SOUNDWAVE : 138 : GLYN BUSH

SOUNDWAVE : 138 : GLYN BUSH

Today’s guest deejay is Glyn Bush.

Last month I shared a retrospective mix from the Ambient Dub compilation series. It was a fantastic experience revisiting those albums, which also served as a touchstone to some beautiful times. Inspired, I reached out to as many of the musicians on the compilation album as possible, leading me to Glyn, whom I’ve always known as one-half of Original Rockers.

Glyn’s mix re-introduced me to gems from Durutti Column and Faust and introduced me to new favorites such as Chassol and Khotin. And Glyn’s mix is chock full of his music projects, such as Biggabush.

Glyn has some words about his mix below.

Join us next weekend when our guest deejay will be Rubén Tamayo.

See you then.

 

Glyn Bush
Glyn Bush

It was really nice to be asked to do an ambient mix as it’s a genre I always enjoy even if I don’t normally listen to it that much.

With Original Rockers/Rockers Hi-Fi, we were asked to do an “ambient dub” track by Mike Barnet from Beyond Records around 1992. We just went with our gut and very quickly produced “Sexy Selector.” I suppose we defined ambient dub as being quite lush, with deep chords, lots of space, sequences, and odd bits of vocal. At the time I was listening to The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld and going to a club called Oscillate in Birmingham and hearing quite a bit of what you might call ambient electronica, seeing people like Autechre play live, Alex Paterson on the decks and of course the Higher Intelligence Agency who ran the night.

So I’ve delved back into that era a bit in my mix and checked out some more contemporary stuff with tips from my daughter, re:ni, plus an ambient track we made together a couple of years ago using the sounds of glaciers crumbling, rainfall, and suchlike.

The opener by Richie Hawtin alias F.U.S.E. is one of my all-time fave tracks, just a slowly unfurling 303 looping over and over in its inimitable way.

I dropped a couple of bits from Chassol who makes really beautiful music, not necessarily defined as “ambient” but lush and interesting and full of surprises. He does incredible stuff with recordings of voices where he literally turns all the inflections of speech into musical notes. Check out his Barack Obama track too.

I included a track from my Sunken Foal Stories album, possibly my favourite release and unlike anything I’ve done before or since, with lots of random juxtapositions and happy accidents.

re:ni recommended a lovely track by MLO called ”Sleeper”, which didn’t make the cut, but I used a nice Wagon Christ remix of one of his tracks which I’d not heard before. I’m always happy to crowbar a Luke Vibert track into any mix.

Ghost Power is a collab between Tim Gane of Stereolab and Jeremy Novak of Dymaxion who do some really interesting stuff, mostly nothing like the track I used but all good.

Neotropic is Riz Maslen, who made lovely stuff in the early 90s. This was a fave on cassette back in the day.

Beak> is a Geoff Barrow from Portishead side project, doing a mix of krautrock-ish, motorik beats, plus some excellent synth work, quite soundtrack-y vibes.

Durutti Column was making ambient guitar stuff in the early 80s, of which this is a fine example and always makes me think of sunshine.

PLO Man and C3D-E are on the coveted Acting Press label, which I’d not heard of before re:ni gave me a tip, but it’s high-quality stuff. Likewise, Khotin – is a Canadian producer doing some lovely things on Bandcamp.

Faust was a bunch of crazy German guys who lived in their studio, recorded shedloads of improvisations, and wrote some beautiful songs. The two Faust tracks are from the The Faust Tapes, another all-time fave album of mine compiled from their unreleased tapes from the early 70s.

A couple of Bigga Bush tracks, one called “The Bells,” written in the mid-90s, and the collab mentioned above with re:ni, which was written for a DJs for Climate Action campaign using natural found sounds.

We close with the last ambient dub track recorded by Rockers Hi-Fi for the Ambient Dub Volume 3 (Aqua) album on Beyond, named ”Mecca of Space” after a FireballXL5 comic strip.

