Episodes

Quieter times ahead on this edition of syndae. Right, I needed some peace out time again. It was a busy week with the holidays. Especially, if you need to go shopping on the weekend. Shops were closed on Friday, Sunday and Monday, so people tend to go crazy and stuff their carts as if there were no tomorrow. Luckily this time we pre-planned a bit and went shopping at not so busy times early in the morning. Right, the early bird catches the quieter queue at checkout.

It's that religious season time in spring where people start hunting for eggs in the backyard. Well, no egg hunting here and no prayers, but ten tracks I found fitting for a more quiet and relaxing time. Not drifting into ambient, but a mix of electronic and acoustic treats that will be yummy for your ears (even you do not have the extra long rabbit ones). By the way, the tradition of decorating eggs is far older than its current use for easter. Eggs have been associated with death and rebirth back to some Egypt and similar cultures ages ago. No need to think about Christianity rites.

Have you ever recorded yourself and listened to it? It usually takes a while until you get used to the sound of your own voice. In daily situations, when you hear yourself talking, the sound resonates within your head and you definitely sound different than to everyboday else. So maybe you won't recognize yourself at first. Well, I barely did this time. A little cold did some tricks on my vocal cords so even I sound strange to myself on this edition. A good fit though, as this show is all about sounds.

So I was assembling a desk the other day. Each part from screws to plates were nicely packed, wrapped and numbered. And I had a the multi-page instruction manual that came with it. Lot's of images and what part goes where and what is need to combine them. Luckily the manual had pictures, as the instructions seem to have come from a cheap automatic translation bot. Some sentences were barely recognizable as sentences, missing words or commas, some mumble jumble to read. And somewhere in the process, one screw was missing. Well, I got a bit angry and frustrated. Good, I had some music to help me out and sooth my thoughts.

What is it that makes you feel relaxed? I it some special place? Or the company of some valued person or a whole group? Or maybe the opposite, being alone? Maybe it's a specific colour that does the trick. If not a colour, maybe it's a sound or music that will make you lay back and simply relish being. Not sure, which of those things or a combination of several those things does it for me. But I know that great ambient tunes help a lot. But, ok, it's not the quietest selection I have for you tonight.

It's still frosty over here in Europe. Actually, more snow was coming this week for us, although we're rapidly going towards spring. No reason to stay cold though, with some more heart beating music on the show, driven by good rhythms and melodic structures. And there are some cool events in sight as well, two of them musically presented on this edition of syndae. You should check out empulsiv for more events in electronic music. And while being a German info portal on electronic music, the event calendar should be easy enought to understand for any of you listeners. But, hey, we are here for some music.

I admit, it is usually the harmonic, melodic side of ambient and electronic music that makes me happy. But there are some days, when I simply need being beat up. Not physically, of course. But aural. This is such a week, where I relish some harder kicks and punches on my ear-drums. And, surely, my body does catch up and move along. If you listen to syndae for longer, you know it's not the usual kind of techno you will get to hear.

I admit to love repeating patterns. As a software developer I should be, shouldn't I? Patterns make solving a problem easier, as these are known well and one knows how to apply them to make thinks work properly. They give structure to the work and make them recognizable to others who later on need to understand what's going on. Well, patterns are surely well known in building construction, maybe rooted from there. And they can definitely be found in music, regardless of the genre (or at least most genres). This is especially true for sequencer based music and styles coming from the golden age of Berlin School. And that's what you get tonight.

In need for some off-time? Well, join me with this edition featuring wonderful ambient music by cool artists. Best to listen to with good headphones crouched in your sofa. Well, yes, you could listen to it in the background, but it is really worth to listen closely to these great compositions. The fascinating parts are in the details of sounds and noises.