Tag: soundtrack

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SOUNDWAVE : 40 : FITZ GITLER

SOUNDWAVE : 40 : FITZ GITLER

Today’s guest deejay is Fitz Gitler, and he has a beautiful mix to ease us into 2021.

I met Fitz when I asked Jason Randall Smith (listen to Jason’s mix here) who he knew would be interested in sharing a mix on SOUNDWAVE. Jason did not steer me wrong. Fitz is a musician, deejay, and designs sounds for theatrical productions, many of those in collaboration with director Tim Lee. He also creates under the name Techniken Defunkus or Techdef.

I’m particularly fond of this mix because it was the perfect soundtrack for an eight-hour wintery drive to Sacramento last week. Fitz’s mix had my tapping out rhythms on my steering wheel and grooving in my seat. Don’t be lulled by some of the jazz standards because there are plenty of surprises. More than once, I found myself scrambling to purchase albums featured on Fitz’s mix. As I write this I’m listening to Dan Tepfer’s album, Goldberg Variations​/​Variations, which is a delight.

If you love Fitz’s mix, and you will, check out his music on Bandcamp or his sets on Mixcloud.

Fitz has some words about his mix below.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Pavlo Storonsky AKA Tineidae.

See you then!

Fitz Gitler
Fitz Gitler
Photo credit: Cyndi Shattuck

Twenty years ago, I met Jason Randall Smith behind the decks in a tiny bar in New York’s East Village, and music forged our friendship. I’m honored to be in his company and the full cast of mixes that Joseph has artfully assembled.

Jason and I were thrown together by our friend, EL Soundscraper, who I’ve known since junior high, but fortuitously reconnected with because of our shared love of music. Enrique (Soundscraper) called my tracks meditation music—not the sound, but because of how it functioned for me. This mix I created for SOUNDWAVE does that; it’s a sort of spirit guide through the insomniac thoughts of the small hours, and a kind of requiem too. This year has had no shortage of tragedy; there’s enough to go around.

I already loved music in college, but then I met Bill Hileman, aka Ronin Tengu, aka DJ Payce, aka Gandalf Punk. He gave me his world: hip hop, techno, ambient, jungle, acid jazz, funk, plenty of mischief, and more. He passed last month, too young, taken by cancer, not COVID. Bill is with me in every mix, laughing and needling me to keep searching. Too few experienced his true wealth of knowledge and love, but he influenced many, and his spirit lives on in his musical descendants.

It falls somewhere among the worlds of jazz and electronic music, but really it’s a sound design of sorts. I’m still exploring the loose idea “free-format” that I first witnessed in the middle of the night on college radio in the early ‘90s.

  1. Techniken Defunkus “Pre-show for That Time”
  2. Teebs “The Endless”
  3. Colin Alexander “Bells and Strings”
  4. Tom Richards “Minor Breach”
  5. LV feat. Tigran Hamasyan “Hammers and Roses”
  6. Techniken Defunkus  “Ash Girl Post & Almost Nothing”
  7. The Art Of Noise “Robinson Crusoe (downshift)”
  8. Gabriella Swallow “Linear Construction (No. 5)”
  9. Johnny Mbizo Dyani “Afrikan blues (excerpt)”
  10. Aaron Novik  “Ballroom of Lost Faith-Lost Dignity-LostSoul”
  11. Rahsaan Roland Kirk “Haunted Feelings”
  12. David Boykin Reads Sun Ra “The Space Age Cannot Be Avoided”
  13. Buddy Peace “Day 138 – Been Glorious”
  14. Jean Grae “BITS part 2 – The Fear”
  15. Angel Bat Dawid “Transition East”
  16. Daniel Carter, Brad Farberman, Billy Martin “I Guess Everything Is Happening As It Should”
  17. Ill Considered “Retreat”
  18. Coleman Hawkins “Hawk’s Variations, Part 1”
  19. Dodo Marmarosa “Bopmatism”
  20. Ahmad Jamal “Ahmad’s Blues”
  21. Roy Eldridge “Echoes of Harlem”
  22. Dan Tepfer “Improvisation 12 / obsessive”

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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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SOUNDWAVE : 37 : CHRISTIAN SAGER

SOUNDWAVE : 37 : CHRISTIAN SAGER

Today’s guest deejay is Christian Sager, co-host Supercontext, a podcast autopsy of media: how we consume it and how it informs our everyday culture.

