As I write this we\u2019re driving to Arizona to pick up our daughter who we haven\u2019t seen her in over seven months.<\/p>\n\n
Before the self-quarantine in California began we took our kids to stay with their bio-dad and his partner. We didn't know how the virus was going to play out and my wife was certain she was going to be summoned for duty and I was going to work from home. Having them with their dad and his girlfriend was our best option.<\/p>\n\n
We picked up our boy from Arizona a few months ago and by the end of the day all our family will finally be under the same roof again.<\/p>\n\n
So here we are in the car and we\u2019re listening to today\u2019s mix. That\u2019s my wife's idea, which is very flattering. Ambient and experimental music isn\u2019t her thing.<\/p>\n\n
This mix is very special to me.<\/p>\n\n
I launched SOUNDWAVE to help cope with the stress and isolation of being under self-quarantine due to COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n
We\u2019ve been living with the Corona virus for over half a year now so it\u2019s easy to forget that the during the early days of the self-quarantine we were all white knuckling it. We were all asking ourselves how long this would go on, what can we do to protect ourselves, and will we or our family members or friends die from the virus?<\/p>\n\n
I don\u2019t know about you but during that time I found it difficult to focus on anything outside of work, and work was a blessed distraction. My television could barely hold my attention and I\u2019d turn it off in frustration. I found myself unable to read books and would read the same paragraphs over and over again. And I discovered that music no longer spoke to the truth of my new reality. Love songs in particular seemed inane. The only music I could listen to was ambient, classical, experimental and instrumental where there were no lyrics and I could infer or impart my own meeting. And if that was the only music that gave me solace then surely others needed it to, so why not share it?<\/p>\n\n
Shortly after launching SOUNDWAVE I invited folks I knew to guest deejay on the show. I was overwhelmed by the responses so I sat on today\u2019s mix until the right time. <\/p>\n\n
So here we are. Finally.<\/p>\n\n
The first track on today\u2019s mix comes from Dronny Darko\u2019s latest album, Origin<\/a><\/em>. The entire album is fantastic and I was so impressed that I invited Dronny to be a guest deejay<\/a> on SOUNDWAVE. Dronny Darko is on the roster of artist on the Cryo Chamber label<\/a>, as is our next artist, Sabled Sun<\/a>, which is Simon Heath, the founder Cryo Chamber. And from Sabled Sun we segue into Multicast Dynamics<\/a>. Samuel van Dijk is the man behind Multicast Dynamics and today\u2019s track comes form his fifth album, Lost World<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n All of these songs seamlessly blend into each other until we fade into Ecker & Meulyzer<\/a>, who I discovered n the Bandcamp Daily blog<\/a>. Wonderful, spooky stuff full of powerful rhythms and raw swaths of sounds.<\/p>\n\n From there we hear a piece by West Dylan Thorsdon<\/a> from the Split<\/a><\/em> soundtrack. That man can do a lot with just a bow and a cello that\u2019ll raise the hair on the back of your neck.<\/p>\n\n Our next song is from the Devs<\/a><\/em> soundtrack by Ben Salisbury<\/a> and Geoff Barrow<\/a>. If you haven\u2019t watched Devs<\/em>, please do so. It\u2019s written and directed by Alex Garland<\/a> and I think it\u2019s Alex working in peak form. And Ben and Geoff\u2019s music elevate Devs<\/em> into sublimity. Oh, and Geoff is also a member of Portishead<\/a> and you should definitely listen to his bandmate, Adrian Utley<\/a>, mix for SOUNDWAVE<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n We end today\u2019s show with a piece by Those Who Walk Away<\/a> from composer Matthew Patton\u2019s album, The Infected Mass<\/em>. It\u2019s a mournful song for a mournful show. Patton\u2019s piece is accompanied By some words by Peter Wessel Zapffe<\/a> from his book, The Last Messiah<\/em>. Prior to the pandemic I was knee deep in the nihilism of Thomas Ligotti<\/a> and Emil Ciordan<\/a> and Zapffe\u2019s name kept popping up so naturally I had to read his stuff. Being steeped in nihilism isn\u2019t the healthiest frame of mind to be in during the self-quarantine so I exorcised it with today\u2019s mix.<\/p>\n\n I love this mix and I\u2019m happy to finally share it with you after listening it to it weekly for the six months. It\u2019s also something of a relief because today\u2019s mix is also a touchstone to very unhappy time in my life and I\u2019m glad to finally let go of it.<\/p>\n\n Join us again next week when our guest deejay will be E & S from one of my favorite labels, Other Forms of Consecrated Life<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n See you then!<\/p>\n\n