{"id":3751,"date":"2021-03-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-14T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/josephaleo.com\/blog\/?p=3751"},"modified":"2021-06-27T00:56:22","modified_gmt":"2021-06-27T07:56:22","slug":"soundwave-50-emil-zapffe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/josephaleo.com\/blog\/soundwave-50-emil-zapffe\/","title":{"rendered":"SOUNDWAVE : 50 : EMIL ZAPFFE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today\u2019s guest deejay is Jo\u00e3o Guimar\u00e3es, AKA Emil Zapffe<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

If you\u2019ve been listening to SOUNDWAVE for the last few weeks, then it will come as no surprise that I discovered Jo\u00e3o on Bandcamp<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

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 Jo\u00e3o\u2019s case, it\u2019s grand in scope. If you want to experience it yourself, go to Jo\u00e3o\u2019s 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\u2019ve been warned.<\/p>\n\n

But if you\u2019re expecting that kind of experience on today\u2019s show, then you\u2019ll be just as surprised as I was. Jo\u00e3o\u2019s mix covers quite the gamut. Yes, there is that big sound, but it\u2019s also delicate, mournful, and lovely. It\u2019s precisely the kind of mix I\u2019d share with people I have to explain the depth and complexity ambient music offers.<\/p>\n\n

Oh, and I also appreciate that Jo\u00e3o and I appreciate Peter Wessel Zapffe<\/a>\u2019s nihilist essay, \u201cThe Last Messiah\u201d<\/a> (listen to an excerpt from the essay on my October 2020 mix<\/a>). I usually embrace Nietzche\u2019s existential exuberance, but it\u2019s easy to waffle and settle into existential dread, something Zapffe (Peter Wessel, not<\/em> Emil) explores in his essay. As long as I don\u2019t fall into Emil Cioran<\/a>\u2019s existential disgust, I guess I\u2019m doing okay.<\/p>\n\n

Jo\u00e3o has some words regarding his mix below.<\/p>\n\n

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\u2019ve 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\u2019t 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\u2019m relieved that we\u2019re about to turn the corner.<\/p>\n\n

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Rhucle<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

See you then!<\/p>\n\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

\"Jo\u00e3o
Jo\u00e3o Guimar\u00e3es, AKA Emil Zapffe<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n

Thanks to Joseph Aleo for this invitation, it\u2019s an honor.<\/p>\n\n