Podcast appearances and mentions of douglas mcgowan

It's utterly without tension, reliably tonal and melodic, and wouldn't hurt a fly. Yet New Age music has been the subject of decades of casual ridicule. Originally a grassroots phenomenon with a do-it-yourself creative ethic made possible by the home studio movement, after a period of mainstream success in the 1980s, it retreated to serving its core audience. Despite the criticism, New Age remained a popular niche, showing that a therapeutic music for relaxation, meditation, virtual travel, and alternative forms of spirituality had become something of a psychological necessity in high-intensity modern life. Around 2004, a critical reappraisal of the genre began, led by music blogger Douglas Mcgowan and by serious music collectors, Gen X'ers and Millennials who were children during the glory days of New Age. Evaluating musicians on their own merit rather than writing off the entire genre led to the conviction that some of the artists had been underappreciated, and the genre itself had been overcriticized. On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, New Age music reconsidered — on a program called THE NEXT DIMENSION. Music is by DEAN EVENSON, SCOTT HUCKABAY & PHIL HEAVEN, JONNY LIPFORD, DAVE EGGAR, HIROKI OKONO, UMA SILBEY, MICHAEL BRANT DEMARIA, FORREST SMITHSON, MIKE CLAY, IASOS, and PAUL AVGERINOS. [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

It's utterly without tension, reliably tonal and melodic, and wouldn't hurt a fly. Yet New Age music has been the subject of decades of casual ridicule. Originally a grassroots phenomenon with a do-it-yourself creative ethic made possible by the home studio movement, after a period of mainstream success in the 1980s, it retreated to serving its core audience. Despite the criticism, New Age remained a popular niche, showing that a therapeutic music for relaxation, meditation, virtual travel, and alternative forms of spirituality had become something of a psychological necessity in high-intensity modern life. Around 2004, a critical reappraisal of the genre began, led by music blogger Douglas McGowan and by serious music collectors, Gen X'ers and Millennials who were children during the glory days of New Age. Evaluating musicians on their own merit rather than writing off the entire genre led to the conviction that some of the artists had been underappreciated, and the genre itself had been overcriticized. On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, New Age music reconsidered, on a program called THE NEXT DIMENSION. Music is by DEAN EVENSON, SCOTT HUCKABAY and PHIL HEAVEN, JONNY LIPFORD, DAVE EGGAR, HIROKI OKONO, UMA SILBEY, MICHAEL BRANT DEMARIA, FORREST SMITHSON, MIKE CLAY, IASOS, and PAUL AVGERINOS. [ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

This week on Transmissions, we're digging into the Aquarium Drunkard vault for a 2016 conversation with the late New Age pioneer, composer, author and creator Joanna Brouk. An edited and condensed version of this conversation was published in 2016, but we are happy to present it here in its uncut form. Brouk passed away April 28th, 2017. Her remarkable recordings can be heard on Numero Group’s Hearing Music, a double lp set assembled by producer Douglas Mcgowan, who's known for his work on Light in the Attic’s New Age compilation I Am the Center, which also features Brouk. An alum of Mills College—which recently announced it will no longer be accepting new pupils—she joined us to discuss her time at the legendary synthesizer school, her roots in sound poetry, KPFA radio program, and much more.

And we’re back. Welcome to the Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions podcast—our series of strange conversations for strange times. My guest this week is pedal steel player Luke Schneider. He’s got a brand new album out this month called Altar of Harmony, released by the venerable Third Man Records. Luke is best known as a sideman for country artists like Margo Price and Orville Peck, but he takes the pedal steel for a cosmic ride on his new album, conjuring up uncanny sounds that seem to bend the ear, recalling Robert Fripp guitars one moment, or the shapeshifting keyboards of Harold Budd the next, but all fashioned from raw pedal steel performances. It’s a gorgeous record—another example of Cosmic Pastoral aesthetic Schneider’s friend and collaborator William Tyler has discussed here on Aquarium Drunkard. The new record could be “justifiably be described as ‘new age’ in the most essential sense,” writes previous Transmissions guest Douglas Mcgowan in his bio. It “represents a radical new approach to the versatile and cosmic instrument of the steel guitar…This is something new under the sun, a total reinvention of an iconic instrument. Quite literally, there has never been anything else quite like it.” But we’ll let Luke describe what he’s done on this record himself via this interview we recorded back on Mother’s Day. Thanks for tuning in. A reminder that you can rate and review us on Apple Podcasts—and that you can use the handy share buttons on Spotify, Stitcher, and Tune In to put our show directly into the various feeds of people who might enjoy it. Aquarium Drunkard is funded by our supporters on Patreon, so if you like what we do—this podcast, Justin Gage’s weekly two-hour show on Sirius XMU, our mixtapes, our 24-hour pirate radio stream, the Lagniappe Sessions, where your favorite artists cover their favorite artists—consider chipping in a couple bucks over there. We do appreciate it. We’ll be back next week with a special archived broadcast from Radio Free Aquarium Drunkard’s The Tonight Zone—a longform interview with AD founder Justin Gage. But first, Luke Schneider, exploring his Altar of Harmony.

