SOUNDWAVE : 118 : STEVE SWARTZ

SOUNDWAVE : 118 : STEVE SWARTZ

Today’s guest deejay is Steve Swartz.

I met Steve through Jason Engling, who guest deejayed on Soundwave a couple of years ago. Steve shared a magical mix that I have listened to many times. Today’s show is no less resplendent in its emotions and sounds. It’s a journey.

Earlier this week, I was telling a friend about Soundwave and Steve’s mix. I explained that because Soundwave was created to help me cope with stress and isolation during the first few months of the pandemic, it is a touchstone to those fearful and uncertain times. For me, Soundwave has become a weekly meditative act of reflecting on those early days and the impact of the pandemic on nearly everything in our lives. While I go back to that emotional space weekly, my thoughts and feelings about those times have changed.

As I write this, it is a beautiful day in San Diego, and I can see the ocean from where I sit. I’ve seen this view many times, and while the view is the same, I’m not the person I was at the beginning of this pandemic. I’ve changed. We’ve all changed. I find myself asking who this person is I’ve become and what will I do? Where do I go from here? Steve’s mix provides the soundtrack for the journey.

Steve has some words about his mix below.

Join us again next week when our guest deejay will be Robert Farrugia, co-founder of Complex Holiday.

See you then.

 

Steve Swartz
Steve Swartz

I often feel misplaced. Out of tune with much of the goings on of the world around me. As a result, sound and nature have always been a source of refuge. As a child raised around fields and Great Lakes, I’m always drawn to music and sound that drifts, billows or breathes. And so it is with this mix of music. It’s intended as a reflection of my lack of place but also my sense of solitude, refuge and wonder. For me, these are the underscores of moments of abandon out on the road or a morning walk in my neighborhood. Moments of solitude where my mind surveys the landscape of hardships and joys. Spaces where my thoughts drift to someone I deeply miss. Or during the exhale at the end of a long day. To me, these pieces of music are boundless and internal. Drifting like a breeze or a trace of a memory. Something otherworldly but familiar. Nostalgic and grateful. The spirit of a land but not a place.

  1. William Tyler “Slow Night’s Static”
  2. Suso Saiz “Healthy Digestion”
  3. Bremer McCoy “Mit Hjerte”
  4. Hara Noda “Night Swimmer”
  5. Kenji Kihara “Flowering Quince”
  6. Björn Meyer “Provenance”
  7. Ólafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm “20:17”
  8. Carrie Carlton Quartet “City Morning Views”
  9. Benoit Pioulard “Stone In Focus”
  10. zakè “Night Shineth As The Day”
  11. Philip Wilkerson “The Edge of Being”
  12. Bark Psychosis “Pendulum Man”

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SOUNDWAVE : 96 : HARROLD ROELAND

SOUNDWAVE : 96 : HARROLD ROELAND

Today’s guest deejay is Harrold Roeland.

Harrold was our guest deejay back in December 2020. His mix spanned the gamut from Biosphere to John Coltrane. It was so gorgeous that I asked him if he would be so kind to grace us with another one. Today’s show is equally breath taking and the range is just as broad and unexpected yet some somehow manages to be cohesive.

Harrold is a trained composer, a poet, sound designer and performing musician, specializing in the use of environmental sounds and long attention spans. His works try to invoke the timelessness of the world and its landscapes. He sings medieval and renaissance music with Ensemble Vlechtwerk, and hosts the radio show Sensenta, a musical serial, at the Concertzender every Sunday evening that explores many of these themes.

Oh, and Harrold also shares his daily haiku+picture on Instagram, which you can experience here.

Special thanks again to Kirk Markarian of Neuro… No Neuro who introduced me to Harrold (listen to Kirk’s mix for SOUNDWAVE here).

Harrold has some words about today’s show below.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Robert Koch.

See you then.

 

Harrold Roeland
Harrold Roeland

A slightly moody mix. I couldn’t help but point to the current affairs in Afghanistan, which are much on my mind, as is the death of Raymond Murray Schafer. Such an admirable composer and thinker, such a loss for the music world. So there’s a reference to today in the description. I don’t mind if that has lost its urgency by the time this mix sees the light of day, but just so you know it’s there. The soundscape weeps today.

Toby Wren is an Australian guitarist who has an album called The Carnatic Jazz Experiment. As the title implies, it heavily uses Southern Indian Carnatic Rhythms. I think he’s a genius and this album deserves to be much more widely heard than it is now. The album is strictly acoustic, so the electronic echoes added in the end are my own, better to segue into the next track.

