When the idea for the 2020 Vision three-part challenge first surfaced, the world had no idea what was in store for us. We can’t really ever know our future, and that is never more obvious than now, when faced with an epic global pandemic that is keeping us isolated from each other and worried for our lives and the lives of those around us.

But in that time, we have witnessed acts of courage and kindness,
like the fitness instructor who gives classes on the lawn outside his
apartment complex in Spain for people watching from their balconies, or
the entire block of apartment dwellers in Atlanta who cheer and applaud
healthcare workers from their balconies at the change of every shift.
National Geographic photographers are grounded, so they look around
their restricted surroundings and find ways to document the
extraordinary beauty found in ordinary environments.

And the music — oh, the music! — that is coming out of this terrifying moment in our collective history.

Artists, performance techs, and venues are among the hardest hit
during this time, as gigs have suddenly disappeared with no help in
sight. Yet this resourceful community comes together to collaborate
online, create live stream experiences, and find ways to connect and
share anyway.

Today’s program is the third of the three part “2020 Vision” challenge we started at the beginning of the year, and its topic is stunningly appropriate to the time: Unity. We’ll hear from Museleon, Daniel Robert Lahey, playman54, Staticer, and Robert Scott Thompson. We’ll also hear a sampling of tracks from an album released last year called The Unity from aatma. As they say in the album notes:

The Unity is a concept, a
belief in the affinity shared across a far-flung community of artists.
It is about the deep and powerful connections we make to the music, and
to the places it can take us. It is a celebration of various styles
contained within a single genre, and the unifying ability of Art.

We are the Artists. This is the Unity.

There are more tracks from the RadioSpiral library as well, and from various artists who sent tracks for the show, all on the subject of unity, connection, disconnection, distance, and togetherness in spite of it all.

• “falling apart landing together (thing_818)” – Daniel Robert Lahey
• “DnA” – Museleon
  
  In all honesty, I wrote this track and the accompanying explanation long before the Covid – 19 pandemic and playing it back today, it sounds both strange, beautiful, of wonder but also like a warning.
  
  Somehow, today, it has taken on added significance.
  
  We are all connected…more so now… in many more ways…both good and bad.
  
  Let’s root for the good connections.
  
  As I look out of the window at the grey pink hue of the sky, I think more than ever we need to keep being unified and connected well beyond our biological make -up.
  
  Wishing you all well, whoever and wherever you are.
  O x

• “Reverberations 1” – Staticer
  Staticer is Jim Wells, who writes of this track:
  
  “When you dream about someone you know, is that connection deeper than when you think of them during your waking hours? How do conscious thoughts and concrete conversations compare to wordless communication? And if that person is on your mind as you compose, which experiences are more likely to be infused into the work?”
  
• “In Unity we trust” – playman54
• “Haleness – Testament to Unity” – Robert Scott Thompson

The Unity – An Aatma Compilation
“The Other Side of This” – Shane Morris
“Sanction” – EE7A
“The Third Option” – Altus

• “The Tyranny of Distance” – grum~pe – The Tyranny of Distance (2005)
• “Together Again” – Chris Russell – Home [Album 2] (2011)
• “A Distance” – Cousin Silas – Living In The Liminal Zone (2020)
• “Lydian Agreements” – Doug Lynner – Modular Tonalism (2019)
• “Distant Edens” – Alpha Wave Movement – Cosmology (2003)
• “Connected Spirits” – Max Corbacho – The Talisman (2006)
• “Part Memory, Part Distance” – Lucette Bourdin and Phillip Wilkerson – Coast to Coast (2011)
• “disconnect” – Karl Fury – quiet and chaos (2016)
• “At Night We’re All The Same” – YONDER – Pearl Diver (2017)
• “The Darkest Night Passes” – YONDER – Pearl Diver (2017)
  YONDER is an electronic duo between Chris Stack and Sally Sparks. In Pearl Diver, each had a solo track, and both of the solo tracks were rather perfect for today. “At Night We’re All the Same” is by Chris Stack, and “The Darkest Night Passes” is by Sally Sparks.