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STAR'S END 30th Anniversary CD
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 | To mark 30 years of continuous broadcast of STAR'S END, WXPN has released the STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Anthology CD. This double CD contains over 120 minutes of live music from 12 renowned artists. The unique performances were culled from on-air in-studio radio concerts by some of our community's greatest talents. Included on the disc are previously unreleased live selections donated by: The Ministry of Inside Things, Orbital Decay, Ian Boddy, AirSculpture, Radio Massacre International, Robert Rich, Rudy Adrian, Jonn Serrie, Jeff Pearce, Saul Stokes and Steve Roach. | ||||
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STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Anthology CDs are currently being sent out to donors by the WXPN Membership Department - which may be reached by telephone at: 1-800-565-WXPN or via email.
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The STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Anthology CD is available for a $60 donation to WXPN which includes membership and all of its benefits. If you are currently a WXPN member, the STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Anthology CD is available for a $25 donation. Access the online Pledge Form to support WXPN and aquire your CD. Call 1-800-565-WXPN or send an email to WXPN Member Services for details.
Thanks very much for your support! The STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Anthology CD includes music by: Disc One:
Thanks very much to all the artists (listed above) who have donated their music. Special Thanks to WXPN, Art Cohen (concert recordings), Jeff Towne (mastering, audio editing, CD graphic design) and to all the volunteers who picthed in to help out with the on-air performances. . Reviews Forthcoming . Artist Background: The Ministry of Inside Things
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Art Cohen (electric guitar) and Chuck van Zyl (synths) have had the opportunity to play live at a variety of interesting venues over the past several years as The Ministry of Inside Things. While their music touches on many of the hallmarks of Berlin-School Spacemusic (cyclical sequencer patterns beneath soaring lead melodies contrasted by passages of deep synth tones and glissando guitar), they bring their own influences and innovation to the process. The result is a sound that is uniquely individual. Owing much to improvisation, each original performance traverses a vast sonic terrain and easily flows through a variety of themes, moods and styles of Spacemusic.
The track "Stone Garden" (6:42) by The Ministry of Inside Things was recorded on the 07.02.06 broadcast and appears on the STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Anthology CD Listen to an MP3 Excerpt (705 kb) The Ministry of Inside things STAR'S END Profile |
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| Artist Background: Orbital Decay | |||||
Listening to the music of Orbital Decay one would believe that digital synthesizers had never been invented. Existing on a plane outside the oppressive rush of modernity, their music quotes the classics of Spacemusic without mimicking them. Synthesist Terry Furber and guitarist Scott Watkins demonstrate a masterful grasp of the vintage gear around which their genre gravitates and explore the past in a new way. Creating layers of space with harmonies warm and golden, pumping sequencer patterns and strident lead lines, this duo explores the inner darkness of electronic music - yet out on the verge of ethereality their music gleams like new. Summoning the ghosts of the 1970s, Orbital Decay's music feels like Phaedra, Meddle and Wired recollected in tranquility. Their CD Solar Maxima contains studio-perfected versions of live jams originally found in the act of making.
The track "Terminal Velocity" (16:48) by Orbital Decay was recorded on the 10.30.05 broadcast and appears on the STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Anthology CD Listen to an MP3 Excerpt (705 kb) Orbital Decay STAR'S END Profile | |||||
| Artist Background: Ian Boddy | |||||
Ian Boddy's music consistently sounds fresh; seeming to exist in an eternal now. Continually coming up with new ideas and approaches, Boddy redefines his relationship with Electronic Music at each outing. His innovative contributions to Electronica retain fragments of a time gone by and make for a daring and passionate vision of a present constantly slipping into the past. His works possess more than just the tricks and technology of their time. Boddy's songs are of innocence and experience and cast a wide resonance - one that speaks from the past to the present.
The track "Before the End of the Beginning"(14:37) by Ian Boddy was recorded on the 10.01.06 broadcast and appears on the STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Anthology CD Listen to an MP3 Excerpt (705 kb) Ian Boddy STAR'S END Profile | |||||
| Artist Background: AirSculpture | |||||
Made up of Adrian Beasley, John Christian and Peter Ruczynski, AirSculpture has been using concert spaces to facilitate electronic experimentation since their first live event in September of 1995. Over the years this UK trio have found that the atmosphere of the venue, the attention of the audience and several other immeasurable factors, have a significant affect on the interaction between players and acts as a fuel for their performances. The dynamics and energy of each realization is controlled by a blend of digital technology and analogue control; the music benefiting through the immediate and tactile interface with the gear and with each other. It is this relationship and experience which allows AirSculpture to create spontaneous and effective electronic realizations in the live environment.
