Author: Jim Causey

Halloween Special 2023

Post author By Jim Causey
Post date 12.26.2023

first aired 10.31.23

Episode 031 – I read somewhere that if your program’s 31st episode airs on the 31st day of October — you’re required to go all-in on Halloween

This week on Convergence Zone, I discard the music of calm, focus, relaxation, and uplift — and plunge into horror and the occult, dark catharsis, tones that unsettle and display, music for liminal spaces and end times
Local darkwave from ACTORS, Soft Release, Lydia, LEATHERS, and A Covenant of Thorns

Brand new folk-horror ambient from the Hidden Britain compilation “Analysing a Ghost By Electronic Means”; excursions into the underworld with Chuck van Zyl and Cryo Chamber

Dark classics from, Молчат Дома, The Cure, Nine Inch Nails, Sisters of Mercy, Boy Harsher, and Bauhaus

The dark tides arrive on Halloween Tuesday, October 31, 10:30pm Pacific – on 90.7 KSER, 89.9 KXIR, and streaming at kser.org, TuneIn, and on the flickering shortwave radio in your undead crypt

Includes excerpts from:
The Lovecraft Investigations, “The Whisperer in Darkness”, BBC Sounds
Numbers stations – The Lincolnshire Poacher, Skyking, and others

KSER playlist (opens in new tab)

Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band – Halloween Theme – 00:00
Soft Release – Broken Number 13 – 01:42
The Cure – Burn – 05:16
Echo And The Bunnymen – The Killing Moon – 12:50
ACTORS – L’appel Du Vide – 18:25
Siouxsie And The Banshees – Cities In Dust – 21:39
Depeche Mode – Rush – 2006 Remastered Version – 26:19
LEATHERS – Phantom Heart – 30:31
New Order – The Perfect Kiss (2022 Digital Master) – 34:18
Molchat Doma – Судно (Борис Рижий) – 39:34
Bauhaus – Dark Entries – 41:47
Nine Inch Nails – Burn – 45:36
The Sisters of Mercy – This Corrosion (excerpt) – 50:26
Lycia – In Flickers – 58:56
Tom Waits – What’s He Building? – 01:02:01
M83 – Car Chase Terror – 01:05:12
B.Michaael – Dying Waves – 01:09:56
The Soulless Party – Vigilamus – 01:13:40
Nicholas Bullen – When They Return – 01:17:30
Buried Marie – White Night – 01:23:25
Chuck van Zyl – News Flash – 01:31:00
Scott Lawlor – Crossing the Veil – 01:48:00

Tags #ambient, #convergencezone, #darkambient, #darkwave, #gothic, #halloween, #kser, #newage, #spacemusic, #synthpop, #synthwave

Show Playlists

Episode 030 – Terminus Void “Aperion” premiere

Post author By Jim Causey
Post date 10.27.2023

first aired 10.24.23

This week on Convergence Zone I’m thrilled to share the worldwide radio premiere of the new LP “Apeiron” by Terminus Void — and excerpts from my exclusive interview with project creator J. Ronald Smith. We spoke about his influences, the themes captured on this debut record on Groove Unlimited, and the story threaded through the musical layers on “Apeiron”

Also – brand new local music from AeTopus and from Pure Bathing Culture, as well as by Wild Nothing, , and Driftmachine; and celebrating local tour stops by Eydis Evensen and Loscil with Lawrence English

I’ll also pay tribute to Norm Chambers, the prolific Seattle composer, performer, and music curator

Convergence Zone arrives on Tuesday night, 10:30pm Pacific time, 90.7 KSER and 89.9 KXIR — streaming around the world at kser.org, TuneIn, and other fine radio services

Tags #ambient, #convergencezone, #darkwave, #kser, #newage, #radio, #spacemusic, #synthpop

Guest Host - David Haldeman Show Playlists

Episode 029 – guest DJ David Haldeman from Dead Electric

Post author By Jim Causey
Post date 10.19.2023

Special guest host David Haldeman – first aired 10.17.2023

Guest DJ David Haldeman

Host of Dead Electric -A radio show playing vintage synth, space, and new age music from the 70s and 80s. Friday nights at 10:30 p.m on KSER!

Thank you David for a phenomenal show!

