Christmas carols. Love 'em or hate 'em, you can't avoid 'em during the holiday season. Christmas music has become part of the advertising industry, dedicated to putting you in the mood to buy. Yet underneath the dreamy materialism is a musical tradition with some of the best-loved, most enduring hymns and songs ever created. Acoustic musicians have long made instrumental versions of classic carols, ignoring the words and letting the music take center stage. Ambient musicians normally take a different approach — slowing down the tempos, stretching out the melodies, and expanding the virtual space of the recording. But the most radical approach of all comes from our old friend Ohio composer TIM STORY. Revered for his exquisite ambient chamber music, he's applied his refined tonal sense and electronic power tools to extract the melodic and harmonic essence of recordings of the most popular Christmas carol of all: Silent Night. The result is total transformation, from a familiar hymn to "a slow motion immersive epic." On this transmission of Hearts of Space, slow-floating, harmon-o-gized, spatially-expanded ambient music for the holiday season, on a program called IMMERSIVE CAROLS. Music is by TIM STORY, MATT BORGHI, SAM BRADY LONG, DANNA CUNNINGHAM, and RICHARD STOLTZMAN. [ view program page ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ] Continue reading

Of all the world's folk musics, the songs of the Celtic lands of Western Europe—Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany and Galicia—have captured the hearts of listeners around the world. The combination of aching melancholy, joyous dances, ravishingly beautiful melodies, brilliant musicianship and great singing have charmed generations in Europe, and played a major role in the evolution of American folk music. The Celtic boomlet at the turn of the century has passed, but great Celtic musicians never stopped performing and recording, and the genre carries on with new innovations. On this early winter transmission of Hearts of Space, warm Celtic ballads to chase away the chill, on a program called CELTIC STARLIGHT 2. Music is by THE CRANNUA COLLECTIVE, JOHNSON-DUNNING-GOODWIN, JEFF BECK(!), MOYA BRENNAN & CORMAC DE BARRA, MICHAEL ATKINSON, ÁINE MINOGUE, JOHN DOAN, BJ COLE & DAVY SPILLANE, and AO MUSIC featuring MIRIAM STOCKLEY. [ view program page ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ] Continue reading

It's a beautiful fresh morning in Northern California. The sun is shining, the world is clean and rehydrated after three days of rain, and Hearts of Space has a brand new web site! The transition happened on schedule, everything seems to be working as expected, and people are using the site. Thanks to programmer ALEX BURROWS and his team at BAY INTERACTIVE, and our longtime engineers STEPHEN BROSSEAU and RAINES COHEN who burned gallons of midnight oil to make it happen. Check it out at https://www.hos.com. Continue reading

Goodbye Flash, hello to an all-new website on Tuesday Dec. 3rd! Read all about it: http://bit.ly/2OFEiC7 HEARTS of SPACE VERSION 4 IS HERE On December 3, 2019 we will launch the 4th generation media player and design of our streaming service. We started in 2001 with 100 programs, a Real Audio player, and a rudimentary database-driven website. We migrated to Windows Media Player in 2004, then to Adobe Flash™ Player and Media Server in 2009. For Version 4 we built a custom HTML5 player, an all-new architecture and cloud "back end," a completely redesigned web user interface, and new native iOS and Android mobile apps. It's our biggest upgrade ever! Continue reading

The end of the euphemistically named "daylight saving time" each fall is generally greeted with a chorus of depression. Not only is it clearly the final nail in summer's coffin, it's an all too blatant reminder of the long winter ahead. Our Celtic ancestors gathered around bonfires at this time of year to chase away the gloom and recall the Pagan and pre-Christian festivals of the sun — then looked forward to the year-end solstice and religious holidays and the festive celebration of light itself. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, ambient chamber music for the transition to the season of light, on an early winter program called AFTERGLOOM DELIGHT. Music is by KEVIN KELLER, A WINGED VICTORY FOR THE SULLEN, HELEN JANE LONG, YUTA NAGASHIMA, and BRUNO SANFILIPPO. [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ] Continue reading

