Holger Czukay always used to mention 'shortwave' (radio) in the instrument credits on his album. The mysterious, vaguely distorted sound of shortwave radio has always seem to trigger the imagination of those interested in sounds of the unknown and unreachable.
Shortwave radio is a direct connection with uncharted territories. Its distortion and strange sweeping filter effects add another dimension to the radio broadcasts: the fleeting connection may be lost any moment. It's as if you're transferred through time and space to a world you did not know until then.
All of this magic gets lost when technology improves. The same stations may lose their attractivity when heard in full quality. They become part of normal everyday life (and then mostly prove to be as boring as the local stations).

In this time of world wide web global connectivity, where no place on earth seems out of reach, there's an enhancing interest in shortwave sounds. For example, take "A Ghost in the Phase", the latest in the series of the beautiful Low Light Mixes created by Dave Michuda. t's a collage of shortwave samples and ambient sounds of artists using shortwave samples. Haunting and definitely worth listening.

Some of the shortwave fragments in this mix can be found on the Shortwavemusic weblog, strictly dedicated to found shortwave sounds.
Also included in this low light mix is a track from the latest CD by Stephan Mathieu, Radioland ('Auf der Gasse', also included below).

Radioland really deserves your  full attention: all tracks are carefully crafted froms shortwave sounds and have a beautiful, otherworldly atmosphere. With titles like Raphael, Gabriel, Michael and Prolog im Himmel it feels like a direct connection with heaven: quiet, peaceful, mysterious.  

The package should be noted too: unusual size, see-through plexiglas with beautifully coloured imaginary landscapes. The CD itself is vaguely transparent (which is quite unusual because a CD has to reflect the laser light). 

Radioland is a very good starting point for those that want to explore the fascinating territories of shortwave-based music.
Maybe I should rephrase that...Radioland is recommended for everyone into drone ambient..even if you're not interested in the shortwave phenomena at all.

And from there, check out the Low Light Mixes. "A Ghost in the Phase" is the second shortwave mix (the first was 'A Drift in the Signal'). But in fact all (25!!) mixes on this blog are worth listening.

Just mentioning Rutger "Machinefabriek" Zuydervelt's releases could fill a blog on its own. In the high quantity of releases he's able to maintain a very high quality standard, making it hard to pinpoint highlights in the continuous stream of new releases.
But there's no doubt 'Piiptsjilling' belongs in the 'Best of Machinefabriek' list!

Piiptsjilling, by the way, is the name of a bird:Wintertaling, or Teal (Anas Crecca), in the Frysk language spoken in Friesland, northern Netherlands.

Rutger has never been afraid to experiment and to push his boundaries.
This particular release combines a musical landscape with seven west Frysian poems by Jan Kleefstra.

Mariska Baars (also known as Soccer Committee, and performing with Rutger on various occasions) joins in on guitar, and their combination with Romke Kleefstra (guitar) and of course Jan Kleefstra's voice reciting the poems, results in a thrilling, breathtaking atmosphere.
The musical sound is basically very organic. There's electronics involved but it's mostly supportive, even when the guitar sounds dissolve into quiet drones.

Since only Frysians will understand Frysk, the poems are translated in Dutch as well as in English. But even when you do not understand a single word, the feeling is clear.
Piiptsjilling deserves to be heard by a wide audience, in and outside of Friesland (or Holland, for that matter).

Interesting fact:
this CD is released by Onomatopee ('onomatopeia' - the word describing it's own sound). So probably piiptsjilling is the sound this little teal-bird makes. But since I live in a city and probably could not tell a teal from a pigeon, can someone else possibly confirm this?

Piiptsjilling can be ordered from www.machinefabriek.nu, or through boomkat, as well as through some more specialised record stores.
Maybe even some bookstores (to be ordered with ISBN #: 978-90-78454-16-8).
Please support these artists in any way you can.

It is hard to imagine that there's a direct link between Napalm Death and extreme 'isolationist' ambient. But there is, and ex-Napalm Death drummer Mick (MJ) Harris is the linking pin.

