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 ]

In 35 years of Hearts of Space, there've only been a handful of occasions when we devoted an entire program to a single album or composition. This week we do it with a superb collaboration between Iranian singer MAHSA VAHDAT and Norway's 50 voice SKRUK CHOIR, under the direction of PER ODDVAR HILDRE, with music and arrangements by the great Norwegian pianist TORD GUSTAVSEN from the album I VINENS SPEIL—In the Mirror of Wine. It's a journey across time, space, and culture, a moving encounter between traditional Persian songs, Norwegian church music, and jazz. A program called EAST MEETS NORTH, on this transmission of Hearts of Space. [ view program page ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

From the prehistoric days of musical instruments, we have the flute, the rattle, and the drum; later, primitive trumpets and reeds; and from ancient Mesopotamia more than 4,000 years ago, early members of the chordophone family of plucked strings — lyres, zithers, harps, and lutes. Stringed instruments have come a long way since then. In Europe, bowed strings were refined into the violin family we know today, while lutes evolved into the guitar. Music for strings developed along with the instruments, and Western classical music is rich with variations. Among stringed instruments, perhaps the most versatile is the cello: a virtual solo string orchestra. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, contemplative music for strings with a focus on the cello, on a program called TIMELESS STRINGS. Featured cellists are JAMIE SIEBER, DAVID DARLING, JONATHAN HUGH, and MARTIN TILLMAN. [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

Descending into the autumn soundscape, we return to the slower, darker, burnished electro-acoustic sounds of the season: cello, piano, electronic keyboards. It's a time for descending progressions, dark drones and minor key harmonies, as the music echoes the shorter days and declining light after the fall equinox. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, an ambient journey for early autumn, on a program called FALLING DARK 4. Music is by TIM STORY & HANS-JOACHIM ROEDELIUS, JEFF GREINKE, HAROLD BUDD, HERION, JEFF PEARCE, RICHARD BONE, and from Finland, JANNE HANHISUANTO. [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

One of the core experiences of ambient and electronic spacemusic is the feeling of weightless floating. These subtle sounds seem to dematerialize us, expand our personal space, and slow our sense of time. It's kind of magical — and for many of us, highly pleasurable, even addictive. Since the introduction of mass-produced electronic instruments in the 1970s, anyone can create floating textures, but even if you're just a listener, the experience is widely enjoyed and often described in therapeutic terms as relaxing, healing, and transformative. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, another anti-gravity journey on electronic waves, on a program called FLOATING WORLDS 2. Music is by PAUL AVGERINOS, ERIK WØLLO, HOWARD GIVENS & CRAIG PADILLA, PHILLIP WILKERSON, and MAX CORBACHO. [ view program page ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

What's in a groove? In music the term usually describes a repeating rhythm pattern that creates a cycle of movement and a sense of propulsion. The word has been used in jazz since the 1930's, but grooves have been key to dance music around the world for centuries, and are an element of many popular genres. Swiss musician DON LI has taken the concept farther, working with what he calls "curved rhythms" and subtle changes in phrasing that create changing perceptions of time and space. His work is often described as "reductive" or "minimal." On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we explore minimal rhythms and ambient patterns, on a program called MINIMAL GROOVE. Music by DON LI, TWILIGHT ARCHIVE, ALEX HAAS & BILL LASWELL, NELSON FOLTZ & TOM LYNN, SATORI, and MIDORI TAKADA. [ view program page ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

IRV TEIBEL was an innovator and entrepreneur who created the ENVIRONMENTS series of ambient sound recordings in the 1970s. He perfected the concept of functional therapeutic background sound, once comparing his recordings to "a bar of soap." Teibel realized that nature sounds had a soothing, calming, restorative quality, so he concentrated on ocean waves, flowing streams, birds, insects, wind and rain. Listening to nature sounds takes us back to pre-industrial, pre-electronic media times, where we spent hours every day immersed in natural sound environments. In fact, it's fair to say that our stereoscopic hearing system itself evolved to guide, position, and protect us in the natural environment. With characteristic bravado, Teibel called his one-man record label SYNTONIC RESEARCH. His obsessive persistence, technical talent, genius for branding and marketing, and over-the-top, buzzword-filled copywriting led to the first commercially successful series of ambient sound recordings. The debut release in 1969 was an ocean recording, which he branded "The Psychologically Ultimate Seashore." Against all odds, it was a hit—picked up by a major label and sold millions, which gave him the freedom to expand his idea into a series. Teibel wasn't a purist; when he couldn't get a real ocean recording that fit his concept, he turned to a scientist friend at Bell Labs and created it electronically on an early IBM mainframe. Until recently, his work was an almost forgotten artifact of the 1970s. But according to a profile by CARA GIAIMO at atlasobscura.com, Teibel was the transition between the 1960s era of Muzak, "mood music" and cheesy sound effects records, and the 1980s era of New Age atmospherics, Ambient music and Brian Eno. And, not coincidentally, Hearts of Space. The original ENVIRONMENTS LPs and later CDs were out of print for years, but recently they appeared on the full-catalog streaming services...

GLIDING IN in on sleek electronic waves, marking time with a subtle four-note sequence, drifting across ethereal atmospheres, and riding off on the solar wind. Yes, spacefans, we've arrived at that timely combination of chilled electronics and the season we call... SUMMERTRONICA. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, ambient electronics to cool your summer, on a program called SUMMERTRONICA 7. Music is by ASCENDANT, ROBERT RICH, BLUETECH, LEMONGRASS, and STEVE BRAND. [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

The Zulu harmonies of LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO from South Africa have a special place in the history of contemporary music. Established in the 1960s, their fame in their homeland attracted the attention of American pop singer/songwriter PAUL SIMON, who went to South Africa to record with them in 1986. The resulting album GRACELAND sold 16 million copies, and arguably kicked off the 'world music' trend in the United States. Of course, there's a lot more to African music. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we immerse ourselves in the buoyant rhythms, earthy sounds and charming melodies that make African music such a delight, with songs by LADYSMITH BLACK MOMBAZO, HABIB KOITE & BAMADA, WILL RIDENOUR & BETSY BEVAN, SAMITE, KEVIN NATHANIEL, DAVID GILDEN, AYUB OGADA, and DANIEL BERKMAN. [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

After two centuries of novels and a century of films, the endless desert spaces of the American southwest have taken on a mythic identity. The desert has become a metaphor for expansion, infinite opportunity, and the wild frontier — the scene of rough justice and adventure, and a place for self-discovery and reinvention. For Ambient musicians, the desert has long been a prime source of inspiration, a visual and spatial touchstone, a realm of vast vistas and profound silences. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, another journey in the sun-dried spaces of the American Southwest, on a program called DESERT REFLECTIONS. Music is by STEVE ROACH, DAN POUND, D LOOP, BRIAN PARNHAM, and RUDY ADRIAN. [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]