Christian Sager
Christian Sager

I loved Supercontext. It felt like a podcast that was produced exclusively for me. For example, some of the topics they covered have been the anime Akira, Roy Scranton’s book, Learning to Die in the Anthropocene: Reflections on the End of a Civilization and Bruce Sterling’s state of the world address at SXSW 2016. All those things are in my nerd wheelhouse. Even the shows that discussed topics I knew nothing about were gems.

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
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
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.

Harrold Budd
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.

See you then!

  1. Aspects of Physics “Level 3”
  2. Battles “Tonto”
  3. Atomsmasher “Thunderspit”
  4. Sannhet “Invisible Wounds”
  5. DJ/rupture “A04 Untitled from ‘Nubus’”
  6. Run The Jewels “Don't Get Captured (Instrumental)”
  7. MONO “After You Comes the Flood”
  8. Thrones “Ephraim”
  9. Russian Circles “309”
  10. Sunn O))) & Boris “Akuma No Kuma”
  11. OXES “Bees Won”
  12. The Fucking Champs “What's A Little Reign?”
  13. Orthrelm “rdd 1+2”
  14. Heilung “Norupo”
  15. Earth “Crooked Axis for String Quartet”

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SOUNDWAVE : 35 : MELORMAN

SOUNDWAVE : 35 : MELORMAN

On today’s show our guest deejay is Melorman.

Antonis Haniotakis is Melorman and he comes to us through Stratos Pilos. Stratos works for Inner-Ear and SDM Records, two of the most active independent labels in Greece, and contacted my way back in August about featuring music from those labels on solipsistic NATION, my defunct electronic music podcast. I suggested that an artist from his roster guest deejay and here we are with today’s show.

Melorman’s mix is short and sweet and will take you through an emotional journey. It’s been the soundtrack to my Thanksgiving week and I know you’re going to love it. I hope to have Melorman on SOUNDWAVE with another mix in 2021.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Joel Shearer.

See you then!

Melorman
Melorman

Melorman is the alias of Greek electronic producer Antonis Chaniotakis. For over 20 years, the Athens-based artist has been making electronic music, ranging in musical style from emotional and ambient electronica to experimental and glitch.

His sound is instantly recognizable, and his music is often described as warm and commanding, seeking to inspire nostalgia and create an emotional imagery through sound. The melodies are aerial and fluffy, often changing frequently. Melorman attempts to reach and capture the ultimate feeling and embodiment that melody has on the human emotional state.

He has released music on various labels such as Sun Sea Sky Productions, SymbolicInteraction, Archaic Horizon, Summer Rain Recordings, Shima Records, IVDT, CCT Records, Sixteen Steps Records, and Envizagae Records.

  1. Aiora “Cinnamon”
  2. Melorman “Eliquis”
  3. Hidden Orchestra “Palace End”
  4. naono “Untitled Merrow”
  5. Purl “Seraphine Tears”
  6. Porya Hatami “Fen (Segue Remix)”
  7. Illuvia “Summer Cloud”

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SOUNDWAVE : 32 : DANIEL MCCAGH

SOUNDWAVE : 32: DANIEL MCCAGH

Today on SOUNDWAVE our guest deejay is n5MD recording artist, Daniel McCagh. I’ll talk about Daniel’s mix shortly but first let me tell you about the election that just took place in the U.S.

As I write this Joe Biden has been declared the president-elect of the United States. The vice president-elect is Kamala Harris is the first Indian-American, the first African-American, and the first female vice president in U.S. history. It is so long overdue that someone like Harris becomes a vice president that it took a while for me to recognize the significance of this accomplishment. This should have been the norm a very long time ago. Of course a woman should be a vice president. Of course a woman of color should be vice president. There shouldn’t be anything remarkable about this at all. But here we are at long last.