As Scorn he has created post-industrial dub (working with Bill Laswell, among others), and as Lull  he has createst some of the deepest, abstract ambient imaginable.

"Like a Slow River" - the well-named new Lull CD - is released on Glacialmovements, which strongly associates this music with shifting desolate plains of ice (as do the beautiful coverphotos).

But listening to the music also evokes associations with dark, slowly moving clouds indicating extreme heavy weather coming.
The best you can do is lie down and surrender...

The music on the 5 tracks (one hour total) resembles some of the best work of Thomas Köner. "Like a slow river" should not be missed by those of you interested in this kind of dark, desolate sound.

Folio, a dutch  Radio 6 program focussing on new electronic music, is one of the few "experimental" radio programs left in Holland. 
Three of these programs from Radio 6 - Folio, Supplement (Avant-Garde) and Café Sonore (sound art) - have compiled a webstream called Outer Limits.
Outer Limits deals  with music "Beyond": electronic, ambient, experimental, avant-garde and sound-art. It is compiled from music that was presented in earlier radio shows, but also contains music that could have been on one of these shows.

This webstream may be of interest to anyone that can handle more (and sometimes less) experimental music/sounds. And since it's available 24/7, broadcasting music uninterrupted and without spoken introductions, it's also especially interesting for international audiences that cannot understand the dutch language of the original radio-shows.

However: don't expect a strictly ambient webstream. Although ambient music takes up a fair amount of the playlist, there's lots of other sounds too: this webstream is targeted at listeners that aren’t too afraid of musical surprises. So be sure not to fall asleep while listening ...

If you're willing to test your own 'outer limits' or looking for some new musical ideas, checking this webstream may be and idea.

Outer Limits is available in two formats: Shoutcast (Winamp, iTunes - I prefer this one because it shows the artist and title in the player) and Windows Media (Windows media player).

One definition of 'drone' music might be: 'finding the least thing necessary for pleasurable listening'.
Although it's not it's not a very good definition (because of the 'pleasurable' which may prove to be a bit ehh...subjective. And what's a "thing"?), it fits the purpose for describing the intention of 'drone music'. 

"Constant" is the well-chosen title of the drone Mystified (Thomas Park) originally 'found', and which he thought impressive enough to listen to it constantly. It has the basic soothing drone quality of distant humming machines...reassuring and comforting sounds to listen to, to ignore, or to help disguise other, unwanted sounds from your environment.

The original "Constant" drone was released on the Webbed Hand Records netlabel, and proved to be inspiring to other drone artists like Stephen Philips, Zen Potato, Ben Summers, Soul in Limbo, Tribe of Astronauts and C.P. McDill - most of whom can be found as contributing artist of the Drone Download Project by te way, which probably is not a coincidence.

Finding these reactions on his original drone, Thomas 'Mystified' Park decided to create a mix version of all Constant Drones, which is available now through archive.org. 

This "Constant Mix - 10 Drones" is a recommended download for all of you interested in extremely minimal drone ambient (like Thomas Köners, or maybe even Eliane Radigue's).
Compared to the original full length drones, the mix may even be called adventurous because of it's shifting patterns when it moves from one "Constant" to another. It's carefully mixed and this mix creates a tension which keeps the piece interesting to listen to for the full 68 minutes!
Pleasurable listening, indeed!

If this mix is not enough for you: archive.org also hosts all original full length versions too: you'll find all links to these files on the Constant Mix page. 

When listening to the music on this CD, it's hard to imagine that the creator, 22-year old Tomasz Bednarczyk from Poland, wasn't born yet when Brian Eno and Harold Budd created their genre-defining work in the first half of the eighties.

The crackling surface-noise sounds familiar to a lot of recordings nowadays, but was unknown then (or rather: unwanted, because it usually meant a very bad vinyl copy).
But the atmospheric soft-sounding piano immediately invokes the same dreamy atmosphere as the music on The Plateaux of Mirror and The Pearl.

