SOUNDWAVE : 50 : EMIL ZAPFFE

Today’s guest deejay is João Guimarães, AKA Emil Zapffe.

If you’ve been listening to SOUNDWAVE for the last few weeks, then it will come as no surprise that I discovered João on Bandcamp.

When SOUNDWAVE comes up in conversation with those unfamiliar with ambient music, I sometimes have to explain that not all ambient music is swathes of pretty sounds. Ambient can be haunting and discordant. Or, in João’s case, it’s grand in scope. If you want to experience it yourself, go to João’s Bandcamp page and play any of his songs with the volume cranked to 11. His music will shake your windows and vibrate dishes off your table. You’ve been warned.

But if you’re expecting that kind of experience on today’s show, then you’ll be just as surprised as I was. João’s mix covers quite the gamut. Yes, there is that big sound, but it’s also delicate, mournful, and lovely. It’s precisely the kind of mix I’d share with people I have to explain the depth and complexity ambient music offers.

Oh, and I also appreciate that João and I appreciate Peter Wessel Zapffe’s nihilist essay, “The Last Messiah” (listen to an excerpt from the essay on my October 2020 mix). I usually embrace Nietzche’s existential exuberance, but it’s easy to waffle and settle into existential dread, something Zapffe (Peter Wessel, not Emil) explores in his essay. As long as I don’t fall into Emil Cioran’s existential disgust, I guess I’m doing okay.

João has some words regarding his mix below.

Before I wrap this up, I feel the need to mention that it was this time last year that California went under lockdown. Like most people, I’ve gotten along with my life. I work from home, I rarely go out, and when I do, I wear a mask even when I don’t need to. Vaccinations for the entire U.S. are just around the corner. But a year ago, we were all white-knuckling it, and every day was filled with angst. I’m relieved that we’re about to turn the corner.

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

See you then!

 

João Guimarães, AKA Emil Zapffe
João Guimarães, AKA Emil Zapffe

For this mixtape, I tried to make a selection of compositions that touched me this past year and permitted me to escape reality for a while. Our world outside changed, but our inner world changed too, with lots of questions about the nature of existence, the fabric of society, our strengths, and our deepest fears. Through these sounds, I could cope with reality and dream outside its claw, making my mind and spirit expand beyond self-imposed barriers. I hope the listeners can expand their senses and spirits, and for a while, inhabit their inner world, free of any form of limitation or weakness. In times of fear, all we have is our imagination.

Thanks to Joseph Aleo for this invitation, it’s an honor.

  1. Giulio Aldinucci “Phoenix”
  2. Emil Zapffe “Fragmented Anchors”
  3. SVLBRD “The Void”
  4. Mono Tape “Origin”
  5. Mount Shrine & Alphaxone “The Realms of Madmen”
  6. David Cordero “Tras la tormenta (feat. Carles Guajardo)”

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Logo by Rik Oostenbroek

SOUNDWAVE : 46 : IVAN SOMOV

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Today’s guest deejay is Ivan Somov, AKA Notnotice.

While I stream music like everyone else, I’m also old fashioned and still purchase songs and albums. Bandcamp is my preferred vendor because they give the music labels and artists a generous share of the money generated from Bandcamp sales.

I spend an hour at least an hour a week exploring Bandcamp and listened to great music. If I came across someone I thought would be a good fit for SOUNDWAVE, I’d invite them to be a guest deejay. It’s a no-brainer, really, and we’ve heard great mixed from folks such as Tim Six, who runs ΠΑΝΘΕΟΝ Records with his wife, Mila, and Ishmael Cormack . Next week’s show will feature Out of Hell, and in the weeks to come our guest deejays will be Less Bells, Emil Zapffe, and Rhucle.

Ivan is yet another talented musician I discovered after searching Bandcamp for ambient, classical, experimental, and instrumental music to listen to. These are difficult genres. It’s easy to record music in those genres that are awful, hard to do mediocre, hard still to record something great, and a challenge to create something great. When I find something great, as I said, I am compelled to reach out to the artist and invite them to be a guest deejay on SOUNDWAVE. And that brings us to today’s show, which I’m listening to as I write this.

Ivan’s mix is going to take you on a journey. To me, that is the point of art. It’s not enough to craft a pretty or catching sound. Evoking emotion is one thing, but if the music can transport you to somewhere else and spur your imagination, that’s magic. And Ivan’s mix is magic and will be your soundscape for today’s sonic safari. The mix is the map. Your destination will be your own for you to discover.

