This collection comes from outer space, from Tibet, Texas, Arizona, the Sleepy Hills, there are micro-audio interpretations, then tumbling back into deep space, ancient Africa and then settling over the Southern Ocean. This compilation features tracks from Spotted Peccary‘s 38th year in existence.
Listen while letting go
As the lone creative force behind Zero Ohms, Richard J. Roberts touched our hearts and brought joy to so many with his palette of sounds, made with flutes and woodwinds from around the planet interwoven with experimental sound poetry, cosmic charms and eerie strains of EM unfolding. The moniker Zero Ohms means something like the way of no resistance. He described his passion for life and art as “The Tao of Zero Ohms”—always showing the world how to “listen while letting go” in hopes that the music would awaken a deeper level. We are very saddened to hear of the November 4 passing of Richard (aka Zero Ohms). The seventh track heard on this podcast is from his collaboration with Craig Padilla, the album title is To Sleep on Stellar Winds.
From “Going to Zero: Richard Roberts/Zero Ohms,” by John Diliberto of Echoes (The Nightly Music Soundscape), who, on November 12, 2024, wrote: “Born on April 25, 1966, Richard was a spiritual seeker in his early years, but was also studying flute including master classes with Jean-Pierre Rampal. That flute playing led to multiple flutes from across the world and ultimately the EWI or Electronic Wind Instrument which gave him access to all the sounds of the synthesizer world… Last week we lost another light in the ambient universe, Richard J. Roberts. You may not know him by that name but you might have heard his recordings in the guise of Zero Ohms. I know when I first saw that name, I thought he was referencing units of electrical impedance, and I may have thought it was a play on the mantra Aum. Both were kind of accurate. Richard said he was following the Tao of Zero Ohms or way of no resistance.”
The structural basis of music is vibration. The history of electronic music is a long one. At Spotted Peccary, 2024 was a year of many changes. This special retrospective anthology reflects a wide array of talent, all with a shared passion for ambient electronic music. This collection comes from outer space, from Tibet, Texas, Arizona, the Sleepy Hills, there are micro-audio interpretations, then tumbling back into deep space, ancient Africa and then settling over the Southern Ocean. I hear a solemn meditation, a mountain village singing together, spiral lights, a spirit dance, a dream trance, an intergalactic maiden voyage, a harp portraying a rhino, and concluding with an homage to dawn. Fine notes pierce the crystal silence opening a wide atmospheric sound, utilizing both the beautiful and the awesome, stirring a quiet broth of ions, smiths of evasive rhythms and strange metallic spectral winds. Melodies? They are mesmerizing.
Dark Sky Alliance — “Fortunate One” 07:19 from the album Interdwell by the Dark Sky Alliance, which was released on April 19.
Superclusters, galactic filaments and voids, various celestial bodies, deep blues and purples erupting into a bright nebula, cradling stars between the soft glow of city skylines. The Dark Sky Alliance brings music of worlds beyond our world, whose audio clues only reveal themselves when the light of our day grows quiet and low enough to view the dramatic and brilliantly colorful heavens after dusk, suggest a vastness that I for one cannot possibly comprehend, from somewhere way up there above our heads.
This first track of our anthological journey is a call for understanding and a plea for the human condition, moving forward with peace in hand and heart, as if one could be so fortunate. “Fortunate One” (7:19) probes the notion that luck is a melody. Hear Taos drums, shakers, analog and digital synthesizers, vocoder, upright piano, acoustic and electronic percussion, guitar textures, synth bass, vocal chants, and Tibetan bells. Jamie West Oram also plays electric guitars. Sometimes I hear something like a whale calling, summoning us to dwell forever in the vast oceans of happiness. Now the feeling is slow and gentle, deep in there might dwell reverb ghosts with their ethereal vocals and chanting.
Deborah Martin & Cheryl Gallagher — “Morning In Tibet (20th Anniversary Edition)” 05:24 from Tibet 20th Anniversary Remaster, Deborah Martin & Cheryl Gallagher, released on October 18.
The sound of the wind opens this epic sonic journey, originally released January 1, 2004, brings together electronic and acoustic instruments with traditional Tibetan percussion, instruments, and actual on-site recordings of sounds and prayers intoned by the peoples indigenous to that geographic region, chanting in Tibetan or Sanskrit performed without metrical timing, accompanied by resonant drums and low, sustained syllables and in places the individual instruments are isolated in darkness so that these tiny details become bigger, completely remastered and remixed for Dolby Atmos and Spatial audio.