In the waning days of late autumn, the sun falls ever lower in the sky, the air becomes crisp as the restless wind strips the leaves from the trees, and the nights grow quiet, as the last lovelorn crickets of the season succumb to the cold. The autumn harvest brings a bounty of fruits and flowers, grains and nuts, in a rainbow of complex colors from bright orange pumpkins to deep purple cranberries. The sounds of the season are darker, slower, deeper — a somber interlude before the bright celebrations of the holiday season. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, an ambient-electronic journey for late autumn, on a program called SHADES AND SHADOWS. Music is by ASCENDENT, MARCONI UNION, STEVE ROACH, RUDY ADRIAN, APERUS, IAN BODDY, JUTA TAKAHASHI and more. [ view program page ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ] Continue reading

THE SUN begins its long withdrawal from the northern hemisphere after the summer solstice in June. After the autumn equinox in September, the transition seems to accelerate. The days grow shorter, the nights grow longer, and the temperature cools, while the natural world changes color and prepares for the winter to come. Since medieval times we've called this season "fall." The word comes from Middle English, with Old English and Old German roots. Falling implies movement downward, and in autumn, declining solar energy brings a feeling of descending or falling into the season. In music it's marked by slowing tempos, descending chord progressions, darkening timbres, and wistful, even melancholy emotions. On this transmission of Hearts of Space...we descend into the autumn soundscape, a program called FALLING. Music is by DAVID DARLING, JOEP BEVING, CHRISTOPHER TIGNOR, HAMMOCK, LUDOVICO EINAUDI, and TOM EATON. [ view program page ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ] Continue reading

The fire at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris in April 2019 sent shock waves of distress and sadness around the world. You didn't have to be French, Catholic, or even believe in God...to feel a profound sense of cultural loss. Since the 12th century, Notre-Dame has been both a physical monument and a metaphysical symbol of the deepest aspirations and highest artistic values of humankind, at the center of one of the greatest cities on earth. For it to be destroyed would have been an insult to the global spirit, in a world that's already burdened by unprecedented challenges. When the fire was out, it was clear that it could have been much worse. The spire and most of the oak and lead roof were destroyed and the exterior was badly burned — while the irreplaceable relics, priceless artwork, rose windows, bell towers, and three pipe organs were not seriously damaged. Over a billion Euros have been pledged to rebuild and restore the cathedral — a job that will take twenty to forty years. Our Lady will rise again in the center of Paris, in all her Gothic magnificence. On this transmission of Hearts of Space from longtime guest producer for sacred and classical music ELLEN HOLMES...a TRIBUTE to NOTRE-DAME DE PARIS. Sacred music for chorus, strings and organ is by an all-star cast of French composers from the 16th to the 20th century, including MARC-ANTOINE CHARPENTIER, FRANCOIS COUPERIN, JEAN RICHAFORT, PHILIPPE VERDELOT, JOSQUIN DES PRES, ANTOINE BRUMEL, CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS, CESAR FRANK, CHARLES GOUNOD, LILI BOULANGER, GABRIEL FAURÉ, MAURICE DURUFLÉ, and OLIVIER MESSIAEN. We celebrate the artistic and spiritual legacy of a great cathedral: a TRIBUTE to NOTRE-DAME DE PARIS...on this transmission...of Hearts of Space. [ view program page ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30... Continue reading

This could be the sound of the Sugar Plum Fairies in the netherworld — we're coming up on Nutcracker time, after all — but no: it's the on-ramp to a journey into the cooling, darkening, deepening autumn soundscape. It's time to join the animals and prepare for the long winter ahead; time to focus, plan and complete those lingering projects, and get together with friends you missed over the summer. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a seasonal electronic journey in the autumn soundscape, on a program called DESCENDING DARK 2. Music is by SLEEPY TOWN MANUFACTURE, SOLARIS, PAULINA CASSIDY, DEBORAH MARTIN, KIT WATKINS, KLAUS SCHULZE, ERRANT SPACE, and BOB HOLROYD. [ view program page ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ] Continue reading

