lissenup

Hello, old friend

2011-06-11T09:19:00.000-07:00

Goodness. It's been awhile. I've been _pretty_ good about putting a new song up on my other bloggy thing, Gallopinging, every week - but admittedly, LISSENUP has suffered in the past year or so, as many other distractions have claimed my time, brain, ears. Against all odds though, I've been making radio! Two stories have gotten some decent circulation - in Chicago on Third Coast's Re:sound, on APM's The Story, and on the BBC's Something Understood.

I've been honored for all of it, and hope it's not too long before the next story spills out. In the meantime, have a listen if the spirit moves you:

Dear Z, my audio love letter to a superhorse. Once a horse girl...

Yours Truly - another letter-centric program that muses on letter-writing through the lens of a long correspondence I had with a very special person, and including audio postcards from Rick Moody and Simon Roche (The Radio Post) and an amazing essay on letter-writing by Lewis Carrroll.

That's all for now. Very soon a lot of new sounds will fill the house, and am guessing I'll be musing about them in due time.

LISSENUP plan C

2011-01-26T14:41:00.000-08:00

It's not that I suddenly have more time on my hands to keep this blog updated, but over at thirdcoastfestival.org we've been offering "staff picks" over time, and I may as well post them here too, as they're all about the listening, or the radio, or the audio, or the noise.

Currently:
Q: What does the Jurassic Park theme sound like, slowed 1000 times?
A: Unexpectedly and enjoyably, this.

Recent:
Sound + Postcards = sound postcards!

And before that: Radio Philately
Two of my favorite things in one place! (Reminds me of early Reese's commercials. "You got your chocolate in my peanut butter...). Be sure to hit the tab that lists the countries, and take some time to open the images. Stunning! And did you even know 'philately' was a word?

P.S.
gallopinging

Reality Check pt. 2

2010-10-17T12:52:00.000-07:00

Along the lines of that Aug. 29 post, I'm finding it near impossible to update LISSENUP with any semblance of regularity. But I am managing to keep up with Gallopinging v2 - the condensed version of my CHIRP radio show. (Condensed from three hours of DJing to one song selection per week.) So for now...I give in. Please enjoy one song/photograph a week there, and check back here for semi-occasionally-sometimes thoughts about other thingees aural, sonic, radio-y, noisy, musical, etc.

black and white

2010-09-20T21:14:00.000-07:00

Watched Genius Within last night - the 2009 documentary about Glenn Gould, who I've thought, read about, and listened to maybe more than anyone else in the past 10 years.
Especially memorable:

1. Footage from concerts in Russia (1963) where he unleashed his unforgettable versions of Bach, who most had never heard. He was 29.

2. Watching him direct/conduct CBC engineer Lorne Tulk while producing his seminal radio documentaries, the Solitude Trilogy. Watching Tulke take a razor blade to the tape, and make some of the thousands upon thousands of edits that introduced a totally new radio creature to all of Canada. And to me.

3. Ridiculously wonderful tape of Gould singing to elephants, (watch til the end of this link) who seem slightly aggravated by his musical selection.

4. Gould's prediction that one day we'd all have "kits", and would disassemble and rearrange popular music. He knew!

5. His funeral. Never imagined I'd see footage from Glenn Gould's funeral. Was floored, saddened, thankful, crushed.

Still feeling some of all of that...and enjoying a little Well-Tempered Clavier while writing this - which, by the way, is traveling at great speed away from us into the depths of interstellar space, and always will be.

Light Goes Away

2010-09-19T16:48:00.000-07:00

Another Sunday, another musical suggestion. Plus a picture from the Richfield Public Library, where I spent a few magical hours with my niece when back in Ohio, a few weeks ago. It's not 'my library' but I do love it. And I love it.

Loose Horse in the Valley

2010-09-07T21:08:00.000-07:00

I may be able to pull off this one song a week impulse, after all.

Know how sometimes you just stumble across something and immediately just... know? Posted a new suggestion to gallopinging v.2 on Sunday - Sam Amidon's "How Come That Blood." It's from his new record "I See the Sign" - which I feel like I've been listening to for decades. It references Bessie Jones, and to my ears borrows from Nick Drake and Palace Bros and Carter Family, and somethings way older, and somethings brand new. [Though they may have all borrowed from the same place.]

It's repetitive, and dark with occasional sparkle, and seemingly simple, and sometimes religious and mostly reworkings of traditional songs. It's much easier to listen to this record, than write about it. You can find it here.

Hey Chicagoans: Sam Amidon is playing this Friday at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Yes, I will be there, and yes, afterwards we will walk down the block for delicious frozen treat.

reality check

2010-08-29T20:19:00.000-07:00

So it turns out that eight months later - I don't really have time for a hobby like a three-hour, weekly, early morning radio shift. (kind of like how I don't have time to update this blog often enough.) This past Wednesday's gallopinging show on CHIRPradio.org was my last. I'm not surprised, but yeh, disappointed it didn't work out. But because I can't quite let all the way go...an experiment: gallopinging v.2. Choosing a weekly song must be manageable....right? Enjoy.

Way into The Way Out

2010-07-20T16:38:00.000-07:00

Q: You know how sometimes you hear a record, and you've been waiting a long time for it (along with a lot of other people), and you know you'll eventually be familiar with every single second of that record, and that listening will be like wearing your favorite v-neck sweater and cords on a brisk fall evening walk WITH steaming hot cocoa in one hand and your beloved's hand in the other, and that in the meantime you're just enjoying the accumulation of listens, the getting to know the record, the learning the songs in your ears and fingertips (for tapping along) and there's that one track that almost makes you cry, and the other that just makes you laugh - wait there are a few of those - and you know the musicians have given it their all (and we're talking about some generous people here), and it's just something you'd like to share with everyone you encounter?

A: Thanks, the Books!

P.S. I may have mentioned at some point during the past - oh - seven months, the TCF's collaboration with the Books, and our 2010 ShortDocs Challenge - Book Odds. Well the deadline's passed, the final tally is tallied, and a whopping 143 submissions were sent from 14 countries. Success! Beyond our hopes and expectations, to be honest. Have a listen - believe me you there are some GEMS in there. For real.

WLD

2010-07-18T09:44:00.000-07:00

Well now. There's barely time to think and write and eat and breathe and pedal and rest and read and correspond and explore and relax and remember and extend and accept and wish-hope, still, and prepare and dig and smooth and clear and slice and carry and translate and and puzzle and scrub and cringe and laugh.

This is constant now, this barely time. But today, of all days - find time for listening, please? I'll do the same.

(Puzzle pieces spotted in alley behind friend's apartment in Pilsen. The kind of thing you stumble upon, and everything changes. Click for a good look, and to spot the lucky paperclip.)

appreciating appreciation

2010-07-02T21:14:00.000-07:00

Am inspired sometimes by gesture, and sincerity, and clarity of purpose - all of which flows in abundance, in Rick Moody's recent blog post about Jolie Holland's song "Mexican Blue" which he's declared the best song of the millennium. I can only agree it's kind of a miracle song, and am grateful to have been taken deeper in, and for his making the case for making the case for something that resonates so very, very deeply. I hear the song differently now, and may hear every song differently now. Thanks, RM.

Was also charmed just yesterday, sitting and watching my fella's band play at a city festival, when the young kid next to me politely tapped me on the shoulder, and asked if I had a pen he could buy for $1. Genuinely curious, I asked him what it was for, as I began digging around in my bag. "I love this band so much, and I brought a CD for them all to sign. But I don't have anything to write with." I declined the dollar despite his best attempts to lay it on me, handed over the pen, and turned attention back to the band. Kid started snacking on some Cheerios, we both continued to thoroughly enjoy the set. It was the sweetest moment.

All of this by way of saying...it's so good, so restorative, to collide with people / moments that express an abiding connection to someone, or something, or somehow. All of this by way of saying the appreciation is appreciated.

Steppin' Out in Ireland

2010-06-20T23:05:00.000-07:00

Last week I had the great honor of spending a few days with Irish artists and radio producers. I'd been invited over to Dublin by the independent Irish producer organization AIRPI, to talk about my own background in radio, the Third Coast Festival, the American radio landscape, and to hear some of their work. While I was there I got to meet with a bunch of Fringe Festival artists too. It was a short trip, but a full one. A very full one. A very short, full, and excellent trip. Read on for proof/highlights:

1. Talking to the 70 aforementioned Fringe Festival artists who came out to learn about the Dublin Fringe Festival's RADIOACTIVE collaboration with RTE (sort of like Ireland's NPR, except...it's actually supported by the government.) Basically non-radio folks will try their hand at making short radio stories, which will then air on RTE's digital channel. I was asked to play some interesting work / inspire them to give it a go. I DO love playing radio for a captive audience!

2. Spending nearly 15 hours over the course of two days yakking, listening, debating, and deconstructing radio docs and features in every which way, with around 25 Irish producers. Hearing docs about potatoes (!), traditional songs of the traveling people, a horse-racing dynasty, a street musician, a woman who communicates with the dead (and bellydances), and more. Learning more about life as an independent Irish producer - the challenges, the opportunities, and the importance of community.

3. Saturday night out at the Patriots Inn, where the discussions continued over many beers. And where a nice woman walked around with a tray of sandwiches around her neck. And where I made it clear that no, I wouldn't be joining the karaoke activities - that I "don't karaoke." Or wouldn't, unless there was the opportunity to sing one particular song - a pledge I'd made years ago. Was quite certain the Patriots Inn would not, in a million years, cough up the song. (You see where this is going, don't you?) Cut to a few drinks + a tequila shot later, when I heard something that sounded like..."Shapiro" and..."windy city" coming from the other room. By which I mean the room where people were taking turns belting out song after song after song into the sweaty microphone controlled by the venerable karaoke emcee who was patiently repeating my name and city of origin, and scanning the audience, ready to cue up the next song. Have you ever noticed how much people enjoy saying "Chicago?"