Room40 recognised Tomasz' talent and picked up his first full length album 'Summer Feeling' to make it available through digital distribution (like iTunes, eMusic, Boomkat). Definitely worth the download
A new full length CD called 'Painting Sky Together' will be released this month (may).

Sounds like this is going to be a good summer!

In an interesting article about 'web 2.0 fan-based fundraising', Kevin Kelly (founding editor of Wire Magazine) states that any artists only needs "1000 True Fans" to make a living out of music.
"A 'True Fan' is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can't wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans."

For his theory, Kelly  assumes that a true fan spends about $100 a year on buying his idol's products.
That's interesting enough, but how about the ambient music niche market? Would it be possible to find '1000 true fans' there at all?

When Kevin kelly asked him, Robert Rich wrote an insightful answer about that in an article on his webpage.
Judging by his view, it will be quite hard to earn a living on creating ambient music alone. But he's quite a happy man about that fact: "I make about as much money as our local garbage man; and I don’t smell as bad after a day of work."
Note that Robert Rich is a very prolific artist who released many titles (including "Somnium" - a piece lasting 7 hours which I consider one of the most important works in the ambient drone genre). His output is quite diverse in style, which may keep the 'true fans' interested over time.

Obviously, there's  no real money be made in the ambient music genre.  You will also have to maintain a day job to earn their living. I don't really think that is a bad thing however, because this means that creating ambient music means you must be devoted to the genre, otherwise you wouldn't bother at all!

...Well this is in fact, a lengthy and unusual introduction to the new Matthew Florianz album called "Maalbeek".

Matthew Florianz is a dutch ambient artist who released quite a few albums that gained critical acclaim. Titles like "Molenstraat" and "Grijs Gebied" may sound familiar to some of you (and if not: they're definitely worth checking out!).

To pay for his daily living, Matthew has a job that is closely related to his musical works: he is a game sound designer, currently working on a major Multiplayer Online Game: The Chronicles of Spellborn.
There is a close relation between game soundtracks and ambient music. Spellborn sounds like a good example (as was Myst, in earlier times).

It's an interesting fact that there's a HUGE audience exposed to 'ambient music' without even knowing it. They will probably never be 'True Fans' - but if playing games support artists like Matthew Florianz in creating albums like "Maalbeek" in his spare time, that's fine.

The bottom line, of course, is that you don't need to be a true fan to support an artist. A less-than-true fan might also keep an artist going - he may just need more than just 1.000...

It has become a sort of a yearly tradition since 2000: the "Spring ambient mix" on dutch national radio (NPS).

This year's mix, a two hour mix, is now available to listen to online.
It was broadcast in the first two Radio 6 NPS-Folio broadcasts of April.

You can listen to this mix by clicking the icon below: click 'read more'.

Central piece in the first part of this "april-mix" (named "Strange Birds", or "Vreemde Vogels" in dutch) is Christina Kubisch' "Tea Time (Autumn Leaves Mix)", from Gruenrecorder's "Autumn Leaves".
Male singers communicate their words as if they were birds, twittering words like "Who's awake?", "Me Too!" and "Who cooks for you?". This spring-like chatter evokes a strange and hypnotic landscape sometimes unnerving, sometimes comforting.

The second part of the mix (named "True") is a further walk in the same landscapes.
The tension may rise this time, but the view remains spectacular.
This second part is concluded by a Soccer Committee song that also gave it it's title. "True" is no 'ambient music' by any definition. Still, in her search for inner quiet, Mariska 'Soccer Committee' Baars has shown that 'ambient' music does not necessarily need to involve 'electronics'. It's can also be a state of mind...

I hope you will be able to take the time to listen to this mix and let me know what you think of it.