Once again, dear spacefans, we arrive at the intersection of cosmos and culture we celebrate at the end of October as Halloween. The name is a contraction of the 16th century Christian holiday of Hallows' Evening or All Hallow's Eve. In Celtic mythology it was said to be the time when the boundary between This World and the Otherworld was at its thinnest, and the souls of the dead walked the earth. Today it's a time for us to exorcise our ancient limbic emotions of fear and danger. I'm DR. DARKO and on this transmission of Hearts of Space, a mysterious dark ambient journey for Halloween, on a program from guest producer DAVID J. EGAN called THE UNEXPLAINED. Much of the music on this show comes to us from the Italian experimental music label UNEXPLAINED SOUNDS GROUP and its sub-label EIGHTH TOWER RECORDS. They were founded by RAFFAELE PEZZELLA to explore dark underground experimental music in regions of the world not generally known for it, like Iran, Lebanon, Portugal, Eastern Europe, and the Balkans. [ view program page ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ] Continue reading

Full disclosure, spaceFans: I am not a "gamer." That is, I have never played video games. When I was growing up, they didn't exist. Then the video game world arose, prospered, and passed me by. It's a shame, because over the last 40 years a great deal of high quality ambient, electronic and environmental music has been composed for video games. Today it's a parallel media universe, four times larger than the entire music industry. In our mission to bring you music from every corner of the ambient musicverse, we've been missing an entire galaxy. Clearly, we needed help, and it arrived recently in the form of JOHN WEDGEWORTH, an expert on video game music who's also a Hearts of Space fan. John hails from Des Moines, Iowa, where he produces a podcast called NERD NOISE RADIO, that covers the full spectrum of video game music. From this vast repertoire, John selected tracks from the ambient side of the genre, where it overlaps Hearts of Space. On this transmission of Hearts of Space...ambient, electronic and chamber music from video games, on a program called GAME SCORES. [ view program page ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ] Continue reading

Despite the unseasonably warm temperatures and their sometimes disastrous consequences, one thing in our environment remains absolutely unchanged: the sun and the earth continue reliably tracing their cosmic orbits. And so, for very good astronomical reasons, here in the northern hemisphere the autumn days grow shorter, and the light grows ever dimmer, as we plot our course toward the winter solstice. The music of the season is measured, calm, with restrained passion and glints of bright color against a darkening background. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we score the season of fading light and falling leaves, on a program called THE GATHERING DARK. Music is by JEFF PEARCE, DARSHAN AMBIENT, TIM STORY & ROEDELIUS, JEFF GREINKE, TAPES AND TOPOGRAPHIES, EYES CAST DOWN, and HAMMOCK. [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ] Continue reading

The folk music of the high Andes plateau called the altiplano, comes from the western edge of South America, a thousand rocky miles stretching from southern Ecuador through Peru and Bolivia, to Northern Chile. In the transparent mountain air, the brilliant overtones of native stringed instruments like the charango and the ronroco, airy native flutes and panpipes and natural skin drum rhythms, make music that runs the gamut of emotions from joyful to solemn, mystic...to achingly sad. It's a sound that calls to both South American expatriate musicians and northern film composers, who've enriched it with strings and electronics. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, New Andean music inspired by the brilliant folk sounds of the high Andes plateau, on a program called ALTIPLANO 2. [ view program page ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ] Continue reading

