Today’s guest deejay is João Guimarães, AKA Emil Zapffe.

If you’ve been listening to SOUNDWAVE for the last few weeks, then it will come as no surprise that I discovered João on Bandcamp.

When SOUNDWAVE comes up in conversation with those unfamiliar with ambient music, I sometimes have to explain that not all ambient music is swathes of pretty sounds. Ambient can be haunting and discordant. Or, in João’s case, it’s grand in scope. If you want to experience it yourself, go to João’s Bandcamp page and play any of his songs with the volume cranked to 11. His music will shake your windows and vibrate dishes off your table. You’ve been warned.

But if you’re expecting that kind of experience on today’s show, then you’ll be just as surprised as I was. João’s mix covers quite the gamut. Yes, there is that big sound, but it’s also delicate, mournful, and lovely. It’s precisely the kind of mix I’d share with people I have to explain the depth and complexity ambient music offers.

Oh, and I also appreciate that João and I appreciate Peter Wessel Zapffe’s nihilist essay, “The Last Messiah” (listen to an excerpt from the essay on my October 2020 mix). I usually embrace Nietzche’s existential exuberance, but it’s easy to waffle and settle into existential dread, something Zapffe (Peter Wessel, not Emil) explores in his essay. As long as I don’t fall into Emil Cioran’s existential disgust, I guess I’m doing okay.

Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Rhucle.

See you then!