Yes, my excellent Irish hosts had done the favor of signing me up, and requesting THAT song. Lo and behold - anything is possible in this great age, every song is findable on the internet, karaoke-ready. I should have known/figured. By then it was too late to refuse, and it didn't seem like that bad an idea to sing Joe Jackson's "Steppin' Out" to a room full of jolly, intoxicated, encouraging Irishmen and women. In fact, it seemed like a great idea. A really great idea. Apparently I didn't do half bad, and was especially good at drumming up audience participation. Who knew?

4. The after-Patriots Inn adventure, bravely embarked upon by myself and two others, and involving a guy named Kevin who lived nearby, a stuffed cat, Zimbabwean currency pinned to the wall, and American classic rock. Those are about all of the details you need. Or don't need.

5. Watching Zenyatta swoop in from last place to win her seventeenth straight race, via the live streaming feed on my laptop. (1:30 am Dublin-time.) Nathaniel was watching too, back in Chicago. We were typing at each other the whole time. Romantic, I know!

6. Stopping in at Road Records before heading out to the airport on my last morning, and picking up some new music - This Is the Kit's Krulle Bol, and a beautiful, Rachel's-esque record by a band called Sending Letters to the Sea.

7. Watching Temple Grandin on the flight back home. And weeping, which I think made the sweet Irish man sitting next to me, who was heading home to Idaho, a little bit uncomfortable. He was very gracious about this, and told me it "looked like a very good movie." I wept because it's a touching film, and because I'm emotionally vulnerable when 35,000 feet up in the air, and because I'd gotten very little sleep in the past four days. But this seemed like too much to explain.

So that's my trip to Dublin, more or less. Keep an eye on the Third Coast website for some feisty Irish documentary work, and keep an eye right here to find out whether or not my Patriots Inn karaoke experience was a one-off, drunken anomaly, or the beginning of a new era in my life. I'd put money on the former...

Pre-Ireland

2010-06-15T20:30:00.000-07:00

Believe you me, there's an epic blog entry in the 23 hour flight delay I encountered on my way to Dublin last week. But c'mon - heard one travel delay story, heard 'em all. And we really didn't have anything on the volcanic ash-delay victims...ours was a small problem with an engine generator. A fine reason to ground the plane, sure, but it didn't stop me from feeling supremely annoyed about spending an entire day as a "distressed traveller," spending "disruption vouchers" on free crappy airport food, and killing time by comparing fellow passengers' clothing choices from the first to next day. This was an experience better moved on from, than rehashed here in excruciating detail.

Except for the one listening-relevant observation: the guy in the row behind me, traveling with his wife, who wore two stunning-ly bad t-shirts over the course of those 23 hours. The one he wore on the day we were supposed to fly to Dublin featured a stick figure plugging its ears (?) with the caption "Funny how you think I'm listening to you." No...not funny. On the day we actually flew to Dublin, the same guy showed up in a beige t-shirt, sporting this gallant sentence: "SHE SAYS I NEVER LISTEN. OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT."

Does this man wear a different awful t-shirt every day? I'm glad I'll never know.

And why am I sharing this non-story with you? Because it's like he was using the word [listen] in vain, somehow. Or in gratuitous stupidity. And so I took great offense, admittedly partially inspired by frustration with the situation we were in, stuck at O'Hare, distressing out further as the hours crept by. And because travel horror stories inspire an aching compulsion to share the details with whoever will listen. Or something like that.

Next up - actually interesting stuffs about my new radio friends in Ireland. Stay tuned...

Third Ear Sessions

2010-05-15T13:50:00.000-07:00

As mentioned, I've been in Copenhagen collaborating with the Third Ear - an independent pod/vid/rad(io)/culturecast that's making beautiful work about all sorts of things. The site and podcast are mostly in Danish so it's a bit hard (ok, impossible) to fully appreciate each episode - there are seven so far. But there's a lot to _look_ at already, and the plan is to incorporate more English in upcoming episodes, including a Third Coast-centric episode soon. We're honored.

Besides the storytelling, TE is also busy recording single-song performances by musicians - the "Sessions." (One mic, one camera, one take.) So far they're working in two locations - a submarine (!) and the historically astonishing Vega club in KBH. I've been sharing some of these songs on CHIRPradio.org, back in Chicago, but had the good luck to actually tag along for the most recent Sessions recording at Vega, featuring the Danish band Twins Twins. After about 30 minutes of fussing, testing levels, moving lights around and the re-positioning of rocker boys, the recording started and everything went quiet, intimate, mesmerizing. By the end I was already hooked on the song - Catherine Leaves - and so must certainly point you straight to the Session to check it out yourself.

More about these Third Ear peeps, and Adventures in Finland, coming up.

best idea ever

2010-05-08T22:51:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Copenhagen. It's been a whirlwind few days (more about that soon) hanging out with the Third Ear folks, including meeting five amazing iranian women, finding 'the' vegetarian restaurant in town, clocking a few hours at the Royal Library (aka the Black Diamond), being blinded by color, and drinking several many delicious coffees at this record store / coffee shop. How do we get one in Chicago?

Oh yeah. Plotting the future of radio, too.

If you happen to be in / near Copenhagen next Friday (5/14) come on out to hear some documentaries, ok? Drop me a line and I'll tell you where to come.

starstruck

2010-04-25T17:07:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't heard (forgiven) there's a race horse out there who has captured the hearts of racing fans and racing non-fans (that's me) alike. Firstly - she's a she. Also - Zenyatta is taller and broader than most race horses, older than usual (just turned 6 on 4/01), and more to the point - has won every race she's run - all 16. Sixteen! Remarkable!

Plus Zenyatta's evidently somewhat of a goofball - which makes her that much more crush-worthy. You can easily find hundreds of videos of her - drinking Guinness, "dancing", coming behind from dead last to win a big race and my new favorite - a Zenyatta / Lady GaGa mash-up.
Well, it's my second favorite. It's actually this video that I can't stop watching - especially from around 3:52 to 6:34. And in fact I enjoy just listening to it, as much as watching. Wind + hoofbeats + occasional murmuring from jockey = music to my ears.

So I recommend you start the video and then shrink the screen, and just listen. A few times. Every day. (And watch every once in awhile - it's music to my eyes, too.)

late to the beautiful music party

2010-04-04T17:21:00.001-07:00

I've been grumpy for years about OH's state motto (possibly in the very pages of this blog) "So Much to Discover!" I much preferred the former motto, "The Heart of it All." Just say them both out loud and you'll hear what I mean. One is full of tenderness, sincerity, and hope. The other is full of...nothing. It's totally empty. Generic. Meaningless.

But after this past trip home to Akron for Passover, I have to admit - there was so much to discover. Not only did I find a wad of cash (14 single dollar bills!) in the pocket of a raincoat at the Village Discount Outlet in Cuyahoga Falls...I discovered a most amazing experimental music label/distributor/designer at Square Records, where I stop in every time I'm back for some or other holiday, birthday celebration, family gathering.

At the far end of the cds were two bins of beautifully packaged, delicately designed objects, and a small handwritten (important!) cardboard sign explaining the label responsible for them - Experimedia - is OH-based, and specializes in ambient, minimalist, noise, folk, americana, phonography...you get the idea. All the good stuff. After I was done barely believing my eyes, I bought a couple cds (Small Color / Minamo (the cover's up there on the left) - both on the 12k label) that I enjoyed all the way back to Chicago (and still do) and will be exploring much more of Experimedia's site/catalog in due time.

So Experimedia is full of radiant, striking, independent music - reason enough to be thrilled with the project. But it's also from Akron, which seems nearly impossible and makes this discovery nothing short of a miracle. Experimedia has been around for nearly ten years and while I'm a little perplexed / disappointed I'd never heard of it until now, it was a perfect universe to stumble into almost by accident, while actually in Akron. For Passover, no less. Perfect.

So now I'll think twice about rolling my eyes every time I cross the border from Indiana into my home state, and read that silly phrase (with much underlined, and a weak exclamation point at the end.) But I'm also more convinced, than ever, that Ohio IS the heart of it all.

The Words of Sounds (3) - Wroblewski

2010-03-28T21:23:00.000-07:00

Apparently there's been a lot of controversy over The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, David Wroblewski's first novel, published in 2008. I had no idea about that when mom and I picked it to read together (we do this, regularly) - it just seemed to promise a good story, and I was drawn to the distant red barn on the cover. And while I'm not about to review the book here - you can read plenty about it elsewhere - I did like it (though didn't expect so much darkness) and especially liked this passage on page 404.

The set up: Edgar, a runaway at this point - mute and fleeing his family's farm with three dogs - is befriended by a lonely man in a small town in northern Wisconsin who is trying to show the world (and a certain woman) he's not 'ordinary.' The two slowly form a friendship, as a silent trust builds between them.

"That night it was a workingman's dinner. Henry sat at the kitchen table and read the newspaper and ate reheated brats and potato salad. He motioned for Edgar to help himself and eyed the dogs as though expecting them to lunge for the food. He started to ask Edgar to put them outside, then seemed to reconsider. Instead, he folded the paper into quarters and pored over the crossword, tapping his pencil on the table and picking off the easy clues. Then he said, "Oh!" and walked into the living room. There was a warm pop from the phonograph speakers. Piano music began to drift through the house.

"They call this one The Goldberg Variation," he said when he returned. He was holding a battered album cover in one hand. He looked at it again and, with self-conscious precision, corrected himself: "Variations." He took up the crossword puzzle again, shifting and fidgeting and touching his forehead as if perturbed by the sound of the piano. He emptied his glass of beer and leaned over to the refrigerator and extracted another, pouring it down the inside curve of the glass while streamers of bubbles upward.

It's nothing earth-shattering, just unexpected to find a vinyl copy of The Goldberg Variations in this story. Stuck with me.

