Soothe out

Episode 629

Last week I promised it will get more serene and here we are. Going further into ambient sounds with this edition, but in no way boring I promise you that. Another week where I throw myself into relaxation mode listening to sounds that are soothing and not giving me any tickle to start moving any bone. Perfect for some tense days. How was your week? Well, ok, mine was not that bad and I am sure I have quite a comfortable life. To those who haven't: I hope it will get better. Meanwhile, maybe tonight's music will help at least to ease your mind for a little while. Featuring great tracks by Wane of Summer and Sunwarper (Bytopia: Dothion), Aestheia (Bytopia: Shurrock), Zero Ohms (Cloudwalker & the Ascent), Wellengärtner (Floating), Alio Die & Dirk Serries (The Chapters of the Eclipse), theAdelaidean (Eternity is [free!]).

 

Escaping madness

Episode 628

My brain is currently really busy. At day time as well as at night. Which makes it also difficult to find some sleep. Hence, looking out for a way to sooze its acitivies once in a while by listening to ambient style music. Well, you know, I have plenty of those by a great number of also great artists. And tonight is the night to again share some of these fine tracks with you. If not being too serene, like the once you get tonight, they might open doors to wonderful worlds of thoughts. It might be like living in a dream, at least for some moments until reality hits again. So let us enjoy those moments served to us by Jim Ottaway (Somewhere In-Between), Meg Bowles (Pilgrimage), Violet Mist (Cyberwave), Thaneco & DASK (Stages), Mike Clay (Somewhere in Space and Time), Orde107 and Post Apocalyptic (Polysphere Vol. 2), Basic Principles (Colours), jarguna & more (Chimera of a New World, Session Two).

 

Split seconds

Episode 627

Bananas are best to serve silly. At least, this seems the motto for the latest two pictures I chose as covers. I am no fan of bananas. And it is not because of their economical impact (which is not too bad actually compared to local fruit), but I find them to be too sweet. Though, my taste changed from back when I was young regarding sweetness. Nowadays it is more the slightly stronger chocolate I like rather than sugar heavy popular one. I still do like fried bananas as you get them in an asian booth or restaurant. But that is taste. And what did not change is my taste in music. It is still that instrumental electronic style that gets me. Maybe, I broadened in variations, but it's still similar. Tonight, you will get some very cool progressive stuff by Vortex Elements (Distance), The Tin Box (Thirteenth Listen), K.I.Companion (Wayfarer), Paris Music Corp. (Paris Music Corp.), iNFO (Hedera Helix), Räven Musen (Peppermint Soldier), Obukhovaudio (Opioid), Radium88 (We Are All Dreaming), Collins (Skins), Pulselovers (Circles Within Circles), Salvatore Mercatante (SM Synthesis).

 

Rolling, rolling, rolling

Episode 626

A few shows earlier I talked about repetition and how it is special to us humans. Actually can be hypnotic and make you get lost in thoughts or sounds. Most often, sounds back of the days of traditional electronic music is considered sequencer music. Well, it's not, although in many cases it is a main part. More important to this kind of music is the evolution of a track, where one can actually follow its development from some interesting start up to its peak at the end. I love this kind of music, which is not stuck to repeating verse and chorus over and over. It's like a good novel which seems to roll upon you in waves that get bigger on each roll. Also a reason, why such tracks tend to be quite long. A current selection of such tracks are on this edition, brought to us by Altus (Anthropoaliena), Thaneco & DASK (Stages), MindPhaser (Midnightradio Compilation 112), Jim Ottaway (Somewhere In-Between), Basic Principles (Colours), Ivan Black (The Society For The Protection Of Unwanted Objects), Sensory++ (Lessons in Humility).

 

Neural soundworks

Episode 625

Back in 2020 we thought the world is falling apart with all the pandemic actions. Now it's mid 2022, and humankind is still at the brink of insanity with viruses and pox and, foremost, incredible crimes in killing people in either massacres or war. When I was younger, I thought, humans will evolve and learn that only together we will build a future worth living. Well, I was wrong (with the evolving part). Does your mind also spin around in unbelief of what happens out there? Mine does. But there is one thing that holds me together for some time: great music. Like the one I have on the show tonight with the fantastic Saafi Brothers (Make Pictures With The Sound), Aux25 (Ocean & Stars), Nicholas Gunn (Entering (Twin Falls)), ELEON (In The Dream Garden), Stan Dart (Electronic), Sami Konzo (Stick), Poolz (Woodlands), Anderdog (Thirteenth Listen), Globular (A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy).

