Hearts of Space Promo Podcast

Trick question: Before recordings, before electronics, even before history, what was the original form of ambient music? Here’s a hint: it’s not what we normally call music, but it has a lot in common with music.

​The answer is the natural soundscape: a combination of the geophony—non-biological natural sounds like wind, waves, water, and weather, and the biophony—the sounds produced by all the non-human organisms in a given habitat.

​Documenting the natural soundscape has been the life work of “soundscape ecologist” BERNIE KRAUSE, who’s been recording and archiving natural soundscapes from around the world since 1979. Our 3-D sound localization ability is based on the evolutionary advantage of being able to identify the location, direction, and distance of ambient sounds—and it’s this sensibility we use when we listen to ambient music.

On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, the magical combination of ambient nature sounds and ambient music...on a program called WILD SANCTUARY.

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The heavenly spectacle is never more brilliant than during the cold winter months. On those glorious crystal clear nights, the chilled fog, freezing rain and snow is forgotten, and we look out to the stars and look back into time itself. It's a vision that can truly be said to have a timeless fascination: if not for its beauty, then for its mystery.

The starry night is the subject of a powerful song by DON McLEAN, which is not about stars and planets at all, but the life — and death — of Vincent Van Gogh:

They could not love you,
But still your love was true.
And when no hope was left in sight
On that starry, starry night,
You took your life, as lovers often do.
But I could have told you, Vincent,
This world was never meant for one
As beautiful as you.

On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, acoustic and electronic music inspired by the night sky and the quiet melancholy of the winter atmosphere, on a program called STARRY NIGHT. Music is by MURIEL ANDERSON & JOHN DOAN, CAROL TATUM, CECILIA CHAILLY, JEFF GREINKE, and TIM STORY.

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Of all the seasons, fall is the one that comes with the most mixed emotions: relief at the return of moderate temperatures, pleasure at nature’s autumn color show, and a feeling of melancholy at the darkening of the light.

Technical interventions like Daylight Saving Time can’t hide the fact that the amount of daylight is decreasing. In the northern hemisphere, we’re counting down to the Winter Solstice—the shortest day of the year, around December 21st.

For ambient musicians, fall offers a darker palette, more somber harmonies, and a call to explore deeper feelings. On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, we descend into the dimming light of fall, on a program called AUTUMN TWILIGHT.

Music is by TOM EATON, BOB HOLROYD, SUBDREAM, DEEPSPACE, STEVE ROACH, and RUSSEL WALDER.

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If you've driven an electric car, you've experienced the feeling of smooth, silent power that conveys you almost effortlessly to your destination. Something similar happened to the venerable Spanish guitar when it got an electronic upgrade in the 20th century. In just a few years, a charming but limited folk instrument became a powerhouse — a vehicle for everything from heroic flights to subtle meditations.
On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we ride our favorite six string transporter to ethereal realms, on a program called 'TRANSLUCENT GUITARS 2' Music is by ERIK WØLLO, DAVID HELPLING, HAMMOCK, JOHN GREGORIUS, JEFF PEARCE, CLIVE WRIGHT & HAROLD BUDD, CHUCK JOHNSON, and TOM CAUFIELD.

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As we pass the winter solstice and begin the end of the year holidays, the sounds of the season take on a celebratory and spiritual air. In the far northern country of Norway, it's always a white Christmas, and the music strikes a balance between the somber isolation of the long Arctic nights, and the cheerful lights and rituals of the holiday season.
Northern European folk and classical music covers a wide range of emotion. In Norway, it's often plaintive and austere, yet full of intense feeling; a fusion of darkness and light — from joyful hymns and lovely wedding marches, to melancholy songs and solitary prayers. The resonant bite of the Hardanger fiddle, the rich cushion of the organ, the soft tones of the harp, and the extraordinary vocals — create a musical experience that's been refined and deepened for hundreds of years.
On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a Nordic holiday journey from our longtime guest producer ELLEN HOLMES of ADAGIO RECORDINGS, on a program called STARLIGHT NORTH.

Music is by an all-star group of great Norwegian musicians, including fiddlers SUSANNE LUNDENG and ANNBJORG LIEN, IVER KLEIVE, the choir SKRUK and others, and singers ANNE-LISE BERNTSEN, VIDIA WESENLUND and SOLVEIG SLETTAHJELL.

[ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]