Ken Martin works in a field of musicians who will not
allow the ghosts of 1970's era spacemusic to rest in peace. His
albums of drifting cosmic music effectively recall the timeless
sound and mood first brought to us by way of the early LPs of
one-time spacemusic master Klaus Schulze. This style of music
came into being primarily as a reaction to free-form
improvisational rock, conventional symphonic music, political
climate and music technology. For the musician, the act of
organizing electronic sounds and textures into musical
realizations was less about the end point than it was about the
pathway. Martin's album BEYOND ULTRAVIOLET (75'00") has
been made using this principle. The album's four sprawling
tracks integrate the classic compositional themes and designs
associated with spacemusic. Each piece opens with sustaining
synthesizer pads shifting about a domain of dark tonality.
Time-honored synth modulation accents rise and fall, swirl and
spin on every side - a kind of cosmic debris the listener must
pass through on this mental journey. Central to this music is the
transposing motifs of arpeggiated electronic tone patterns; the
cybernetic dancing pulse that counts time yet does not recognize
its passing. What sets this music apart from the works of his
contemporaries is Martin's ability to limit the speed at which
tension is built. His arrangements are based on the principles of
minimalism (it's about doing more with less). Although Martin
certainly uses modern electronic music equipment in the
production of his music, he has not been seduced by this
technology's potential for needless complexity. BEYOND
ULTRAVIOLET is a serious-minded re-envisioning of
spacemusic and the cerebral voyage.

Tune in to STAR'S END for music by Ken Martin and his album
BEYOND ULTRAVIOLET

For more on BEYOND ULTRAVIOLET, access:
http://www.spaceformusic.com

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STAR'S END broadcasts every Saturday night/Sunday morning
from 1am-6am (EDST) on:

88.5fm WXPN Philadelphia, PA
88.1fm WXPH Harrisburg, PA
90.5fm Worton/Baltimore, MD
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and live on the web...

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Chuck van Zyl
Host of STAR'S END Ambient Radio
http://www.starsend.org