| STAR'S END Fundraiser - 14 February 2010 | ||||||
The mission of STAR'S END is to preserve, encourage and broadcast the music of artists in Ambient sound - and ultimately to provide listeners with an aural esthetic enriching to the human spirit. Every week for well over 30 years STAR'S END creates a deep sonic experience witihin which listeners establish their own personal narrative. It's a special thing. The hours of these broadcasts belong to you - and STAR'S END does want you out there listening every week, but also needs you calling in during the fund drives.
On the 02.14.10 broadcast of STAR'S END you were asked to do more than just tune in and listen; you were asked to call in and pledge! Your generous act not only funds WXPN but also indicates that you are serious about this unique radio show and the amazing range of music it presents. We're not asking for a few people to do a lot, we're asking for a lot of people to do a little. The donations that come in during the fundraisers are so important. Thank you for tuning in, then phoning in to the STAR'S END Fundraising broadcast of 02.14.10. There were special Thank You gifts available for those calling in, including the STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Anthology 2CD set, as well as great music and insightful interviews with STAR'S END community members. Through your contributions you are making an investment in the future - an investment which keeps programs like STAR'S END on the air. STAR'S END raised $4992.00 from 42 listeners Thanks very much for your support! Special Thanks to the phoneroom volunteers: Ken Anderson, Adam Barnett, Art Cohen, Adam Doe, Robert Ianacone, Ben Manes, Dan Marsh and Bud Schoefer - plus Jeff Towne for his efforts on-air. Thanks also to Chuck Nixon who was featured on-air in a live interview. Marking 30 years on the air with STAR'S END, Chuck van Zyl was interviewed by Jeff Towne and reflected on his long-time involvement. -Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END - 14 February 2010 | ||||||
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Thank You Gifts
Special premiums are available for those pledging on the 02.14.10 broadcast of STAR'S END, including albums from labels Air Space Music, Synkronos Music, DiN, Northern Echo, Ricochet Dream, as well as the STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Anthology CD from WXPN.
The premiums pictured were donated by the artist and available (in limited quantities) as thank-you gifts to those making a credit card pledge during the 02.14.10 fundraising broadcast of STAR'S END. More traditional premiums, including the STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Anthology CD furnished by WXPN, were also offered during this broadcast and throughout the Winter 2010 Fund Drive.
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| DiN - Robert Rich & Ian Boddy | ||||||
 