P.S. Of course this is the version of TGV I know and love.

remiss!

2010-03-16T21:06:00.000-07:00

That's me. Because i've been pointing, inviting, linking, insisting, reminding, introducing and yes, obssessing, everywhere/when/how else except here.

But hey! No time like the present to make amends. The Third Coast f launched a new website last weekend. Have a look, will ya? But keep in mind we're in beta mode - still working on several many things. So feel free to offer some feedback. And be sure to release the pigeons...

one groove

2010-02-22T07:02:00.000-08:00

Take a guess at what you're looking at.

No, it's not the moon and no, it's not some 4th grader's attempt to recreate the Grand Canyon, in miniature, via elaborate sand sculpture. Here we have a photograph of one single groove of a vinyl record (remember those?) magnified 1000 times. Beautiful, no? Feast your eyes on a few other close-up shots of records, at various magnification, including one in 3-D. (if you have some glasses laying around.)

megapolis seeks new blood

2010-02-03T17:00:00.000-08:00

Have an audio-y performance, presentation, installation, workshop or spectacle up your sleeve that's ready for the world? You're in luck. The fine folks over at Megapolis are accepting proposals until Feburary 14th (very romantic!) for the 2010 MegapoHappening, scheduled for May 14-16 in Baltimore. Extra points for all ideas that jive with this year's theme of transport.

[Maybe it's finally time for me to resurrect the Pony Express and stash a recorder in my mail pouch. I'd hit these guys up for sponsorship, straightaway.]

special bunny named bunny

2010-01-31T15:29:00.000-08:00

"See the world through third grade ears."

Have been hooked, recently, on Third Grade Audio works. Whether it's collaborative farewell poetry, imaginary interviews with Martin Luther King Jr., or ruminations on stuffed animal names, these kids have got it going ON, radio-wise. The honesty! The imagination! The lack of self-consciousness, and absent desire to sound like All Things Considered hosts! (Though the 'special bunny named bunny' contributor may be a young Brooke Gladstone in the making...public radio listeners should be so lucky?)

Big props to their teacher David Green, for guiding these wee producers so skillfully toward future careers in radio/audio production. Now let's just hope they get a few years of solid sonic storytelling in, before their economics teacher dashes all hopes of actually making a living in this field...

here baby

2010-01-17T12:11:00.000-08:00

no image for this post.

still glued to internet, reading, reading, reading, watching videos, trying to keep up. the vids are all starting to blend in my mind - the shambles, the dust, the bodies - arms frozen in death, reaching, the wide-eyes, the absolute wreck of everything.

but i can't stop thinking about one particular video, where an australian reporter covers the miraculous recovery of a an 18 month-ish old girl who'd been trapped for three days underneath a building. i know a lot of such videos are circulating, but somehow this one's still very distinct for me (despite the kind of awful, cliche narration produced around the live footage) and i think it's because of the sound, as much as the images.

first - you hear this little girl shriek in response to voices outside the building [a shriek you will never, ever forget] and then when they extract her, the reporter - who up until that moment has retained the calm, cool, collected (and somewhat condescending) professional veneer - pulls her up into his arms and is so fucking freaked and incredulous he just keeps repeating, for nearly 30 seconds: 'here, baby. here, baby. here, baby.' someone hands him a bottle of water, he pours it over her head and into her mouth, 'here baby. here baby. here baby.'

the rest of the video unfolds like so many others - a blend of french/creole/english broken communication about the situation, surrounding people shell-shocked, trying to understand what's just happened, a quote or two from the heroes, acknowledgment of this miracle in the context of thousands of others dying at that very moment. but i was just bawling by the end of this one and can still hear that reporter: 'here baby. here baby. here baby' in my head.

we're all connecting with/slamming into what's happening in haiti at different moments and for different reasons. please, after reading this, make a donation to your organization of choice. and then make another one when you can. and maybe another one next month. and the month after.

sound for haiti

2010-01-15T12:19:00.000-08:00

Like the rest of the world I've spent the last few days glued to the radio and Internet (or tv. or newspapers. or twitter feeds.) trying to grasp what's happened in Haiti. And, like most, I've been wondering what I can do to help. Send money, yes. But what else?

Here's another way: Sound artist Glenn Weyant has mobilized a dozen experimental/electronic/improvisational musicians to donate songs to a record [ New Music Haitian Relief ] that's available for download at whatever price you choose. 100% of proceeds will go to Food for the Poor - an organization Glenn has researched and believes will most efficiently turn donations into tangible help / food / support for the thousands and thousands of people who are dying in Haiti.

I've downloaded the album, and will be thinking about other ways - fiscal and creative - to continue supporting the awful situation there. Please do what you can, ok? Like, now.

New year - new list

2010-01-10T15:43:00.000-08:00

Inspiration struck this weekend, aided by my new favorite snack - graham crackers + nutella, and a whole lot of time in which to let it, thanks to the most amazing Ragdale Foundation. This burst of click has resulted in many things, including an urge to share a few things at once, in this first post of 2010.

1. gallopinging
I've begun 'spinning' (as if) all sorts of music from 6-9am on wednesday mornings on CHIRPradio.org - a new Chicago radio project about (January 17th) to launch online. You can listen all this week if you wish to be a Beta Listener by signing up for the email list. Or you can wait a few weeks and tune in / click on then. There are a lot of neat people involved, and while we may sound a little shaky at first...well just keep listening. P.S. Gallopinging's the name of my show. Why not?!

2. too much information
My good pal and esteemed radio colleague Benjamen Walker is back to his old (and occasionally offensive) tricks - thank the stars. You can podcast his new show TMI, via WFMU, now my second favorite independent, community radio station out there. (see #1.)

3. live music
Am over the moon to see/hear three bands/musicians i like a lot playing in Chicago in the next month or so. Mountains, the Necks, and James Blackshaw...all en route. So look out for some thoughts post-those shows.

4. a parting thought/quote
Just finished Bicycle Diaries, by David Byrne - a collection of essays about cities he's visited over time, largely framed through the lens of having ridden a bicycle through them. Except for all of the parts that have nothing to do with pedaling through these cities. I'm not super-overwhelmed by the book I like DB well enough, and it does have its great moments, and a beautiful cover. And then there's this single sentence that very nearly leapt off the page at me, and which I'll share with you now.

The world isn't logical, it's a song.
- D. Byrne

It's kind of almost too...something. But I like it.

5. more soon...

why there's a cat?

2009-12-31T06:52:00.000-08:00

The last day of 2009 finds me at the top of the country, two miles west of Copper Harbor, MI, spending a few days with N. at an incredible house filled with antique dolls and taxidermied animals. Our cell phones are useless up here, but the internet connection's dependable. We've spent hours and hours in pajamas, tying up loose ends with work and projects.

In between chunks of online time we've been snowshoeing, dashing out to the sauna and back, drinking tea, snacking on leftover Christmas cookies and plowing through season 5 of LOST. Not a bad way to transition into the new year.

My favorite NY greeting this year came from pals over in Moscow, whose Podstansiya website/ podcast is a totally singular - and important - destination for independent Russian radio/audio work, and public forums about media, the arts, and culture. The greeting is a short essay/poem by a young father, inspired by questions from his son and scored with rowdy electric guitar. And I'm happily taking the liberty to pass it along to you.

Now it's time to hit the snowshoe trails. All good things in 2010, to everyone!

The Words of Sounds (2) - Dybek

2009-12-06T09:52:00.000-08:00

Earlier this year I posted a paragraph from a novel that explored the sound of a scene so beautifully I thought it was worth sharing. Here's another bunch of words you can practically hear. It's text from a "A Minor Mood," a short story by Stuart Dybek from his outstanding collection I Sailed With Magellan. There's music and noise and sound throughout this book (and all of SD's work) but something about this scene really stands out for me.

Here's the set-up: An aged and worn-down character Lefty is remembering back to the times when his Grandmother ("Lefty's Gran") would nurse him back to health from the croup, and other bronchial tube-challenged conditions. Imagine a room in an old Chicago apartment building on the South Side, full of pots and pans balancing on radiators, steam pouring forth, the smell of Vicks Vaporub hanging in the air.

"She taught Lefty to play the measuring spoons like castanets in accompaniment to her gypsylike singing. She was playing the radiators with a ladle as if they were marimbas. Lefty was up, out of bed, flushed, but feeling great, and in steam that was fading to wisps he was dancing with his gran. Her girlish curls tossed as around and around the room they whirled, both of them singing, and on or the other dizzily breaking off the dance in order to beat or plunk or blow some instrument they'd just invented: Lefty strumming the egg slicer, Lefty's Gran oompahing an empty half gallon of Dad's old-fashioned root beer; Lefty bugling "Sunshine" through the cardboard clarion at the center of a toilet-paper roll, Lefty's Gran chiming a closet of empty coat hangers; Lefty shake-rattle-and-rolling the silverware drawer; Lefty's Gran Spike Jonesing the vacuum cleaner; Lefty, surrounded by pots and lids, drum-soloing with wooden spoons; while Lefty's Gran, conducting with a potato masher, yelled "Go, Krupa, go!"

According to Blogger.com's spell check, "oompahing" is misspelled. But Dybek knows better.

P.S. Read this one outloud, if you will.

We eat, we breath, we sleep, we compile

2009-11-09T12:42:00.000-08:00

Mix tapes: Formative, crushing, life-saving little nostalgia-bombs... even when they're carefully compiled by strangers and lovingly bestowed (or awkwardly thrust) upon other strangers. Case in point - a new, sharply designed collection of sixty (!) stories by a whole mess of folks about mix tapes given, received, dreamed, destroyed. And if you're in Chicago - come out tonight to the Hideout to help celebrate the release of Cassette From My Ex: Stories and Soundtracks of Lost Loves.

