Sunday, September 30, 2007

LISSENUP v.2

after quite a hiatus i'm excited to announce that LISSENUP is back, with some slight changes. if you have no idea what LISSENUP is (besides the name of this blog) read about it here.

what's the same:
it's still a potluck, it's still about deliberate listening, it's still free, it's still good, clean fun.

what's different: location, content, size

come meet new people, enjoy fine snacks and drinks, and listen to a variety of Neat Things. four or five guests will be asked (beforehand) to bring some audio to share (a beloved song, the cassette recording of your bat mitzvah you recently found at the back of the junk drawer in your parents' kitchen, recordings of african wildebeestes - sky's the limit) and each time i'll pick something too. given the new location, i'll sadly have to limit each gathering to 25.

LISSENUPseven:
- Sunday, October 21
- 7 - 9:30 pm

- rsvp here and i'll send you details about where to come, etc.

it makes me super happy to be starting LISSENUP back up -

i've missed it, and it's missed you.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

let the people tell

one thing i've learned in the past seven years working for an international radio festival is that most americans have had little or no exposure to european radio. and the more i hear and learn about traditions, innovations and general programming from all across europe, the more regrettable this seems.

but recently a digital carrier pigeon delivered curious news which i'm excited to share. ready?


here comes the third ever
Radio Day of European Cultures, on sunday 14 october 2007 (note euro-arrangement of date!) the goal of project, which has been organized by the european broadcasting union and the prix europa, is to involve radio audiences across the continent in an interactive dialogue about european identity, history, culture and - maybe most interestingly - europe's future. implicit in this goal is to hear from listeners - to "Let the people tell."

stations from
across the continent are participating. and currently the radio day blog asks the question 'what does your europe look like?' and features various answers to that question from russia, france, hungary and beyond. don't miss the post that likens europe to a crowded bus...

realistically this project isn't going to teach you everything you want to know about european radio, and most of the actual audio related to the project isn't accessible through the site (since it will mostly play on october 14th) but it's not a bad way to get a feel for the energy and spirit traversing the airwaves, Over There.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

the art of resonance

head's up - london's first and best radio art station, resonance fm, just launched a new website, which looks clean and clear and is significantly easier to navigate and digest than the old one. the station also recently announced that it's 'taking a good hard look at itself' as its fifth birthday nears. considering the impact resonance has already made around the world, what might come out of this intense self-reflection? there's only one way to find out. (get listening.)

Friday, September 21, 2007

eleventh hour

you know how you're always grumbling about how tedious and conservative public radio sounds?

yes, YOU. well you only have until midnight, THIS sunday the 23rd to cast your vote in the fourth and final round of the
public radio talent quest. from 1400+ original entries, it's down to 5 semi-finalists. the judges have selected 3 of the 5 to be full-finalists, but the peoples' choice is still unwritten, and could replace one of the judges' picks. at this point every vote counts toward that one, believe me you. so let this be an official nudge to get over there, spend half an hour listening and then decide who you think should get $10,000 (and a mentor) to produce an hour-long pilot for a new public radio show.

maybe you'll get what you've been hoping for (on the public radio airwaves) out of this?! maybe.