Lotto are from Poland, a band playing very minimalistic Post-Rock. Drones with drums. Once, for Sensenta, my weekly radio show at the Concertzender, I needed a variation on one of their tracks we played the week before. That’s the one you hear, the original but with little echo’s and delays added. I think it makes the track more hypnotic than it already is, and hope they will forgive me for messing around with their work. Both the original and this version appeared on Sensenta, and you can find their original version on their excellent album Elite Feline. If you like this music, check out their album VV too. It’s a gem.

To add some depth, Lull fades into the background around the 18 minute mark. Low frequencies galore. Though used for effect and drowned out here, Mick Harris’s album, Like A Slow River, is a beauty when it comes to dark, noisy ambient. Music like a haunted transistor radio.

Kloob hails from Spain. Synthesizer-based ambient is what he’s good at, and he seems to be getting better at it each year. This is an oldie, from his album Deep Emotional Phases, a remix found on the album as a bonus track.

Martin Stürtzer is next. I ran into his work through the Concertzender. A synthesizer wizard from Germany, he knows just how to twiddle those knobs and connect those modules to make splendid colourful textures. This is one of his more minimalist works, taken from, at the time of writing, a brand new album.

Martin Stültzer’s track turns out to combine well with another new work: Loscil’s “Lux”, from the album Clara. I mixed the two together on the radio the day prior to making this mix, and thought that move deserved repeating here. Loscil joins the mix from Canada. Pure blissful ambient.

Sedibus are The Orb’s Alex Paterson, and former Orb member Tony Falconer. Tony was around for the acclaimed album Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld. These two men meeting again in the studio, decades later, was the birth of a marvelous album. Classic Orb stuff, but from 2021.

And on to the final track.

The time of writing is 15 august 2021. In the wonderful country of Afghanistan the situation seems to be going completely down the drain. The news is worrying and hard to drive out of one’s mind. Thinking about what could happen to innocent people, especially girls and women, is enough to give you a knot in your stomach. Anouar Brahem’s work Improbable Day feels right. He is a famous Ud player from Tunesia. During the Arab Spring, he was home and couldn’t believe what was happening around him. He then wrote a full album about that. His opening track is our closing track for this mix. Yes, the context is much different than that of Afghanistan, but the music is fit for an Improbable Day.

  1. Toby Wren “Prologue”
  2. Lotto “Pointing to a Marvel (Sensenta edit)”
  3. Lull “Treeless Grounds”
  4. Kloob “Duran Vasquez”
  5. Martin Stürtzer “Energy Scale”
  6. Loscil “Lux”
  7. Sedibus “Papillons”
  8. Anouar Brahem “Improbable Day”

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SOUNDWAVE : 92 : IU TAKAHASHI

SOUNDWAVE : 92 : iu takahashi

Today’s guest deejay is Iu Takahashi.

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 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.

Before I go, I also ask that you listen to Genius and Soul, a new show that I launched with Soundwave guest deejays Fitz Gitler and Jason Smith.

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.

See you then.

  1. Grotta Veterano “Bleiweisova Cesta i (as the snow falls)”
  2. Sarah Davachi “Third Hour”
  3. Stijn Hüwels + Tomoyoshi Date Featuring Tadahito Ichinoseki “A Distant Fire, A Distant Cloud (遠き火、遠き雲)”
  4. Masayoshi Fujita “Anakreon”
  5. baechulgi “the breath of the moon”
  6. Satoshi Ashikawa “Still Space”
  7. Emily A. Sprague “Water Memory 1”
  8. Yumiko Morioka “Moon Road”

SOUNDWAVE : 89 : DANIEL FUZZTONE

SOUNDWAVE : 89 : DANIEL FUZZTONE

Today’s guest deejay is danielfuzztone.

daniel’s mix is important to me for several reasons.

One reason is that I meant daniel through Soundwave guest deejay Michael Donaldson (listen to Michael’s mix here) when he posted an interview with daniel on his Micro.blog. Initially, I read the interview simply because it was on Micro.blog, a cool social media network I am a member of. But what hooked me was the interview itself and daniel’s exploration of sound through this music.

The other reason today’s show is important to me is that while I love all the mixes on Soundwave, and I mean that, daniel’s mix hit me in all the right places. He included some familiar and precious tracks from the likes of Miles Davis, This Mortal Coil and Skinny Puppy. This is stuff I immersed myself in the 80s and 90s, so it felt like putting on a well-worn sweater. But daniel’s mix included a lot of stuff I had never heard of before, like Oliver Coates, Besombes & Rizet, and Angelo Badalamenti. It was a perfect blend of the familiar and unfamiliar that his mix provided just under an hour’s with of dopamine hits.