Douglas McGowan 11-10-19 by John Catsimatidis

What makes this episode of West Coast Fog so special is the specialness of specialists Douglas Mcgowan (of Yoga Records) and John Wyatt, bringing some of their favorite music from Eugene, Oregon, Carmel Valley, Larkspur, and beyond. Pretty much mostly from cassettes. Karma Moffett, Ted Lucas, Elinore Wallace, Summer Madness, Daniel, Sophia, Frank Perry, Suze Milleman, Blue Harvest, Mark May, Walter McVeigh...

Welcome to the March installment of Aquarium Drunkard’s recurring Transmissions podcast, a series of interviews and audio esoterica. This month, we’re centering in on a sense of place. First, we sit down with author and musician Ryan H. Walsh to discuss his new book, Astral Weeks: A Secret History of 1968. In ’68, Boston was roiling with counter-culture activity. Occult circles were thriving; the underground press was emerging; the Velvet Underground, on loan from New York, was playing transcendent sets at the Boston Tea Party. And through it all, Irish R&B singer Van Morrison was quietly — and often not so quietly — tapping into the vibes that would help birth his soul-folk masterpiece, Astral Weeks. Walsh, best known for his work with the indie rock outfit Hallelujah the Hills, details it all in his personal and poetic new book. Next, guitarist and writer William Tyler sits down with Douglas Mcgowan of Yoga Records and Numero Group to discuss the process of turning the pioneering vinyl soundscapes series Environments into a functional, immersive app for iOS devices. Designed with relaxation and contemplation in mind — to aurally transport listeners to settings of tranquility — the app recontextualizes sound recordist Irv Teibel’s original aim of providing calm and peace in a noisy world, redefining the notions of a “reissue” in the process. And finally, we close out the show with a look at our Abstract Truths: An Evolving Jazz Compendium mixtape series, which offers jazz collectors and thinkers a platform for exploring what jazz means in 2018, examining its past, untold stories, modern resonance. Where is jazz going? And what unique role does Los Angeles play in its future?

In this episode we talk to Douglas Mcgowan of Numero Group about the misunderstood genre of New Age music. Douglas is the curator of the New Age compilations, “I Am the Center” and “The Microcosm” and he also runs the successful reissue labels, Yoga Records and Ethereal Sequence, which have re-released some fantastic music over the years. New Age has been a part of psychedelic culture that we have found difficult to get a hang of and we’re therefore glad that Douglas joined this show and gave us a proper introduction to the genre. He has picked out some wonderful tunes for us in this episode and we hope you’ll enjoy this as much as we do! Satoshi Ashikawa (1982) -Still Space David Casper – Crystal Waves (1984) -Crystal Waves I Suzanne Doucet and Christian Buehner-Transmission (1983) -Shiva’s Dance (excerpt) Don Slepian-Open Spaces (1980) -Awakening (excerpt) Swami Kriya Ramananda-Hymn To A New Age (1981) -Hymn To A New Age (excerpt) Joanna Brouk-Sounds of the Sea (1981) Diving Deeper, Remembering Love KZ Smith and Dave Erickson-Blue Skies (1985) -Sweet Dreams

Aasmah Mir and Richard Coles are joined by the American stand-up comic Reginald D Hunter. He talks about growing up in America's Deep South, only being the fourth funniest in his family and how, although having lived in the UK for 17 years, he still gets caught out by our 'common' language. Andre Anderson comes from an estate in North West London with a reputation for gang violence and crime. He tells us about 'Authors of the Estate' - a project to encourage others to find their voice in the pen, rather than the knife or gun. Juliet Russell is a singer, composer and vocal coach (including for BBC1's The Voice), working with artists from Damon Albarn to Paloma Faith. She talks to us about vocal bad habits and how singing is good for people with dementia. Jake McGowan-Lowe is a bone collector and naturalist. He been collecting bones since he was 6. At 13 he's just been nominated as one of the most important conservation heroes in Britain. 40 years ago listener Douglas McGowan bought the Waverley paddle steamer for £1. He tells us about the impact that has had on the rest of his life. Actor and musician Hugh Laurie chooses his Inheritance Tracks - 'Tumbling Dice' by the Rolling Stones and 'Cantaloupe' by Herbie Hancock. Producer: Alex Lewis Editor: Karen Dalziel **Tomorrowland starring Hugh Laurie and George Clooney is out in cinemas now. **Reginald D Hunter's tour continues at venues across the country throughout June. **Authors of the Estate By Andre Anderson et al is available to buy online. **Juliet Russell's album is called 'Earth Meets Sky'. **Jake's Bones by Jake McGowan-Lowe is available from all good bookshops.