time.
Loren Connors takes it down a notch after Gordon, who is one of Corey’s favorite guitarists.
Corey wanted to follow Connors with a longer track from Sean McCann’s “Puck” but settled on “Nightfall.” Corey describes the album that track was taken from as having a lot of space, weird vocalizations, subtle noises, drones, and crashing sounds.
Corey closes his mix with a track of his own which he recorded under the name Livingdog. The track is taken from his album, The Four Times, released by Cold Moon Records out of New York City. This is the one-year anniversary of The Four Times, and Corey says the album was inspired by Le Quattro Volte. The movie has no soundtrack, but Corey’s imagination was capture by the meditations on a goat farmer who is reincarnated into a goat, then reincarnated into a tree which then turns into smoke.
And there you have it, Corey’s mix.
Oh, and Corey wanted me to tell you that he’s got a new album coming out on July 23 called Many Aways. I will, of course, remind you when the album is released
Jon Hassell
Before I leave you to Corey’s wonderful and mysterious mix, I have some sad news. When I launched Soundwave, I didn’t anticipate having to say farewell to so many talented and wonderful musicians in one short year. Today it saddens me to tell you that Jon Hassell, a trumpet player pioneering electronic musician, left planet earth last week. Jon played with everyone, from Brian Eno to Peter Gabriel to Techno Animal. I first became aware of Jon on his appearance on the Myths 3 : La nouvelle sérénité compilation album, and he’s been part of the soundtrack to my life ever since. You owe it to yourself to make Jon part of the soundtrack to your own life. I encourage you to purchase his music or stream him on your favorite streaming service.
Join us next week when our guest deejay will be felt body.
Fitz Gitler introduced me to Nate after I asked him who would be interested in doing a mix for Soundwave (listen to Fitz’s mix here). If Fitz recommends anything then I’m going to listen because that guy has excellent taste in music, so invited Nate to guest deejay on Soundwave without hesitation.
Nate did not disappoint. I’ve listened to his mix many times, usually with a cup of coffee while I’m starting my workday. Despite each listen, Nate’s mix sounds fresh even as it’s burnished with another lacquer of familiarity.
Nature said that today’s mix inspired him to dust off his Ableton and begin composing again. I look forward to whatever he decides to share.
Nate is a medical geographer who uses maps to support health programs around the world. When I asked him if there was anything I should mention on today’s show notes, he said he wanted to promote efforts such as 80,000 Hours (a London-based organization that conducts research on which careers have the most significant positive social impact and provides career advice based on that research), GiveWell (an American non-profit charity assessment and effective altruism-focused organization, focusing primarily on the cost-effectiveness of the organizations that it evaluates, rather than traditional metrics such as the percentage of the organization’s budget that is spent on overhead), and Animal Charity Evaluators (a US-based non-profit charity evaluator and effective altruism-focused organization that finds and promotes the most effective ways to help animals).
Nate was some words about his mix below.
As of Monday, I am fully vaccinated. Outwardly, you’d never know that being vaccinated has changed my life. I still wear my mask when I go out into the world. I still keep my distance from people. I don’t want to pass on the virus even though I may be immune to it, and I certainly don’t want to risk catching one of the variants. Inwardly, I feel like a weight has been lifted. I feel a little bit invincible.
Before the pandemic, I purchased tickets to see Swans perform in Los Angeles. The concert was rescheduled, rescheduled again, and finally canceled. I’m hoping that once enough people have been vaccinated that I’ll finally get to see them.
This week I’ve been putting my CDs in storage. While packing, I came across fantastic music by C – Schulz, Coil, Zoviet France, Techno Animal, Z’EV , and others that I plan to share on a future mix.
Okay, that’s it for me.
Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Jon Solo, AKA Naneum.
See you then!
Nate Heard Photo Credit: Miles Heard
Like many mixes that appear on Soundwave, this one captures a specific moment, even though these selections come together from a span of about 50 years. I received Joseph’s kind invitation to be a guest deejay the day after seditious white supremacists stormed the Capitol building. I was a mess. I happen to live in Washington, D.C., and have spent some time in those office buildings. Terre Thaemlitz’s “D.C. D.O.A.” (1997) came to mind and ended up anchoring this mix.
“I got a phone call. He wants us to join him.”