The final reason is that I listened to daniel’s mix many places (while working, walking my dog, doing the dishes, etc.), but the place that had the most significance was in my car while driving my grandkid to day school. The experience is already special because I enjoy watching all the adults delivering their most precious of cargos and seeing the love and concern on their faces. daniel’s mix heightened and already tender experience.

daniel has words of his own regarding today’s mix below.

Join us next weekend when our guest deejay will be Sean Slight.

See you then!

 

danielfuzztone
danielfuzztone

Like much of the ambient-drone music I produce, this mix was born from a live performance and then manipulated in the digital domain via Audacity. Nothing beats the hardware-software hybrid.

While I’ve DJed for three decades years — including two long stretches of college radio — my skills were a bit rusty, to say the least. I wanted to showcase some of my long-time favorite artists — Brian Eno, Boards of Canada, Spacemen 3, Jean-Michel Jarre — along with several newer ones (and maybe even a few you wouldn’t necessarily think of in the ambient realm).

I performed the set in real time using two MacBooks as playback decks, connected to a cheapo RadioShack DJ mixer from the ’90s.* Recorded in Audacity. Numerous field recordings and samples were also added at this stage — including a mix-long drone of processed shortwave static.

The result is a dark, noisy vibe with bursts of melody, strands of light, and even occasional beats. It’s mysterious and romantic, a droning, pulsing soundtrack from the past 50 years. Enjoy and #DroneOn

— danielfuzztone

POST-SCRIPT: Look for several back-to-back releases in early 2022 via Bandcamp, as well as a live performance in January.

*Due to the lo-fi-meets-hi-fi nature of the recording, you’ll occasionally hear pops and ticks from some of the aging gear. Relax. It’s all part of the ride.

  1. danielfuzztone “Prima Facie”
  2. Brian Eno “Triennale”
  3. The House in the Woods "Bucolica”
  4. Mark Pritchard “?”
  5. Miles Davis “In a Silent Way”
  6. Steven R. Smith “Awake”
  7. William Basinski “The Wheel of Fortune”
  8. danielfuzztone “Nishiki 10-Speed Dream”
  9. Boards of Canada “XYZ”
  10. Cult48 “Deep Calls to Deep”
  11. Gong “Magick Mother Invocation”
  12. Besombes & Rizet “Evelyse”
  13. Godspeed You! Black Emperor “The Dead Flag Blues”
  14. Skinny Puppy “Fritter (Stella’s Home)”
  15. This Mortal Coil “Acid, Bitter and Sad”
  16. Sonic Youth “Providence”
  17. Windy & Carl “Antarctica”
  18. danielfuzztone “Transient Response”
  19. Tim Hecker “Celestina”
  20. Oliver Coates “Honey”
  21. My Bloody Valentine “Glider”
  22. Spacemen 3 “Ecstasy Symphony”
  23. Terry Riley “Poppy Nogood and the Phantom Band”
  24. M83 “Birds”
  25. Jean-Michel Jarre “Equinoxe Part 1”
  26. Emerald Web “The Dragon’s Gate”
  27. Angelo Badalamenti “The Voice of Love”
  28. Yo La Tengo “Shortwave”

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SOUNDWAVE : 83 : WIFE SIGNS

SOUNDWAVE : 83 : WIFE SIGNS

Today’s guest deejay is Kellen Perry, AKA Wife Signs.

Daniel Chamberlin turned me on to Wife Signs with his Cosmic Chambo mix for Soundwave. As is my want, I asked Daniel who he know that would want to share a mix on Soundwave and he suggested Kellen. Daniel was spot on, because Kellen’s mix is a delight.

 

Kellen Perry, AKA Wife Signs
Kellen Perry, AKA Wife Signs

I mentioned last month how Line Spectrum’s mix blended so seamlesslessly with the sounds of my environment that caused me no small amount of anxiety. Kellen’s mix also merged with the sounds around me, but it was so ephemeral that it was a soothing experience. It made the sound of clanking flatware musical. Some of the mixes heard on Soundwave are sublime, and some, like Kellen’s, make the mundane seem magical.

While you can stream Kellen’s new album, Beneath the Weight of Care, on Spotify, I encourage you to pushase his album on Bandcamp. You can also follow Kellen on Twitter.

I hope you have a Happy Halloween. I know I will, because I’m taking my grandkid on his first trick or treating he’ll remember. Talk about magical!

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

See you then!