For Robert Rich & Ian Boddy, their third collaboration is the result of their first live meeting. React (63'52") is a document of this duo's performance at the STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Celebration Concerts held in Philadelphia in June of 2007. The 11 tracks include live versions of pieces from their two earlier studio CDs Lithosphere (2005) and Outpost (2001), as well as new works conceived especially for their first outing. As with their previous releases, React does not merely occupy the middle ground between two talented musicians. It is a surreal, fanciful and at times intense work that provokes and impresses with its conceptual complexity. Rich's intoxicating glissando guitar and echoing flute melodies inhabit the ether while Boddy produces deep rumbling and neuron disabling effects across a shifting digital terrain. Ravaging his keyboards, sounds stretch inside out as intricate rhythms assemble, build and change. From space-tribe drumming and wet bassline punch, to soft moonlit chords and floating synth atmospheres, this work is panoramic yet detailed. Rich and Boddy move through an interior landscape with a unanimity that usually comes with years of experience - and ask the listener to stop reacting to the external world, and to explore the internal one.
• Robert Rich & Ian Boddy - React single CD $75.00 Credit Card Pledge | ||||||
| Northern Echo - Radio Massacre International | ||||||
With every outing, Radio Massacre International gets a chance at greatness. Their live sets are so open and undetermined that the audience, at the outset of a concert, can but wonder at their final destination. Will we be left to ponder an impenetrable negative space? or chase starlight at the edge of heaven? We get all this and more on Philadelphia Air Shot (58'39"), which was recorded live at WXPN in Philadelphia for airing on the 11.18.07 broadcast of STAR'S END. A little structure goes a long way as this session opens with a live version of "Bettr'r Days" from Rain Falls in Grey, RMI's 2007 studio album. Here we find Duncan Goddard on bass guitar (and occasionally tweaking his sequencer), Steve Dinsdale playing organ chords with one hand and drum samples with the other, and Gary Houghton leading the power trio with the bluest, most distinct, out front and lyrical electric guitar solos he has ever recorded. After out-rocking the original by several parsecs, the pop personas recede leaving us with a staccato sequencer riff. Spiraling amidst intertwining tone patterns, each line echoes in machine-like precision. Weaving the disparate strands into a cohesive whole, the sprawling epic transforms into a slow burning other worldly meditation - where the human mind is the landscape of the work. The closing moments of this piece show the softer side of this trio and we are gently left in a much different space than where we began. On Philadelphia Air Shot RMI gave it their best shot, turning in a one-off intoxicating performance. From the immediate impact of the opening movement and the rushing intensity of the sequencer centric segment that follows, to the minimalistic patterns and quiet power of the lengthy close, RMI's voyage is still a work in progress - with each concert making the journey new.
• Radio Massacre International - Philadelphia Air Shot single CD $75.00 Credit Card Pledge | ||||||
| DiN - Radio Massacre Int'l | ||||||
Radio Massacre Int'l is a trio of English musicians (Steve Dinsdale, Duncan Goddard, Gary Houghton) known for their extended concerts of epic aural excursions. RMI proudly admits that their performances are largely improvised and often veer off into areas dictated by mood, circumstance or whim. Their 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, but rather further exploring and contemplating the expressional mode and the instruments that made it possible - in hopes of realizing new ideas. Enter third millennial idea-man Ian Boddy and Septentrional (56'14"), his interesting collaboration with RMI. For this album, Boddy has extensively edited and arranged hours of new RMI studio recordings into five tightly orchestrated and varied pieces, adding his own percussion riffs and rolls when needed. While the tracks sound like something made by RMI, they are more condensed and agile. Gone are the sprawling and time-warping jam sessions of previous releases. On Septentrional Boddy successfully retains the essence of RMI's music as well as displays its variety. The feel of the album shifts in turns between the stark and elegiac soundscapes of "Seven Sceptres of Sephulcrave" (11'43") and "The Last Laugh" (8'20") to the athletic and brisk spirited "The First Cry" (11'06") and "Trident" (11'19") and the nimble and supple complex web of minor key melodies on "Searching Septentrional Skies" (9'20"). Here the slow early section drifts by, generating momentum for the gyratory sequencer rhythms. So goes Septentrional, a cofunction that yields abundant musical rewards - addressing the ideal of only being satisfied with not what came before but what comes next.
• Radio Massacre Int'l - Septentrional single CD $75.00 Credit Card Pledge | ||||||
| Ricochet Dream - Spyra | ||||||
Listening to High Phidelity it is easy to hear Spyra drawing upon techno influences as much as the mysterious moods of the spacemusic realm. He views the body and mind as parts of the same organism, and the medium of electronica as a path between many stylistic directions. On this double live CD, Spyra explores the boundaries between opposites, and manages to realize music that is always inviting and consistently engaging. Made up of concert excerpts drawn from 2007 activity, High Phidelity finds Spyra playing with space on STAR'S END, bursting with color and inflection at E-Day, soaring along melodic lines and dancing shapes at Hampshire Jam and weaving beautiful leads amidst complex interlocking patterns and repetitive motifs at The Gatherings Concert Series. The sound is vibrant, simultaneously loose and ordered, and with a tight grip on the groove. Spyra gives us the spacey and the dancey, but never the same way twice.
• Spyra - High Phidelity double CD $75.00 Credit Card Pledge | ||||||
| Disappearing Music - Anomalous Disturbances | ||||||
  
On the CD Inside (69'05"), Anomalous Disturbances moves beyond the subtle profundities of the minimal Ambient music he is known for. Effortlessly switching to a music laced with twists in tempo and mood and loaded with muscular riffs and sticky melodies, this album is a real gone ethno-ambient adventure. More than a mere side project, Inside shows primary Terrance O'Brien (guitar) continuing to grow as a composer - now in collaboration with his two brothers Chris (percussion) and Wayne (flute). They fill the empty air with sound and our eager brain space with images. From tribal fever dreams to floating synthetic textures and eruptions of soft form, this release shows the trio thinking with their hands. As seductive percussion runs shift the shape of the rhythm, powerhouse bass delivers the crunch while silvertoned guitar lead lines snake above. A few of the eight tracks possess a pronounced inward quality - a withdrawn beauty. These space creating sound images are quietly ambitious in their aural poetry of place and atmosphere. Overall, this is a wonderful work full of complex pleasures for the ear. Inside seems fresh, disquieting and utterly unexpected - an evolution of O'Brien's distinctive musical language and increasing inclination toward linear narrative structures.
The double CD Archive Two compiles a range of pieces from various projects and experiments. The 12 tracks each create a delicate atmosphere of subtle gradations and variations of tone and timbre. From cold beauty to a warm quieting of the mind, these compositions ask the listener to lose themselves inside the music. While the fingerprints of Jeff Pearce, Steve Roach and Robert Fripp may be found on this material, this music belongs to Anomalous Disturbances. With the mysteries of this process far from exhausted, O'Brien has a lifetime of innovation ahead of him. • Anomalous Disturbances - Inside and Archive Two double CD $120.00 Credit Card Pledge | ||||||
| Ricochet Dream - Jeffrey Koepper | ||||||
Radiate is a sonic document of Jeffrey Koepper's set at The Gatherings on 19 April 2008 and traverses much of the same territory as his two previous concert outings (on STAR'S END and opening for Steve Roach). With an emphasis on works from his CD Sequentaria (released at The Gatherings that night) the set began with some vintage phase shifted synth pads, heroic E-drums and dancing arpeggio scales. Drawing on the musical era that spawned such albums as Poland, Logos and White Eagle; Koepper ran through a fascinating range of sequencer based pieces - his full-throated lead lines soaring above. His stage set-up included several keyboards, among them vintage museum grade synths - right alongside the latest retro analogue technology. Between each of the rhythmic sections Koepper lulled the audience with deep drones and airy synthetic harmonies and effects. To close out the night, Jeff played lovely chord progressions on the Prophet-8 over a simple run of tones from the arpeggiator on the Jupiter-6. Looking back, this uncluttered and pure piece of music was a perfect way to wind the concert down - with a few quiet and intimate moments spent between the artist and audience. At The Gatherings Concert Series complex stories are often told with simple sounds. Radiate is full of these human details, spoken in the public luster of the live concert. • Jeffrey Koepper - Radiate single CD $75.00 Credit Card Pledge | ||||||
| Air Space Music - Jeffrey Koepper | ||||||
  