Disclaimer: This isn't the altruistic-est of posts... my good pal Jason's (ha! just noticed his wikipedia page for the first time) behind CFME, if you remember this Lissenup post then you know I'm a contributor, and I'll be participating in tonight's event, on the "panel of experts." Ha! (I'm honored.)

city blues

2009-08-23T21:29:00.001-07:00

After two and a half days out in Harvard, IL, I'm feeling kind of glum, back in Chicago. Twenty four hours ago we were listening to acorns drop from tall trees, light breezes swim through the oak groves, birds rustling in trees and thousands of insects singing in a range of pitch and tone.

Back in the city, it's a different story. Shared a train car with a pair of the most foul-mouthed, angry drunks you could imagine (now I'm not one to mind an expressive/emphatic word choice, and have been known swear up a storm without too much provocation, but...this was different. Aggressive. Insistent. Really, really unpleasant.) And as I type this sirens are screaming off in the distance - getting closer.

It's enough to make me wonder if my switches are lined properly - a question I've been thinking about since N. dropped me at the train station in Harvard earlier today, to catch a train back to Chicago. I'm beginning to have my doubts.

Pin Drop Melody

2009-08-06T21:09:00.000-07:00

When I learned my dear niece was checking in here, realized it was high time to post some thoughts that have been rattling (quietly) around in my head - and which don't actually have anything to do with Monkey.

I'm almost finished reading this book about one man's intense quest for preserving silence - just one square inch in a national park out in Washington - in the so very noisy world we live in. Author Gordon Hempton gets a bit too vainglorious (new favorite synonym for 'proud') at times but i'm down with his basic premise - that silence in the natural world is endangered, and that this does not bode well for humankind. ("My aim," I explain, "is to establish the Hoh Valley as the world's first quiet place. This would be essentially a no-flight zone.")

At the same time I'm reading a book by John Cage, which in some ways counters One Square Inch by, among other things, exploring some of the very noise that drives Hempton crazy as music in its own right, and well-worth our recognition of it as such. ("Was it an airplane? Is it a noise? Is it music?") Instead of lamenting the "aural graffiti" scrawled by aircraft, motorized vehicles, espresso machines and other basic sounds of 'civilization' - Cage composed with them.

Combined, these books are giving my ears and brain quite the workout. I'm more aware than ever of just how much noise surrounds me, every moment of the day (right now the crickets outside my parents' back deck in Ohio are screaming - almost eclipsing the sound of the highway traffic a mile or so away.) While I'm finding this hyper-awareness somewhat excruciating, there are also moments when the noise transcends /crosses over into music, with tones, rhythms and lyrical expression. At which point I'm more amused and gratified (majestic / bewildering) than neurotically irritated.

In any case, I think there's plenty that Hempton and Cage have in common, despite their obvious differences. It's in the listening, and the thinking about the listening, and the devotion to the listening, and the writing about the listening, and the caring about the listening. I imagine these two might actually enjoy taking a long walk together through a beautiful forest or down a back city alley - Cage pointing out the sounds of their footsteps and Hempton noting (dejectedly) how many decibels they register at. To which I say, [very very softly,] amen.

"We're passing through time and space. Our ears are in excellent condition." (Cage)

Who knew?

2009-06-06T11:05:00.000-07:00

Now I know what kind of sound I make when the cat trots into the room with a squirming mouse in her mouth. Evidently...I scream. Not once, not twice but three times. Like in the cartoons - high-pitched and hysterical. At least I didn't jump up onto a chair, or start swatting blindly with a broom...

In my defense - I'm not scared of mice, it was just very startling when Monkey interrupted our card game to proudly show us her new friend. So startling that I screamed, which startled Monkey who then dropped the mouse, which startled me more so I screamed, which startled the mouse who then started scrambling (with a limp) away, which made me scream again, which startled Monkey again but not enough to prevent her from grabbing her friend and heading downstairs, away from the screams.

Eventually we were able to rescue(?) the mouse from Monkey's jaws and take it outside, in a La Croix box, so it could scurry (with a limp) away to freedom. I doubt it survived the night - it didn't seem long for the world and let's not forget the trio of astute feline hunters living next door. But the box was empty this morning...we'll never know. Back to the screams - I was kind of surprised, myself, by my blood-curdling response to the wriggling little furry guy. Felt a little silly, but also amused, when the whole adventure was over.

As we stood in the kitchen, recalling the Great Mouse Incident of 2009, N. asked me to promise never to make those sounds again. But something tells me there's no guarantee...

P.S.
As you might imagine, there's no scarcity of images on the internet of cats with mice in their mouths. Or on their heads.

P.P.S.
Screaming at the top of your lungs is actually very cathartic. But famous scientists like Dr. Gregory Whitehead have known this for a long time. Check out some of his most impressive research. (number 20)

Unlikely friends = my first cool milion

2009-05-28T07:53:00.000-07:00

Woke up yesterday morning to the sound of scrambling. Sleepy brain translated: cat paws scratching at a window in the sun room. Sure enough - there was Monkey, perched precariously in a corner where the wall met a bank of windows, desperately trying to reach the furry little squirrel calmly sitting right on the other side of the window. I mean RIGHT there. Monkey seemed confused, determined, and sort of gleeful at this turn of events. She's been a little lonely since Pony died...

After a few minutes Squirrel disappeared and I brought Monkey out of the room. About ten minutes later...repeat visit. And this morning - Squirrel seemed to be hanging out waiting for Monkey, who galloped up the stairs when I called down to tell her that her friend had returned. (True!) I'm trying not to think about the damage Monkey's new pal (and its extended family) is causing to our roof, to the peeling paint on the window sill, and to Monkey's fragile, neurotic little brain.

In the meantime - am already imagining the Saturday morning cartoon: Monkey (the Cat) and Squirrel Take on the World. Then comes feature-length Pixar animation, sugar cereal, lunchboxes, TV appearances, Fresh Air interviews, and of course - their own podcast. Any illustrators out there looking for work?

5 sounds from Ireland

2009-05-13T07:59:00.000-07:00

1. Altogether, radio from: Czech Republic, UK, Lithuania, Slovakia, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Croatia, Poland, Ireland, Canada, Australia, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, plus my own contribution, from the USA. An impressive array of stories and approaches to storytelling, with distinct national radio cultures defined, challenged, and stretched, as each program played. Didn't come away with favorite stories, rather moments from several: A gravedigger, about to retire, describing looking forward to sitting at his kitchen table tinkering with a clock. Two former circus performers (and lovers) reunited in a nursing home in old age, nostalgic for the dream of a shared future they'll never experience: "running a nice big carousel...". A long, awkward silence between two estranged friends, over the phone. The sound of a mama cow licking her newborn calf. And so many others...

2. Beirut, followed by Sufjan Stevens, from the speakers at the Mermaid Cafe, (the Lula of Dublin?) over the course of a nice long dinner with new and old friends. Always especially pleasing to hear (certain) familiar music when far from home. Also that night, learned that in Ireland (and many other countries) rocket is actually arugula, and that people really do eat pig's cheeks. Which I do not condone.

3. Beautiful, traditional Irish music in a extraordinarily non-extraordinary bar that was far from the city center, or other touristic byways. Was my first experience in an Irish snug - a small, cozy, separate section of a pub where live music is often played for an audience of maybe a dozen. This is not the place to pull out a camera or recorder, fyi. Learn from our mistakes.

4. Young girl walking by me in the airport, holding on to her father's hand. With each step she took her right foot yelped. Realized that her shoe had a 'squeaker' in it - yes, like the squeaker in a dog toy - to help her parents keep track of her, I guess? Though the company that makes them claims they're "fun." Heard that thing for 6 gates worth of airport hallway, as I continued in the opposite direction. Creepy.

5. The rain coming on, across the field, while we rode through the most beautiful Irish countryside in Lackan, County Wicklow. The horses didn't seem to mind the damp - neither my trusty mare Blue, or Thelon's gigantic Naylor (supposedly the second largest registered horse in the country. And I believe it.) Another sound, from this incredible afternoon: the lambs bleating, as we'd ride by and they'd scamper away from the fencelines. The cows, on the other hand, strode right up to say hello.

Radio Dublin

2009-05-10T10:31:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Dublin, where I've just made it through Day #1 of the International Features Conference. Besides a minor luggage mishap on the way in (resolved!) it's been a fine trip so far. Am still thinking about yesterday's late lunch - goat cheese, spinach & beet pie and a perfect pint of Smithwicks (you know when you're traveling and you pick a random bar or eatery on a whim and it just happens to be a perfect decision? )

More to the point (of this blog, at least):
We've been hanging out in a castle all day, listening to and discussing radio features about: a homeless shelter installed on a boat (Czech Republic), bicycle couriers (UK) a rural version of a 7-11 - minus Slurpees - (Lithuania), a car crash from driver and victim's perspectives (UK), and cyber activism against transit ticket inspectors (Slovakia). Finished up with a presentation of the "I Live in the Balkans" radio project - an impressive collaboration between 11 Balkan countries.

Yes, ears are tired. And could use a beer...into the city for dinner.

Good clean audio fun involving free cookies

2009-05-05T16:19:00.000-07:00

Felt like we hit the (some? a?) jackpot this past Saturday. After dinner we took a long bike ride toward the lake and parked our bikes outside the North Lakeside Cultural Center where we spent the next hour with:

Thrifted old cassettes, hundreds of buttons, dollhouse miniatures, an interactive laundry experience, flashlights, creepy/beautiful old black and white photos, a toy piano, the drawer of exquisite objects, old-school composition books, (yes, composition books have a wikipedia entry), light mystery, lots of Hauschka and, I believe, John Fahey, an obsessive (yet likable) recordist and...it's true: free cookies.

People! What more could you want from a surprising and interactive, hour-long audio mystery tour set brilliantly throughout a beautiful old Chicago house? I'm talking about: Static: A Headphones Tour (conceived by Tom Horan and directed by Libby Ford). I don't want to say too much - probably already have - because if you're in Chicago you really should just buy a $10 ticket and experience it yourself.

