Sunday evenings have recently taken on a whole new look—a great reason to get acquainted with our new programmes. Over the coming weeks, we will be introducing a new programme every week. This week: Peter van Cooten and his programme Liminal State.
In addition to being a programme maker at Concertzender since 2017, I am active in various other areas, including working as an audio engineer and editor. You can find more details about my background on the colophon page.
For years, Peter has used his programme DreamScenes to showcase ambient and electronic music on the Concertzender. The new Sunday evening schedule provides an opportunity to delve more deeply into this vast musical landscape.
The monthly DreamScenes has recently moved to the first Sunday of the month at 23:00 CET. On all the other Sundays, Liminal State airs at that same time. Both programmes draw from the immense wealth of ambient and electronic music that is available. As the name suggests, Liminal State refers to the transitional moment between waking and sleeping. The focus is on a “dreamy” atmosphere. However, this is not necessarily the same as “sleepy”, a dream can be exciting too. Both programmes aim “to be as ignorable as it is interesting,” as Brian Eno once wrote.
While the collage format of DreamScenes focuses on recent releases, Liminal State allows for longer pieces, combining recent and older works. As always, both programmes are available to listen to on-demand afterwards, perfect for those who have already passed that threshold between waking and sleeping late on the Sunday evening.
Both DreamScenes and Liminal State offer something for everyone. Peter puts it beautifully:
For those familiar with the genre, I hope to share music by artists who are worth exploring further. For those unfamiliar with the genre, I hope to demonstrate that ‘sound’ in itself can be truly fascinating, and that ‘music’ does not always have to be a finished composition featuring rhythm, melody and with a clear beginning and end.
And, last but not least: for the creators within the genre, there is a rare opportunity to present their work to listeners they probably would not reach in other ways.