 

Hot and sparkling

Episode 624

Back in my youth, when I started listening to music, there of course was the songs my parents were listening to. But their styles did not resonate with me. I did listen to some country, folk and pop at the time, actually tried to record myself singing (which was terrible), but rather soon got into instrumental music. First it was guitars (which I tried to learn, too, but failed due to my clumsy fingers) but then I discovered organs and keyboards. It took quite a while until one had the computer to have all the instruments and recording equipment at your fingertips. And music evolved very fast regarding electronics. I now love lots of styles, therefore you get different music each show. So tonight we are up for a more current style of electronic music, where we meet some great artists for fresh and progressive sounds with ELEON (Hidden in Time), Divine Matrix (Journeys), Eisenlager (Atombomben Musik), 6TH CROWD (Sokolonko), Salvatore Mercatante (SM Synthesis), Radium88 (We Are All Dreaming Now), illocanblo (Thirteenth Listen), Existential Wabbit (Thirteenth Listen), Globular (Holobiont).

 

Sounds of silence

Episode 623

Well. What do you do, when the world gets crazy? About three weeks ago I crafted edition 623 to air for when I'm out of town. Everything was set up and scheduled. But than a tragedy happened: Vangelis died. I was saddened, as he is one of my musical idols for sure. Having the show as planned did not seem right. So I cancelled it. 2022 seems to be a bad year for electronic music fans so far with all the losses. Just when live events seem to come back to enjoy our music, life tries to turn us down again. Now. For tonight, I redid edition 623 to honor all the great musicians and supporters we lost by example. I chose mostly tribute tracks, as I am surely not alone with my grief. Join me in celebrating their greatness with tracks by Depeche Mode (Spirit /Deluxe), Luna Firma, Kuutana, The Roboter, and Sequential Dreams (In Memoriam - A Tribute to Vangelis), Eagle (Synth. Music) (The Superclean Dreammachine - A Hans Moret (Hans Prisma) tribute), Rob Papen & Ron Boots (Klaus Schulze Tribute).

 

Variations in symmetry

Episode 622

There is beauty in repetition, especially, if it is not the same all the time. Sounds paradox? Well, people do love symmetry in things. At least, most of us do. It is a sign of beauty. And if there is something out of the order, one can easily get disturbed by it. On the other hand, if something is too symmetrical, we easily get bored. So tiny divergences are cruicial to make things interesting. This holds for visuals as well as aural things. I love a great sequence, may it be rhythm, bass guitar, or a step sequencer. But if it stays the same for too long, I lose interest. Some people are masters of making it sound interesting, and here they come in numbers with Fanger & Schönwälder feat. Lutz Graf-Ulbrich (Analog Overdose 6), K.I.Companion (Wayfarer), The Tin Box (Thirteenth Listen), Eisenlager (Supermax), Hats Off Gentlemen It's Adequate (The Confidence Trick), Wellengärtner, Wöstheinrich & Parsick (Ultima Ratio).

 

Prints in the sound

Episode 621

Do you also often wish for a crystal ball? Wouldn't it be great to be able to see the future? Or would this impose you trying to change the future? Which would render the vision by the crystal to not come true. So it it still the future? There are tons of books and movies about time travel and how it could work. Ok, different story though. And I am not sure where I am going with this at all. For tonight's edition, I chose to focus on serenity. Kind of. I just need some quietness in live for a moment, for a glimpse. Join me, will you? Really great tunes by Dave Luxton (Ghost of a Small Child), Karmacosmic (Inner Peace), Jeff Greinke (Noctilucent), Craig Padilla (Discovery of Meaning), Time Away (Journey to Bytopia), OneAmbient4 (Spring Volume 2), Rusty Crutcher (Oracle Of Delphi), Michael Stearns (Planetary Unfolding).