Cheers,

Glyn

  1. F.U.S.E. “Theychx (extract)”
  2. Chassol “I lôôôôve usometimes (extract)”
  3. Glyn Bigga Bush “Now There’s Pain”
  4. MLO “Spike (Wagon Christ Mix)”
  5. Edgar Broughton Band “The Dawn Crept Away (extract)”
  6. Ghost Power “Astral Melancholy Suite (extract)”
  7. Neotropic “Neotropic”
  8. Durutti Column “Conduct (edit)”
  9. PLO Man & C3D-E “100 Pt. II – Pt. III”
  10. Faust “Untitled (Arnulf on Drums 2)”
  11. Chassol “Les Oursses”
  12. Khotin “Dialogue 6”
  13. Faust “Rudolf der Pianist”
  14. BiggaBush “The Bells”
  15. BiggaBush & re:ni “Dub Plate Tectonics”
  16. Original Rockers “Mecca of Space”

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SOUNDWAVE : 129 : SERGE TIMMERS

SOUNDWAVE : 129 : SERGE TIMMERS

Today’s guest deejay is Serge Timmers.

Like so many of the guest deejays on Soundwave, Serge was highly recommended by a previous guest deejay. In this case, it was Gert De Meester (listen to his mixes here and here). As always, I listened to Serge’s music, loved what I heard and invited him to guest deejay on Soundwave.

I usually listen to Serge’s mix during the day while I’m working. Why not listen to gorgeous music while I’m being productive? But Serge’s mix comes alive in the night. If you’re lucky, a foggy night. Serge’s mix casts everything in mysterious shadows. Serge’s mix includes songs that sound as if they came from an Excursions in Ambience album; why there’s even a track that features Higher Intelligence Agency! Other tracks lean into trip-hop, not to mention the unexpected byways Serge takes us on in his mix.

Serge has some words about his mix below.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Dan Handrabur.

See you then.

 

Serge Timmers
Serge Timmers

Nachtraaf is a Flemish expression for someone who is most active at night. Most of the tracks on this album were made at night, as I almost always do. The track “Zenenacht” in this mix comes from this album. It’s old-Dutch for “Eternal Night.”

Planet Psyche comes from lighter times and features the track “Cosmonaut.”

In the mix, I’ve compiled some tracks from friends (Ashtoreth, Stratosphere, and Distant Fires Burning) along with the most important influences in my journey in slow and emotional music.

  1. Distant Fires Burning “Book Of Fragmentation”
  2. Stratosphere “God Was Nowhere To Be Found”
  3. O Yuki Conjugate “Sunchemical”
  4. Misantronics “Zenenacht”
  5. Ulf Söderberg “Vidarnas Hus”
  6. Ashtoreth & Grey Malkin “Bone, Leaf & Moss”
  7. Atrium Carceri, Cities Last Broadcast, God Body Disconnect “Miles to Midnight”
  8. Higher Intelligence Agency / Biosphere “The Rotunda”
  9. Bohren und der Club of Gore “Black City Skyline”
  10. Bersarin Quartett “Keine Angst”
  11. Anunada “Cosmonaut”
  12. EVA “Anna’s Planets”

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SOUNDWAVE : 119 : COMPLEX HOLIDAY

SOUNDWAVE : 119 : 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.

Robert was our guest deejay last fall, and he returns to Soundwave sharing another lustrous mix.

For me, Robert’s mix captures the essence of ambient music, as explained by Brian Eno, who compared ambient music to a painting. You can enjoy a painting on two levels. On one level, you engage with the painting, looking at it, studying it, and reacting to it. But on another level, the same painting is on the periphery of your consciousness. But it’s still there, subtly affecting you.

I’d find myself immersed in Robert’s mix and then be distracted by an email or text message, lost in thought, and slowly becoming aware that Robert had shifted the territory in his sonic landscape. And then the cycle began again.

 

Robert Farrugia, Photograph by Chris Vella / Storbju
Robert Farrugia, Photograph by Chris Vella / Storbju

Robert has included a few releases from Complex Holiday on today’s show. Ben Mifsud Joslin album, New Life (Robert was involved in the recording process and performed additional instrumentation on Ben’s album), and Daniel Vujcic’s album, Palinopsia, will be released later this year. Robert himself makes an appearance with “Iota.”

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Riz Maslen.

See you then.

  1. Warmth “Guiding Light”
  2. Robert Farrugia “Iota”
  3. Tone Color “Half-Remembered, Half-Forgotten”
  4. Ben Mifsud Joslin “New Life”
  5. Taylor Deupree “Twirl”
  6. Robert Farrugia “Digital Droplets”
  7. Daniel Vujcic “Quiblis Ark”
  8. Andrew Tasselmyer “Our Own Private Libraries”
  9. Daniel Vujcic “Volovod”
  10. David Allred “Potato”

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SOUNDWAVE : 114 : RAZIEL PANIC

SOUNDWAVE : 114 : RAZIEL PANIC

Today’s guest deejay is Raziel Panic.