PLAYLIST:

Part 1:

• David Lynch - Untitled 1
  The Air is On Fire
  Strange World Music - SWM001 - 2007
• 1000 Finnish Soundscapes - Parolanummi
  Autumn Leaves
  Gruenrecorder - Gruen053 - 2007
• Goldmund - Then
  Two Point Discrimination
  Western Vinyl - West048 - 2007
• Audela - Audela part 3
  Audela
  Plague Recordings - Plague002 - 2007
• Krypton - Polelum
  Silent Drama
  Test Tube - tube 102 - 2007
• Mensa - Skane
  Nordic Recordings
  Resting Bell - RB011 - 2007
• Patrick Franke - Schwarzspecht
  Autumn Leaves
  Gruenrecorder - Gruen053 - 2007
• Klimek - For Steven Spielberg & Azza El-Hassan
  Dedications
  Anticipate recordings - ANTICIPATE004A - 2007
• Oophoi - Cold Sun
  Whispers from the Noisy Void
  Umbra/Penumbra - Umbra060 - 2007
• Entia Non - Above
  Distal
  Test Tube - tube099 - 2007
• Venetian Snares - Colorless
  My Downfall
  Planet MU - 2007
• Christina Kubisch - Tea Time (Autumn Leaves Mix)
  Autumn Leaves
  Gruenrecorder - Gruen053 - 2007
• Krypton - Silent Drama
  Silent Drama
  Test Tube - tube 102 - 2007
• Eliane Radigue - Death Nirvana
  Jetsun Mila
  Lovely Music - LCD2003 - 2007
• Andrew Chalk - Obscure in the Valley
  Time of Hayfield
  Faraway Press - FP13 - 2007
• Konntinent - All Lines Lead In
  All Lines Lead In
  Serein - SER015 - 2007
• Worrytrain - Prelude for Piano & Malaria
  Fog Dance, My Moth Kingdom
  Own Records - 2007
• Arno Peeters - Elements
  Autumn Leaves
  Gruenrecorder - Gruen053 - 2007
• Christina Kubisch - Tea Time (Autumn Leaves Mix)
  Autumn Leaves
  Gruenrecorder - Gruen053 - 2007
• Tzesne - The Pet
  Cliffs uder the Mist
  Mystery Sea - 2007
• Andrew Chalk - Suspended in the Air
  Time of Hayfield
  Faraway Press - FP13 - 2007
• David Lynch - Untitled 8
  The Air is On Fire
  Strange World Music - SWM001 - 2007
• Goldmund - One
  Two Point Discrimination
  Western Vinyl - West048 - 2007
• Cusack - Chernobyl Dawn
  Autumn Leaves
  Gruenrecorder - Gruen053 - 2007
  

PART 2:

• Tzesne - By the Dry Sea…By the Falling Leaves
  Cliffs under the Mist
  Mystery Sea - 2007
• August Stars - Nor' Easter
  Midwinter
  Make Mine Music - MMM030 - 2007
• Dirac - Lysis
  Untitled
  U-Cover - CDR048 - 2007
• Stars of the Lid - The Moutchchew pt.2
  Carte de Visite
  Not on Label - 2007
• Emil Klotzsch - Kummer
  Symbiosis
  Zymogen - net-only - 2007
• Sylvain Chauveau - Old Friend
  Nuage
  Type - Type034 - 2007
• Robert Curgenven - Silent Landscape #2
  Autumn Leaves
  Gruenrecorder - Gruen053 - 2007
• Krypton - Croon
  Silent Drama
  Test Tube - Tube102 - 2007
• Oophoi & Faryus - Thuban
  Forgotten Rituals
  Farya Records - Far-10 - 2007
• Hilary Jeffery - Procession
  Solo Trombone & Electronics
  FMR - 210-0906 - 2007
• Robin Guthrie & Harold Budd - Inside, A Golden Echo
  After the Night Falls
  Darla Records - DRL182 - 2007
• Machinefabriek - Interlude
  Music for Intermittent Movements
  Not on Label - 2008
• NSI - 19
  Non Standard Institure Plays Non Standards
  Sähkö - 022CD - 2007
• Stephen Phillips - Mournful Content
  Somber Waves of Grain
  Blue Water Records - BWR038 - 2007
• Muhr - Intro
  Forever Tunnels
  Miasmah - MIA063 - 2007
• Kontakt der Jünglinge - Montreal Solution #1
  Untitled
  Die Stadt - DS104 - 2007
• BJ Nilsen - Pole of Inaccessability
  The Short Night
  Touch - TO:75 - 2007
• Jacob Kirkegaard - Ala
  Eldfjall
  Touch - T33:20 - 2005
• Jacob Kirkegaard - Gerd
  Eldfjall
  Touch - T33:20 - 2005
• Tzesne - Sunburnt Skin
  Cliffs under the Mist
  Mystery Sea - 2007
• Goldmund - See
  Two Point Discrimitation
  Western Vinyl - West048 - 2007
• Hilary Jeffery - Announcement
  Solo Trombone & Electronics
  FMR - 210-0906 - 2007
• Venetian Snares - Room 379
  My Downfall
  Planet MU - 2007
• Mariska Baars, Wouter Van Veldhoven, Rutger Zuydervelt - Zeeg
  Zeeg
  Digitalis - ACE004CD - 2007
• Juan Jose Calarco - Piano Vertical 2
  Piano Vertical
  Test Tube - Tube087 - 2007
• Quosp - Bistre
  Soundscapes
  Metanoia Media - Meta 044 - 2007
• Stars of the Lid - Virginia 20.03
  Carte de Visite
  Not on Label - 2007
• Soccer Committee - True
  sC
  MORC Records - MORC44 - 2007
• Charlie Fox - Four Wild places
  Autumn Leaves
  Gruenrecorder - Gruen053 - 2007
  

Note:
If you want to check out some of my earlier ambient mixes, check out www.vancooten.com/radiobroadcasts for the playlists and a player including all mixes available online.
By the way: if you listen to the mixes via this player,  or directly from the Folio pages, some browsers (especially Internet Explorer) may freeze your computer for some time while loading the buffer. Just be patient...the music will play, there's nothing wrong...
Just relax, unwind & unstress...

Not exactly “ambient”, but definitely “Cinema for the Ear” as the composer himself calls it. And  indeed: the carefully orchestrated samples and sound fragments seem to tell a story without images. A beautiful tension is created in a dialogue between the electronic soundscape and the piano improvisations.

As Connecticut-born composer Joe Frawley (b. 1971) states: “The "film" is an abstract construction, designed to stimulate the imagination by way of suggestion, rather than clearly outlining characters, plot, etc. “.

If the music and the title (The Hypnotist) does not help you create your own  mental imagery, Joe is offering you his own interpretation  in the notes on his website. 

The Hypnotist is a 30+ minute CD , and makes you wish it was longer than that.
It’s the third part in a series that began with “Wilhelmina’s Dream” in 2006, followed by “Tangerine” in 2007.
Well worth checking out!

The Bersarin Quartett is a bit hard to classify. If a subgenre called ‘lounge ambient’ (not to be shortcutted to ‘lambient’, please) existed, the Bersarin Quartett would be one of the first to fit in. Or maybe even define it. 
The Bersarin Quartett is not a quartet at all, as you might've expected: it’s just "Thomas".  Thomas "Bersarin's" music can best be described floating somewhere between Biosphere’s ‘Shenzou’ and Cinematic Orchestra without vocals.
‘Cinematic’ this sure is: string orchestra samples are used to full effect. It’s a widescreen soundtrack to non-existent films.
And it's full of mixed emotions....

The album cover shows a young frightened girl seemingly averting a brutal assault. This image is used to full effect on Bersarin Quartett’s  myspace page: it takes some time before you realize you have to scroll down to find the standard page parts. Most of the music on this album is considerably less frightening, by the way.

This hidden gem may sadly never reach your local record shop, since it’s released on a very small record label (it’s Lidar’s second release).
But it’s very worth haunting..I’m sure it will haunt you too.