Renowned for his technical abilities and restorative powers, Jeffrey Koepper is distinguished for his work in maintaining and reviving vintage electronic music equipment. His music is realized through a mastery beyond the technical side of his craft - and alternates between analogue bubbles and digital ice, and bright, smooth, spacious tonal landscapes. Applying his vast technical knowledge of music making equipment towards programming evocative ethereal sounds and strong rhythmic designs, Koepper produces music of impressive depth and rare intelligence. • Air Space Music Label Four-Pack includes one copy each of Sequentaria, Momentium, Luminosity and Radiate as a Thank-You for a $144.00 or $12.00/month Credit Card Pledge • Jeffrey Koepper - any single title for a $75.00 Credit Card Pledge | ||||||
| Hypnos/Binary - Saul Stokes | ||||||
 
Operating at the heart of electronic music, Saul Stokes' work has been primarily an exploration of timbre and the character of sound. On Villa Galaxia (55'45") Stokes does not ditch the experimental ambiance he took so long to develop, and surprises us with eight tightly arranged and focused works. With the path of each piece following imaginative accelerating percussion and charged synthetic rhythms, the energy level of this CD wanders into the realm of more contemporary releases. Yet, with its fascinating arrangement and wealth of original tones and sonic coloration, Villa Galaxia will please the bobbing club hipster as much as the prone head-tripper. In this finely tuned collage of grainy beats, squiggly synths and twisting tones each song bursts with vitality and warmth. An album of its time, spanning and transcending electronica's musical moment, Stokes channels the era of the synthesizer.
• Saul Stokes - Villa Galaxia single CD $75.00 Credit Card Pledge | ||||||
| Synkronos Music - The Ministry of Inside Things | ||||||
   
The Philadelphia based Spacemusic duo The Ministry of Inside Things exist outside the confines of the recording studio and in the realm of the live performance. As MoIT, Art Cohen (guitar) and Chuck van Zyl (synths) continue a tradition of bringing an otherwise methodical studio based artform out into the spontaneity of the performance environment. Their third CD Ambient Elsewhere feels dark and isolated when compared to their two earlier releases. While Everlasting Moment explored the edges, dynamics and tension of space and atmosphere, and Contact Point embraced the more unified themes of cosmic, biospheric and macrocosmic interaction, Ambient Elsewhere moves through a strange new territory in-between and outside of traditional Spacemusic. Drawn from a range of chilling themes, this album sonifies wintertime, desolate landscapes and the midnight of the soul. Moving through the timbral badlands of the empty quarter, their music offers up a courageous intimacy. Always bringing their own influences and innovation to the music process, MoIT produces a sound that is uniquely individual and personal. • Synkronos Music Label Three-Pack includes one copy each of Ambient Elsewhere (2CD), Contact Point and Everlasting Moment (2CD) by The Ministry of Inside things as a Thank-You for a $144.00 or $12.00/month Credit Card Pledge • The Ministry of Inside Things - any single title for a $75.00 Credit Card Pledge | ||||||
| STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Anthology CD | ||||||
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 11 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.
The STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Anthology CD is available for a $60 donation to WXPN, which includes membership and all of its benefits. Current WXPN members can receive the STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Anthology CD for a $25 donation. Access the online Pledge Form to support WXPN and aquire your CD. Please indicate "STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Anthology CD" in the comments box. Call 1-800-565-WXPN or send an email to WXPN Member Services for details. 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. Thanks very much for your support!
STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Celebration
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STAR'S END broadcasts every Saturday Night/Sunday Morning from 1:00am til 6:00am (EDT) on:
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