I know Raziel from way back. We’re talking about the days when people would send cassette singles to radio stations for airplay. My memory is hazy, but I think I was aware that Raziel was part of the Boston music scene with his band You Shriek in the late 80s. Crazy.

When I say know, I mean more win the sense I knew of Raziel. The circles we traveled overlapped. I even had You Shriek perform on my show on WMFO. But we never really knew each other.

But thanks to social media, I get glimpses into Raziel’s life through his Instagram account, usually in beautiful black and white photos.

I extended Raziel an invitation to guest deejay on Soundwave and I was curious what I’d hear. Raziel is know for goth and industrial music, but that of course doesn’t encompass all the music he listens enjoys. It’s no incongruous that his mix ranges from Arvo Pärt to Einstürzende Neubauten to Kitaro. Marvelous stuff. But still a surprise.

 

Raziel Panic
Raziel Panic

The You Shriek track Raziel included in his mix was never released on digital. Contact me if you’d like a download Raziel’s track.

Raziel has a digital release in the wings, and I’ll let you know when it’s available.

I still don’t know Raziel, but I hope to hang out with him next time I’m on the East Coast.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Yann Novak.

See you then.

  1. Arvo Pärt “Cantus In Memory Of Benjamin Britten”
  2. zero zero island “From Pure Air… We Have Descended”
  3. Jon Hopkins “Abandon Window”
  4. Einstürzende Neubauten “Fiat Lux B) Maifestspiele”
  5. You Shriek “14: overexposure (200 Röntgens)”
  6. Takeshi Nakamura “River In The Ocean”
  7. Delia Derbyshire “Ziw-zih Ziw-zih oo-oo-oo”
  8. German and Japanese Commuter Trains, Found Sounds I
  9. Kraftwerk “Transistor”
  10. Kitaro “Aqua”
  11. German and Japanese Commuter Trains, Found Sounds II
  12. Tangerine Dream “Resurrection”
  13. Pieter Nooten & Michael Brook “Finally”

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SOUNDWAVE : 88 : DEAD MELODIES

SOUNDWAVE : 88 : DEAD MELODIES

Today’s guest deejay is Tom Moore, AKA Dead Melodies.

After listening to his latest album, Fabled Machines of Old, I invited Tom to guest deejay on Soundwave back in June. The album was released on Cryo Chamber, and it’s what I’ve come to expect from every release from the label: exquisitely crafted dark ambient music that takes you on an emotional journey. Sometimes harrowing, but always rewarding.

Today’s show has been a different experience for me than what I’ve become accustomed to. Usually, I receive mixes for Soundwave six months before I share them with you. I do this for practical reasons. I like to have the mixes well before the release date, so I don’t have to scramble to get shows out weekly. I listened to the mixes you repeatedly hear for months, a byproduct of this arrangement. I become intimately acquainted with the music. They become the soundtrack for my life.

Tom’s schedule did not permit him to send me his mix in advance. I only just got his mix for Soundwave two weeks ago. I didn’t think that would be time enough to allow Tom’s mix to “breather,” but fortunately, I was able to lose myself in the music, and Tom’s mix quickly became an old friend.

Tom has some words about today’s show below.

As always, the shadow of the pandemic looms over Soundwave.

Yesterday I spoke with a professional colleague, and he shared that his production partner had come down with COVID. He told me that he had contracted COVID some months ago, and as a result, his blood pressure is up by 20%; he has experienced liver damage, and his joints ache. I wished him a speedy recovery and that his partner would not suffer lasting effects from the virus. There but for the grace of God goes I, as they say. Except that I expect to catch the virus myself at some point. I don’t know where you listen to Soundwave, but here in the U.S., it seems we want the pandemic to last as long as possible.

But today, I’m still healthy. And I have a lovely show to share with you.

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

See you then!

 

Tom Moore, AKA Dead Melodies
Tom Moore, AKA Dead Melodies

Thanks for the invitation to put together a mix for the show. It was a fun challenge deciding what to do as I trawled through all my influences and favourite artists, but it wasn’t long before it dawned on me it was near impossible to capture even a fraction of the music that makes me tick in an hour-long cut. So I decided to look at my music, pick out some rarities and remixes, and see how best to present them. My output is pretty diverse, but these rarities seemed to tap into a dark-ambient meets post-rock style. I paired with a few popular tunes from my Cryo Chamber releases to keep on the theme and hopefully create a haunting yet soothing listening experience.