Here in San Diego the mood is ebullient. There are motorcades, the honking of horns and cheering. You can feel the difference; the joy and the relief. After four years of mendacity, racism, cruelty and incompetence we are ready for a change.

SOUNDWAVE was created as a coping mechanism to the isolation and stress of COVID-19. President Trump and his administration bungled the management of the crisis of COVID-19 so badly that they contributed to the spread of the virus. So badly, in fact, that the Trump administration effectively gave up. I can only hope that Biden’s administration will reign in the virus and accelerate a cure. As Americans we need to get back to our lives and loved ones and we need an economy that will work for everyone.

I’m not naive. I know this presidency will disappoint and outrage me as all other presidencies have in the past. But at least it will be a normal disappointment and outrage and not that nauseating horror show I’ve had to endure for the last four years.

Let’s take a break from politics.

Planet Boelex's new album, Connect
Planet Boelex’s new album, Connect

Planet Boelex is a previous guest deejay on SOUNDWAVE and he has just released and new album called Connect. It’s about as beautiful as you’d expect and you can find it on Bandcamp for the very affordable price of $7.

Want more of Planet Boelex? You can listen to his mix for SOUNDWAVE here or listen to his live set for solipsistic NATION here.

Daniel McCagh
Daniel McCagh

Okay, let’s talk about our guest deejay, Daniel McCagh.

Daniel describes his mix as a collection of some favourite tunes both beautiful and sometimes uncomfortable for deep and immersive listening. It’s the kind of soundscape that’s perfect for the rare rainy day we’re having this weekend in San Diego. After you are done listening to Daniel’s mix you will know that you have just experienced something profound and that you will need time to process it.

Daniel’s mix comes to us by way of Mike Cadoo, the founder of n5MD. I interviewed Mike and featured music from his label on solipsistic NATION some years ago. When I launched SOUNDWAVE I reached out to Mike to do a mix for a show. Mike was busy at the time but suggested that Daniel put together a mix for SOUNDWAVE. Great idea, Mike. Oh, and I still want you to do a mix of your own when time permits.

Daniel McCagh is an electronic music producer and sound artist currently residing in Melbourne, Australia. Daniel uses acoustic instruments and digital manipulation to create powerful emotive and cinematic music. Daniel is also the sole composer and sound designer behind Gutterbox Audio, having composed music and designed sound for global companies such as Polestar, Huawei, Acura and Volkswagen.

You’re in good hands. Enjoy today’s mix!

Join us next week when we’ll listen to a mix featuring Cryo Chamber recording artist Paleowolf.

See you then!

  1. Proem “As They Go”
  2. Roly Porter “Known Space”
  3. Abul Mogard “Flooding Tide”
  4. Yair Elazar Glotman & Mats Erlandsson “Procession”
  5. Deru “Undertow”
  6. Martin Stig Andersen “City”
  7. Tim Hecker “In The Fog”

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SOUNDWAVE : 29 : protoU

Today’s guest deejay is Sasha, AKA, protoU!

A few months ago Dronny Darko came on the show with a killer mix. As usually, I asked Dronny who he knew personally who would be interested in sharing a mix of their own for SOUNDWAVE and Dronny recommended protoU. It’s a dark and mysterious that’s both ethereal and earthy. Sasha’s mix resonates with me because it is reminiscent of the first two albums that introduced me to ambient music, Brian Eno’s Ambient 4: On Land and Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks. Sasha’s mix also include’s Hivetribe’s “Uthernno”, which features one of my favorite recording of a 1950s housewife trying to describe a LSD experience.

You will not be disappointed with Sasha’s mix. I’ve had her mix on repeat for weeks and I still find something new in it.

In other news, this tiny show dedicated to niche genres of music that I launched to help cope with the stress of COVID-19 is growing ever so slightly, which is gratifying.

