SORIAH is the stage persona of Portland-based performance artist and composer ENRIQUE UGALDE. Though Ugalde grew up in California and is of Mexican descent, the name SORIAH is derived from the Persian. His music is a singular combination of Khoeoemei — the Central Asian tradition of overtone singing from Tuva, plus a rich blend of influences from raga, shamanism, electro-acoustic soundscapes, noise, butoh, and free improvisation.

It's a potent mix, and the dark days of Scorpio are the perfect time to experience the uncompromising intensity of Soriah's music. In fact, recordings only tell part of the story: he's one of the most powerful live performers you'll ever hear.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we immerse ourselves in the deep underworld ambience and profound ceremonial spaces of SORIAH...on a program called RITUAL DRONES.

In the history of brilliant unintended consequences, the cello...ranks high. A descendant of the bass violin, it was invented by Italian luthiers in the 17th century, and based on a technical innovation: to make the instrument smaller, they wrapped gut strings with wire to augment the bass.

The cello's musical roles expanded rapidly in the 18th century due to its more convenient size and versatility. Today, no western instrument has the emotional range and depth; from its foundational role in the orchestra and the string quartet, to its uncanny vocal emulations and profound solo flights...the cello seems to have no boundaries.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we feature the dark harmonies and plaintive tones of the cello, on an autumnal soundscape called RUSSET and AMBER. Music is by DAVID DARLING, MARTIN TILLMAN, HANS CHRISTIAN, MAYA BEISER, and ANGELE DUBEAU.

We owe our Pagan ancestors thanks for their recognition of the special days of late autumn — a time of restless spirits, spawned by all things dark and fear-full. The advent of the house of Scorpio each year brings the ambient genres of gloom, Gothic, and dark atmospheres to the fore.

This music displays a romantic quest for strangeness, a taste for the ominous, and a fascination with death and decay that's appropriate for the fall season, even celebrated on All Hallow's Eve by fans of the macabre, the ominous, the morbid, and the diabolical.

It's a taste that's both aesthetic and cathartic: a willful immersion in our ancient limbic emotions of terror and fear...and (to look on the bright side of a dark picture) a reassuring exercise of our impulse for self-preservation.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space...a Halloween experience called CATHARSIS. Music is by CAUL, SCEPTRE, LIGHTWAVE, JOE RENZETTI, HAR, MINGO, and BETWEEN INTERVAL.

The story of contemporary Native American music goes back to 1951 and the founding of Canyon Records in Phoenix, Arizona. In the almost 60 years since then, traditional forms have been revived, renewed and celebrated, and new styles have emerged from the creative energy of native and western musicians. From his first Canyon album in 1983, Navajo musician R. CARLOS NAKAI has worked tirelessly to re-establish the Native American cedar flute as an instrument for healing and meditation, extending it far beyond its origins into folk, jazz, country, classical, new age and ambient music. In these new ambient soundscapes, we enter a world of reverence, mystery and ceremony, haunted by the voices of ancient spirits. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we focus on the new ambient dimensions in Native American music...on a journey called TOUCHING THE SKY. Music is by JOHNNY WHITEHORSE, DEBORAH MARTIN & ERIK WOLLO, COYOTE OLDMAN, and SCOTT AUGUST.

A border can be a boundary...or a grey area — a line of demarcation...or a zone of ambiguity. Borders between countries are political boundaries; they can be the scene of violent confrontation, as in the Middle East, or so remote that few people ever see them. Outside of politics, a border can be a barrier...or a zone of transition. In music, we often find ambiguous borders between styles and genres — in fact, much of today's fusion music is interesting because it deliberately disregards borders. There's a lot of information...at the borders. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a journey in ambiguous, transitional spaces called BORDERLANDS. Music is by RUSSEL WALDER, EVAN BARTHOLOMEW, DEBORAH MARTIN & J.ARIF VERNER, KIT WATKINS, AMONGST MYSELVES, and RICHARD BONE.

The Greek word "anabasis" means a journey from the outer edge of a country into the interior. It's a perfect metaphor for the innerspace journeys we take with ambient music.

Since the early 1980's/ one of the masters of this experience has been the Australian/Irish group DEAD CAN DANCE. Their music has been described as "soundscapes of mesmerizing grandeur and solemn beauty."

Led by the dramatic contralto vocalist LISA GERRARD and guitarist and vocalist BRENDAN PERRY, the group has had international success and set the standard for musicians in the creative World Fusion, Gothic and Dark Ambient genres.

Since 1995 LISA GERRARD has also released a series of powerful solo albums and collaborations with musicians PIETER BOURKE, PATRICK CASSIDY and MARCELLO DE FRANCISCI. As if that weren't enough, she's also become an A-list composer of film soundtracks, collaborating with HANS ZIMMER, PIETER BOURKE, ENNIO MORRICONE, JEFF RONA, and MICHAEL STEARNS.

On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE…we highlight the music of LISA GERRARD, DEAD CAN DANCE and their collaborators, on a program called ANABASIS.

A classic piece of electronic spacemusic from France by JEAN-MICHEL JARRE. With just a few notes, it creates a world of mystery and imagination. Slow, deep, romantic and sublime, it invites us into a place that's unknown and unpredictable, yet alluring. It's true that all good music takes you away, but since the 1970s artists have been using electronic tools to craft a sound that takes you to places far beyond the reach of ordinary music. Dark ambient electronics have become a vehicle...for transport to deep virtual worlds and exotic environments. On this transmission of Hearts of Space we travel the dark ambient spaceways, on a program called MYSTERIOSO.Music is by JEAN MICHEL JARRE, A PRODUCE & LOREN NERELL, PAUL ELLIS, MEG BOWLES, RICHARD BONE, ERIK WOLLO, KIT WATKINS, and ANDREW LAHIFF.

This week we mark the official beginning of the fall season with the autumnal equinox. Here in the northern hemisphere, the sun has descended from the lofty heights of summer halfway to the low point of winter, and the days and nights are approximately of equal length: more accurately, the *equilux.* Musically, we return to the complex tones of traditional acoustic instruments: the piano, the guitar and the cello. It's a time for minor keys, descending progressions, and deepening harmonies, as we explore the sound of the season. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, an ambient-acoustic journey for autumn called THE FADING LIGHT. Music is by JEFF PEARCE, HANS CHRISTIAN & HARRY MANX, TODD BOSTON, WILL ACKERMAN, PAUL JENSEN, AXEL SCHULTHEISS, JENNIFER ZULLI, ADAM HURST, DENISE YOUNG, HELEN JANE LONG, KEVIN KELLER, and KEN VERHEECKE.

There's something about the immateriality of electronic sound that naturally lends itself to images of cosmic space. Since the dawn of electronic music, artists have created starry soundscapes and interstellar flights in a quest to expand our connection to the cosmic environment we inhabit. It's a sound we come back to time and again.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, another deep space electronic journey called STELLAR VISIONS 2. Music is by JONN SERRIE, THIERRY DAVID, MEG BOWLES, MAX CORBACHO, ALPHA WAVE MOVEMENT, DAVE LUXTON and THE TANGENT PROJECT.

The musical traditions of the greater Middle East are fueled by complex rhythms. For westerners raised on a steady diet of marches in 4/4 time, the seven, eight, nine and twelve beat rhythms, sinuous melodies and quarter-tone tunings of the Middle East are a revelation.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we revisit the ecstatic rhythms, pungent timbres and secret spaces of the Middle East, on a program called ARCANA. Music is by JEF STOTT, NIYAZ, PAUL AVGERINOS, PAOLO MODUGNO, WAHID, ANOUAR BRAHEM, and BRIAN KEANE.