No time to waste

Episode 427

I'm not sure what one may expect from the first day of spring, well, I didn't expect to see the world around covered in snow. Crazy times. Like stopping before a railroad gate and expect a train to pass by ... ok, well, consequently there will be a train passing, just takes endlessly before it does. Or coming to halt at a traffic light in the midth of nowhere late at night, waiting for minutes watching empty roads in all directions. Well, or when the clock is set one hour forward for summer time, which is happening this weekend over here. It all feels like you are wasting your time. Not so with syndae of course, where you will get the finest electronic music, no doubt. Like the tracks you will get in this edition, thankfully served by Obri (Afterglow), Nearfield (Mars (Reissue)), moonbooter vs. BatteryDead (Live Muenster 2017), Faber (Monumentum), Kri Tik (North Capital), Inside Out.

Dubbious joy giver

Episode 426

So last week we celebrated the serene world, and I don't want to wake you up the harsh way. Thus we go a bit forward tonight, but ont too fast. And when I am in the need for being aurally comforted, dub and chill material most times is a good choice in my ears. It's always great to simply lean back, close my eyes and fall into the patient grooves and moves of this kind of music. No more words necessary, I think. Take your seating position, and enjoy tracks by Illocanblo (Mercury), Jim Black (Yoctosecond), NOID (TEMS. Craters: Suavjarvi), joergmueller (Heavy Dub Vol. 3), Giriu Dvasios (Gydantis Lietus), Protyv (Amso).

Music for earpods

Episode 425

It is a bit confusing that ambient music actually is not about ambience. If you listen to the music, it mostly is rather serene, quiet, unobstrusive. And it is rather meant this way, to stay in the background and create a specific atmosphere for people, to support an easier mood. The goal of a podcast, however, is not to make you turn a deaf ear. You can still run it in the background, although my voice might disrupt your focus. But you can also listen closely and dive into the details of the fantastic sound sculptures the tracks offer your mind. On this show you will hear music by Brian Eno (Ambient 4: On Land), Ken Elkinson (Music for Telecommuting Vols. 3 & 4), NoizeFilter Music (Fragments), Wolfgang Gsell & Lutz Thuns (Friends of Ambient 27), Eisenlager & Martin Neuhold (Concrete Manipulation Improvisation), and Wolfproject.

Delicate appetizers

Episode 424

So we were at a Persian restaurant recently. Haven't been for a while. The have an appetizer on the menu which simply is to die for: Kashke Bademjan. Really, I could jump right into it. And I am usually no big fan of eggplant dishes. So it's definitely all about the recipe that makes it special and surely one of my favourites. Ok, what's that to do with syndae? Well, the main point is that a composition does not have to consist of my favourite instruments or sounds to be on syndae. More than that I don't have to explicitely like a song to have it on the show. As long as it is interesting and somewhat unique and I see a potential for it to be of some listeners likings, it goes on the playlist. It might be the complete track that catches my ear, or maybe a detail. And I hope you listen closely and always find some music you enjoy as well. Tonight I am very easy with you listeners, very much likable music and melodies to come, playing tracks by Ian Boddy & Erik Wøllo (Meridian), Kalpataru Tree (Rhythmic Fractals of Earths Imagination), Harald Nies (Axial), aAirial (Wanderings EP (extended)), Curious Inversions (Iterations), Jesper Sørensen (Dark Star).

Making the right moves

Episode 423

When I was a kid, I loved playing games of many sorts. It started with board games like Ludo or later Checkers. I tried chess, but never got into these strategy games. When I grew up, the first video games and finally computers came around (yeah, I am that old). It was fun playing pong. But later on adventures I liked most. Getting older, I somehow lost interest in games. Occasional some computer game, but in the past years nothing at all. Well, to make a non-story short, my gaming interest changed a lot over the years. But when it comes to music, since my youth it quite stayed the same. My musical taste broadened and varied, of course, but I still love those electronic treats from the 70s and 80s. One more reason to come back to this kind of music on syndae. But make no mistake, the music on this show is not old but brand new. There is a different in sound, and the tracks feel more fresh, but their ancestry is undeniable. Join me for some fantastic modern traditional EM on this show with tracks by P'Faun (Sp'roque), DASK (Sol), Klangzaun, Glen Alexander, Perceptual Defense & Syndromeda (Live at Cosmic Nights 2017).