I don’t do much to promote SOUNDWAVE because it’s not that kind of show. It really is a form of therapy and I’m touched by every guest deejay’s generosity. I’m also moved that you, dear listener, take time out of your no doubt busy week to experience the mixes offered on this show. Maybe it’s time to share this show with more people. If you know of someone that you think would enjoy SOUNDWAVE, grab their phone and subscribe them to the podcast.

Join us again next week when our guest deejay will be… let me check my schedule… me!

protoU
protoU

  1. Alphaxone & protoU “Consumed”
  2. protoU “Transparent Clusters”
  3. protoU “Unreal Symbols”
  4. protoU “Dai Robsa Preah”
  5. Dronny Darko & protoU “Riparian Forest [300 million years ago]”
  6. Dronny Darko & protoU “Everything”
  7. Untitledcloud “Waves”
  8. Untitledcloud “Abstractions”
  9. Hivetribe “Herbquake”
  10. Hivetribe “Uthernno”

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SOUNDWAVE : 27 : JONATHAN AMMONS

SOUNDWAVE : 27

Today’s guest deejay is Jonathan Ammons, a journalist, radio producer, and musician living in Asheville, North Carolina. You can find his music on Bandcamp and listen to his radio show from WPVM and Pacifica Radio Network at the Dirty Spoon.

Jonathan is yet another amazing person I was introduced to through my old friend, Steve Howard (listen to Steven’s SOUNDWAVE mix here). Meeting Jonathan is one of the unexpected pleasures in the evolution of SOUNDWAVE.

I launched SOUNDWAVE to help cope with the stress of the pandemic. In the first few months of COVID-19 it seemed that stepping outside your house might kill you. If that wasn’t terrifying enough, my family was scattered about the country so for a long time it was just me and my dog. That took a toll on me and my usual distractions, music, reading and television, could not hold my interest at all. In fact, they annoyed me or angered me. The only thing that provided any comfort was ambient, classical, experimental and instrumental music. I reasoned that if that music was giving me solace it might help others as well so I launched SOUNDWAVE. Very soon afterwards I decided to invite the talented people I know who might enjoy or, more importantly, need to share a mix of their own. And that very quickly led to asking my friends who they knew personally who might want to participate in the show. That decision introduced me to such wonderful people as Adrian Utley, Hannah Peel, Charles Hazlewood and Jonathan.

I don’t really know Jonathan, though. We’ve just had a few email exchanges arranging today’s show but through his mix I feel I know him more intimately than I might know him through a dozen conversations. That’s all projection, of course, but that is the power of music. It bypasses the rational and hits on emotional truths, which is why I launched SOUNDWAVE in the first place.

Jonathan has some words about today’s mix below.

Join us again next week when our guest deejay will be Axel Arturo Barceló.

See you then!

 

Jonathan Ammons
Jonathan Ammons

Back in 2016 there were a series of forest fires that broke out throughout Western North Carolina, surrounding my home in Asheville. The air was thick with smoke, and a perpetual haze fell over everything. It just so happened that it fell right on the heels of a devastating national election, and for a moment, it truly felt like the whole world was on fire. 

I had just started spending time with a very lovely lady, and I asked her one night if she’d like to go watch the mountains burn.So I threw some camping chairs in the truck, grabbed a camera and a bottle of Champagne, and we headed out to the center of the fires. 

There’s a strange feeling when you sit and watch your home burn to the ground. Halloween orange glowing from every hilltop, brick red clouds in the night sky. Knowing that everything would grow back eventually, but that the sights you grew up seeing would be permanently scarred. The world would be better, maybe even healthier than it was before, but it would take a lot of ash and rubble to get there.

I started making my first ambient LP — First Sight — during those fires. At the time, my office was on my screened in porch, and I could sit while I composed and watch ash fall from the sky. I like to think that much of my approach to the way I currently make music came from that experience. 

I remember calling a friend one day, and saying, “you know how I’ve been complaining a lot about that knot in my stomach that wouldn’t go away? I think I finally figured out what that is. I think it’s despair. I just think it’s the first time I’ve ever felt it. Ithink I just didn’t realize it because it doesn’t feels as hopeless as I would have thought.”

