A great overview article of space music appeared in the London Observer/Guardian Sunday paper. It’s written by Simon Reynolds, a very good critic and author of several books including Generation Ecstasy : Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture.  His article, Kings of the Cosmos, takes the stance that 70s space music is still…

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If you’ve read some of my previous blogs, you’ve heard me lament the state of live performance in electronic music. It’s one thing to create elaborate architectures in the confines of your studio and computer, meant to be heard in environments detached from the real world, be it a boombox, a car stereo or ensconced…

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There’s been a lot of activity on the space music list lately. One topic is what’s the difference between Ambient and Space music. Folks are camping out at either end of the spectrum, saying the twain should never meet, with a few taking up the middle ground, that space is a subset of ambient or…

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It’s nice to know that in these days of high tech digital music, you can still create sound with something as simple as marbles and kitchen mixing bowls. That’s what Sxip Shirey has done in a fascinating video called Sxip Shirey Playing Bowls with Red Marbles. Think La Monte Young, Tibetan Singing Bowls and the…

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As I put together our Celtic Soundscape for St. Patrick’s Day, I was struck by the dearth of new Celtic music coming out. Now, let me be clear. There is still a vital Celtic music community with lots of discs being released. However, not too much of it is in the Echoes vein. It’s quite…

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Lot’s of news on the Lisa Gerrard front. Look for a US tour in April and May There will be a Best of album in June And the Lisa Gerrard documentary, Sanctuary will be released on April 24 Directed by Clive Collier, it’s more artful meditation than blow-by-blow biography and features a lot of Lisa…

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Well, it’s that time again, for my cameo appearance as host of Echoes. March 8th is International Women’s Day! I’ve been in this spot for decades. Long before we began producing Echoes, John and I hosted various programs on WXPN in Philadelphia. On March 8th, I’d usually pull two or three shifts, ranging from classical…

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Remixes are a blessing and a curse. Do we really need another rendition of a tune, a remixers reinterpretation of another artist’s vision. Sometimes, yes. Just off the top of my head I’m thinking of Solarstone’s remixing of Conjure One’s “Center of the Sun.” It was so haunting, mining the forlorn, but empowered lyrics sung…

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On Wednesday, February 14, you’ll be hearing Echoes of the Heart, A St. Valentine’s Soundscape. We’ve been doing these shows pretty much since the beginning of Echoes and the movement in time can be marked by relationships memorialized in song, but which no longer exist. How many albums feature dedications to the significant others in…

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Get ready for NEARfest. The North East Art Rock Festival will be launching on June 23 and 24, with a special, yet to be announced pre-concert show on Friday, June 22. The line-up is the usual, broad-based mix of progressive rock, from symphonic post ELP keyboard bands to the electro-ambiences to slash and burn wrecking…

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