“In Washington.”
“Some kind of big demonstration.”
“They think they’ve finally got a shot.”
“I can’t go to Washington. I can’t even get out of bed!”
Julianna Barwick goes straight for catharsis with “Inspirit” (2020). It’s a purification. Listening to it feels like participating in a rite. Like “Inspirit,” Haruomi Hosono and Bill Laswell’s “Unfinished Screams” (1996) washes over you, but in alternating waves of drum & bass and ambient synth & insect passages. The outro forms a bridge to the musique concrète and collage pieces that compose the mix’s core.
The one electronic music class I’ve taken focused primarily on tape processing and the studio techniques Delia Derbyshire used, such as cutting and splicing magnetic tape with a razor. This excerpt of “Circle of Light” (1969) is a nod to Derbyshire’s brilliance with this medium and, like other excerpts in the mix, encourages seeking out the complete pieces.
“Espace/Escape” (1989) is one of the most tonally rich pieces of musique concrète I know and endlessly rewarding on repeated listening. Holger Czukay’s “Träum Mal Wieder” (1984), roughly “dream again,” is also built from ethereal, dreamlike sources but is held together by driving percussion and has much more structure than its name suggests.
The album “Pan De Sonic – Iso,” which includes the track “Evening Night fall – Fire, cricket, wine glass etc” (2021), will be available by the time this mix appears on Soundwave. Ai Yamamoto composed it entirely of “domestic field recordings” from the artist’s COVID lockdown in Melbourne. It promises to be an extraordinary release.
Chris Burke’s “Everything I Need” (1995) is at once jagged and tender, much like Joe Cocker’s source vocals. To my ear, Burke captures the essence of Cocker’s song with only variations on a four-second sample.
“Avril 14th” (Aphex Twin) is recognizable from the opening bar of loscil’s remix of Wagner and Murcof’s cover (2017). But unlike the original or the cover, the melody doesn’t hit until 2:03, which for me, was one of the biggest payoffs in music I’d heard in a long time. It’s patient and brilliantly arranged.
The opening track on Pauline Oliveros, Stuart Dempster & Panaiotis‘s “Deep Listening” is “Lear” (1993) which, the more I thought about it, evoked the 45th president. The greed. The king’s solicitation of flattery. King Lear does not want the responsibility of power. Only the benefits. Shakespeare’s tragedies typically end with a restoration of order after chaos. Maybe less so with Lear.
I’d wanted to end this mix on an up note but settled for something absurd. Negativland’s “Time Zones” fit the moment and make for a clear bookend to Thaemlitz. The madness of Lear and the brain worms of conservative political talk radio. Some kind of big demonstration? “It’s not even funny.” Eleven tracks. “It’s ridiculous.”
I ask each guest to deejay who they know who would be interested in participating in the show with a mix. Harrold Roeland, who was a guest deejay on Soundwave back in December, suggested Peter. I’ve known about Ambientblog for years and have listened to many of Peter’s mixes on Mixcloud. I’m thankful that Harrold made the introduction because Peter’s mix is exceptional.
Peter’s Soundwave mix.
Mix is not the word for what Peter does on today’s show.
It’s more accurate to say that Peter composed a concept album masterfully weaved from a multitude of sampled material. Take a look at the “playlist” below to get an idea of the scope of today’s show. It’s a work of art you get to immerse yourself in for the next hour.
Peter’s mix, like all of his Ambientblog shows, is an experience. Follow Ambientblog on Mixcloud to hear more of his work.
I’ve included an excerpt about today’s show from Peter’s website below.
Today’s show is special because it’s also Soundwave’s one-year anniversary.
I launched Soundwave to help me cope with the stress and isolation of COVID-19.
This close to what we all hope is the finish line of the pandemic its easy to forget that we were all white-knuckling it for the first couple of months. Every day was filled with existential dread. Would this trip to the grocery store kill me or someone I love? It’s exhausting to live that way.
During that time, I could not watch tv or movies or listen to music because they were not speaking to the truth of our new reality. I’d watch a tv show and fret how there was no social distancing and why the cast wasn’t wearing masks. Pop music was particularly difficult to listen to because it was so painfully vapid. How am I supposed to enjoy a love song when I might be a patient or a vector in this pandemic?
