Emerging from the shadows of incense smoke and magnetic tape, Hanyo van Oosterom has long sculpted sound as a vessel for memory, healing, and dreamwork. As a founding member of the cult Dutch project Chi in the 1980s, he helped shape a deeply meditative fusion of ambient, field recordings, and ritualistic textures. Decades later, he reignited that legacy through Chi Factory in 2016, and following the passing of his close collaborator Jacobus Derwort, he continues to explore inner and ancestral landscapes under the name Son Of Chi—a sonic lineage carried forward through resonance, stillness, and spirit.
From the hypnotic roots of Chi to the transcendental layers of Son Of Chi, Hanyo’s practice has always centered on sound as a metaphysical tool—a way to access deeper consciousness, memory, and transformation. His latest album, We Carry Eden, released earlier this year via Music from Memory, is a powerful expression of that journey. Rooted in narrative and field recordings, the record unfolds through the voice of Omar Ka—Ka’s West African Fulani storytelling traditions responding in real-time to van Oosterom’s sound collages. Voices from Hopi Elders, Sufi prayers, and the American minimalist poet Robert Lax guide the album’s emotional and spiritual core. As with much of van Oosterom’s work, the island of Patmos—Lax’s long-time home—remains an ongoing source of inspiration and quiet intensity.
For Orb Podcast 096, Son Of Chi presents a deeply personal sound collage that extends the ideas of We Carry Eden, blending samples from the album with ongoing projects and recent listening. His approach, as always, is intuitive and meditative. “I just let the music find me and tried not to get involved too much,” he says. Or as Robert Lax said: “You have to put yourself in a position where grace can flow to you.”
The mix is a sonic tribute to storytellers, messengers, and sonic travelers from all times, cultures, and disciplines. It’s a quiet, moving celebration of those who dedicate their lives to harmony and beauty.
Tracklist
1. Field recordings + Andre 3000 (edit) + Francis Bebey (voc edit)
2. Ursula Rucker & Tim Motzer (edit) + Sun Ra (voc edit)
3. Civilistjävel (edit) + Kain The Poet (voc edit, preview) + Arthur Flink trumpet samples (5th World Recordings) + Field recordings
4. Chi Arch samples + Andreas Kallatzis (voc edit, Patmos)
5. Field recordings + Frederico Durand (edit) + Son Of Chi & Radboud Mens samples (preview)
6. Opiate + Einstein (voc edit) + Chi Arch samples + Field recordings Bamboo flute samples by J.Derwort
7. Toki Fuko (edit) + Soko (voc edit)
8. Field recordings + Polygonia/Popp (edit) + Dunya Younes (voc edit)
9. Field recordings + Jonny Nash (edit) + Robert Lax (voc edit) + Chi Arch samples
10. Jon Hassell (edit) + Sun Ra (voc edit)
11. Ariel Kalma (edit) + Bamboo flute samples by J.Derwort + Omar Ka (voc edit)
12. Jon Hassell (edit) + Arvo Pärt (edit) + Hopi Elder Radford Quamahongnewa (voc edit) +Field rec
13. Drumming Birds (Lokal Affair Remix) + Krishnamurti (voc edit) + Radboud Mens drone
14. Suso Saiz (edit) + HLM 38 (edit) + Robert Lax (voc edit) + Bamboo flute samples by J.Derwort
15. Drones (Chi Archives) + Clara Brea & Menhir (preview of Son Of Chi remixes) + Fountain Hughes (voc edit, taken from Voices Remembering Slavery)
16. Formant Value (edit) + Mira Calix (edit) + Anoushka Shankar (edit) + Kain The Poet (voc edit, preview)
17. Chi Arch samples + Inayat Khan (voc edits)
18. Field recordings + Monolake (edit) + Delia Derbyshire (voc edits)
19. Field recordings + Claire Rousay (edit)
20. Ulla (edit) + Claire Rousay (voc edit)
21. Tricky (edit) + Marta (voc edit) + Robert Fripp (guitar edit)
22. Dronebeat by Raboud Mens & Son Of Chi (preview) + Daniel Lanois guitar fills (edit) + Field recordings + Sakamoto (voc edit + Sakamoto piano samples [edit])
23. Shards (edit) + Lenta Remix by Son Of Chi (preview) + Shards (voc edits) + Samples from the Samsara movie (sound + voc edits) + Field recordings
24. Sakamoto remix by Son Of Chi + Hopi prayer by Thomas Banyacya (voc edit)
25. Chi Arch samples + Field recordings + Trumpet samples by Arthur Flink (5th World Recordings)
26. Pitched down John Hassell loop + Bamboo flute samples by J.Derwort + samples of ‘Be With Me Jesus’ by the Angola Quartet (voc edit)
27. Chi Arch samples + ‘Love After Love’ by Derek Walcott (voc edit), read by Linton Kwesi Johson + Omar Ka (voc edit)
28. Field recordings + Chi Arch samples + Bamboo flute samples by J.Derwort + Robert Lax (voc edit)
Field recordings by Koos van der Vaart, Chi Archives, Felix Blume (Freesound).
