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
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
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
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
This week’s Convergence Zone airs on the last day of Leo — with so much stunning new music on the way
Gorgeous fresh works from Pure Bathing Culture, David Arkenstone, Pabellón Sintético, Hyperion V, Erwilian, Kim Oxlund, and Brass Clouds
Sounds for late summer from Mt Fog, Caterina Barbieri, Hello Meteor, Bruce Mitchell, and sunset virtual
And lots more — arriving Tuesday night at 10:30pm PDT on 90.7 KSER-FM, 89.9 KXIR-FM, and streaming live at kser.org and other fine internet radio services — archived at mixcloud.com/farpointer
This week on Convergence Zone, I’m premiering a new track by the legendary David Arkenstone; I’ve been listening to his music since picking up “Valley in the Clouds” on cassette in 1987. Since then he’s pushed boundaries of new age, soundtrack, Celtic, ambient, and more — and he’s returning to the Pacific Northwest on tour starting next month. I’ll have his brand-new single “The Icy Brook Finds Its Way”
I’m also premiering more local New Age, with another track off the upcoming live album by the ensemble Erwilian
Speaking of artists coming to the PNW, synthwave masters Small Black return with November dates in Vancouver BC, Seattle, and Portland, celebrating the 10th anniversary of “Limits of Desire”; I’ve got a banger from the new deluxe reissue, along with the latest by Vancouver’s Noble Oak
Pat Metheny also returns to Jazz Alley in November celebrating some of his early work, and I’ll also include great new neo-jazz from Javier Nero and a recent piece by Makaya McCraven
Plenty of new ambient from LA duo Fog Net, along with Portland’s Daryl Groetsch, Patricia Wolf, and Seroli
And more surprises – join me Tuesday night at 10:30pm PDT on 90.7 KSER-FM, 89.9 KXIR-FM, and on the web at kser.org
Brand new ambient from Portland’s Saroon and from Methods Body; new dream pop from Pure Bathing Culture
More new music from Johan Agebjörn, from Parallax-5, One Arc Degree, [‘ramp], and Sigur Rós
And a tribute to the late Shuhada’ Sadaqat, born as Sinéad O’Connor
Convergence Zone arrives Tuesday nights at 10:30pm PDT on 90.7 KSER-FM in Everett, 89.9 KXIR-FM in Freeland, and streaming at kser.org, TuneIn, smart speakers, and wherever you consume internet radio
Brand new music from Bart Hawkins, Saloli, Kris Keogh, The Fragile Fate, and Penguin Café
Summery vibes from Siren and the Sea, Deborah Martin and Jill Haley, Massergy, Gwenno, and Tame Impala
Reissues from the late experimental polymath Arthur Russell, and from drummer Michael Shrieve with Klaus Schulze and Kevin Shrieve
Artist
Song
Time
Album
Label
Notes
Bart Hawkins
Owls and the exuberant brilliants of unity makes me smile
00:00
Nonlinear Crossroads
Cyclical Dreams
Brand new, oregon, all modular, inspired by a visit to the Getty Center
Elbow
New York Morning
The Taking Off and Landing of Everything
2014
Gwenno
An Stevel Nowdyh the new room
Tresor (Treasure)
Second album sung almost entirely in Cornish, written in Cornwall just prior to the lockdown
Charlotte Gainsbourg
Deadly Valentine
Rest
Tame Impala
Breathe Deeper
The Slow Rush
Christine and the Queens + Caroline Polachek
La vita nuova
La vita nuova
Michael Shrieve, Klaus Schulze, Kevin Shrieve
Communique “Approach Spiral”
Transfer Station Blue
Fortuna Records
Seattle’s Michael Shrieve (rock percussionist, santana, etc) + Klaus Schulze (TD, ash ra tempel, etc) and Kevin Shrieve; re-released last year, originally 1985
The Fragile Fate
Rolled Over
Lilliam Ocean
Brand new
Jerry Marotta (drummer for peter Gabriel, Indigo Girls, Hall + Oates, Tony Levin)
Rupert Greenall (kbds for The Fixx)
Eric Taylor on guitars
Penguin café
Welcome to london
Brand New
Song and video dedicated to those who feel lost in a place like london and yet make it their home
Segment two
Siren and the Sea
Not to Harp On It
1:00:00
Gravity Wave
Bathysphere Records
Saloli
Full Moon
Canyon
Brand new, Journey of a bear; portland artist
Roberto Cacciapaglia
Sonanze – 5th Movement
Sonanze
Wah Wah
1975 experimental, electronic, classica
Max Richter
On the Nature of Daylight
The Blue Notebooks
Arthur Russell
In the Light of a Miracle
Picture of Bunny Rabbit
Audika
Brand new reissue, 1986 album from late experimental compooser
Summer arrived officially this week, and after a brief delay, the weather shifted from “damp and lovely to “sunny and perfect”. These are days for oceans and shorelines, Pride and dancing, and nighttime drives with warm skylines
On Convergence Zone this week, new local music from Plural Not Possessive and Neighborhood Libraries; new ambient from Fog Net, Robert Chamberlain, Steve Roach
Epic summer vibes with Siren and the Sea, Blue Scholars, Miami Nights 1984, Emma Ruth Randle, Steve Roach, Shadowfax, Checkfield, and Joe Jackson
Local space from Terminus Void, AeTopus, Style.King.of.the.Week
Plenty of sunset surprises too
Enter the Convergence Zone – Tuesday nights at 10:30pm PDT on 90.7 KSER-FM, 89.9 KXIR-FM, and streaming at kser.org, TuneIn, and suchlike
Taylor Swindells from Vancouver, BC – took up ambient and neo-classical during lockdown after a decade touring to cope with restlesness and preserve mental health