The first movement of BEETHOVEN's famous Piano Sonata No.14 in C Sharp Minor, better known as the "Moonlight Sonata." The nickname came from a German music critic in 1832 who impressionistically compared the effect to "moonlight shining on Lake Lucerne." Beethoven intended it as a prelude, but in the score he instructed the performer to keep the sustain pedal down for the entire movement — a kind of special effect that mixed the music with natural harmonic reverberation from the piano. With its hypnotic triplets and ghostly melody, for Ambient music fans, it's one of the simplest, yet most memorable pieces ever written. Beethoven may have inadvertently started a movement to redefine the piano as an instrument for contemplative, spatially expanded music, seeding the Impressionism of Debussy, the early ambient music of Satie, and laying the foundations of modern Minimalism. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a program of sublime night music for piano called NOCTURNES. Featured artists are MICHAEL DULIN, KEVIN KELLER, BRUCE LEVINGSTON, JENNY LIN, RALPH ZURMUHLE, LUDOVICO EINAUDI, and CHAD LAWSON. [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ] Continue reading

It was ambient godfather BRIAN ENO who observed that, unlike conventional instruments with centuries of history, the synthesizer came "without any baggage." The synthesizer required the musician to consciously design the sounds they use, and thereby effectively define a new instrument, every time. Ironically, this pointed back to a late Romantic genre of European classicism called "tone color" music, associated with German composers like WAGNER, STRAUSS and MAHLER, and French composers DEBUSSY and RAVEL, who all invented radical new kinds of orchestration. But where tone color music was a difficult stretch for conventional instruments, it's like the native language of synthesizers. On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, a chromatic journey in the floating worlds of electronic spacemusic, on a program called TONE COLOR REVERIES. Music is by LONEWARD, DEEP SPACE, PAUL AVGERINOS, JARGUNA, and DAVID HELPLING. [ view program page ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ] Continue reading

From the world of traditional Hindu and Buddhist religion come practices focused on devotion—to god, to guru or to the divine itself. The Sanskrit word bhakti means practicing a path centered on emotional devotion as a spiritual principle and means of salvation. The adoption of Indian spirituality and culture by westerners after the 1960s famously led to yoga and meditation, and also to kirtan—group chanting of Indian devotional prayers — and later to new hybrids of western and Indian music. On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, the ardent sound of devotional chants and contemplative instrumentals, on a program called DEVOTION. Music is by CRAIG PRUESS, HANS CHRISTIAN, ALAM KHAN, CONFLUENCE TRIO, WHITE SUN, MANEESH DE MOOR+SUDHA, AL GROMER KHAN, and DEVA PREMAL. [ view program page ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ] Continue reading

PSYCHEDELIC MUSIC was born in the 1960s, a predictable mutation of psychedelic drugs and popular culture. The roots of the word psychedelic mean "revealing the mind" — a revelation that turned out to be both colorful and unpredictable. Psychedelic music aimed to reveal an expanded version of the mind, using audible distortion and warped perspective, sustained floating textures and drones, fractal repetitions and feedback, liberally seasoned with sounds from nature and exotic cultures, especially India. As a trend, it ran its course in the 1960s, was revived in the 1970s, quoted lovingly by fashionable bands in the 80s and 90s, and became a core influence on millennial genres like Trip Hop, Shoegaze, Acid Jazz, Acid House, and the many varieties of Trance — to name a few. We just can't seem to quit it. Like an aesthetic virus, the pure electronic form of psychedelic music invented in the 1960s and 70s infected musicians using sound as a vehicle for inner space travel and consciousness alteration. In a word: trippy. Along the way, these sonic explorers found kindred spirits in archaic traditions like shamanism and pagan rituals. What began as free exploration with mind-bending chemicals ultimately became a quest for new modes of perception, psychological therapy, escape from the normal boundaries of self, and at its most extreme — visions and hallucinations at the borders of oblivion. These grassroots experiments paved the way for the massive tribal-Electronic Dance Music festivals of today, with their promise of transcending self through ecstatic group experience. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a journey in the altered soundscapes of psychedelic space, on a program called PSYCHETRONIC SUMMER. Music is by THE FUTURE SOUND OF LONDON, SCANN-TEC, ISHQ, LIGHTWAVE, FORREST SMITHSON, CYBERNIUM (MICHEL HUYGEN & PASCAL LANGUIRAND), and CSILLAGKÖD. [ view playlist ] [ view... Continue reading