Static seems to me to be one of those incredibly special events going on in a big city that you imagine you're always missing, or that you read about after the fact and wish you'd known about earlier. Here's your chance...the tour runs through May, every Friday and Saturday nights.

Remembering Simon

2009-04-29T15:52:00.000-07:00

We were sitting around earlier today thinking of ideas for future Re:sound shows when Simon came to mind. Remember? It's that old electronic game from the early 80's that would warble songs consisting of bleeps in four notes corresponding to 4 boldly colored, enormous buttons, that would light up with each respective bleep.

Simon would start with one bleep (blue!) which you'd repeat back by pressing the blue button, and then would advance to two (blue! green!) and then three (blue! green! yellow!) and so on. The point of the game was to repeat Simon's melody back to him (it?) as it became increasingly long, complicated, and beautiful. The point was remembering.

Simon was a close friend for a while. I used to play for hours, sitting cross-legged in my closet in the dark, with Simon on my lap lighting up a color show and bleeping away, then letting out the always startling Game Over-signaling MEHHHHH when the song became too jumbled in my head and I pressed the wrong button.

I can still hear those tones so clearly in my mind's ear. Turns out red = A , green's = A an octave higher, yellow = G and blue = D. Also turns out there were a lot of Simon imitators, (like Castle Toy Einstein, Space Echo and Copy Cat.) and later versions of my beloved game, like Simon Surprise, Simon Rewind, Simon Trickster, Simon Bounce (!?). Think I prefer remembering the regular old Simon, the first version. The best version.

So now I'm on the lookout for a Simon, and am certain there's one out there in Chicago, perched upon a thrift store shelf just waiting for me. Bleep! MEHHHHH. Bleep! Red. Bleep! Blue. Bleep! Green. Bleep! Green. Bleep! MEHHHHH. And yes, of course I can play a virtual version in the meantime. There are tons of them out there. Like this one. Or this one. (no soul) Or THIS one (nice sword, dude.) No surprise - I can even play on my phone. But none adequately simulate the look, feel and sound of the actual game. So guess I'll just keep my eyes open for the real deal.

MEHHHH

holy megapolis poster

2009-03-27T06:47:00.000-07:00

Tickets are now available for Megapolis - an audio art explosion scheduled for April 24-26 in Boston, though I predict the sonic shrapnel will reverberate much further. And if the poster just revealed by the fine fellas running the show (and designed by mister nick van der kolk) is any indication, it's going to be a gorgeous, noisy, crazed, over-stimulated weekend, to say the least. I'd be remiss not to mention the TCF listening thingee with the unparalleled Sean Cole on Saturday the 25th, and very pleased to see you there.

P.S. This morning I picked up a cd off the station's free music shelf. Despite quick research that coughed up a review claiming Curtains of Night's Lost Houses is one of the worst cds ever produced, to my humble ears a ladies metal band never sounded so good. And it's not just because (by some bizarre coincidence) the singer is the daughter of next-door neighbors, from back when I lived in Carrboro.

On my third listen, brain's happy. I have no explanation for this.

P.P.S. You really should click on that poster for a better look.

consnickted

2009-03-20T22:34:00.000-07:00

I'm guessing that by now you've seen (and are possibly tired of, or deeply detest) the Snickers ad campaign for which they've made up words in (brace yourself) "snacklish." Words like hungerectomy, peanutopolis, nougatocity have been around for months and the most recent wave brings snaxophone, nutopia, antihungerestablishmentariansm...and so on. Truth is - i'm conflicted about this awful/amazing semantic buffoonery in the name of selling a candy bar. Horrified and somewhat...taken with them. Despite the terrifying message they deliver about the power of brand recognition, I'm a reluctant fan. And enjoy imagining the meeting where a bunch of marketing execs sat around a table, dreaming up the campaign, and shouting out brand new words in snacklish.

But do they work? They've sprouted up thickly around downtown Chicago, and have come up lately in a few conversations (ok...i've brought them up) and it seems like while everyone has seen the ads...nobody I've talked to has actually bought a Snickers candy bar since noticing them at on billboards, at bus stops, on taxi cab roofs. Maybe we'll all buy cases off the internet this holiday season, and wonder why. Anyway, this latest batch of vocabulary is kinda weak. Take "chewmute," which is plastered on the side of CTA buses. Took days before I figured it out. Chewmute. On the bus. COMmute. Good grief, Charlie Brown.

Um...what about sound, you may be thinking? Right. Sound. Spend just a minute or two on the Snickers website. The audio is fucking out of control. And beware the loudspeakers, which belt out 'funky' and 'snaxophone' in the same sentence. Which should be against the law.

improbable, but true.

2009-03-16T17:51:00.000-07:00

I apologize, up front, for the blatant self-congratulation. But I never, in a trillion years would have expected to find my name in the middle of a news item on the Breyer Horses website, let alone a link to the non-narrated, disjointed, sound-rich audio piece about the inexplicable connection between girls / horses and the curious sport of competitive model horse collecting, that I produced a few years ago.

But here it is! And I'm kind of speechless. Overwhelmed. Honored. And astounded by the significant bump in the Third Coast Festival's website traffic. Thanks, Breyer!

[Once a model horse freak, always a model horse freak. And...we're everywhere. You're probably sitting next to or down the hallway from one RIGHT NOW!]

Stille Post

2009-03-10T20:11:00.000-07:00

Save the afternoon! On March 21, between 3 and 7pm, CST, radio/sound artists all around the world will be joining forces to help conduct ARCOPARLANTE, a (real) live radio experiment.

If i've got it straight, here's what will happen:

During those four hours, a the radio art group of Deutschlandradio (a German public radio broadcaster) will broadcast nearly incomprehensible recordings of human speech on medium and long (radio)waves and over the internet. Listeners everywhere are invited to transcribe whatever they think they're hearing, and share this via email or telephone with the Deutschlandradio-ers, who will promptly broadcast these in addition to the recordings already going out. Listeners are also encouraged to record their acts of listening/puzzling out the message being delivered by the initial recordings, and send these home-recordings as well. See where this is going? What's being created is a cycle of barely understood communication passed and shared around the world. Kind of like an enormous game of telephone, where players repeat what they _think_ they've heard.

After it's all over Alessandro Bosetti, a key organizer of the experiment (and all-round good guy) will assemble bits from the initial recordings, listeners' transcriptions, and listeners' recordings, into original compositions. Then maybe he'll tour around, come to YOUR town, and share the very composition you've contributed to by playing along on the 21st.

Here's where to tune in:
http://www.dradio.de/streaming/dplus.m3u

Or if this is more your thing:

Longwaves:
Aholming kHz 207
Donebach kHz 153

Middlewaves:
Braunschweig kHz 756
Heusweiler kHz 1422
Neumünster kHz 1269
Nordkirchen kHz 549
Ravensburg kHz 756
Thurnau kHz 549

Send your recordings here:

Deutschlandradio Kultur
Hörspiel / Klangkunst
Hans-Rosenthal-Platz
D-10825 Berlin

And transcriptions here:
e-mail: klangkunst@dradio.de

OK. Got all of that? Good. I'll listen for you on the medium waves.

superfandom

2009-02-22T20:43:00.001-08:00

Absorbed a lot this weekend: John Duncan concert, 'Future of Journalism' meeting, two LOST episodes, Fahey (the sweet black pup we're dogsitting) running around like a tasmanian devil in the snowy backyard, and at the end of it all - Juana Molina, who I'm now officially astounded by, after watching/listening, spellbound, tonight's performance at the Morse Theater.

Even backed by 2 other musicians (sorry, fellas accompanying her whose name I can't track down) she's a one-woman show - kind of a tasmanian devil herself - singing, crooning, uttering, strumming, looping it all at crazy, cyclical, syncopated intervals with the slightest tap(s) of a foot on (one of many) pedal(s). And all the while cracking up / charming the pants off the audience between songs, and making it all seem effortless - the acrobatic timings, the hauntingly piercing melodies, the complex structure of every song she offered up.

Looks like she's headed to Cincinnati, Cleveland, Boston, NYC, DC, Philadelphia in the next week...if you're anywhere close, do yourself a big, big favor and go see the show. Then drop a line, and we can talk about the amazing CUP/handclap song thing. Because I really can't figure out how to explain it, and would love to know what you think.

the melodies remain

2009-02-21T11:36:00.000-08:00

Driving home from Columbus last week a jolt of recognition released a flood of memories when we passed the green highway sign for a small town in Indiana - home of the Jewish overnight camp I attended for a few summers 20-25 (wha?!) or so years ago. First and foremost, songs came to mind - haunting melodies and hebrew lyrics that I've long since forgotten the translations to, if I ever knew them in the first place.

All of these years later, I can clearly envision sitting around a campfire and singing freely into the night, and so many other small impressions wander back...the way sparks from the fire would shoot up into the sky then disappear, linking arms with the girl (or boy!) next to me and swaying from left to right, slowly, with each song...the SMELL, of course, of fire and pine and summer and Calamine lotion. Remember?

There were a few English songs too, ones that I didn't necessarily understand the words of, but whose melancholy, minor key melodies introduced tragedies I'd not yet encountered. Probably didn't understand the notion of 'tragedy' even, age 11ish. But still, the songs stuck.

And have been playing in my head, on a loop, for days now. The camp has a website, which I spent about thirty seconds on before quickly navigating away. The songs are findable as YouTube videos from Jewish folk festivals and other various group singalongs (none of which hold a candle to the campfire sessions) But I have no desire to find any of this on the interwebs... it seems all wrong to encounter these memories again through poor graphic design and others' experiences that seem to barely relate to mine.

