“Defined Sensibility” is an alternative version of “Perception” from October 2021. It’s the 4th track on my recent album “Getting Closer” and it is the next track to be used for promoting the album. #definedsensibility #darkambientmusic #industrialambient #industrialambientdrone #soundscapemusic #burial #ambientmusic #drivingmusic #meditationmusic #focusmusic #slowmusic #dronemusician #fieldrecordings #samples #stretchmusic #musicproducer #musician #indiemusic #newmusic #musicbusiness #yoga #ambient #creativity #njordlyd #distrokid #avaliveradio https://www.instagram.com/p/CmKdnVAtskb/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
Join Hugh Fraser, music lecturer at AIM (Australian Institute of Music) and Thomas Lorenzo, Head of Music at CGA ( Creative Guitar Academy) in a 1 hour chat about Music mindfulness, Virtuosic listening , Slow Music and a final Good Chin Wag
Hearts of Space’s weekly program is music from the Andes plateau in south america. It starts with Gustavo Santaolalla (the last of us soundtrack) and goes to some delightful places.
Hearts of Space is my cure for late night anxiety. I love them dearly, I found them by staying up until 4am listening to Iowa classical music radio. They began in 1973 making hour long programs around a central theme. It could be the thaw of winter, the ancient mediterranean, the apollo missions, or like today music from the Andes plateau.
They’ve been making a program a week so there’s literal thousands of programs on their site each an hour long. I have had a subscription since 2016 and they’ve gotten me through so much. The program of the week is always free, so I super recommend having a laid back listen esp at night.
I need to talk about one of my musical obsessions with you:
Hearts of Space
Hearts of Space is a public radio program started by Steven Hill in 1973 in San Francisco, and nationally syndicated in 1983. They broadcast what they call "space music" ambient and down tempo, selective classical, and world music that evokes a sense of boundless space. A sense of being among the stars or in quiet internal contemplation. To be a late night center of calm on a Friday night. Music that was both timeless and cutting edge.
Because they were on the bleeding edge of an electronic music technological revolution, they also had access to and interest in the internet and high hopes for its potential for human connection and direct arts interactions. They had a website by 1994 were part of Usenet. In 1999 they were first broadcast on a new thing called online public radio stations. In 2001 (2001!!) they began one of the earliest music subscription services for their program archive, then 28 years of programs with with playlist, artist, album, and where to buy the music (most of their music is small label and especially in the early days finding disks could be hard.) They also owned their own music label for a while to get this music made. Their website still has the aesthetic of a nerdy artist website of 2001 (in a very affectionate way).
If you want to have your mind blown, read this 2005 Very Long Interview with Steven Hill where he accurately predicts where digital music is heading in the next 0 years. It was there on the ground watching and interacting with both recent developments and what people's dreams and ambitions for it were. He was right about what people wanted and how the music industry would change to reflect that. It's like reading a prophecy.
Their weekly program can be listened to once for free, with a ton of different tiers for budget value with increasing access (but all good experiences, I've used most of them). Basically a bespoke Patreon system long before Patreon existed. They've always had direct control of their work and survived the volatility of middle men because of it. They've been artist-first, too, and have always tried to reduce friction for people to buy the music they play and directly find and support the artists. A very different mission than a platform like Spotify (founded a year after this interview).
One of my favorite things is Steven Hill starting each program with a music appreciation monologue contextualizing the selections and pontificating about the larger world in his incredibly smooth beautiful late night radio voice. Sometimes it's exploring a particular artist or a musical movement, or just the feeling of frost in winter. I learn a lot from them and they really set the mood (but also on high paid tiers you can turn them off if you're using it as sleep or study music).
There's a free three day pass to all the features and you can buy premium access in chunks of 10 hours if you only listen occasionally.
If you love ambient music in all its forms, definitely check this program out. It's such a great way to discover new music. Great music to game, too. (There have been two programs of video game music with guest curators Nerd Noise Radio.)
I love to make ambient music in the mornings. Wake up and slowly add layers of gentle sounds that slowly evolve over time and create a volume to the space I'm in physically and emotionally.
Would you like to see/hear more of this kind of music from me?
Things are hard. Things are scary. Amidst all the hurry and scurry of a world forcing its way out of a pandemic no matter the cost its hard to remember to carve out time to soothe yourself and take care of yourself emotionally.
Hearts of Space has been with me for just under 10 years and they’ve been a great friend of mine. Like it says on the tin: slow music for fast times. They create 1hr mixes of music ranging from electronic to classical, ethnic/world, folk, and soundtracks to movies and games. Running for decades, they have a vast library of incredibly good stuff to take a listen to and chill with. Its great for going to bed and great for late night vibes. Contemplative, thoughtful, and ponderous.
Their current show, The Transcendent Piano, has a lot of good stuff including Max Richter and Nils Fram. Their top tier subscription is reasonably cheap for the library of music you get to access, and they really aren’t that big of a studio. I can’t recommend HOS enough, if you want to rekindle those late night emotions you get when everyone else’s gone to bed and its quiet enough to hear yourself think this is that good stuff.