Michael Stearns & Robert Rich - Reunion of Breath And Waves - Echoes August CD of the Month
Today two icons of the California New Age and electronic scene with our August CD of the Month, Reunion of Breath and Waves by Michael Stearns and Robert Rich.These are artists who live at the core of Echoes, pushing the boundaries of electronic music while creating highly individual sounds. Stearns is best known for his soundtracks to IMAX films such as Baraka and Chronos. His influential albums include his pioneering 1981 work, Planetary Unfolding whose reissue was an Echoes CD of the Month. Robert Rich has a charted a singular course through electronic music traversing abstract realms, world fusion and electronic dreams. Although they have traveled in the same musical circles and known each other for 40 years, they had never recorded together until now. The result is a spectacular album, and you’re going to hear several tracks from it today.
Read John Diliberto’s review of Reunion of Breath and Waves.
Hear our interview with Michael Stearns and Robert Rich talking about Reunion of Breath and Waves in the Echoes Podcast.
| Start Time | Artist | Song Title | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Program 2631A |
|||
| First Half Hour | |||
| 0:01:00 | Unwed Sailor | West Coast Prism | High Remembrance |
| 0:06:00 | Michael Stearns and Robert Rich | Opening Sky | Reunion of Breath and Waves |
| 0:11:22 | Jess Lamb | I Am Overflowing | I Am |
| 0:14:59 | Tycho | Another Wave (ft. Sea Lemon) | Love Like Raindrops Made of Light |
| 0:19:00 | Eartheater | Fast Asleep (feat. Oklou) | Heavenly Body: If I’m the Bottle You’re the Message |
| 0:21:45 | Harald Grosskopf | Flow | Glitches Brew |
| 0:29:30 | Michael Hewitt | Gold (excerpt) | Victoria Place: Echoes Live 23 (v/a) |
| Second Half Hour | |||
| 0:30:00 | Michael Stearns and Robert Rich | Your Own Path | Reunion of Breath and Waves |
| 0:33:52 | Snorri Hallgrimsson | Haustar | Nowhere Sessions |
| 0:36:57 | Lisa Molinaro | The Apparition | Blind Trust |
| 0:40:25 | Andy Bell & Masal | The Morning Of The Trip | The Morning Of The Trip (Single) |
| 0:44:53 | Break | ||
| 0:45:52 | Michael Stearns and Robert Rich | Continuous Evolution | Reunion of Breath and Waves |
| 0:50:54 | Kinobe | Open Your Mind | Open Your Mind |
| 0:55:31 | Arms and Sleepers | Dealer Goodbyes | Sentimentalism |
| 0:59:00 | Bluetech | Nightfall (excerpt) | Sci-Fi Lullabies |
| Third Half Hour | |||
| 1:01:00 | Michael Brook | Lightstar | RockPaperScissors |
| 1:06:00 | Michael Stearns and Robert Rich | Inclusions | Reunion of Breath and Waves |
| 1:13:53 | Beth Orton | Celestial Light | The Ground Above |
| 1:19:02 | Kaney | Facade | Facade (Single) |
| 1:21:55 | PINES | Bay of Martyrs | DANCER [EP] |
| 1:25:05 | Moby | A Seated Night | Wait for Me |
| 1:29:30 | Lisa Bella Donna | Future Moves (excerpt) | Counterpooints |
| Fourth Half Hour | |||
| 1:30:00 | Michael Stearns and Robert Rich | The Map is the Surface | Reunion of Breath and Waves |
| 1:42:47 | break | ||
| 1:43:22 | Edgar Froese | Walkabout | Pinnacles |
| 1:50:08 | Michael Stearns and Robert Rich | The Ground Remembers | Reunion of Breath and Waves |
On the Next Echoes, music by Sheila Chandra. She is releasing a collection of live recordings called Echo and it includes two tracks from her first Echoes living room concert, recorded in Glastonbury. The first single is from that session: “Ever So Lonely/Eyes/Ocean.” Join John Diliberto when he brings it to us on Echoes from PRX.
| Start Time | Artist | Song Title | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| Program 2631B | |||
| FIRST HALF HOUR | |||
| 0:01:00 | Agnes Obel | Broken Sleep | Myopia |
| 0:06:00 | Marconi Union | Multiform IV | Multiform: Ambient Transmissions Vol.3 |
| 0:12:25 | David Darling | Song of the Rain | Gratitude |
| 0:15:27 | Michael Stearns and Robert Rich | Opening Sky | Reunion of Breath and Waves |
| 0:20:39 | KARYYN | Elsewhen | Physic Universal Love Language (PULL) |
| 0:24:31 | Boards of Canada | Hydrogen Helium Lithium Leviathan | Inferno |
| 0:29:30 | Felsman & Tiley | Kind (excerpt) | Protomensch |
| SECOND HALF HOUR | |||
| 0:30:00 | Sheila Chandra | Ever So Lonely / Eyes / Ocean | Echo |
| 0:36:13 | Liminal Drifter | Aquatic Whisper | Cowboy Pilgrim |
| 0:41:50 | Felsmann + Tiley | Always You (feat. Woodes) | Protomensch |
| 0:44:52 | Break | ||
| 0:43:38 | Michael Whalen | Out 0f Body | Standing Near Infinity |
| 0:53:10 | Eartheater | Practical Amnesia | Heavenly Body: If I’m the Bottle You’re the Message |
| 0:56:49 | Ryan Farish | Symphony of Reflection | Wild As the Wind |
| 0:59:00 | Lena Natalia | Afternoon in Oslo (excerpt) | The Time Before Us |
| THIRD HALF HOUR | |||
| 1:01:00 | Elder Island | Bigger Than Us | Hello Baby Okay |
| 1:06:00 | Michael Stearns and Robert Rich | Your Own Path | Reunion of Breath and Waves |
| 1:09:34 | Frankie Rose | Manifest | Hila |
| 1:13:16 | AvaWaves | Seahorse | Chrysalis |
| 1:16:34 | Peter Gabriel | One by One (Bright-Side Mix) | o\i |
| 1:25:43 | PINES | Closer To You | DANCER [EP] |
| 1:29:30 | Message to Bears | Half Light (excerpt) | Tired Eyes Waking Heart |
| FOURTH HALF HOUR | |||
| 1:30:00 | Flore Laurentienne | Regate | Vol. III |
| 1:34:29 | Shearwater | Even Song | The New World |
| 1:38:03 | Jim Ottaway | Fragments of Fate (2026 Mix) | Treasures of Light |
| 1:44:25 | Break | ||
| 1:45:02 | Beth Orton | I’ll Miss You | The Ground Above |
| 1:50:12 | James Asher/Sandeep Raval/Mike Booth | Astral Voyage | Polychromatic Meditations |