Out on the western range, there's places where the deep prairie meets the desert at the end of the line. Places where the tough get going and the outlaws go to hide: where the land's eroded, the water's scarce, the weather's bad, the nights are dangerous, and everything you see is a survivor. It's called..."The Badlands." On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, a program inspired by this hard and beautiful environment, called BADLANDS. Music is by DANIEL LANOIS, ERIC TINGSTAD, CARL WEINGARTEN, BRUCE KAPHAN, EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY, JAPANCAKES and DAVID TORN. [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ] Continue reading

Would you believe me if I told you that all the sounds you're hearing are made with an analog synthesizer? Strange but true. It's the work of KEVIN BRAHENY FORTUNE, one of the early masters of long-form electronic ambient music. And it's a good story. The 1970s were a decade of discovery and development for electronic music. Early analog synthesizer modules by ROBERT MOOG, DON BUCHLA, and SERGE TCHEREPNIN fueled an explosion of creativity. If you were serious, you wound up building your own instruments and creating your own sounds. Then KEVIN BRAHENY (the Fortune came later...) was a talented musician and soprano saxophone player in Los Angeles who worked designing and building electronic instruments with several of the early pioneers of analog synthesis in California. The foundations for Ambient electronic music were being created out of the new possibilities opened up by the synthesizer, and the psychological and social changes inspired by psychedelic drugs. This new sensibility lead to the creation of extended musical "journeys" of 30 minutes or more, which could be released on cassette. Later, even longer journeys were possible on CD. In 1980 Braheny improvised a live 35 minute "lullaby" to close a HEARTS OF SPACE fundraising special on our home station, KPFA-FM in Berkeley. It turned out so well it was released later that year as "Lullaby for the Hearts of Space," along with a composed companion piece called "After I Said Goodnight. " And that's where we begin this edition of Hearts of Space called NOCTURNAL TRANSMISSIONS. Music is by KEVIN BRAHENY FORTUNE, CHAD HOEFLER, ROBERT RICH, ALIO DIE, and IASOS. [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ] Continue reading

While world politics seems to get ever more contentious these days, a quiet alternative of cooperation and collaboration has been going on in the world of music. Historically powered by travel on trade routes like the Silk Road, modern recording and communication technologies fueled a worldwide acceleration of the process during the 20th century. In the internet era, music propagates around the world instantly, and a new breed of open-minded musicians collaborate freely, cross-fertilizing their native traditions to produce new and vigorous hybrids. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, cross-cultural fusions inspired by the contemplative music of Asia and Africa, on a program called GLOBAL FUSION. Music is by PORANGUÍ, DEAD CAN DANCE, STEPHAN MICUS, STEVEN CHESNE, TONNE/SKY/ARELLANO, MANDRELL & WERTHEIMER, and MARK DEUTSCH. [ view program page ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ] Continue reading

The transition from 'electric' to 'electronic' was one of the great technical achievements of the 20th century. Electronic engineering emerged out of the telephone, radio, film and television industries, and military communication and weapon systems during World War II. The earliest devices for creating electronic music actually date from the end of the 19th century. By the 1920s and 30s we had compact, playable electronic instruments like the Russian Theremin, the French Ondes Martenot, and the German Trautonium. Development of recording technology led to experimentation with record players and tape recorders to manipulate sound and create new kinds of music. Electronic music expanded exponentially in the 1960s and 70s with the arrival of practical electronic synthesizers, fueling an era of explosive creativity. Today electronic music extends from mainstream dance music to experimental noise, with literally thousands of sub-genres, and an unlimited palette of sounds and creative possibilities. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a journey in the infinite tone-worlds of electronic space, on a program called ELECTRONIC DIMENSIONS. Music is by FOURTH DIMENSION, BLUETECH, ESKOSTATIC, BETWEEN INTERVAL, SCOTT LAWLOR, and ALPHA WAVE MOVEMENT. [ view program page ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ] Continue reading

