There's a major milestone ahead: 10 years of syndae. This summer, in August, syndae celebrates its 10th birthday. What started out as a tiny project to support the Electronic Circus festival turned into more the 400 episodes of electronic and ambient music delight. I am quite proud of keeping up with the (nearly) weekly show. And thus I will enter new territories. In fact, I plan to release a pressed CD around syndae's birthday. And therefore I invite any artist to submit a track to be considered for the album. The complete set of rules can be found at the website, as there is a base theme to be taken into account. Yes, I am really curious about how this turns out. And meanwhile, this edition will cover quite some ground in styles one can listen to on syndae. Have awonderful time with tracks by Blinky Blinky Computerband (Dystopia), AeTopus (Totem Totum), Jazzcomputer.org (The Ambient Way), Eagle (The Lost Kosmonaut), Tatyana Kalmykova & The Living Earth (Craters: Suavjarvi / TEMS Compilation), and The Ghost of 3.13 (Even Though it Feels Like Home).

This week the storm Friederike hit most of Germany, it also stopped by at our home and was so kind to tear down two firs. Well, not sure horizontal trees are so cute, but hey, that's nature. What better to listen to at such time than music which takes itself back and leaves much space for travelling the mind and enjoying the wonders of life? So here we are, with our tiny little being in the vast and gigantic universe. Isn't it strange that we consider ourselves so important? Nature definitely could not care less, even more the universe. And I think it is up to us to enjoy our short time we spend here and marvel at all the wonders around us. One of these wonders definitely is the existence of music, brought to you in this edition in form of tracks by 4T Thieves (Circles), Bridge to Imla (The Radiant Sea), Janne Hanhisuanto (Synastasia), Fish Don't Like Milk (The X-Mas Compilation 2017), Cousin Silas (Twang 008), Peter Davidson (Music for Elevators Vol. 5, Part 4).

The great thing about the internet is that you can access information world wide from your home or on the road or simply anywhere nowadays (well, mostly anywhere). One of the many reasons I put up a podcast on electronic music, so people around the globe can find and inform about our beloved ambient and electronic music. Why do I consider this important? Because of the biggest problem given by the internet: It's huge! Finding the music you are demanding for might be quite an undertaking. I see podcasts and also radios as a hub for pointing to great music you like. Of course, you can stream away with modern services. Great if they serve your taste in sound, they don't serve mine. One reason for me to listen to several wonderful podcasts on my type of music (well, except for syndae). And to be of service to you, here comes a brand new edition of the show. The new year only is two weeks old and there are quite a bunch of new releases available or planned for the near future. Enjoy some of these gems tonight coming from moonbooter (Cosmosonic), Lone Cosmonaut (Geräuschkörper / Compilation), René van der Wouden (Assurance), Stan Dart (Supernova), Tastenklang (Polyphony), Robert Scott Thompson (Telemetry).

Are you having any resolutions for 2018? A kind of silly tradition where one resolves to changes and break them rather sooner than late. Always! Okay, maybe not. I don't do resolutions anymore, but maybe they help some of you. So the holidays have passed, a new year is born, except for some Asian countries celebrating on the new moon of the first lunar month. No fix date here. I always wondered what the point of celebration would be, as it really only is about incrementing a counter. Well, maybe it's because the earth's trip is back to the start, having a great journey on the circular road around the sun. However, life is always better with some great music. Hop in to syndae and listen to the fine tracks by Wonderfeel (Lao Dreaming), Cosmic Trigger (The Hallucinatory Mountain), Jazzyspoon (Achluophobia / Compilation), Chuzausen (Attempt to Communication), Meta Meat (Rien Ni Personne Vol. II & III / Compilation), Aevin (Snowflakes VIII / Compilation).

So this is it. The end. The final show for 2017, two days before we are done with the year. It saw 44 episodes of syndae, well received by you my dear friends. And I am grateful you listened in to it. So much great music this year. Hence, a big thank you goes to all the artists out there producing all this cool music. More thank yous go out to all the labels and musicians supporting my show by submitting their music. I couldn't do what I do without you. And ... well, this should not become a thank you letter. Of course, big, big thanks to my wife for being so patient with me when spending so much time listening to music and visiting events. So, this will be my goodbye for 2017. I felt it needs a bit of party-worth tracks, and those I got. Hope you will have me again in 2018. And for tonight, enjoy the music by Step High (Celestial Colors), Essence Project (Chapter 1), Le Peuple de L'Herb (Music to get High to / by Youth), Tron Sepia (The Theoretiker), Rudolf Heimann (Tiefenrausch), Kinza (Sei shin Byoin).

So we just put up a tree in the living room, which will be decorated for christmas eve and remain there for several days. Is this a silly tradition? Well, my wife loves having this colourful tree and who am I to disagree (better to not start fighting with your life companion, especially on Christmas)? Ok, so I checked for what happens to the trees after they leave the home after the festivities. Luckily, they get collected by city services and will be returned to the natural cycle. Overall, it seems not too bad, no nature disaster. Surely not ideal, but acceptable. And I must admit, it does look quite nice to have some colour and light and green in the room. To accompany the scenery, I have some fitting music on this edition. No Christmas music, beware, I've been wham'd countless times this month. But great electronic tracks by Steve Roach (Spiral Revelation), Erik Wøllo & Bernhard Wöstheinrich (iNDEX05 / Sampler), Stefan Erbe (Genesys), Kellerkind Berlin ft. Martin Neuhold (Colorful Thoughts), Oesterhansen (Trip to Proxima B / Compilation), J. Arif Verner (From a Distant Horizon).

It's crazy how many people are on the road these days. And I wonder whether they all are driving home for christmas. On the contrary, perhaps, they are on their way to the shopping malls and city centers to hunt for presents. Which seems a common fun scene in American films, where a raging crowd storms a shop to fight for the last action figure or rag doll. Maybe our fellow listeners from the US can tell, if this is true or just made up. On syndae, there is no limit on downloads for each show, so no need to run over each other. And it is very easy to get hold of your personal copy of the podcast, to listen to wherever and whenever you want. Nevertheless, the music to be heard is at least as valuable as a rag doll, so simply join me and listen to tracks by Cosmic Trigger (The Hallucinatory Mountain), Yomgaille (Repetition and Motion), Infinite Third (Channel(s)), Rudolf Heimann (Tiefenrausch), LooneyJetman (The Lonely Sky), MTA Lab (In Luv).

While the world is still getting more and more grey, I have to admit that at the moment I prefer colourful sceneries. Not only in imagery but also in music. I guess, I am not alone and it is also one of the reasons for having all these festivities at the end of the year. And while it seems intreaguing to celebrate christmas time in a swimsuite, I prefer the northern hemisphere style of the seasons. Nevertheless, also quieter music somethimes gives me a good time, for tonight we have such material, not quite ambient, but close. Have a joyful session on syndae with tracks by Synesthesounds (Studio 4632 2017 Ambient Sampler), Cousin Silas & Kevin Lyons (Beyond the Infinite), Steen Chorchendorff Jorgensen (Out of Thin Air), Synthstudiodevries.com (Constellation Orion), Fabio Anile (Dense).