  1. Klara Lewis “Seascape”
  2. More Eaze “Leave”
  3. Offthesky & The Humble Bee “Fallen Fruit to Navigate By”
  4. Wife Signs “Burning Off the Nuance”
  5. Austin Rockman “Kissed By Her Witness”
  6. Vanessa Amara “Manos”
  7. Lusine ”Without Standing”
  8. Wife Signs “Small Art and Love”
  9. Listening Mirror “Outside Heaven”
  10. Tom James Scott “Green Wren”

SOUNDWAVE : 81 : INNER TRAVELS

SOUNDWAVE : 81 : INNER TRAVELS

Today’s guest deejay is Steve Targo, AKA Inner Travels.

I met Steve when Soundwave guest deejay Rhucle (listen to his mix here) who he knew who he knew would share a mix with us. He suggested Steve. After listening to today’s show, you’ll hear why.

It’s a lovely mix, and by coincidence, it paired well with the rare rainy weather we’ve been having in San Diego for the last week. There were times when I wasn’t sure if what I was hearing was the rain outdoors or Steve’s music indoors. It was a magical experience.

If you’d like to hear more music from Steve, be sure to check out his project, Nimbudala. His debut album, Universal Compassion will be released on October 22, and you can pre-order it on Bandcamp as well as listen to a few preview tracks.

Steve says while the album still fits in the New Age ambient realm, it also has more acoustic sounds and influences from kosmiche, rock, jazz, and world music. I’m playing the album as I write this, and it’s wonderful.

Steve has some words about today’s show below.

Before I leave you, I wanted to tell you about a project that I’m launching on January 1, 2022, called Genius and Soul. The show will feature a series of mixes from guest deejays from Jazz and Black Classical Music to today’s scene’s many styles and branches. Our show’s efforts will also include fundraising for the Jazz Foundation of America. Follow us on Twitter for more updates.

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

See you then!

 

Steve Targo, AKA Inner Travels
Steve Targo, AKA Inner Travels

Here is, I believe, an excellent primer for those interested in exploring the music of Inner Travels—four songs from four albums released between 2016 and 2019. From trance-inducing synthesizer work to an improvisation led by electric piano and singing bowls, the common theme in this mix is rain. I say “mix,” but really, this feels to me like its own album.

Thanks for listening, and Joseph, thanks for asking me to do this!

Peace,
Steve
Inner Travels

  1. Inner Travels “A Gentle Return”
  2. Inner Travels “Between the River, Wind &Trees”
  3. Inner Travels “Pools of Thought”
  4. Inner Travels “Calm After the Storm”

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SOUNDWAVE : 80 : LECU

SOUNDWAVE : 80 : LECU

Today’s guest deejay is Lecu.

I discovered Lecu a few months ago when Soundwave guest deejay Ishmael Cormack asked folks on Twitter for musical recommendations. Lecu suggested Sebastian Mullaert and Erland Cooper. Those were both great recommendations. Who was this Lecu? I checked out how Twitter profile, which led me to his Bandcamp page and listened to his albums. I extend an invitation to join us on Soundwave, and here we are today.

It was a breath of fresh air after last week’s mix from Line Spectrum. Don’t get me wrong, last week’s show was great, but listening to it on my AIrPod Pro with transparency mode felt more like an auditory hallucination than a mix. Lecu’s mix feels whimsical by comparison but no less fantastic than Line Spectrum’s mix.

If you’d like to hear more music from Lecu, check out show on 1020 Radio, every first Thursday of every month from 10 PM – 11 PM Pacific.

Lecu has some brief words about his mix below.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Inner Travels.

 

Leo, AKA Lecu
Leo, AKA Lecu

I’m happy to share my mix with you today. Lots of nice textures, both abstract and familiar, with some lush tracks along the way — one of which is a new one from me, which feels like the start of a new record and a new direction for me as an artist.

It was really fun to make, and I’m so honoured to be in very good company with your other guests

Much love from Plymouth, England, and wishing you all the very best. 

Leo / Lecu

  1. H. Takahashi “Absorption (Granulated)”
  2. H. Takahashi “Absorption”
  3. Bubble Keiki “Network Gardening”
  4. KMRU “Inter Alia”
  5. Julius Theory “SSRI Prophet (excerpt)”
  6. Dane Law “Southbound To Denshaw”
  7. Morimoto Naoki “A Day”
  8. Lecu “Familiar i*”
  9. Phexionensystem “Water Resonance”

Field Recordings & Sounds

  1. Listen In “Watering The Garden”
  2. Four Tet “Parallel 5”
  3. Lecu “Water Bowl Through Nebulae”
  4. Lecu “Field Recording: Interacting with Woodland Leaves”

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SOUNDWAVE : 78 : TRIPLICATE RECORDS

#SOUNDWAVE : 78 : TRIPLICATE RECORDS

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

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

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

 

Triplicate Records
Triplicate Records

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

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

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

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

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

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

See you then!