I'd prefer to savor the wisps and verses that still exist somewhere deep in my brain, and let them wash over and take me back to the days of reluctantly dressing up for the Shabbat Walk, inventing excuses to skip swimming lessons, traversing the length of the dining room for bug juice refills, and playing jacks on the concrete deck outside the canteen. I'd rather marvel at how embedded all of this remains, how easy it was to tap into, how sad it still feels to hear those songs in my mind's ears, and how nice it feels to let the memories swell.

[So many boucy balls lost each summer...]

Round in the middle...

2009-02-16T16:30:00.000-08:00

Ahoy Ohioans! Ohioians! Buckeyes! People from the great state where I was born! We're heading your way with a laptop full of fantastic audio stories. Destination: the Wexner Center in Columbus, for a Third Coast Festival Listening Room. And what's more, now OH-based producer Neenah Ellis (remember the centenarians series on NPR back in 2000? What about those amazing stories about one-room school houses?) will be on hand, and we'll be playing some of her fine work.

So come on out and listen on Wednesday, February 18th (yes, soon) at 7 pm. And thanks to the audio-leaning folks at OSU for helping bring us over.

P.S. It's a free event. You may even consider road tripping.

P.P.S. That is, indeed, a mousepad with I LOVE OHIO printed badly/too largely across a blue (!) silhouette of the state. But no, I don't have one. Yet.

The Words of Sounds (1) - Powers

2009-02-12T21:59:00.001-08:00

I've noticed that fiction writers seldom spend a lot of extra words describing sounds, so I'm trying to pay more attention, and share the occasional worthy (at least in my estimation) passages. Suggestions welcome, and thanks in advance.

The Words of Sounds #1 - The Echo Maker, by Richard Powers (pg. 166)

"He stopped at the far end of the MotoRest parking lot, closed his filmy eyes, and listened.

The songs came on, mathematical, melodious, their elaborate patterns slowly mutating. Some were as singable as any human tune. He counted, sensitizing to the calls that played off one another, each a solo against a mass chorus. He lost count after a dozen, unsure where to lump and where to split. Every complex riff was identifiable, although Weber could identify none. Softer, in the middle distance, he heard the shush of cars along Interstate 80 whooshing like sprung balloons."

In this case, Weber is a writer (about neurological disorders / consciousness) from New York who has just spent a sleepless night in the middle of Nebraska (where he traveled to investigate a man with a brain injury) and is about to embark upon the streets of a small town at dawn.

[Sensitizing is my new favorite verb.]

Sunday Improvisations

2009-02-08T10:25:00.000-08:00

Pretty soon here, I'll be on a plane heading back to Chicago. In the meantime am sitting at The Bridge PAI, listening to some of hour 3 of a 12 hour improvising marathon. It's just me and the three musicians in the room. Bass and computer language push to every corner of the room. Layers of tone fill the space, in cahoots with the sun flooding through the window behind me, warming my back. Quieter murmers break through now and then, seemingly bubbling up from deep water.

It's a maybe perfect way to wrap the past three days in Charlottesville, dense and curious and full of listening, talking talking talking, hiking, bourbon, coffee.

Overheard: Teenager in the hotel elevator, responding to mom's entreaty too loudly over the tinny smash of bad rock and roll bleeding out of his earbuds. Mom: "smile?" Teenager: "WHY."

Overheard: Sex, in the room next door. Or two doors down.

Overheard: The wail of a mother, looking frantically for the toddler she'd lost in a crowd.

Heard: Jingling of dog collars (Harriet and Luna's), between pockets of conversation, as we climbed up to the lookout on Turk Mountain.
Heard: The loudest water drips, inside a secret train tunnel full of stalagmites.
Heard: Cat Power in the background, sealing the deal on the most charmed day ever.

[Can feel the drones now. Vibrating back against warm window. Slightly louder than before.]

Here comes Audio February

2009-01-29T13:50:00.000-08:00

And if you live near Charlottesville, VA, or happen to be passing through in the next few weeks, you're luckier than the rest of us. The folks over at the Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative are devoting the entire month of February to audio stuffs, from experimental music performances, to a variety of installations - including one in the bathroom. i know, brilliant! - to an evening of sound-rich audio stories that I'm thrilled to be heading down to share. (Check out the latest TCF Listening Room news.)

And on top of all of that - there's the Sound Room. Which would love to include YOUR sound(s). Here's the official Call to Ears:

The Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative in Charlottesville, VA is devoting the entire month of February to the celebration to sound. Our intention is to utilize the gallery space in creative ways to foster a sound-loving community. We have scheduled a series of events, including improvised music performances, robotics workshop, radio documentary demos, and sound installations and lectures.

A crucial part of the month is the ongoing Sound Room, an audio installation in the main gallery space over speakers, featuring sound pieces by artists from around the world. We would like for you to take part in this installation.

If you're interested, please send along a piece of your sound work in the form of a digital file (mp3, wav, aiff, etc) via email or other file-transferring means (such as yousendit.com).

Along with the file, please attach:
1. Text related to the track
2. Your bio and any other pertinent information

The Sound Room will open during regular gallery hours and at points during events through out the month of February.

[But that's not all. Stay tuned for the related Call for Horses. ]

Daily(s)

2009-01-18T11:34:00.000-08:00

I've come across a couple daily (or daily-ish) audio projects recently, which you may want to know about. Am curious to observe how long the frequency holds up, as i'm finding it challenging enough to listen daily, or daily-ish. (Not unlike my New Year Flossing Intentions.)

The efforts are opposites in some ways - narratives on one hand and field recordings (so far) on the other but there's a thruline of observation, of paying attention, of offering, that links the two. Kudos to Laura and Taylor, for being game...

One Sound Each Day
[On the heels of One Picture Each Day. Wonder how the two years will compare?!]

and

Audio Everyday
[One of my favorite posts is from 11/06/08, a 15-second extract from Obama's acceptance speech 11/04/08.]

Testing...1 - 2 - 3. Testing?

2009-01-15T08:05:00.001-08:00

Trying again, with this. Because of course, I'm still listening. A small thought this morning, easing back into it from a very different perspective, literally:

It's minus 10 degrees right now, and from the second floor bathroom in our house I can hear birds singing joyfully. It's blindingly sunny outside, and hurts to breath. At least it sounds joyful.

More, soon.
For 2009 - hope + action, and capitals in all the right places.

airport voice

2008-05-28T07:26:00.000-07:00

i'm at the airport, heading out to the west coast for yet more listening events. of course people-watching is a field day out here, but it's the people-LISTENING that's all the more fascinating. most memorable so far: 1/2 of bundle of girl twins strapped into a stroller larger than my car, bellowing the swine verse from that popular childhood favorite, (note related finger puppet set. 100% felt!) when mom leaned over and reminded, in quite the outdoor voice, about using her indoor voice. sounded indoor to me...inside a barn, that is.

so yes. more listening events. if you're in or near the portland, OR* or san francisco areas, please consider coming out for a night of pure audio love** this saturday (may 31) or sunday June 1) night. they're going to be fun.

* i always feel bad designating this portland as being in OR, when san francisco needs no further elaboration. but with the other portland featuring so prominently in the audio world these days, seems only fair to do so, rather than assume that folks will automatically think 'pacific northwest.'

** am not sure if this phrase helps or hurts my cause. but i mean it in a tolerable, low-key way.

that was then

2008-05-08T20:55:00.000-07:00

a good pal recently invited me to contribute to his simple, obvious and somehow perfect new project - a celebration of soundtracks to romances long since moved on from - so i dug around in the basement and came up with an appropriate source of inspiration. listening back after 15 or so years, it's amazing how vividly i remember most of the songs which i'm sure i haven't heard in...14.5 or so years. and astounding how these artifacts, conjuring deep, sound-cast memories - are intensely and irreversibly invaluable. the segueways come to mind automatically, the intentional misspellings in the enclosed note will be forever memorized, the designated 'most romantic song ever' still rings loud and true, and yes, superlatively romantic. or at least it seems that way. or at least it feels good to think it seems that way. (fifteen years ago. what?)

anyway. check out cassette from my ex for a guaranteed reminder of one (or a dozen) mix tapes from your own past, and the adventures/stories/tears they once conjured.

p.s. here's a hint just for YOU - that crimpshrine song comes in around 13:28.

LISSENUPnine

2008-04-27T14:46:00.000-07:00

if lissenup seemed appropriate for sunday mornings, i'd invite folks over for cereal, and to listen to the kids upstairs galloping from one end of the hallway to the other. but it would have to be early to catch them at full tilt - between 7 and 8 am. so we're probably better off gathering on early sunday evenings, with a few of you bringing the audio treats each time. how about next sunday?

lissenup 9
sunday, may 4
6 - 9ish pm
listening starts 7:30ish.
email me for directions.

i'm dispensing with the 'limiting it to 25' awkwardness. just come if you want to, we'll find the room. as far as the potlucking (no meat, please) - let's go with my highly scientific, carefully developed, deeply mysterious formula, which worked serviceably well last time:

if your first name starts with a - e : bring a side dish / appetizer
if your first name starts with f - j : bring a dessert
if your first name starts with k - o : bring a salad
if your first name stars with p - z :bring some drinks

ok, it's not so mysterious.

[what's with the latch, you ask? found it on a fridge stocked with fresh eggs on a farm in north carolina. struck me then as beautiful, and every time i see the picture, i imagine the sound it makes when it closes. a two-part affair, securing closure as the right metal bits fall into place, one then the other, airtight connection sealed and crisp air contained inside, eggs quiet and happy.]

admonishment!