Track list –

Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and Emile Mosseri – The Moon in Your Eye – I Could Be Your Dog/I Could Be Your Moon

Hibou – Valium – Hibou

Grimes – Genesis – Visions

Brian Eno and John Cale – Spinning Away – Wrong Way Up

[Mic break]

The Books feat. Jose Gonzales – Cello Song – Dark Was the Night

Odesza – A Moment Apart – A Moment Apart

Julee Cruise – Into the Night – Floating Into the Night

[Mic break]

The Postal Service – Be Still My Heart – Give Up (20th anniversary edition)

Sky Cries Mary – Moondream Meadow Allegory – Exit at the Axis

Surf Mesa – Manzanita – Run

[Mic break]

Jason Holstrom – Behold the Sky – Tonight Sky

Grand Hallway – Winter Creatures – Winter CreaturesMike Oldfield – In the Beginning/Let There Be Light – The Songs of Distant Earth

[Mic break]

Visible Cloaks – Wheel – Lex

Kings of Convenience – I Don’t Know What I Can Save You From (Royksopp remix) – Versus

Faith and Disease – Mary Don’t Sleep In Your Makeup – Insularia

[Mic break]

Alice in Chains – Whale & Wasp – Jar of Flies

Fovea Hex – All Those Signs – The Salt Garden 2

Steve Hauschildt – Arpeggiare – Where All is Fled

[Mic break]

David Arkenstone – Rain – Valley in the Clouds

Nancy Rumbel – Lullaby – Notes from the Tree of Life

Orcas – Standard Error – Orcas

[Mic break]

Ernest Hood – Sunday Morning Doze – Neighborhoods

Panabrite – Octopus In Your Dreams – Sub-aquatic meditation

[mic break]

Golden Retriever and Chuck Johnson – Lupine – Rain Shadow

Tags #ambient, #convergencezone, #davidhaldeman, #deadelectric, #dreampop, #kser, #newage, #radio, #synthpop, #synthwave

Show Playlists

Convergence Zone.028 – AeTopus album premiere

Post author By Jim Causey
Post date 10.18.2023

first aired 10.10.23

We’re getting deeper into Spooky Season tonight on Convergence Zone

I’ll have the broadcast premiere of “Relic”, the first single from AeTopus’s upcoming album! The project of Bellingham veteran electronic musician Bryan Hughes; he’s joining forces with Spotted Peccary Records with this new LP

Regional darkwave artists Soft Release and ACTORS have local shows coming up, and I’ve got songs by both of them; also brand-new synthwave from King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard (!)

More new local music from Mount Maxwell, loscil & lawrence english; the new re-release of Hiroshi Yoshimura’s influential ambient installation work from 1986 “Surround”; and music from the new compilation “The NID Tapes”, an archive of early electronic music from India recorded between 1969 and 1972

Convergence Zone arrives tonight at 10:30pm Pacific on 90.7 KSER, 89.9 KXIR, and streaming at kser.org, TuneIn, and more

Tags #ambient, #convergencezone, #darkwave, #gothic, #kser, #newage, #radio, #spacemusic, #synthpop, #synthwave

Show Playlists

Episode 027 – rememberance

Post author By Jim Causey
Post date 10.18.2023

first aired 10.03.23

Do you believe in coincidences?

Tonight I’ll host the 27th edition of Convergence Zone. Tonight is also the 20th anniversary of my father’s death; I was 27 when I learned he had passed

Music brought my dad and I together. We lived on the High Plains, listening to cassettes on long car trips and late nights where we could just barely pull in FM radio. He once dreamed of being a band director, and shared his love of jazz and big band and Blue Note with me, while I introduced him to Vangelis and Kitaro and ECM and Narada and anything with synthesizers. We made a great team climbing on the roof of the trailer at night to pull in Music from the Hearts of Space on distant university FM

I know he’d be stoked that I’ve centered music in my life and proud that I share it with listeners on the airwaves and around the workd

This week I’ll explore coincidence with new music by K Leimer and Marc Barreca, Sumner James and Z Pocket, 5×4, Subdream, Pure Bathing Culture, Perge, Steven Wilson, Mary Lattimore, and Laurel Halo

I’ll trying weaving relevant classics from Vangelis and Peter Gabriel, Donald Fagen and Mannheim Steamrolle

join me to see how the paths converge

Convergence Zone.027 arrives at 10:30PM PDT on 90.7 KSER-FM, 89.9 KXIR-FM, streaming at KSER.org, TuneIn, and just machines that make big decisions

Tags #ambient, #convergencezone, #donaldfagen, #kser, #newage, #radio, #spacemusic, #synthpop

Show Playlists

Episode 025 – Fall Drive 2023

Post author By Jim Causey
Post date 10.18.2023

Fall Drive 2023 – first aired 09.19.2023

first aired 09.19.2023

KSER’s Fall Membership Drive Converges with the final week of summer, and the 25th episode of my program, Convergence Zone

nearly half a year celebrating the musical atmospheres of the Pacific Northwest — and beyond…

please join me Tuesday night for a celebration of the show so far and the power of radio to unite us all — and please consider supporting the show with your donation at KSER.org. I’d appreciate if you mention Convergence Zone in the comment field