Honourable mentions to the collaborating artists named on the tracks – a remix is always much more than a reforming of stems, but a respectful collaboration with layers of new instruments added, paying homage to the original piece while expanding the sound. Thanks to; Everyday Dust, Zenjungle, Understated Theory (my side project/band), and Owsey. Thanks to Cryo Chamber and Sparkwood Records, who have published a few of the included tunes.

  1. Dead Melodies “Winter’s Bite”
  2. Everyday Dust “Where Light Fails (Dead Melodies Solar Frenzy Mix)”
  3. Dead Melodies “The Wake of Man”
  4. Zenjungle “Elegy for The Will (Dead Melodies’ Perspective)”
  5. Dead Melodies “Secrets Foretold”
  6. Understated Theory “Solitary Demons”
  7. Owsey “Thousands of Summer Twilights (Dead Melodies Remix)”
  8. Dead Melodies “A Trial of Crows and Blood”
  9. Dead Melodies “Certain Beasts”

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SOUNDWAVE : 64 : SEAN HOCKING

SOUNDWAVE : 64 : SEAN HOCKING

Today’s guest deejay is Sean Hocking.

Sean is the host of Metal Postcard Records, an independent record label based out of Sydney. I met Sean nearly a decade ago when I interviewed him and showcased his label for solipsistic NATION. He releases great music through Metal Postcard Records, so I invited Sean to be our guest deejay last summer. It was a wonderful mix, so naturally, I asked Sean to delight us with another set.

A casual listen of Sean’s mix will leave you with the impression that it’s wonderful and whimsical. Its certainly that but a closer listen reveals depth and speaks to the human condition. It works on both levels, which is a neat trick. It’s also a bit of an Australia travelogue, so enjoy the ride!

If you want to hear more music from Sean, he also hosts Bottom of the Pops, which you can find on Spotify. It’s the Nuggets of internet radio. Sean also hosts shows on Dandelion Radio, FSK Radio out of Germany, and 8K in New Zealand.

 

Sean Hocking
Sean Hocking

Tuesday California officially opened up and eased pandemic restrictions.

I still wear a mask and socially distance in some situations but it’s nice to mingle with people and dine at restaurants. And it’s nice not wearing a mask at the gym, especially when I’m on the stair machine.

I’ll be listening to Sean’s mix on Fathers Day and hopefully hoping to go out for brunch with my family. If you’re a dad or have one, I hope you can do the same.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Yann Novak, the founder of Dragon’s Eye Recordings.

See you then!

  1. Sean Hocking “Australian Dawn Chorus”
  2. Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu “Amazing Grace”
  3. Lajamanu Community (NT) “Emu Dreaming”
  4. Warwick Thornton “The Beach (Trailer)”
  5. Tony O’Connor “Ningaloo”
  6. George Greenhough “Memories Surfing Lennox Head Early 1970’s”
  7. Gravy Murphy “Seaside Acid”
  8. Peter Sculthorpe “Songs of Sea and Sky (Second flute solo)”
  9. Sean Hocking “Mutitjula Walk”
  10. Jack Burton “Lake Monger pt. I, II III”
  11. Salary “DD Dub”
  12. Soda Eves “No One Else”
  13. The Emergency “Omega Point”
  14. Sean Hocking “Fire at night outback”

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SOUNDWAVE : 42 : MIKE CADOO

SOUNDWAVE : 42 : MIKE CADOO

Today’s guest deejay is Mike Cadoo, the founder of n5MD, an independent record label based out of Oakland, California, that focuses on ambient, modern composition, post-rock, and experimental electronic music.

I showcased n5MD on solipsistic NATION some years ago. Let me share what I said about n5MD on that episode of solipsistic NATION, which explains why I invited Mike to be our guest deejay on today’s show.

“What I’ve always found so charming is that the releases on n5MD don’t just provide music that establishes a mood. The releases on n5MD take you on an emotional journey, which I find far more compelling and interesting. Anyone can play a chord in E minor that will evoke an emotional response. Still, it’s much more difficult to build an emotionally complex song and takes you places in your imagination. Let me take that back. There are plenty of people who can do that, there are a just few people who do it well and do it with sincerity, and I think that’s what n5MD is all about.”