The only music that I could tolerate and gave me solace was ambient, classical, experimental, and instrumental music. It was the soundtrack for my stay-at-home lockdown. And if I found some relief with this music, why not share it with others? Any why not ask people I respect to share their mixes?
I’m humbled by everyone’s gift of generosity of time and effort. We’re all going through this together, each in our way. I’m grateful that during this pandemic that each guest deejay lovingly crafted mixes to share with us.
My first vaccination shot.
Today’s show is also special because today, I also got my first shot for the COVID-19 vaccination.
I was shopping for groceries when the Mercy Plaza Pharmacy called me and told me they had extra doses. Could I stop by for a vaccination? Most definitely.
My cilantro stymied the woman who was ringing up my items at the grocery store: were they regular cilantro or organic? She was about to do a price check when I explained that I needed to get the hell out of there to be vaccinated. I didn’t care about the cilantro’s cost; ring me up so I can leave! She understood.
The folks at Mercy Plaza Pharmacy couldn’t be nicer. They’re a family-owned business, and the owner checked up on me after my shot to see how I was feeling. We talked about San Diego, Sacramento, and our kids. This is going to sound weird, but I had such a great time that I can’t wait to go back.
So here we are a year later. We’re almost at the finish line. Hopefully, next year, this will be behind us, and we can all enjoy each other’s company. I’m looking forward to meeting some of you in person. Maybe I’ll even get to meet Peter.
Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Michał Milczarek.
See you then!
Ambientblog album art.
It’s my honour to open the second year of this series with my contribution. Of course, we can only hope that the series will continue for musical reasons, not because of the pandemic.
Clicking through the list of contributions, you’ll find that most of them are what I call mixtape-style compilations: a head-tail-mix of (full) tracks. Traditionally, my (Ambientblog) mixes are different (which does not mean necessarily ‘better’, by the way) in that they incorporate many sampled parts of tracks (a full-length track is either an exception or a very short track itself), mixed in a layered collage-style. I always try to shuffle the collage’s fragments so that they seem to melt together and thus start telling a different story.
Whether this is successful or not can only be determined by the listener.
This mix is simply named after the podcast Soundwave. It is a happy coincidence that it literally starts with waves—sonically manipulated by Jos Smolders—and ends with the same waves morphing into the sound of a cheering crowd.
Different kinds of soundwaves are all around us, every moment. Sometimes we’re aware; most of the time, we are not. This mix (hopefully) shows that it can be rewarding to take a moment’s rest to really listen and let the sounds affect you.
Rhucle is yet another amazing talent I discovered on Bandcamp.
Typically I’ll do a deep dive on Spotify to discover musicians who explore ambient, classical, experimental, and instrumental music. The last few months, I’ve been searching for new music on Bandcamp. The original reason was that I know Bandcamp is one of the platforms where musicians and labels can get a more significant percentage of money from sales of songs and albums (nearly all the tracks on today’s show can be purchased on Bandcamp, by the way). While I stream my share of music through Spotify, I still purchase music to support the artists, so I decided that as long as I’m buying music on Bandcamp, I should see what they have to offer.
It’s been a rewarding experience because I’ve spent many hours listening to fantastic music. Bandcamp seems to attract musicians and labels who offer a higher caliber of releases. I don’t know why that is so, but in general, it appears to be true.
As I delved into Bandcamp, I came across Rhucle and his lovely music.
Rhucle’s albums will forever feel like a Sunday winter afternoon walking my dog in Sacramento because that’s how I first experienced his music.
There’s a bike path not far from where I’m living. One Sunday, I took my dog, Blossom, for a walk down the path so we could play ball. I listened to Rhucle’s albums on my phone, and his music became the soundtrack for our stroll. We went through fields, saw ducks and egrets in the stream and turtles sunning themselves. At some point, I stopped being aware of Rhucle’s music, it was simply part of the environment.
Naturally, I invited Rhucle to guest deejay on SOUNDWAVE. It’s beautiful and taps into the same magic I got listening to Rhucle’s album that Sunday spent walking my dog. I hope you’ll have a delightfully similar experience when you listen to it.
Rhucle had a few words about his mix below.
Before I wrap things up, I wanted to share my last weekend with you.