From that point on, I was able to see the fragile, delicate things that fall apart, and not feel the overwhelming sense of loss I had initially felt. Instead, I understood it to be a burning of the dross, a disposal of things that were unnecessary. When a fire burns, after all, it makes way for far better things than grew there before. Sometimes you just have to let it burn.

I like to think of this mix as songs from the fire. Pieces of music that are as devastating as they are restorative. A little hazy, a little bleary, but beautiful in their own right. There are three original compositions in the mix, the first and last are from an as of yet unreleased record (this is actually their debut). The other, “Open Eyes”, is from my new album First Sight. The rest of the mix runs a gamut between crumbling organic sounds and stark synthesis. Ian William Craig actually wrote his new and beautiful record while also being surrounded by forest fires, Goldmund delivers gorgeous ambient versions of old Civil War era songs, and Oliver Patrice Weder delivers the most thoughtful, pensive piano performance… music to watch the world end. My favorite kind.

  1. Jonathan Ammons “Wishful Thinking”
  2. Tim Hecker “Chimeras”
  3. Wojciech Golczewski “Abner’s Wake”
  4. Jonathan Ammons “Open Eyes”
  5. Ben Goldberg “Demonic Possession is 9/10ths the Law”
  6. Oliver Patrice Weder “Sol’s Lullaby”
  7. Ian William Craig “Mountains Astray”
  8. Goldmund “The Flag of Columbia Shall Float O’er Us Still”
  9. Villages “Life Expectancy” 
  10. Jonathan Ammons “Dead Leaves”

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SOUNDWAVE : 12 : JAIME IRLES

SOUNDWAVE : 12

It’s late and its been a long week so I’m going to keep this short.

The only thing I can think off the top of my head that’s COVID-19 related is that supposedly a bunch of teenagers on Tik Tok punked President Trump earlier today by reserving tickets for his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was supposed to pack a stadium full of supporters but instead it was barely half full. Was it teens that did this, though? At this point I wouldn’t be surprised if it was pulled of by Russian or Chinese hackers. In any case, whoever did it, well done. That means half as many people might get infected with the virus. Reading Trump’s rage tweets is going to be something.

Our guest deejay for today’s show is Jaime Irles.

Jaime was one half of Known Rebel, an electronic music duo from Ibiza. I very much wanted them to interview them for my electronic music show, solipsistic NATION but it never happened. I always regretted missing that opportunity so when I launched SOUNDWAVE Jaime was one of the first group of people I contacted to participate on the show.

Jaime was kind enough to send me this mix we’re going to listen to on today’s SOUNDWAVE. It’s spectacular and ranges from Burial to Ryuichi Sakamoto and I know you’re going to love it.

Jamie’s going to tell us all about his mix below but before I go I encourage you to pick up his latest album, Cardonova. I was expecting sometime more in the style of what he was recording when he was in Know Rebel but I was delightfully surprised to hear the new horizons he’s exploring. It’s got more of an 80s synthwave kind of sound. Go get it, its only a few a few dollars. The price of a cup of coffee, as they say. And while you’re at it, if you dig any of the the songs you hear on today’s show, go buy them too. Sure, you could stream it, but then the artists only get the tiniest fraction of a penny. They deserve more than that. Splurge and buy one of their songs. Better yet, buy an entire album.

Next week’s guest deejay is Tijs Ham. See you then!

 

Jaime Irles
Jaime Irles

The set I have recorded is a mix of organic soundscapes, melancholic melodies, textures and darkambient sounds with a strong cinematic touch.

Burial has been one of my musical referents for years and wanted tostart the set with one of his latests works. “State Forest” is full of gloomy ambient textures and foggy atmospheres.

Lorn is one of the usual artists on my spotify lists, this specific subject takes me straight to an imaginary cyberpunk movie.

