PRX: Echoes Interview Podcast

Inside Big Ears Festival 2019 in Echoes Podcast

Get Big Ears in the Echoes Podcast. You need a big mind to explore the Big Ears Festival 2019.  Big Ears celebrates its 10th anniversary in Knoxville, TN, as one of the most wide-ranging, furthest thinking music festivals in America. We talk to founder Ashley Capps, who also founded Big Ears and revived Moogfest, about a festival that embraces ECM jazz, avant-garde classical music, Appalachian folk musicians and outside the mainstream rockers. This year’s festival includes Harold Budd, Richard Thompson, Meredith Monk, The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Bill Frisell and many many more. The Big Ears Festival 2019 takes place March 21-24, but watch the schedule. Events often occur just before and just after.

Echoes Podcast: Eleon-From Walmart to Space.

ELEON is a musician from Waco, Texas who has been isolated from the music world, working at Walmart. He finally released his debut CD in his late 40s, but he created one of the most exuberant, effervescent electronic albums of 2018, Dreams Beyond Terra. We head west to explore the Sci-Fi electronic music of ELEON along with his producer, ambient guitarist David Helpling, on Echoes.

Bluetech Interview: The Electrocaplyse is Coming

In the Echoes Podcast, we ride with the fifth horseman of the Electrocalypse, Bluetech. Bluetech is a longtime denizen of downtempo electronics and he’s just completed his four album series, The Four Horsemen of the Electrocalypse. He also pays tribute to 70s space electronics with his album, Liquid Geometries. Plug in and ride when Bluetech talks the Electrocalypse in the Echoes Podcast.

P.S The Complete The Four Horsemen of the Electrocalypse has been issued on a limited edition double CD.

Lena Natalia's New Wave Neo-Classical Music

In the Echoes Podcast, we talk with ambient chamber music composer, Lena Natalia. Lena is classically trained, spent a lot of time in France and has emerged with a distinctive Neo-classical to ambient sound. Her album, Lonely Satellite was in Echoes Top 25 for 2018. Hear about her story and her cat in the Echoes Podcast.

Jean-Michel Jarre in Echoes Podcast

In the Echoes Podcast,  we head into Infinity with Jean-Michel Jarre. The iconic French electronic artist talks about his latest album, Equinoxe Infinity, which references his second album from 40 years ago. We bring Jean-Michel Jarre talking about electronic evolution on Echoes.

Read CD of the Month review of Jean-Michel Jarre’s Oxygene Trilogy

Alexandra Streliski Talks About Her Creaky Piano Miniatures.

In the Echoes Podcast, pianist Alexandra Streliski talks about burning out, scoring HBO’s Sharp Objects and her latest album of miniatures, Inscape.  She recorded with her childhood upright piano, all creaks and squeeks part of the intimate sound she creates.We tickle Alexandra Streliski’s ivories on Echoes.

Buck Curran in Echoes Podcast: From Blues to Arborea to Raga and Beyond

Guitarist Buck Curran was one half of the psychedelic duo Arborea with singer Shanti Curran. They put out several albums between 2006 and 2013 including Wayfaring Summer and Fortress of the Sun. But Curran is out on his own now and has released a couple of solo albums including his latest Morning Haikus, Afternoon Ragas. We caught up with him when he played live on Echoes talking about blues, raga, LSD and more

Ambient Pioneer Laraaji & Arji in Echoes Podcast

in the Echoes Podcast, an early legend of ambient and New Age music when Laraaji comes in to talk about his long-lived music career. Laraaji’s 1980 album, Day of Radiance was the 3rd in Brian Eno’s Ambient Series. But Laraaji had already released scores of cassettes before that with his zither improvisations and he’s released over 50 albums since then, including his latest with Arji and Dallas Acid called Arrive Without Leaving. Laraaji and Arji, his partner, come to Echoes, decked out head to toe in orange, and talk laughter, ambience and the new age.

Echoes in Memoriam-Artists We Lost in 2018

Before we get immersed in 2019, I wanted to take a look back at some of the musicians who departed the Echoes Universe, at least in the physical realm.

As years go, 2018 wasn’t the worse one for musicians deaths, certainly nothing like 2016. But we did loose several wonderful artists this year, some of them much before their time.

In the Echoes Podcast, I talk about the loss of Jóhann Jóhannsson and Dolores O’Riordan, two artists who died before their time, both under questionable circumstances.

But there were many who died after long careers. Among them, Marty Balin, co-founder and singer for Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship, the mysterious Hardy Fox of the avant-garde group, The Residents, jazz pianists and composers Randy Weston and Cecil Taylor, avant-garde composer Glenn Branca, and Ugandan musician, Geoffrey Oryema, and Ray Thomas of The Moody Blues..

There were more and you can see a good list here at ranker.com.

William Fitzsimmons Goes Deep in Echoes Podcast.

IN the Echoes Podcast, singer William Fitzsimmons. His parents were blind and he was a psychological therapist and he brings that sense of introspection and sensitivity to sound into his deep, somewhat ambient compositions. We talk with William Fitzsimmons about his career and his latest album, Mission Bell in the Echoes Podcast. That album made The Best of Echoes 2018 Top 25.