My wife and I met some friends in Napa Valley to celebrate her birthday. We ate some great food and drank some spectacular wine. Everyone was having such a great time. It was undoubtedly due to the wine and the beauty of Napa Valley. I can’t help but think that there was a certain buoyancy because we all know we’re turning the corner on this pandemic.
The last year has been long and hard. Some of us were ill. Some of us lost family and friends to the virus. But we’re close to the end. While we can’t yet congregate and be with our loved ones, that day is near.
These tracks get close to my feelings recently. When I am tired of my work and any bad news, these sounds help me with my stress. I think that ambient music is more important for people than ever. This mix applies to a contemporary person.
To date, nearly all the guest deejays on SOUNDWAVE are people I have relationships with or introduced to me through the guest deejays. Ishmael is different.
These days I purchase nearly all my music on Bandcamp. Yes, I said purchase. I’m old fashioned that way. Oh, I do more than my fair share of streaming, but if I find music I genuinely love, I’m happy to spend money on it. Bandcamp is my favorite platform to purchase music because the artists and labels are treated fairly, and they receive a higher percentage of money from sales than most other platforms. So I’m on Bandcamp a lot. And because of SOUNDWAVE, I tend to peruse releases from ambient, classical, experimental, and instrumental musicians.
If you enjoy music from any of those genres, you know from experience that most of it are dreck. The music tends to be bland or outright terrible. It isn’t easy to compose music in those genres that’s engaging and take you on an emotional journey. It’s refreshing to find musicians who do it well, and Ishmael is one of those artists.
I'm not a musician myself, so it’s difficult for me not to fall into clichés to describe Ishmael’s music using words like delicate, pretty, or sonorous. I’m reminded of an interview I once heard with Ben Frost where he complained of this very thing. I believe he said something to the effect that sommeliers have many metaphors to describe wines’ taste, but we lack the same when talking about music.
It’s almost a shame, then, that today’s mix from Ishmael does not feature his music. Almost, because Ishmael has lovingly selected tracks that are, sigh, delicate, pretty, and sonorous, but it’s true. It’s a wonderful mix.
If you enjoy today’s show, and I have no doubt you will, then support the artists by following my example and purchasing their music. And while you’re at it, listen to Ishmael’s releases on Bandcamp, and if you hear something like it, show him your appreciation by spending some money on his music.
Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Tim Six, founder of ΠΑΝΘΕΟΝ Records.
Sadly Supercontext is now defunct although Christian and co-host Charlie Bennet still release a monthly podcast for Patreon supporters where they chat about the media they’ve been consuming. I highly recommend you go through their archives and listen to shows you think might strike your fancy.
I respect Christian and Charlie’s taste in music and invited them to guest deejay on SOUNDWAVE. Christian has delivered a mix that ranges from prog to math to dirge rock with a dollop of hip hop. Not your usual SOUNDWAVE fare but for me, at least, it was the perfect soundtrack to this week. 300,000+ dead from COIVD-19 and a President and his supporters who seemingly want to upend democracy. Christian’s mix is the blast of sound and fury I needed to propel me though the week.
Special thanks go out to Taylor Shechet for sequencing this week’s mix. Christian didn’t have the original tracks and when I offered to assemble the mix GarageBand refused to import the audio files. Taylor did me a solid by putting the mix together. And if you love today’s show then you’re definitely going to love Taylor’s mix for SOUNDWAVE that I’ll release in the next month or so.
CORRIDOR Magazine
Before I go, I want to mention that Christian and David Moore are launching a project called CORRIDOR Magazine, a new horror magazine bringing the weird worlds of short fiction, art, comics, and essays together under one roof. I’m helping fund it and so should you if this sort of thing is your bag.
Jonathan Ammon’s American Splendor album
I also wanted to share Jonathan Ammons’s new release, “Living Proof,” from his forthcoming album, American Splendor. I’m looking forward to the album. If you want to hear more music from Jonathan, listen to his mix for SOUNDWAVE here.
Harold Budd
Lastly, some sad news. Ambient composer Harold Budd died December 7. Just the day before I was listening to The Pearl, an album he recorded with Brian Eno, the day before he passed and was thinking how much I enjoyed his music. Harold was a pioneer in ambient music. He will be missed and my condolences go out to his family and friends.
And on that somber note, it’s time for me to say goodbye.
Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Harrold Roeland.
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.