2008-04-14T15:06:00.001-07:00

back from two days in new orleans - two dense, great, huge days in new orleans. somehow there was time to visit with friends, take a few long walks around the french quarter during the midnight hour, take pictures of plastic ponies galloping into the sky, ponder the fresh blood stains on the corner of the block where i was staying, ponder the city post-storm, meet the nicest electronics store man on the planet, enjoy my very first almond croissant, AND present radio stories to attentive ears at a cool old jazz club. (attracted our first mylar and boa-clothed listening room audience members, i do believe.)

i also encountered an impromptu etiquette lesson, very much sound-related. on the way back from that tasty croissant, katie and i wandered by one of countless junque shops in the french quarter. drawn in by the small, elaborately framed oil paintings of small barnyard animals in the window we entered the store to continue browsing. "those were painted by russian art students," i was told by an old-ish woman behind the counter. "they start at $55." too much for my budget, but i moved further into the crowded, dusty store and nearly unconsciously began quietly whistling a tune that had been stuck in my head all morning (by the bowerbirds, if you must know). almost immediately an even older woman sitting further back in the store in an ancient armchair, and wearing an enormous purple muumuu-type swath of fabric, launched into a tirade, "don't you be whistling in my house. there's a dog back here and you'll call him up to the front. and besides it's RUDE to whistle in someone's house." (huh? thought we were in a junque shop.)

the etiquette lesson didn't stop here. i kind of thought she was kidding at first...new orleans is so filled with strange human behavior i couldn't imagine that someone who had obviously lived for decades in the thick of the french quarter was deeply offended by very quiet WHISTLING (what about the frat boys right outside her shop, er house, lugging around a case of miller light and shrieking about who knows what?) ...but she most certainly was, and continued to berate me as we exited the store/house, puzzled, slightly amused, a little bit indignant.

i've recovered enough to do some "research" and curiouly enough, found a few factoids online which may explain where this grumpy old woman was coming from. could be i was standing there with my hands in my pocket, too. for shame! and let that be a lesson to anyone heading over to russia anytime soon, or anywhere else where such extreme behavior may get you into trouble. keep your whistles to yourself.

so much to do

2008-04-07T15:17:00.000-07:00

it's a busy week for the third coast festival, with two listening rooms upcoming, and lots of radio to share with many ears at once.

the first - wait for the beep - is wednesday the 9th, in chicago at the steppenwolf garage. we'll play / you'll hear stories inspired by telephone culture ...which, for better or worse, is maddeningly inescapable - a notion we're exacerbating by presenting this very program. sorry?

the second - there isn't really a title - is friday the 11th, in new orleans at donna's bar and grill, which must be the first listening room location serving cornish hen stuffed with cornbread stuffing. there's live music afterward (a marsalis brother no less), it's all free...and conversely there'll be nary a tale concerning cell phones or voice mail...instead you'll hear about jazz (duh), ghosts, mousetrap sadists...and so much more. spread the word! tell your friends! c'mon down to the french quarter! (how often do i have the chance to entreat you thusly?)

p.s.
thanks to nick for the flyer above / such heart

more reasons to get busy

2008-03-31T14:53:00.001-07:00

in honor of almost-spring in chicago - here's a photo of some young red leaf lettuce from perry-winkle farm in nc. yum.

on to the sound: can you even believe all of the things going on out there? how many projects are vying for your energy, your ears, your productions? me neither. choose carefully (always) and please consider these:

bang bang - noise becomes music
sound artist steve piccolo seeks your noise! contributions (sound files and a sentence of descriptive text) sent throught this italian site, (fun) will be organized on a cd that'll be distributed at an encounter/ conference at the end of april in milan, where there'll also be a general chat about noise. (more fun.)

isle of imaginaire
over on this side of the ocean heather and emily seek the sounds of imaginary places you've dreamt of, daydreamt of, invented or remembered. they're looking for a visual representation / snapshot too - here, let THEM tell you about it.

more to come soon...

radio ephemera

2008-03-21T08:13:00.000-07:00

after months of planning, we've just announced this year's tcf audio challenge - radio ephemera. it's a collaboration with the mighty prelinger library and we have high hopes for hearing bucketfuls of sparkling new audio gems inspired by the project.

we're asking folks to produce short (2:30 - 3 min) audio stories inspired by two of five books pre-selected by the prelingers, and including the voice of a stranger. further info: you can see beautiful images of the books' covers and listen to a piece i made explaining more and pondering the question 'what exactly IS ephemera?'. [apologies for the less than pristine phone tape.]

if you're the type that needs an incentive to get you going... we'll pick our four favorite submissions and invite those producers, [cue echoey game show announcer voice] "all expenses paid," to chicago to present your radio ephemera at this year's TCF conference. we'll broadcast those four and others on our weekly show re:sound, and will present them at listening events around the world. we'll keep your work archived permanently on the TCF website. and if that's not enough to tip your scale, consider this... (and why not bring back that announcer voice....) you'll go down in the annals of Radio History!!!

did that get your heartrate up? good. we're looking forward to hearing from you soon.

end sounds

2008-03-04T15:06:00.000-08:00

in the mood for stories about the apocalypse? (who isn't?)

you're in luck. tomorrow night (march 5th) the rec room and literago.org are co-presenting an evening of stories inspired by the end of the world, at the black rock bar (corner of damen and addison, in chicago)

i've made a seven-ish minute audio work for the occasion, which will be presented along with some appropriate candy. (any guesses?) it's not so much about a/the coming apocalypse, as about collective memory of a 25-year old depiction of obliteration. and about the quirk of memory. and about the power of tv. and about cheese fondue.

fun starts at 8 pm. (b.y.o.skewer)

update: if you care to listen...is this an exercise?
(you'll have to sign up but it's free, and you probably should anyway.)

the only reason...

2008-02-22T10:41:00.001-08:00

thanks to the magic of the internet (in a few ways) a piece i produced, er, four years ago (for the outer ear festival) recently aired on KFAI in minneapolis.

'the only reason you and i are here' is basically a sonic homage to the public parks of chicago, and the ubiquitous ice cream trucks that troll through them at all hours. it was broadcast on the listening lounge - a weekly half-hour show that features documentaries and such, and makes a case for surprises on the radio. (good on 'em.) you can stream the piece, along with the short interview that host todd melby conducted with me beforehand, and wherein i likened 'the only reason' to a mosh pit, here.

phew / sniff

2008-02-17T08:02:00.000-08:00

an article by charles mcgrath in this morning's new york times suggests that PBS's relevance in the world has steadily declined as public radio's has risen. good news for those of us chugging away in the radio trenches, but a sad truth that such a mighty Force For Good is ailing so. i imagine the article will especially tug on the heartstrings of those of those still obsessed with childhood favorites.

[HEY YOU GUYYYYYYYYYYS!]

wait. isn't that all of us? the mention of the PBS's impact on and contribution to kiddo-tv is noticeably absent in mcgrath's argument. so while i agree with and can celebrate his observations about radio's resilience and ever-growing popularity, and it's true that i watch zero TV (besides catching up on wildly successful HBO series years after the fact) i'm irked by this omission.

listen to the astrospies*

2008-02-12T07:11:00.000-08:00

if you happen to be watching PBS tonight and happen to catch astrospies you may happen to notice how beautifully scored the program is. this is because radio producer / sound designer jonathan mitchell is responsible for all of what you're hearing.

let's hope this is the beginning of a new phase in television's history, in which talented radio peoples are oft-employed (and heartily compensated) to enhance viewers' watching experiences via their ears - enough so they come to understand the endless and lovely potential for audio salvation, and turn to the airwaves with renewed enthusiasm and vigor. let's hope.

*vague and impulsive reference to the title and refrain from a catchy but lesser-known monkees tune that's often roaming around in my head: listen to the band. a shining moment for michael nesmith.

i was quite a fan, back in seventh grade.

update!
[listen to the song]

update of update!
[listen to cover of the song]
or at least note that it exists. then listen to the original again.

LISSENUPeight

2008-01-31T08:35:00.000-08:00

it's been far too long since we last gathered around a table of excellently potlucked food and then listened to many diverse audio treats - like fishermen chanting as they haul in a gigantic net, from the gulf of guinea. agreed? remedy:

LISSENUPeight
Sunday, Feb. 17, 6-8:30 pm
Bring some snacks or booze, and your ears.

email me if you're near chicagoland and would like to come.

awkward disclosure: there's only room for about 25 people, so please understand if i ask you, regrettably, to come next time.

P.S.
lots more photos from ghana here.

marching on

2008-01-21T12:29:00.000-08:00

back from ghana, and not sure how to begin processing all of what we experienced, including hundreds of photos, thousands of impressions, millions of sand grains still spilling out of luggage and towels...and lots of audio to sift through. here's a sneak preview of some sounds collected, via file names. actual audio to come soon in some way, shape or form. or a few:

alpha.mp3 / appiyah.mp3 / bats.mp3 / canopywalk.mp3 / fishermen.mp3 / fufu.mp3 / funko.mp3 / handclaps.mp3 / kak.monkeys.mp3 / kak.birds.mp3 / kak.insects.mp3 / kidhymns.mp3 / kpashkposh.mp3 / marchingon.mp3 / mindyrstep.mp3 / mysharona.mp3 / sadgoat.mp3 / seamstress.mp3 / soccerkids.mp3 / trotro.mp3 / whitechristmas.mp3

the ear photo was taken while walking around a struggling DIY animal sanctuary run by a dutch couple not far from kakum national park. there weren't so many animals onsite but we did see a few monkeys, porcupines, genets, baby civets, 57 turtles and a near-full elephant skeleton collapsed in a pile. the ear-wall is located right at the beginning of the tour. "it's there to remind people to listen to the sounds of nature," our rail-thin, tough as nails guide annetta explained. and why not?

here's annetta with her good friend nona.

these stories are going to come out slowly...

bum diggy diggy diggy bum diggy bum

2007-12-30T21:54:00.001-08:00

there's so much, and i mean SO much to take care of before we leave for ghana in two days. but i just spent about forty minutes playing with this internet toy. (thanks bshap!) so as a small token of goodwill on the eve of new years eve, i wish you all the best in 2008 and many mesmerized hours with the tony-b machine.

dollar storeys jr.