Imagine the mountains catching the sun’s rays slowly awakening the heavenly host in the sky above. I hear horns glowing, there is a calm strong sense of hope and confidence. With the mountains catching the sun’s rays, we reawaken from the nocturnal silence to greet the sky above, “Morning in Tibet” (5:24). Perhaps just for a moment, within new textures and unique instruments, a new tempo takes us even higher, soaring into a haunting gamelan inspired beat.
Hollan Holmes — “Walking Among Kings” 07:11 from Sacred Places, Hollan Holmes, released on January 12.
Sacred Places evokes sites that are found within a larger geographic soundscape. Constantly the music branches, always reaching up into the sky, and pushing roots deep into the earth, which can be heard to dwell in three worlds – a link uniting above and below, between heaven, the earth, and the underworld, holding up the cosmos, and providing a link between the heavens, earth, and the mysterious sympathy between this illusion and human life. Human beings, observing the growth and death of trees, and the annual death and revival of their foliage, have often seen them as powerful symbols of growth, death and rebirth.
Remaining calm in the face of might, leaving the noble darkness and reaching into the distances, “Walking Among Kings” (7:11), I am realizing my humility. The tessellated circles spin along, easily blending the intensity with noble darkness. The feeling is proud and enlightened, serenity in the face of terrifying new giants met with caution. Some jittery power is barely contained, we are in a distant land finding calm excellence but quivering just below the surface.
Deborah Martin & Erik Wøllo — “Heart of the Warrior” 04:53 from Kinishba, Deborah Martin & Erik Wøllo, February 16.
Electronics with natural sounds and Apache spirits, the music is a very sacred way of honoring the spirits of the past and of the present, with electric guitars, all manner of percussion, vocals, flutes, synthesizers and programming by Deborah Martin & Erik Wøllo, with rare and valuable personal recordings of Edgar Perry, Red Eagle, Prince George, Alfredo Way, and Leno Edwards. To add authentic atmosphere there were many field recordings of natural sounds such as meadowlarks, river sounds, and insect sounds, which bring to the electronics a very inclusive perspective.
This unusual album connects more than one spiritual tradition from more than one time on earth into one inclusive expression. The flutes and drums echo, “Heart of the Warrior” (4:53), always seeking energy for the battles ahead, strong and relaxing, simple and cool feeling, the rhythm bubbles up and brings energy for the symbolic battles of spirit as well as the physical testing of body and mind. Some say that there is a Great Spirit who is the source of all things. Responding to that relationship is a very important personal expression, and there are lots of ways to join in and make good things happen.
Rudy Adrian — “The Sleepy Hills 1” 05:15 from Beyond the Sleepy Hills, Rudy Adrian, November 22.
With a gentle color palette and rhyming drones to reassure the listener that everything is well as the day draws to an end, these songs were designed as a suite, each track stands alone, but together they create something more than just the sum of the parts. Beyond the Sleepy Hills is a collection of musical pieces created specifically with sleep and healing in mind. There is a little bit more time between the tracks, the beginnings ease in, and the endings fade slowly. Rudy Adrian uses many of the elements that regularly occur in his other albums—for instance a slightly spooky track with piano in a minor key, or a track made up of gently swirling beds of drones with soft bells—but this time he made sure the ingredients were unobtrusive and would allow the listener to fall asleep without encountering music that is dissonant or melodramatic.
A comforting sustained piano under a floating chorus of subtle electronic horn drones, which continue opening wider into a bright warm sunny place, with warmth pouring down, feeling good and warm as the piano guides the way. We are entering “The Sleepy Hills 1” (5:16). I sense a light from the darkness and the mixed voices of many instruments expanding and then sustaining, sometimes growing stronger without becoming energetic, everything is slow paced. The stage is set, all in a slow walk from the night into the new day. Imagine rising slowly, encountering soft hazes coming into focus, with a gentle color palette and rhyming drones to reassure the listener that everything is well as the day draws to an end, slow and dreamy.
Time Being — “Framewoven” 07:45 from Hidden Structures, Time Being, released on August 16.