Middle Eastern music from the so-called "cradle of civilization" goes back some 5000 years. Today it spans a vast region stretching from Morocco to Iran—including the 22 Arab countries of the Middle East and North Africa, Persian music from Iran, Hebrew music from Israel, pre-Islamic music from Assyria, music from Turkey, Armenia, and Cyprus, plus the nomadic Berbers of North Africa, Coptic Christians of Egypt, and the great Andalusian music of Muslim Spain. It's a rich mix with a colorful history. Common features are a system of melodic 'modes' called maqam based on quarter tones (with up to 24 notes to the octave), sinuous melodic ornamentation, and ecstatic, sophisticated rhythms. According to 11th century Persian philosopher and theologian AL-GHAZAL, "Ecstasy means the state that comes from listening to music." On this transmission of Hearts of Space, the microtonal melodies and hypnotic percussion of Middle Eastern music, on a program called ECSTATIC RHYTHMS. Music is by MERCAN DEDE, DEAD CAN DANCE, LOGA RAMIN TORKIAN & AZAM ALI, WAHID, KRONOS QUARTET & MAHSA VAHDAT, MICHEL BANABILA, and ANOUAR BRAHEM. [ view program page ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ] Continue reading

In the desert, extremes of sun, wind, temperature and terrain challenge all living things to evolve a strategy for survival. So desert travelers take it slow and steady. But for those who venture into its vast spaces, the promise of discovery awaits: a mythic environment of isolation and introspection, concealed by panoramic expanses. In the words of EDWARD ABBEY, the desert is a "window onto eternity." On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a deep journey called DESERT DREAMFIELDS. Music is by STEVE ROACH, DWIGHT LOOP, TOM HEASLEY, and the late A.PRODUCE. [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ] Continue reading

After centuries of talk about "the man in the moon," by 1969 humans finally had the technology to put men ON the moon. In 2019 we celebrate that epoch-making American achievement—the beginning of the age of space exploration, the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon, and astronaut NEIL ARMSTRONG's famous walk. It's a cultural touchstone—an event that's inspired a small sub-genre of electronic music and soundtracks from the 1980s to today. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we celebrate the spirit of space exploration and the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, on a program called ONE SMALL STEP. Music is by BRIAN ENO with ROGER ENO & DANIEL LANOIS, JONN SERRIE, MARTIN HUBA, MATT MORTON, PALANCAR, and JAJA. [ view program page ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ] Continue reading

In the warm, bright days of summer, an ambient fan yearning for travel to exotic cultures will book a flight on Sequencer Airlines. With its steady pulse, it's a perfect rhythm for moving through space. The roots go back to 9th century Persia, but the music sequencer idea really got going in the 19th century after the Industrial Revolution, with popular devices like music boxes, mechanical organs, and player pianos. By the first generation of electronic synthesizers in the 1960s and 70s, the Step Sequencer was a machine that turned equal length notes into repeating rhythm patterns. They're simple, delightfully hypnotic, and fun to work with. Today things are more complicated, but a lot more powerful. We have audio sample sequencers, loop-based creative music software, phrase samplers, and digital audio recording software many times more powerful than the primitive sequencers of early synths—and hey! They're still fun to work with. On this transmission of Hearts of Space...a journey from kinetic sequencer patterns to exotic Southeast Asian ambient soundscapes—on a program called AMBIENT TRAVELER 2. Music by ATOMIC SKUNK, DAVID PARSONS, CHRISTEL VERAART, CHRONOTOPE PROJECT, LOREN NERELL, ALIO DIE & LORENZO MONTANA, RICHARD BONE. [ view program page ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ] Continue reading