Quick note: Ivan begins today’s mix with a track from Symphocat, a Russian musician and label owner. Tim Six also featured Symphocat on last week’s show. I’m taking that as a sign that I need to extend an invitation to guest deejay on the show.

Ivan has some words about Notice that he’d like to share with you below.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Out of Hell.

See you then!

 

Ivan Somov, AKA Notnotice
Ivan Somov, AKA Notnotice

Notnotice – a project created to implement the ambient and not only the mood of the author. Originally was written only dark ambient, but later decided not limited by the rigid framework, but at the same time, the music has not lost the original dark and cold, Notnotice tries to embody in their tracks the idea of loneliness and alienation.

  1. Symphocat “Svifa I Himininn”
  2. Forest Management “Fill In The Blank”
  3. unknown “Way number 3”
  4. Notnotice “Stockholm Syndrome”
  5. Acronym “Rails”
  6. очень длинный кот “v parallelnih mirah”
  7. Bad Sector & Tommaso Lisa “Untitled”
  8. kmerl “Constellation”
  9. Stanislav Tolkachev “Borderland”
  10. Canadian Rifles “1812”
  11. FH HF “Seconds Remain As Abstract Strokes”
  12. gacha bakradze “Broken Keyboard”
  13. Jeremiah M. Carter & Chelsea Bridges “White Rose Royale”
  14. Appropriate Savagery “Makeup & Ketamine, During a Quiet Evening”
  15. Christian Michael Filardo “Charm Syndicate”
  16. Concrete Fantasies “stealth2 (Agadez Magi)”
  17. Varg2™ “600 Lives To Become Nothing But A Memory (ft. Soho Rezanejad)”
  18. Cio D’Or “Triplet”
  19. EyeScream “(A)(ny)(thing)(ll)”

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Logo by Rik Oostenbroek

SOUNDWAVE : 45 : ΠΑΝΘΕΟΝ RECORDS

Today’s guest deejay is Crimean drone artist Tim Six, who along with his wife, Mila, run ΠΑΝΘΕΟΝ Records.

I discovered ΠΑΝΘΕΟΝ Records while searching for ambient, classical, experimental and instrumental music on Bandcamp. These days there are hundreds of ways to find new music. There’s Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, etcetera, and while I use all those services, I find myself drawn to Bandcamp more and more. Partly it’s because of the social aspects of Bandcamp. I like seeing and listening to what other Bandcamp customers have purchased. Partly because I know that Bandcamp is one of the few services that offer musicians and labels a higher percentage of money format the sales they make from music purchased on Bandcamp. In fact, on the first Friday of every month, they’ve waived their revenue share to help support the many artists who have seen their livelihoods disrupted by the pandemic.

I’ve come across so much beautiful music on Bandcamp that I extended invitations to musicians and labels to guest deejay on SOUNDWAVE. Ishmael Cormack curated last week’s show, and in the future, we’ll hear mixes from Out of Hell, Less Bells, Emil Zapffe, and more. I noticed that many of the albums that struck me deeply were all releases from ΠΑΝΘΕΟΝ Records. I reached out to Tim, and he was generous enough to put together today’s mix. You’ll find it gentle, mysterious, and at times, sublime.

I encourage you to spend a few dollars on any of the songs you hear on today’s show mix to support the artists.

Tim has a few words about his label and today’s mix below.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Ivan Somov.

See you then!

Tim Six
Tim Six

ΠΑΝΘΕΟΝ Records / Pantheon is an independent D.I.Y. music label from St. Petersburg, Russia, releasing various kinds of lesser-known artist from all around the globe. Our label specializes in limited editions of cassettes and CDs in handcrafted packaging and releasing digital-only albums.

All tracks for today’s show are from albums released on ΠΑΝΘΕΟΝ Records (2014-2020).

All tracks for today’s show are from albums released on ΠΑΝΘΕΟΝ Records (2014-2020).

Find us at:

https://www.facebook.com/pantheophania

https://instagram.com/pantheophania

https://pantheophania.bandcamp.com

https://twitter.com/pantheophania

Thank you for listening!

  1. tremorkikimor “lunaria”
  2. Mitseliy & Konstantin Beresnev “Blurred Intensity III”
  3. Symphocat “Stream Harmony”
  4. Dynastor “Crystalline Caverns”
  5. Blear Moon “Rising late”
  6. July in January “About dreams and visions”
  7. Dvory “Nisargadatta”
  8. Highland Spokesman “two”

Subscribe to SOUNDWAVE on iTunes, Overcast, Castro and Pocketcasts.

Logo by Rik Oostenbroek