The track "Argent Engine" (12:05) by AirSculpture was recorded on the 11.19.06 broadcast and appears on the STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Anthology CD Listen to an MP3 Excerpt (705 kb) AirSculpture STAR'S END Profile | |||||
| Artist Background: Radio Massacre International | |||||
Radio Massacre International is a trio of English musicians (Duncan Goddard, Steve Dinsdale, and Gary Houghton) known for their extended concerts of epic aural excursions. Over the course of their career they have developed a distinctive style set on transcending individual consciousness. Their performances are largely improvised and often veer off into areas dictated by mood, circumstance or whim. RMI's recorded output reflects the diversity and complexity of this work, which is often compared to that of the Berlin-School of cosmic music that emerged in Germany during the 1970s. But RMI is not simply re-creating the music of this era, they are further exploring and contemplating the expressional mode and the instruments that made it possible - in hopes of realizing new ideas.
The track "Philadelphia Rain" (18:43) by Radio Massacre Int'l was recorded on the 11.17.02 broadcast and appears on the STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Anthology CD Listen to an MP3 Excerpt (705 kb) Radio Massacre Int'l STAR'S END Profile | |||||
| Artist Background: Robert Rich | |||||
In a mood of philosophical calm, Robert Rich realizes music imbued with a sense of wonder at creation. Containing music derived from the darkest regions of the earth, to the brightest grain of stardust, Rich's work evokes the enigmatic nature of the universe while emphasizing its harmony with the human spirit. With his steel guitar, flutes, native percussion, field recordings, synthesizers and samplers Rich delves into the mysteries of the cosmos, and our unease at trying to fathom a place in it.
His ambient works are based on the concept that music should be simplified and enlarged, and Rich achieves a powerful stillness. As static masses of sound and colliding tonal spheres emerge out of his dramatically forceful musical imagination, the soundfield often moves beyond human scale. Rich is a true sculptor of sound and provides the listener with a nearly tactile experience. He works with sound and its sensation, and continually discovers new meaning in the creative impulse - while his fans drift within the inscrutable vastness of his work. The track "Steel Harmonics" (12:05) by Robert Rich was recorded on the 10.13.96 broadcast and appears on the STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Anthology CD Listen to an MP3 Excerpt (705 kb) Robert Rich STAR'S END Profile | |||||
| Artist Background: Rudy Adrian | |||||
The major themes running through the work of Rudy Adrian are nature's earthly majesty and the navigation of space. His musical influences range from the floating spacemusic of the Berlin School to the breathing thought tones of the American soundscape scene. The common thread to his music is the exploration of the sonic landscape, where melody and rhythm play a lesser role to the tones and textures created by synthesizers, wood flutes and the human voice. The result is beautifully flowing and transporting music, contemplative for the mind yet warming to the heart.
The track "Rocks and Junipers" (5:23) by Rudy Adrian was recorded on the 09.22.02 broadcast and appears on the STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Anthology CD Listen to an MP3 Excerpt (705 kb) Rudy Adrian STAR'S END Profile | |||||
| Artist Background: Jonn Serrie | |||||
Jonn Serrie creates music that is irresistible to the ears and calming to the mind. Over the course of his illustrious career in Spacemusic, Serrie has released highly personal musical statements - albums dealing less with the challanging mysteries of space than with its moving and inspirational grandeur. Ranging from classic plantarium-style deep-space excursions to romantic melodic compositions, Serrie's many recordings have been among the most popular space music releases. The music is floating, timeless, swirling, dreamy and cosmic. His compositions traverse a spectrum between deep space excursions and pop melodies.
