Anne’s music is a beautiful blend of ambient, experimental, and modern classical styles. I was introduced to Anne’s through Soundwave guest deejay Peter van Cooten (listen to his mix here and here), host of Ambientblog and DreamScenes on Concertzender.
Anne Bakker
Based in the Netherlands, Anne Bakker is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer. Her music often incorporates field recordings, found sounds, and electronic elements to create unique and immersive soundscapes.
Anne has released several albums and EPs on labels such as Dronarivm, Whitelabrecs, and Rusted Tone Recordings. Her music has been described as “a delicate and hypnotic work that shines with an inner light” and “a moving and atmospheric experience.”
Many of the tracks in Anne’s mix feature minimalistic arrangements and slowly evolving textures, often exploring the sonic nuances of single notes or simple harmonic progressions. Using drones and sustained tones is also prevalent, creating a sense of sonic stasis or timelessness. Several pieces also feature acoustic instruments, such as piano, guitar, and strings, woven into the electronic soundscapes to create a delicate interplay between the organic and synthetic elements.
Join us next week when our guest deejay will be zaké.
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
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.
Today’s guest deejay is Michael Jakucs, AKA Sunwarper.
After hearing Michael’s music in both Brian Sangmeister and Forest Robots’s mixes for Soundwave, I invited Michael to share a mix. Based on Michael’s music, I knew we were in good hands. But I did not anticipate the surprising directions he took his mix and yet felt utterly familiar.
Let me explain.
The focus of Soundwave is ambient, classical, experimental, and instrumental music, with an emphasis on the ambient. And that’s fine. I’m all about that ambient life. But for me, it’s always a delight when a guest shares a mix that leans into the show’s classical, experimental, and instrumental aspects. Christian Sager’s doom metal/math rock/hip hop mix comes to mind. As does Charles Hazlewood’s mimimalist/modern classical/free jazz mix.
What makes today’s show special, for me, is that it’s very much steeped in shoegaze and dream pop. So while I only know several of the artists in Michael’s mix, I already feel well acquainted with the music I’m unfamiliar with. It’s very déjà vu. I keep asking myself, “Isn’t this a 4AD release?”
Michael Jakucs, AKA Sunwarper
Michael just released a track composed for the season finale of the webcomic The Eagle and the Snake called “Forever Becoming.” He also has a full-length album, Radiant Visage, that will be released on October 14 and available for pre-order on September 9.
Join us next week when our guest deejay will be n5MD founder Mike Cadoo.
Today’s guest deejay is Matt Donatelli, AKA Survey Channel.
I met through Francisco Dominguez. After Francisco shared his fantastic mix earlier this year, I asked him who he thought would want guest deejay on Soundwave. Francisco recommended Matt, and after doing a deep dive on Matt’s music, I wholeheartedly agreed.
If you love today’s mix, and you will, then you’ll be happy to know that Matt spins on CAMP Radio. His show is called Aural Dogma. Tune in!
Matt has some words about his mix below.
I am increasingly grateful for Soundwave. I initially launched the show to help cope with the stress and isolation of the first months of the quarantine lockdown. I told myself that I would wrap the show up once the pandemic was reasonably under control: Soundwave would have severed its purpose. But the pandemic is not done with us. Over the last few months, I’ve seen more and more people who are frayed and exhausted. I’m a bit worn out myself, and Soundwave continues offering respite and delight. I hope you feel the same.
The Metallic Ratio by Eva Kierten
Before I go, I want to let you know that Other Forms of Consecrated Life (listen to their mix for Soundwave here) just released Eva Kierten’s new album, The Metallic Ratio. Kierten continues to gently plumb emotional depths.
Lately, I’ve been seeking out a variety of cleansing soundwaves in countless flavors. From the oddly contemporary sounds of “early” electronic group Syrinx, the the folksy-pivot of ex-Sneaker Pimps vocalist Kelli Ali, to the wonderfully weird Iasos. I find myself constantly visiting old favorites, as well. This mix is a snapshot in time of the tunes that spoke to me; working through me as I built it. I’ve added a few minor soundbytes to a couple of the tracks — I find the mixes with a personal touch that can tell a story to be the most successful.
Overall, I hope this mix acts as an inspiration for listeners to continue to seek out music in any genre; there is always something waiting to be heard.
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
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.
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
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.
Today’s guest deejays are Potsdam-based Brueder Selke, brothers Sebastian and Daniel Selke (CEEYS).
Over the years, I’ve gotten quite good at jotting down notes on how I meet people. But sometimes, I forget to capture that information, and in this case, I don’t recall how I met Sebastian and Daniel. If I had to guess, I believe I discovered them while perusing Bandcamp for new music.
CEEYS’s albums explore and combine experimental, minimalist, avant-garde, pop, jazz, ambient, and classical chamber music. I love all that stuff, and Sebastian and Daniel distill all those forms of music into a heady listening experience, something you can lose yourself in. I’ve had “Yes, Brick By Brick” on repeat for few hours, for example.
