PGM 834 "SEASON OF HOPE"

(click program title above for 30 second MP3 promo clip)

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PGM 834 : "SEASON OF HOPE"
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PGM NOTE : a new age taste of spring
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FEED DATE : 3-28-08
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INTRO: Way back in 1986, the Recording Academy in its wisdom
decided to give an official name and a Grammy award to a popular
new sound in instrumental music. Unfortunately, they chose the
name "New Age" music. 22 years later it sounds...insane.
What were they thinking? What kind of music could possibly
live up to an expectation like that?

As a marketing category, things got off to a bad start.
Musical categories are never 100% precise, but this was anarchy.
Every kind of instrumental music that wasn't obviously jazz, folk,
or classical was dumped into the New Age bins. The home studio
revolution was in full swing, so just about any artist that released
an instrumental album wound up there.

When cross-cultural saxophonist YUSEF LATEEF won the first
New Age Grammy in 1987, he had to call his producer and ask
"What is this 'new age' and why are they calling my album that?".

With no filters and no standards, the genre soon had a reputation
for inconsistent quality and boring music. After a few years the
trend peaked, and both artists and listeners moved on. Some
electronic music formerly known as New Age came to be called
Ambient; the New Age handle had become a marketing taboo.

In 25 years of Hearts of Space, we've rarely mentioned the term,
while trying to bring you the best examples of electronic space,
ambient and contemplative music — all of which were once called
New Age. See, that's the thing: you could hate the name and still
find excellent music there. Well, if Barack Obama can talk about
political taboos like race and hope in his presidential campaign,
we can certainly take a moment to reflect on what's good about
new age music, while not denying any of its faults.

The core quality of the new age genre is music that's gentle,
peaceful and harmonious. While most music is designed to
stimulate, the word "relaxing" is joined to it at the hip. The
best of it is "psycho-acoustic" : psychologically and emotionally
stimulating, even when it's physically relaxing. Most of us can
use a little of that. As we say....slow music for fast times.

As a form of sonic landscape, new age music aims to create images
of heaven on earth — just as gardens did for centuries in the
Middle East and Asia. The best new age artists are skilled sound
designers and producers, who create very sophisticated sonic
environments.

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MICHAEL DIAMOND
Merlin's Garden <>4:53 >
Dream Flight (edited) <>7:17 >
Suspended Animation <>14:11 >
: ATLANTIS RISING; Diamond Sound Productions DSP_CD002; 2004
: Info: www.songpeddler.com/michaeldiamond

DEUTER
Warm the New Dawn Sun <>21:13 >
Dawn Mist - the Temple <>28:24 >
Village Moon <>33:25 >
: SPIRITUAL HEALING; New Earth NE 2806; 2008
: Info: www.newearthrecords.com/web/pc/deuter.asp

ELIZABETH WOODBURY KASIUS and HEARD
Sylvan Dream (part) <>37:55 >
: WATERMUSIC; Heard Music [no catalog #]; 2007
: Info: www.heardmusic.net

ALEX THEORY
Molecule 4 <>44:11 >
Molecule 7 <>51:12 >
: WATER; Sounds True M1229D; 2008
: Info: http://store.soundstrue.com/mm01229d.html

BERNWARD KOCH
Mysterious Way <>54:16 >
Evoking Wonder <>58:59 >
: WALKING THROUGH CLOUDS; Real Music RM2737; 2005
: Info: www.realmusic.com/a_koch.htm; www.bernwardkoch.de/us

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PRODUCED BY : STEVE DAVIS and STEPHEN HILL
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BAY AREA WEATHER : nuages et soleil
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(c) 2008 Hearts of Space
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