Jonn Serrie's early releases grew out of his work as composer for planetarium shows. And the Stars Go With You remains a beloved classic of spacemusic, as does his Planetary Chronicles series. Among Jonn Serrie's recent album releases are the lyrical and charismatic Lumia Nights, the warm, shimmering and curvaceous The Stargazer's Journey and his latest, Epiphany, which bridges the gap between spacemusic and sacred hymns. In addition to his twelve albums, Serrie's body of work includes diverse projects with Lucasfilm, IMAX, NASA, the US Navy and CNN. The track "The Stars, Like Dust" (15:09) by Jonn Serrie was recorded on the 05.15.05 broadcast and appears on the STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Anthology CD Listen to an MP3 Excerpt (705 kb) Jonn Serrie STAR'S END Profile | |||||
| Artist Background: Jeff Pearce | |||||
Jeff Pearce is well known to the Spacemusic community for his unique approach to the guitar. Pearce produces tones that rarely betray their origin as they are processed, delayed, distorted and looped to create complex harmonies and timbres. His music is compelling and moody, traversing the Space, Ambient, Experimental and New Age genres. With several full-length CDs and tracks on a number of prestigious anthologies, Pearce dwells in a landscape where Ambient, Space and Minimalism converge. His music ranges from deep, dark soundworlds to bright, elegant, melodic compositions. Pearce's recent work includes music created on the "Chapman Stick" using the two-handed tapping technique associated with touch guitar - a radical departure from standard guitar practice.
The track "Sudden Light" (4:01) by Jeff Pearce was recorded at the 11.23.05 Donor Concert and appears on the STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Anthology CD Listen to an MP3 Excerpt (705 kb) Jeff Pearce STAR'S END Profile | |||||
| Artist Background: Erik Wollo | |||||
Erik Wollo's dynamic sonic expeditions are well-conceived and melody driven. Lofty guitar themes intermingle easily with regal synth lines, cleverly crafted so as to be nearly indistinguishable. Elegant melodies wander through his soundscapes and gentle beats take the listener from states of dreamlike stillness, to frozen brilliance, to warm enchantment. There is a majestic quality to his work - a harmony within its spirituality, development and design. Whether depicting the bareness of a vast tundral landscape or the complexity of an individual snowflake - Erik Wollo offers incredible insight into the world through the infinite perspectives of music.
The track "Converge" (16:00) by Erik Wollo was recorded on the 04.28.02 broadcast and appears on the STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Anthology CD Listen to an MP3 Excerpt (705 kb) Erik Wollo STAR'S END Profile | |||||
| Artist Background: Saul Stokes | |||||
Saul Stokes is recognized as one of the leading voices in modern Electronic Music as he forges ahead on paths parallel to both mainstream and experimental music. His works are intermittently lazy, loose and open yet elsewhere demonstrate a knowing affectivity in their tight arrangement and harmonic contrast. Stokes ushers the concept of musical indeterminacy down to the circuitry level. His hand-built, self-designed tone generators often produce sonically unexpected but esthetically welcomed results. The drifting oscillators, distorting filters and general irregularity inherent in his homemade devices produce a range of chaotic characteristics honed out of commercially manufactured keyboard synthesizers. As high-concept as this may seem, Stokes manages to infuse a sense of wonder into his compositions. Be it in dreamy melodic figures, expanding harmonic progressions or basal body beats, the music of Saul Stokes speaks the electronic infinite word. His work is an exemplary fusion of experimentalism and electronica.
The track "Then-Current" (6:44) by Saul Stokes was recorded on the 03.26.06 broadcast and appears on the STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Anthology CD Listen to an MP3 Excerpt (705 kb) Saul Stokes STAR'S END Profile | |||||
| Artist Background: Steve Roach | |||||
A pioneer in contemporary electronic music, Steve Roach is a leading innovator in the atmospheric/tribal/ambient music world. Drawing on the beauty and power of the earth's landscapes, Roach creates lush, meditative soundscapes. His music exists outside conventional boundaries and is restless in its search for new sounds that connect with an ancient source. Over the past 20 years, Roach has been a rare constant as live performer on the international electronic music scene. With over 50 albums to his credit he continues to set the standards by which this evolving genre is measured. In spite of his music having been borrowed from so many times, Roach still has the power to inspire and move.
The track "Star Offerings" (7:42) by Steve Roach was recorded on the 03.26.06 broadcast and appears on the STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Anthology CD Listen to an MP3 Excerpt (705 kb) Steve Roach STAR'S END Profile | |||||
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STAR'S END 30th Anniversary CD is available through a donation to WXPN. Please contact the WXPN Membership Department for details - by telephone at 1-800-565-WXPN or via email. .
WXPN Presents The STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Spacemusic Festival .
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