Hearts of Space #164 Ancient Evenings (6-24-1988)

Ethno-Ambient - Instrumental



"Gene splicing world music and electronics"
This is the one hour program from Hearts of Space Radio Show, first broadcast on the weekend of June 24, 1988. The theme for this program is ancient tribal music from the desert peoples. However, it is mellow, not focused on drums, and very soothing to hear. Music split to MP3s. While the introductory program notes are present in a Voice Over, the end notes are suppressed. Tracklist included.

Program Notes by Stephen Hill, Producer
On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, we go back to the early days of the techno-tribal sound, with a 1988 program called ANCIENT EVENINGS.

After years of nonstop electrification of popular music, the 1980s saw a turn toward so-called "world music" from ethnic, traditional and even aboriginal cultures. World music fusions by popular artists like PAUL SIMON on GRACELAND and PETER GABRIEL on his solo albums "MELT" and SECURITY inspired spacemusic composers to ground the ethereal sound of electronic instruments by combining them with earthy rhythms, trance percussion and ritual sounds.

This program featured English composer GARRY HUGHES' second solo album ANCIENT EVENINGS, and STEVE ROACH's epic double album inspired by the ancient aboriginal soundscape of Australia, DREAMTIME RETURN — plus music by world frame drum percussionist GLEN VELEZ from SEVEN HEAVEN, by GRATEFUL DEAD drummer and ethnomusicologist MICKEY HART from DAFOS, and by spacemusic composers KEVIN BRAHENY and STEVE ROACH from WESTERN SPACES.

In the mythology of the Aborigines, the "Dreamtime" was a prehistoric era of continuous paradise. Documentary filmmaker DAVID STAHL met STEVE ROACH while working on a film about aboriginal rock paintings called ART OF THE DREAMTIME. DAVID STAHL writes: "The ancient magic the initiated knew in the bush may already be lost, yet a different magic, a universal subconscious longing for a Dreamtime Return is firmly planted today in the mind of modern man and in his heart." These artists are all exploring a deeper, older sense of time and space, which we can share.