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

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SOUNDWAVE : 76 : MICHAEL DONALDSON

SOUNDWAVE : 76 : MICHAEL DONALDSON

Today’s guest deejay is Michael Donaldson.

I met Michael when he posted an interview with Daniel Fuzztone on Micro.blog. I enjoyed the interview and Michael’s other blog posts and Daniel’s music, so I invited both of them to guest deejay on Soundwave. We’ll hear Daniel’s mix in December.

I’m happy about the Micro.blog connection. It’s one of the aspects of social media I still like. When I joined Twitter 2006, it was easier to have actual conversations with people and establish friendships. It was also easier to chat with musicians, label owners, directors, etc and bypass the dual intermediaries. Those days are gone, and Micro.blog’s network is currently too small to be useful to me in that way, what it has going for it that’s invaluable is the conversations and connections you have there. It’s cosier. And because Micro.blog is subscription based, it eliminates the riff raft.

 

Michael Donaldson
Michael Donaldson

I got a kick out of Michael’s blog. It’s got a lot of 80/90s feel to it, so for me hearing Michael’s mix was like putting on a comfortable, worn-in sweater. Michael’s mix is wonderful, but the track that got me in the feels was My Bloody Valentine/Skylab’s “Incidental Peace.” It’s such an unlikely collaboration but somehow weaves a seamless blend of shoegaze and electronic music. It’s all kinds of wonderful and “Incidental Peace” is buttressed between music that is equally gorgeous.

I think what I love most about Michael’s mix is how dreamy it it. I’ll find myself listening to the it, and lose myself in the music and my own thoughts and feelings, only to resurface laster in the mix, uncertain how much time has passed.

Okay, time for me to pack it in. Tomorrow is my boy’s first baseball game of the season. I’ll be honest, even with social distancing I think it’s going to be unsettling being around so many people. At least we’ll all be outdoors.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Gert De Meeseter.

See you then!

  1. Gemini Revolution “Crumarooned”
  2. Bjørn Torske “HemmeligOrkester”
  3. Ralph Kinsella “Suffuse”
  4. Bill Nelson “Night Tides”
  5. More Ghost Than Man + San Mateo “11811 (Georgy Block 7.7)”
  6. Holger Czukay “Radio in an Hourglass”
  7. My Bloody Valentine meets Skylab “Incidental Peace”
  8. Fila Brazillia “Midnight Friends”
  9. Bill Nelson “Clothed in Light Amongst the Stars”
  10. Elijah Knutsen “Somewhere Knows”
  11. Q-Burns Abstract Message “The Burning City”

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SOUNDWAVE : 75 : COMPLEX HOLIDAY

SOUNDWAVE : 75 : COMPLEX HOLIDAY

Today’s guest deejay is Robert Farrugia, co-founder of Complex Holiday, an itinerant label for inside-out ambient and sound art tomfoolery.

I’m usually fastidious about tracking how I come to know guest deejays on Soundwave. Unfortunately, my initial conversation with Robert began on Facebook Messenger and that chat is lost to the ether. Well, really, Facebook has that conversation stored somewhere. But it’s as good as gone for me.

Whatever lead me to Robert, I’m glad I invited him to join us.

What you may or may not know is that I get the mixes you hear months in advance. I usually enjoy it for a week or two before I move on to listen to the next guest deejay’s mix. I’ll also re-listen to the mix a few weeks before their show is released. I listen to the mixes a lot.

 

Robert Farrugia
Robert Farrugia, Photograph by Chris Vella / Storbju

Robert’s mix was a welcome companion for the last week. Nationally, the U.S. is caught between wildfires and hurricanes. Internationally, the U.S. has left Afghanistan. And on a personal note, the was my kid’s first week at high school. While our area is 75% vaccinated, I’m still anxious about how this will work out. Within the first week there’s already been a report of a student with COVID-19. Robert’s mix felt like an echo of how I’ve been feeling about all of it.

There’s a tension that builds up early in Robert’s mix that unravels nearly halfway through before exploring different sonic territory. The mix ends hauntingly and somberly.

That feels right.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Michael Donaldson.

See you then!

  1. Dylan Henner “I Was Reading the News But I Felt So Sad I had to Stop”
  2. Snap Dragon “Breathe”
  3. Benoît Pioulard “Whose Palms Create”
  4. Robert Farrugia “Tlellix”
  5. Warmth “Cirrus”
  6. David Cordero “Sevredol (Sight Below Remix)”
  7. Marsha Fisher “Chapter House”
  8. Kurt Buttigieg “Confiance en quoi”

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