I came across A Winged Victory For The Sullen’s “Retour au Champ-de-Mars” a while ago looking for movie soundtracks. I haven’t had the chance to see the French movie In the Shadow of Iris, but the soundtrack is just as beautiful as it is powerful.

“Encounter Me In The Orchard” is a relatively new track from Polish producer Jacaszek. I love the mix of reverb drenched melodies and sonic textures on thisone.

Lauge and Matt Tondut’s “Above the Clouds” is ambient music at it’s finest, melancholic soundscapes that keep the cinematic vibes of the set.

Nicolas Winding Refn is one of my favorite directors and Too Old To Die young one of the best series I’ve seen lately. Watching the show is like being in an art gallery, watching one beautiful moving painting after another and as an accompaniment to that visual work of art, the music of Cliff Martínez with one of his most outstanding works. “I’m Hunting” is the best fit on set but could have used any of them.

The “Annihilation” end-scene wouldn’t have been this impressive if not for this amazing piece of dark ambient. Not the typical Moderat song but I wish they would do more music on this direction.

Lorn again, not much to comment on, I just love “SILHOUETTE “ and his haunting landscapes of sounds.

With Ryuichi Sakamoto and Oneohtrix Point Never’s Rework you can’t go wrong. Daniel Lopatin is one of my main influences and this trackis a clear example of why. A beautiful piece of art.

“Naval” is the last track of from my Cardonova EP I released in April. The album is an eclectic mixture of downtempo, synthwave, and dark ambient sounds reminiscent of past decades,evoking soundscapes and leading the listener through a journeythrough the depths of oneself. I named the track in honor of Naval Ravikant, an Indian American entrepreneur and investor that really inspires me.

  1. Burial “State Forest”
  2. Lorn “Feed The Dogs For Me”
  3. A Winged Victory For The Sullen “Retour au Champ-de-Mars”
  4. Jacaszek “Encounter Me In The Orchard”
  5. Lauge & Matt Tondut “Above the Clouds”
  6. Cliff Martinez “I’m Hunting”
  7. Moderat “The Mark (Interlude)”
  8. Lorn “SILHOUETTE”
  9. Ryuichi Sakamoto “andata (Oneohtrix Point Never Remix)”
  10. Jaime Irles “Naval”

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SOUNDWAVE : 10 : PLANET BOELEX

SOUNDWAVE : 10

Well, that was a week.

Protests blazed across the US, sparked by the killing of George Floyd, from the kindling of over 150 years of police brutality, systemic racism and hundreds of years of slavery. I watched police cars run into protesters. I watched police officers beat and shoot peaceful protesters. I watched protesters raze property, sometimes from their own communities. I’ve even watched a man armed with a bow with an arrow notched aiming it at protesters who quickly took him down.

It is nauseating.

It makes me ill that it’s come to this. I want to hope that out of all this anger, suffering and pain that some good will come of it. But I don’t think my country is ready to have an honest conversation about race that might lead to the healing that this nation so desperately needs.

I’m fried. Once again this show is a balm and a welcome distraction, brief as it is.

Our guest deejay on today’s SOUNDWAVE is Planet Boelex.

I met Planet Boelex through Travis Nobles of hiddenplace music. He suggested that I feature one of Planet Boelex’s live sets on solipsistic NATION, the electronic music show I produced. Planet Boelex’s sound music is impressive because aside from being beautiful it was also distinct. His personality is imprinted onto his music. Electronic music often sound anonymous because some musicians use stock sounds and loops. When you hear a song by Planet Boelex you know it.

I hope today’s show gives you some respite.

Next week’s guest deejay is Dronny Darko. I hope were all in a better place by then.

I’ll leave you with two quotes.

“I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.”

— James Baldwin

“One is responsible to life. It is the small beacon in that terrifying darkness from which we come and to which we return. One must negotiate this passage as nobly as possible, for the sake of those who are coming after us.”

