| STAR'S END Fundraiser - 18 September 2011 | ||||||
35 years ago, everybody thought that the works heard on STAR'S END were futuristic; that within a few decades this music, along with flying cars, robots and jet packs, would be part of mainstream life. Eventually we realized that this sci-fi ideal of tomorrow was probably not going to happen in our lifetimes. So if moon colonies and skyhooks are still on the drawing board, what then of the spacemusic of STAR'S END? What does it mean and where does it fit in? The answer has been there all along. It does not belong entirely to the future. The power and spirit of this most ethereal genre of music is in its timelessness.
Over its 35 years on WXPN STAR'S END has featured works from an enourmous cross-section of musicians and overseen the emmergence and development of several new styles of electronic and ambient music. What connects the different generations, classes and nationalities is the enduring beauty and spirit present in this music. But just as important as the show's musical strides are the people listening. While the works of musicians have helped shape STAR'S END, the audience has defined it. The show has always been about making sleep more interesting, but for an increasing number of people STAR'S END has become a sonic getaway from the stresses and distractions of 21st century life. The music creates an atmosphere; a tonal narrative within which the listener navigates on their own unique journey. Another aspect of the STAR'S END listenership is how supportive you have been over an unprecedented 35 year run. During the 09.18.11 broadcast of STAR'S END you were asked to place a value on your relationship with WXPN. STAR'S END, SLEEPY HOLLOW, HIGHS IN THE 70s and ECHOES may best align with your tastes, but the radio station also programs many other worthwhile shows; such as the MORNING SHOW with Michaela Majoun and WORLD CAFE with David Dye. Your generous act will fund Public Radio station WXPN and indicates that you are among a select few who are serious about this unique radio station and the amazing range of music it presents.
Through your contributions you are doing your part as a Public Radio listener - it's an investment that will help keep STAR'S END in your listening space every week. Thank You to the 35 listeners who tuned in and made $2889.00 in pledges! Thanks also to Ken Anderson, Stephen Bounds, Art Cohen, John Garaguso, Bud Schoefer and Mitzi Trostle for their super help in the phone room! -Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END - 18 September 2011 | ||||||
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Thank You Gifts
Special premiums will be available for those pledging by phone on the 09.18.11 broadcast of STAR'S END, including albums from labels Air Space Music, DiN, Northern Echo, Ricochet Dream, Stokesmusic, as well as the STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Anthology CD from WXPN.
The CD premiums pictured were donated by the artist/label and available (in limited quantities) as thank-you gifts to those making a credit card pledge by phone during the 09.18.11 fundraising broadcast of STAR'S END. More traditional premiums, including the STAR'S END 30th Anniversary Anthology CD furnished by WXPN, will also be offered during this broadcast and throughout the Fall 2011 Fund Drive.
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| On the Other Side by Steve Dinsdale | ||||||
 