Ahead of the Long Dark, we embrace joy through new music, great regional artists, and look ahead to an array of live shows in the area

Brand new progressive ambient from Chronotope Project; the gorgeous new single from Pure Bathing Culture, it’s called ‘The River’; the new debut single from darkwave duo Soft Release, the “fortuitous convergence” of Carolyn B. from Mt Fog and Andy S. from Select Level

David Arkenstone returns to the region and his tour kicks off on Friday in Monroe, Washington — I’ll have more excerpts from our conversation about his band and his brand new album, ‘Winterlüde’

Lots more from friends of the show like Terminus Void, Erwilian, Rudy Adrian, Dreamstate Logic, Siren and the Sea, Chuck van Zyl, and a celebration of Tangerine Dream’s return visit to Seattle by playing their famous song ‘Phaedra’ in its entirety

Convergence Zone arrives for the KSER Fall Membership Drive – Tuesday,September 19 at 10:30PM PDT on 90.7 KSER-FM, 89.9 KXIR-FM, and kser.org

Tags #ambient, #convergencezone, #darkwave, #gothic, #kser, #newage, #radio, #spacemusic, #synthpop, #synthwave

Interviews

Interview: David Arkenstone (Pt 2)

Post author By Jim Causey
Post date 09.16.2023

first aired on 09.19.2023

5-time Grammy winner David Arkenstone sat down with Jim Causey for an interview about his new album Winterlüde, his upcoming tour of the Pacific Northwest, and his creative process.

This recording includes excerpts from that interview first aired on Convergence Zone on Tuesday, September 19, 2023

We discussed his return to the Pacific Northwest with his band David Arkenstone and Friends as well as the first two singles off his new album Winterlüde.

The David Arkenstone and Friends autumn tour begins on Friday, September 22, 2023 at the Wagner Performing Arts Center in Monroe, WA, and I hope to see you there! He has multiple dates spanning Victoria and Vancouver BC, Tacoma, Portland, Eugene, and much more.

Find the Autumn 2023 PNW Tour calendar and links to buy tickets: Tour and Ticket Information – Autumn 2023 – David Arkenstone and Friends

These excerpts also include the following songs:

“Warm Lights Flicker Across the Lake”, premiered exclusively on Convergence Zone, from the 2023 album “Winterlüde”

“The Icy Brook Finds Its Way” and “Darkening Skies” from the 2023 album “Winterlüde”

You can find the new album at: https://davidarkenstone.bandcamp.com/album/winterl-de

Tags #convergencezone

Show Playlists

Episode 024 – David Arkenstone exclusive

Post author By Jim Causey
Post date 09.16.2023

first aired 09.13.2023

I’m stoked about so many great concerts coming up this autumn and winter — with atmospheric music from regional artists and touring legends

David Arkenstone joined me for an interview about his discography; his PNW tour that begins in Monroe, WA on Friday Sep 22; and his new album “Winterlüde” – I’ll share excerpts from our conversation AND an EXCLUSIVE debut of a song from the album before it comes out Wednesday!

I’ve got music from bands that have shows coming up soon — Locsil and Lawrence English; Lane Lines; Eydís Evenson; and the latest incarnation of Tangerine Dream

Brand new music from the Gemstones IV compilation on the Cyclical Dreams label

Regional gems from Mt Fog, Deborah Martin & Jill Haley, NAVVI, and Moon Duo

And a long-lost 1982 song by Steve Roach!

Convergence Zone arrives Tuesday night at 10:30 PM PDT on 90.7 KSER-FM; 89.9 KXIR-FM; streaming at kser.org, TuneIn, and smart speakers everywhere

Tags #ambient, #convergencezone, #kser, #newage, #radio, #spacemusic, #synthpop, #synthwave

Interviews

Interview: David Arkenstone (Pt 1)

Post author By Jim Causey
Post date 09.13.2023

First aired on Convergence Zone.024 – 09.12.23

5-time Grammy winner David Arkenstone sat down with Jim Causey for an interview about his new album Winterlüde, his upcoming tour of the Pacific Northwest, and his creative process.

This recording includes excerpts from that interview first aired on Convergence Zone on Tuesday, September 12, 2023

We discussed his early years working with Narada Records, his new album Winterlüde, and his creative process during the pandemic lockdown.

These excerpts also include the following songs:

“Night Wind” from the 1987 album “Valley in the Clouds”

“Warm Lights Flicker Across the Lake”, premiered exclusively on Convergence Zone, from the 2023 album “Winterlüde”

“Reflections in the Empty Spaces”, from the 2021 album “Solitude”

You can find the new album at: https://davidarkenstone.bandcamp.com/album/winterl-de

Tags #ambient, #convergencezone, #davidarkenstone, #instrumental, #interview, #kser, #newage, #radio