Imagine the sound of smoke rings, whirlpools in the wake of a boat, and the winds surrounding a tropical cyclone, tornado or dust devil caught up in a whirling vortex of emotion. With the imagined sound of celestial bodies and the Earth’s heartbeat, each track guides you deeper into layers of complexity, revealing a universe that is as organized as it is chaotic, as tangible as it is abstract, and as scientific as it is mystifying. In this exploration, you’re neither a passive listener nor a distant observer; you are an integral part of this BioCosmic Symphony, contributing your unique interpretations and insights.
Perhaps the doors of perception are opening wider and wider, these things can take a long time. Each note represents an unexplained phenomenon, each chord a layer of intricacy woven together in a cosmic fabric. In an endless loom where the warp and weft are made of dark matter and light, “Framewoven” (7:45) intricately explores the lattice of connections that defy our understanding. Perhaps the piano acts as an elevator taking the listener up into the icy cold and infinite clouds of sound.
Craig Padilla & Zero Ohms — “Initiation, This Ship of Exploration” (Radio Edit) 06:37 from To Sleep on Stellar Winds, Craig Padilla & Zero Ohms, released on September 20.
For many humans across multiple eras and cultures, dreams are believed to have functioned as predictors of truths sourced during sleep from gods or other external entities. Some dreams may even tell elaborate stories wherein the dreamer enters entirely new, complex worlds and awakens with ideas, thoughts and feelings never experienced prior to the dream. The sound of To Sleep on Stellar Winds is pure space music that fits into the kosmische school of electronic music, known also as EM, a rich mixture of organic and metallic sensations, focusing on wind and electronics.
We are inside a new spaceship and it is really big. We are taking the vessel out for a maiden voyage, setting up sequencer patterns and weaving breaths of color in and about, floating down a long corridor, always in motion. The ear is complex without being overpowering. I can hear the engines running, this vessel is much too big to slow down, the extended track time is well invested as new ideas emerge. “Initiation, This Ship of Exploration” (10:42) blends classic EM with weaving electronic tones, designed to be used to visit new places, locations that are far away and unfamiliar. The sequencer sound of electronics here is very distinct and tells a story or illustrates a journey using electronics to create a calm and infinite rolling sequencer pushing ever further and further.
Sverre Knut Johansen — “Rhinoceros On Large Salt Pan” 06:45 from Still Time, Sverre Knut Johansen, released on June 21.
Still Time shines a spotlight on the extinction of animals and man-made climate change as well as the race against time to turn this around. The music is crafted with love for all animals on this planet, they are all the heroes and represent the fundamental purity of this earth. There is hope and still time to save the planet, and the feeling is all about renewal and fresh life starting again.
The land is flat or maybe like surf going on forever but it is salt and not foam that makes whitecaps out there, the feeling of sunshine on the grasslands and savanna where the rhinos once were plentiful is quite evocative. The weaving and fluttering of the tall grasses in the wind take on a kaleidoscopic feeling, blending into a choir of healing and wonder. The picture taken by Solly Levi shows a big rhinoceros coming right at us. Surprisingly, for being about a big animal this is very light and fluttery with lots of sunny colors, the harp is the main instrument, the beat is easy and playful very relaxing and there are other string instruments that seem to evolve, into a guitar, perhaps an oud, joined by some woodwinds, things change and there are vocalists calling.
Rudy Adrian — “Dawn Across the Southern Ocean” (remix) 05:32 from Reflections On A Moonlit Lake, Rudy Adrian, released on March 22.
The color of moonlight, particularly around full moon, appears bluish to the human eye compared to other, brighter light sources. The blue or silver appearance of the light is an illusion. Here at the lake everything is seen reflected on the water surface, thus almost everything takes place up in the sky. Opening and closing with water sounds, there seem to be electronic secrets being whispered, and tiny things get your attention. Beyond the music, there are no answers revealed. Instead, the listener finds a presentation of attractive illusions.
With a slowly spreading light from the darkness, I hear what might be a bird call, the track gets more quiet with lingering spice in the air, and brings a slowly spreading warmth lighting up the sky. Always slow and gleaming, sometimes with little noises hidden, like bubbles or microbes, and that might be another bird call. “Dawn Across the Southern Ocean” (Remix) (5:32) was originally heard on Rudy’s 2002 album collaboration with Ron Boots, Across the Silver River. The water is deep. Slow sustained chords float and glow.
38 – free ambient electronic sampler is available on Spotted Peccary Music. [Bandcamp]