On the Other Side (47'46") is (among other things) a tribute to the single-mindedness of the solo artist. Although Steve Dinsdale continues to be a significant part of Radio Massacre International, his artistic vision must disappear against the immensity of the trio's dense free-form concept. With this, his second solo CD, Dinsdale probes deeper into his own ideas about music and sound. His determination to be a part of something creative every single day is Dinsdale's ideal and his audience's delight - as this CD is the result of many a day's creative encounter with music. We hear a mood of celebration in these tracks, along with a healthy dose of 1970s German Space Rock. With Dinsdale playing drums and percussives beneath cycling sequencer patterns and lilting synth melodies, the first few tracks from On the Other Side gently propels the album through the Prog era and on into the 21st century. These pieces are tightly arranged and unfold in a friendly way out into the listening space. The last four of the eight tracks make up the title work, and an interesting suite of music it is. Dinsdale does give this collage continuity, yet the music remains open and spacious. More atmospheric and textural than the previous songs, this area and its easy kinetic flow engage the listener with dancing arpeggios, breathy chorus, ethereal flutes, synth strings and a pleasing melodic confluence. On the Other Side will seem familiar, but not at all derivative. It is nothing less than a true expression of Dinsdale's being - which means that this music was not learned, it was lived.
• Steve Dinsdale - On the Other Side single CD $75.00 Credit Card Pledge
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| Sleek Nucleus - Saul Stokes | ||||||
Saul Stokes makes Electronic Music that sounds like it is coming straight out of the wall outlet. Over the years he has become known for his concerts of sonic improvisation and albums of complex atmospheric energy. His work has always been, and continues to be, based on crafting original sonic elements and forms into beautiful realizations of texture and consonance. More recently Stokes has been embracing his internal contrasts. On Sleek Nucleus (54'42") he produces music that registers in both the body and in the mind. Sleek Nucleus is front-loaded with catchy, engaging tracks - but although this CD's songs may be easier to grasp, this accessibility in no way represents a scaling back of ambition. While overlapping rhythms push Sleek Nucleus to the dance floor, for all its heat and beats the most interesting elements transpire quietly. His one-of-a-kind aural ideals bring a unique aesthetic to the field. This album is full of infectious rhythms, kinetic throbbing and subliminal pulse, but the thoughtful listener will also find grainy tones, chirping modulations and fascinating timbres amidst Stokes' melodic sound designs. Never succumbing to formula, Stokes uses ideas and imagination as maps. He is the musician who speaks most directly to our contemporary condition, but has always been too far out there and unclassifiable to gain the following he deserves. Not one of his works are less than perfect.
• Saul Stokes - Sleek Nucleus single CD $75.00 Credit Card Pledge | ||||||
| Momentium - Luminosity - Quadranteon - Sequentaria - 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.
• Jeffrey Koepper - any single title for a $75.00 Credit Card Pledge | ||||||
| Radiate by 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 | ||||||
| Keep On - Mohave 2003 by Ricochet Gathering | ||||||
 
"The story leading to the creation of Keep On goes back to 1983, when the group Tangerine Dream produced the soundtrack for Michael Mann's film "The Keep", a film taking place in Romania. The music from "The Keep" has maintained cult status and the soundtrack eluded the general public. So, 25 years later, at the 9th Ricochet Gathering EM event, the concept was presented to compose a new interpretation of this soundtrack - in celebration of its Silver Anniversary. The location selected was an old manor in a small village in Transylvania. The various musicians were provided with The Keep Cues soundtrack music to study and gain inspiration and on 11 November 2008, many live and improvised performances were recorded and a selection was chosen for the first two tracks of this release." Personnel: Daniel Bloom, Paul Nagle, Indra, Spyra, Steve Schroyder, Paul Lawler - Notes by Vic Rek
• Ricochet Gathering - Keep On single CD $75.00 Credit Card Pledge | ||||||
| Moire by Ian Boddy & Berhnard Wostheinrich + Praposition by Subsonic Experience | ||||||
 
Bernhard Wostheinrich and Thorsten Niestrath are the duo of Subsonic Experience. Their CD Praposition - a rough snapshot of intuitive improvisation at work - is the result of a weekend recording session in late 2000. The music was all played live on mostly cheap synths and abandoned floor effects pedals. Most notably is Niestrath's amazing synth organ work. His wonderful lead lines and colourful organ clusters are found on all tracks of the album. Wostheinrich's duties on the other hand levitated toward keeping the sequencers running, generating endless variations of tones and textures in real time. Recorded with very basic means, but mixed and mastered using state-of-the-art technology, Moire is the perfect amalgamation of musicianship with a traditionalists feel for early EM, all overseen by modern production techniques.
Moire is DiN label founder Ian Boddy interacting and collaborating in a creative partnership with electronic improvisationalist Bernhard Wostheinrich. The gestation of Moire has been a multifacted process and the resulting music spread over 10 tracks captures both the detail and complexity of arrangement possible with modern music technology as well as the spontaneous nature of the original improvisations. Sonically it effortlessly ranges from classic analogue sequencer lines to deep, metallic atmospheres through to full on drum & synth work-outs. The majority of the tracks employ organic analogue arpeggiations together with unusual percussive loops which forms the backbone of the music. Ethereal ambient textures provide a suitably surreal counter-balance to the solidity of the rhythmic structure which creates a constant sense of flow and change within the compositions.
• Moire & Praposition two CDs $120.00 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/XPN 2011 Members Concert
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STAR'S END broadcasts every Saturday Night/Sunday Morning from 1:00am til 6:00am (ET) on:
and live on the world wide web at: http://xpn.org/stream.shtml | 
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