Their mix for today’s show was a surprise. I trusted they would craft a mix worth hearing, and while it captures their musical sensibilities, it also subverted my expectations. And the mix is dense. In the space of 40+ minutes, you’re going to hear music from 28 different artists.
Sebastian and Daniel have some words about their mix below.
Paleowolf’s Cenozoic album
Before I wrap things up, I want to mention that Paleowolf has released a new album, Cenozoic. Paleowolf continues to create music inspired by totems of prehistoric animals and describes Cenozoic as the spiritual successor to Megafauna Rituals. It’s impressive how much material Paleowolf has churned up within his self-created genre. Listen to the Soundwave Paleomix here.
Joins us next week when our guest deejay will be Roel Funcken.
See you then!
Brueder Selke (CEEYS)
For us, two brothers coming from beyond the Iron Curtain, the Wall, with a strikingly serene sense of modesty and humility, rooted in the daily improvisation to manage and resolve shortcomings during Communist-era GDR times and the later reunion of Germany, the most intrinsic part of being a musician is the encounter with like-minded friends and fellows.
The aim of this handpicked list of talent is to blend established and emerging artists from diverse genres and origins. Some even shared already the stage with us while others are invited to come over to our little filmtown Potsdam, in the future.
Thanks to Joseph, who gave us the opportunity to curate this cozy playlist.
Daniel and I met on Twitter over our shared appreciation of Paleowolf (listen to the Paleowolf mix on Soundwave here). I learned he is the host of Inter-Dimensional Music, a syndicated weekly community radio broadcast of “heavy mellow, kosmische slop, and void contemplation tactics.” After enjoying a couple of his shows, I invited Daniel to guest deejay on Soundwave.
What I love about Daniel’s mix is that his segues are so seamless that I often am unaware that he’s transitioned into another track. Granted, the music featured on Soundwave lends itself to those kinds of segues, but Daniel is particularly deft at it.
The other remarkable thing about Daniel’s mix, for me at least, is that he selected songs that feel very familiar to me. Except that I’ve never heard them before. They feel intimate and worn in.
Finally, Daniel’s mix took me on a sonic and emotional journey. I’d get lost in his mix. When it ended, I was satisfied but would have been just as happy to have it continue indefinitely.
Before I wrap up today’s show notes, there a couple of things I want to mention.
My second Moderna vaccination.
Monday I got my second dose of the Moderna vaccination. I was prepared for the worst: a very sore arm, chills, fevers, body aches, etc. I experienced none of that. I did sleep for over 24 hours, though.
Hans-Joachim Roedelis
Michael Donaldson was inspired by mix from Krautrock legend Hans-Joachim Roedelius to write a post on Roedelius’s musical career on his blog. It’s a good overview of Roedelius, so please read it if you’d like to learn more about the man.
Back to Beyond and Cycle
Guest deejay protoU has released a new album, Back to Beyond with Alphaxone. Listen to protoU’s mix for Soundwave here. Rhucle, who has also guest deejayed on Soundwave, has released his new album, Cycle. Both albums are fantastic and unique to each artist.
Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Mauricio Sotelo, AKA Haiteku.
See you then!
Daniel Chamberlin
Here’s an hour of heavy mellow meditation.
Cosmic Chambo presents a heavy mellow ritual soundtrack for meditation, yoga, and other mindfulness practices in the service of transcending false binaries and dismantling white supremacy. Listen for hypnotic choral music, metal-informed jazz drone, heavyweight ambient dub, and organic industrial rhythms.
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.
Today’s guest deejay is Axel Arturo Barceló, who I met while interviewing him for solipsistic NATION about his netlabel, Discos Konfort. I enjoyed talking to Axel about his label and dug the music from his roster of artists that he was one of the first people I contacted when I started asking folks to guest deejay on SOUNDWAVE. I know you’re going to live his mix!
Axel Arturo Barceló
This is another one of those entries that I have to keep short because I have friends from out of town that I’m about to meet up with for dinner. A few things before I go…
A few weeks ago I saw a photo of apocalyptic skies due to the fires in NorCal that Robert Rich posted on Facebook. When I discovered that he and I lived in the same area I said we should hang out, and so we did. Robert is just a nice and thoughtful as you’d imagine. We was also generous and gave me a copy his latest CD, Offering to the Morning Fog. So cool to finally meet the guy whose music I’ve been listening to since last century. Check out Robert’s mix for SOUNDWAVE here.
Joseph Aleo and Robert Rich
This week I’ve been enjoying W. David Oliphant’s new album, Beyond All Defects: 2020, that he recorded with Sir Richard Bishop. Actually, I don’t know if enjoying is the right word. More like experiencing it. Oliphant’s music is haunting and that doesn’t even begin to capture the depth of his music. Look, just listen to the damn album and hear for yourself. Or listen to Oliphant’s mix for SOUNDWAVE.
Okay, that’s it. I got a flex. Join us next week when our guest deejay will be protoU.