There are no robots

Episode 422

Today I watched a short talk on editorial content generation. If you follow the developments in AI these days -self driving cars, bots beating a chess master, and so on- you won't be surprised to find that the same exists for generating texts and videos. Well, syndae is all about music. So I thought, what about automated music generation? A short Internet search tells me they are onto it. And I am not talking about algorithmic approaches. Projects exist which use artificial intelligence for analysing existing music and extracting patterns in notes, styles, and sound. And, blimey, based on the results these programs are able to generate new music. What I did not find (yet?) is something like Alpha Zero, which learns about harmonics and creates new compositions seemingly out of thin air. But I am quite sure there will be such a thing soon. For now, let's stick to artistic music originally created by humans. Tonight's tracks are very much danceable, composed by Obri (Afterglow), Bratenschneider (No Time At All), DR-42 (Dossier Bordeaux 2017), Silicon Slave (Ad Nauseam), Futurum Sonat (eARTh), Jozef Nemcek (Black Hole Collision).

Thought's good company

Episode 421

30 minutes. Only thirty of these short fragments in time. That's all I have for my show. Not really the perfect setting for ambient music, is it? Similar to Berlin School, ambient tracks usually tend to be long and evolving. And that is also the point why I like this kind of music. It's not repeating in itself, like popular music does. There is development in the acoustic scenery presented by the artist. And the best thing about the music is, you can here it in two different ways. Either as music in the background, which does not sink in, does not disturb your activity. Or you could listen carefully and let the music drive your thoughts. Crazy stuff. So, either way, on syndae I can only give you glimpses of these fine tracks. I hope nevertheless you find the time to listen to the music the way you want. On this edition you will find music by NoizeFilter Music (Ambient Road), Numina (The Chrome Plateau), Infinite Third (Listen(ing)), centrozoon (217 IV), Adeptus Mechanicus & Lutz Thuns (For a Lifetime).

Sound a la surprise

Episode 420

Recently I started watching a TV series, rather a comedy I think, maybe with some embedded commerce criticism. It's usually not the kind of shows I tend to watch, but I expected something different alltogether when reading about Mr. Robot. Now, this series still cought me, because it is not the ordinary kind of comedy, some crazy hacker with big memory issues trying to free the world from an evil corporation. The computer stuff made me watch it in the first place. Well, I found the show quite odd, so I stayed onto it. And in the end I think this is what I am also often looking for in music: The out of the ordinary kind. Stuff that is off-beat. Music that surprises me and does not comply to my expectations. To me, the tracks on tonight's edition are such kind of music, and I hope you enjoy the experience of listening to them as much as I did. Have a fine 30 minutes run with Colten Tyler Williams (Radiance of Resistance), Forrest Fang (Scenes from a Ghost Train), Steppe-Scape (The Great Steppe Live), MacroNoise (Various Species), Uwe Gronau (When Every Word Was Singing), Walt Thisney (Galactic Voodoo).

Exciting view ahead

Episode 419

There's a major milestone ahead: 10 years of syndae. This summer, in August, syndae celebrates its 10th birthday. What started out as a tiny project to support the Electronic Circus festival turned into more the 400 episodes of electronic and ambient music delight. I am quite proud of keeping up with the (nearly) weekly show. And thus I will enter new territories. In fact, I plan to release a pressed CD around syndae's birthday. And therefore I invite any artist to submit a track to be considered for the album. The complete set of rules can be found at the website, as there is a base theme to be taken into account. Yes, I am really curious about how this turns out. And meanwhile, this edition will cover quite some ground in styles one can listen to on syndae. Have awonderful time with tracks by Blinky Blinky Computerband (Dystopia), AeTopus (Totem Totum), Jazzcomputer.org (The Ambient Way), Eagle (The Lost Kosmonaut), Tatyana Kalmykova & The Living Earth (Craters: Suavjarvi / TEMS Compilation), and The Ghost of 3.13 (Even Though it Feels Like Home).

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