—James Baldwin

  1. Snorri Hallgrimsson “Chasing The Present”
  2. Digitonal “Autumn Round (Planet Boelex remix)”
  3. Mikael Fyrek “Bau”
  4. Data Rebel “Collisions”
  5. Mosaik “Heart Racer ft. Maria Seger”
  6. Krister Linder “Other Skies”

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Logo by Rik Oostenbroek

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SOUNDWAVE : 5 : VINCE MILLETT

SOUNDWAVE : 5

I’m writing the show notes you’re reading from my backyard. Vince Millett’s mix, today’s guest deejay, plays in the background. The sun is out, the sky is blue, birds are chirping and my dog is smelling a flower. It is an idyllic day. Except that it’s week seven of California’s safe at home. COVID-19 has completely disrupted civilization and we’ll feel the aftershocks for years, if not decades, to come. So, yeah except for that, I’m having a fantastic day.

Today’s mix, by the way, is spectacular.

Opening the show to guest deejays has been a great idea because it’s really exposed me to so many musicians I’ve never heard before. I was counting on Vince to turn me on to some great stuff and his mix does not disappoint. It is exactly why he was one of the first people I asked to guest deejay on SOUNDWAVE.

I met Vince eight years ago on Twitter. I was impressed with his netlabel, Broken Drum Records, and his podcast, Secret Archives of the Vatican, and invited him to be a guest deejay for solipsistic NATION, my electronic music podcast. You’ll want to listen to that episode as soon as you’re done with today’s show. Vince’s taste in music leans towards the Asian and Middle Eastern and that is reflected in today’s mix. Each song is a gem. Dhafer Youssef’s “Dawn Prayer,” for example, is gut wrenchingly beautiful

Vince will talk about his musical selections below but before I go, I want to thank everyone who has sent the mixes you will hear in the upcoming months.

In just a few short weeks I’ve received a lot of mixes for SOUNDWAVE from some amazing guest deejays. It’s humbling how everyone were so quick to respond to my requests and their generosity of their time.

Last week’s show featured a gorgeous mix by Steven Howard. Next week’s guest deejay is James Curcio and his mix was inspired by the three years he spent writing and researching for his book, MASKS: Bowie & Artists of Artifice, and is a meditation on mortality, futility, transience, being lost in the simulacra and isolation during the coronavirus.

See you then.

 

Vince Millett
Vince Millett

We open with “Kemancheh” by Moving Ninja. Some years back when I was first discovering dubstep, the folk music of my hometown Croydon, I was surprised to find tracks like this that were far away from the dancefloor and had some middle eastern influences. Genre labels can be so limiting and misleading.

We then move into one of my own, “Outremer” by Thousand Yard Prayer. This is built upon a simple Viola Da Gamba line playing an Arabian musical scale with some medieval frame drums, a Persian ney flute and some subtle Croydon post-dubstep bass wobble adding to the low end.

Tunisian born oud player and vocalist Dhafer Youssef then leads us into the exquisite “Dawn Prayer.” His music gets marketed as jazz but I’m not convinced. It is unique. Listen to that voice!

Next we head towards the world of film soundtracks with “Eastern Path” by Vangelis from the film Alexander. The duduk is one of the most expressive and melancholy instruments on the planet.

We continue to head east with “Battle Remembered” by Yo Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble. I’m not a huge fan of western classical music but I love to hear musicians from that world working with highly skilled musicians from other traditions.

Bassist Jonas Hellborg recorded “Suriya” live in Aleppo in 1996. The whole album, Aram of the Two Rivers, is beautiful and is another example of superb musicians from disparate traditions creating something transcendent.

I finish this mix with my favourite piece of medieval music, “Palästinalied,” here played by Kalenda Maya from their album Pilegrimreiser. I have a Spotify playlist with 42 versions of this tune, all sounding different. This is a particularly chilled rendition.

  1. Moving Ninja “Kemancheh”
  2. Thousand Yard Prayer “Outremer”
  3. Dhafer Youssef “Dawn Prayer”
  4. Vangelis “Eastern Path”
  5. Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Ensemble “Battle Remembered”
  6. Jonas Hellborg “Suriya”
  7. Kalenda Maya “Palästinalied”

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Logo by Rik Oostenbroek