Mike’s mix for today’s show captures everything I just said about his label. Mike is going to take you by the hand and gently guide you through an emotional journey.

Mike explained that while waiting for the Near The Parenthesis vinyl to arrive, he made an ambient mix that features no n5MD artists. Mike usually does one of these each year, and I’m thankful he shared it with us.

As I’ve mentioned many times before, I launched SOUNDWAVE to cope with the stress and isolation brought about by COVID-19. I did not expect how much I would need SOUNDWAVE, and Mike’s mix, in particular, to provide the solace I need during our nation’s attempted coup. I suspect I will need it more in the next few weeks, if not the next few months and years.

On that sad note…

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Steve Swartz.

See you then!

  1. dj healer “Protectionspell”
  2. Stars of the Lid “Mullholland”
  3. Jon Hopkins featuring King Creosote “Immunity”
  4. Neil Cowley & Ben Lukas Boysen “A Grain of Truth”
  5. The Ideal Setback “Whittle”
  6. Black Swan “Slow Oblivion, Part I”
  7. Chronovalve “Something to Hope For”
  8. Holy Fawn “Tethered”
  9. loscil “Neve”
  10. Nils Frahm “A Shine”
  11. ILUITEQ “Moon Disconnected”
  12. KMRU “degree of change”
  13. r beny “Golden Larch Emerging fin Spring”
  14. Julianna Barwick “Same”
  15. KMRU “Whir”
  16. Carlos Ferreira “Epilogue”
  17. Sea Oleena “Portugal (A Lift)”
  18. bvdub “I Would Have Waited”

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SOUNDWAVE : 39 : APPLEFISH

SOUNDWAVE : 39 : APPLEFISH

Today’s guest deejay is Nik Davies. You most likely know her as Applefish.

Even before launching SOUNDWAVE I listened to a lot of ambient, classical, experimental and instrumental music. But as you can imagine, I listen to even more music from those genres these days. After perusing Bandcamp and listening to playlists on Spotify certain musicians turned up again and again. And for good reason, their music was singular and provocative. Applefish is one of those artists and I approached her to do a mix for SOUNDWAVE which we’ll listen to today.

2020 was a hard year for all of us. There was so much fear and uncertainty. Confronting your mortality on a daily basis is exhausting.

SOUNDWAVE was my way of coping with the stress and isolation of COVID-19. Pop music, movies, tv and books did not speak to the truth of the new reality I found myself in. The only thing I could focus on and gave me some relief was ambient, classical, experimental and instrumental. Because there are no vocals I could project whatever meaning I needed to on songs form those genres or a song would resonate with me. If I was finding solace in this music than surely others needed to hear it as well, and so I launched this show to share that music.

Almost immediately I decided to invite musicians, music label owners, journalists, etc to guest deejay on SOUNDWAVE. I started with people I knew and then asked the guest deejays who they thought would be interested in sharing a mix on the show. I’ve met so many amazing people and heard some mind blowing mixes.

I have some great shows in store for you in 2021! That said, I’m hoping this time next year nearly everyone will have been vaccinated and COVID-19 will be no more of a threat than any of the viruses we vaccinate for. And on that day I will retire SOUNDWAVE, content that it serviced its purpose.

Nik Davies
Nik Davies AKA Applefish

Until then, today’s mix by Nik is the perfect way to wind down 2020. It’s quiet and it’s beautiful. Nik’s mix is like a blanket you wrap yourself in to keep yourself warm in a sometimes cold and harsh would. It’s also an expansive mix that makes me optimistic. And that’s a fine way to end 2020

Join us next week (and net year) when our guest deejay will be Fitz Gitler.

See you then!

  1. Applefish “Andromeda”
  2. Good Weather For An Airstrike “Thaw”
  3. Aphex Twin “#3”
  4. Lauge “Pine Trees Covered in Fog”
  5. Lauge & Matt Tondut “Above the Clouds”
  6. Crows Labyrinth “Our Last Dream (Single Version)”
  7. Applefish “Astrosat”
  8. Biosphere “Poa Alpina”
  9. Applefish“Return to the Trubutaries”
  10. Good Weather For An Airstrike “The Depths Between Us”
  11. Spacecraft “Zodiacal Light”

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