2007-12-12T15:52:00.000-08:00

when the third coast festival conducted the dollar storeys public audio project earlier this year, we received submissions from all over the world. 82 of them, to be exact. but as far as i know, we didn't receive any from middle schoolers. now that doesn't mean there weren't any sixth, seventh or eighth graders producing short audio stories inspired by items purchased at a dollar store anywhere. in fact, dozens of them over in winston-salem, NC spent some time dollar storeying away with gusto. no really, hear for yourself.

such energy! such enthusiasm! such a great way to spend your time while schoolmates practice for the cheerleading squad or roll around on a mat in the gym, gunning for the next national wrestling championship!

thanks to the enthusiastic students and obviously very cool teacher over at hanes middle school who took the project on. thanks also to sue mell for alerting me.

p.s.
full disclosure - mr. clauset is actually an old acquaintance of mine. but i didn't know he'd be teaching the DS project.

p.p.s.
you may have noticed that Team Hanes picked a couple new dollar store items in addition to the ones we chose for the TCF version of the project. yes, i'm jealous of the toy pony option.

mighty organization seeks help

2007-12-08T20:04:00.001-08:00

the prometheus radio project, which toils tirelessly to protect community radio and promote, support and build low power FM stations around the world (while fighting hard for some semblance of a fair and accessible / non-corporatized media landscape in the US) is hiring a volunteer and intern coordinator. from a recent email announcement: "we want someone with a commitment to social justice and strong organizational skills, who possesses enthusiasm and experience recruiting, coordingating and mentoring interns and volunteers to help expand and strengthen these programs and the educational opportunities we can offer."

is this you?

find out more about the job and how to apply.

hyperacousia

2007-12-04T19:42:00.000-08:00

greetings from the heart of it all where i'm simply taking a week off. this means there's time to sit and read up on ghana for an upcoming trip, and listen to the entire two-hour democratic candidate debate with my mom, and meet my friend and her two kiddos at gasoline alley for 4-cheese macaroni, and visit square records and sleep tremendously long hours and...you get the point. there's also time to follow up on links i've been meaning to, like this one. joan schuman's a media /radio/sound artist who's been producing audio work ranging from abstract, deeply personal sound poems to straight-up documentaries ever since i've been listening carefully. joan's a writer, teacher, producer, artist and many other things i'm sure, and her work's been heard all over the place. she has a distinct voice and a light touch, and she's been a tireless champion of artful sound constructions - many of which you can hear through her pleasingly mostly grey website, which i hope you'll check out.

what's up for tomorrow in the buckeye state, you ask? well we're not going to miss the lighting of the chocolate menorah at summit mall, right at sundown. i'm already looking forward to the latkes and free chocolate donuts advertised in my nephew's school's newsletter. AND to hearing his class sing some rousing hanukah tunes. see? the heart of it all. and yes, i'll take pictures.

update: well. that was definitely Something. we didn't stick around for donuts - it was a pretty loud / chaotic / exuberant affair by the time the choir and school band finished up and the rabbis and local politicans (mayor of akron!) had their say. i'd hazard a guess that it was the first time in summit mall's history that klezmer-inspired music filled the air, mingling with the smell of latkes and yes, chocolate. (WDGET*?) turns out the choc-orah suffered some breakage, and so instead of standing tall was laid flat on a table in all of its confectionery glory. and there was plenty of other chocolate to be found, including a very blonde young woman dressed up as a human-sized hershey kiss and handing out tidbits. i'll leave that image to your imagination. (you're welcome.)

*What Did Gap Employees Think?

preservationing sound

2007-11-21T11:22:00.000-08:00

"we lose individual noises all the time."

so says anne matthews, author of the recent cover article of preservation magazine which explores the lasting impression and importance of sounds unique to certain spaces/buildings/ places, through a particular recording project (undertaken by longtime audio producer alex van oss and the goethe-institut in washington) that recreates the soundscapes relative to landmarks desgined by german architect adolf cluss. read an interview with matthews (who is incredibly well-spoken on the subject) and hear excerpts from the cluss-inspired cd here.

if you think for just a minute about your own favorite places (like...alliance bakery in chicago) and then what they sound like (excitable customers debating outloud which cupcake will taste best, espresso machine whirring away, old timey cash register ringing up orders) i think you'll agree that the savoring AND saving of place-sounds is a worthy endeavor. here's a dutch website devoted to just that - the library of vanished sounds.

post and during

2007-11-09T13:35:00.001-08:00

on the heels of the seventh TCF conference, which was great fun and unspeakably exhausting, i'm just about feeling recovered. besides the illuminating (i'm assuming - waiting to hear them myself. mp3s coming soon on the TCF site) sessions, incredible caliber of radio peeps and palpable devotion to sound throughout the conference, a few things were especially and sonically exciting:

- the new TCF awards. they're beautiful AND they make noise. here, have a listen. and thanks, alex.

- phonoscopy! it's even better in person than on the website. you should invite kevin to bring his mighty box to your neighborhood soon.

and... the arctic: soundscape sound installation at millenium park, which just happened to be running while our final event took place in a room tucked away in the core of the main pavilion. imagine gigantic images (by david buckland) from and inspired by the high arctic, projected on wide glass doors across the huge MP stage, while the most mesmerizing, crushing audio recordings (seals barking, glaciers creaking, walruses walrusing, winds screeching....are you shivering yet?) rush out of the speakers spanning the park's entire Great Lawn. if you're anywhere near chicagoland you should definitely check this out. it's only up for two more days - saturday and sunday, november 10th and 11th, 9am - 10 pm.

plus

not to be missed - audio artist max eastley, who made the recordings for arctic: soundscape, will be performing on a single bow instrument (of his invention) tomorrow evening, saturday november 10th, at 7:30 pm. free exhilaration guaranteed.

post and pre

2007-10-30T18:40:00.001-07:00

i've been wanting to write about the recent (october 21) lissenup but have been swept up in the thousands of details attached to the third coast festival conference, which kicks off in about 48 hours. a friend asked if we were completely swamped and i told him that it's more like standing outside in the summer as dusk settles and the mosquitos go to town, and suffering countless small bites - irritating but manageable. if only i could grow out my nails for scratching...pass the calamine lotion, please.

but somehow tonight there's the smallest amount of time to breath and type a bit. as the new little cat continues to taunt the older grumpy cat and the older grumpy cat continues to pretend she's ignoring the new little cat. there's a lot of Racing Down Hallways going on over here.

anyway - it's extremely cool to hear someone talk about something he/she loves to listen to, and then actually listen to it. carving out the space and time in a busy weekend to sit still and concentrate seems almost an impossibility. an improbability, anyway. and to do it in a room full of game friends and friends of friends - is memorable, fascinating and a whole lot of fun.

so thanks to darlene, nathaniel, anthony and kelly for bringing a selection of audio to share - we had an unplanned (and unplannable?) range of sounds - startlingly exhilirating gamelan, haunting banjo (dock boggs,) haunting voice (diamanda galas), jaunty pop (new poi dog pondering) a memorable mew and this story by robert krulwich about yawning, which i's just obviously made for group listening. and thanks to everyone else for coming out for deliberate listening and fine snacks. i'm already looking forward to the next lissenup, mid-decemberish. will announce here first.

in the meantime - if you won't be experiencing the audio hoopla in chicago this weekend, you can follow along over at transom.org. or if you're in the DC-area - next monday i'll be presenting and talking about recently-awarded documentaries from the TCF and prix europa, with peter leonhard braun (who's receiving the TCF's audio luminary award) the event is at the goethe-institut, is free, and should be hot.

otherwise - i'll be back on the flip side of this weekend. wish us luck.

pick a color, any digression

2007-10-08T19:54:00.000-07:00

yes, it's just as you thought- here's a photo, taken via my cell phone, of a projection of tony conrad ringing a bell with all of his heart, body and soul. it's one of the seven screens depicting seven rotating artists (the others are zeena parkins, ikue mori, lee ranaldo, kim gordon, stephen vitiello and j.g. thirwell), all of them tinted a different color. the screens are hung at different angles, directions and heights, and each has two small speakers affixed to it, out of which music played by the musician depicted on the screen tumbles.

standing in the middle of the screens, where you can hear some of all seven recorded performances and catch different color combinations in your peripheral and direct vision is nothing less than revelatory. at least it was for me. conrad's bell pierces through the rest of the combined, random noise orchestra, beckoning your ears and taking hold but just enough to help you focus and slowly realize how many other instruments/tones/melodies/rhythms you're hearing.

"sound digressions in 7 colors" by video artist tony oursler was the very last artwork i stumbled across at the end of a long afternoon touring through the sympathy for the devil exhibit (art and rock and roll since 1967) that's up right now at the MCA. in all honesty i was tiring of rock and roll + aesthetic + cool factor + drooling young rockers who were wandering around the exhibit in droves, and nearly skipped entering the partitioned-off section of the gallery where ourser's piece was installed. but conrad's hypnotic bell ringing lured me in, and i couldn't have been more amazed by what was there to see and hear.

the exhibit's up until early january 08 and admission's free until november 14th (happy 40th, MCA!) so if you're in the vicinity, or happen to be passing through for a radio conference in a few weeks...i implore you to carve out some time - even 30 minutes - and drop by for some sound digression.

the return of musicircus!

2007-10-04T21:42:00.000-07:00

lopsided tap dance with obstacles! paper mache! household implement noise! balancing globes! belly dance! many megaphones! many pianos! many noises! many gestures! four hours of layered performance, hope and a whole lot of john cage!!! [and it's all free!]

of course i'm talking about MUSICIRCUS, which is coming up this weekend. it's own brand of church, sunday's event will offer a culmination of so much that john cage stood for - from music to anarchy, and every flavor of hoopla in between and beyond. cage's first musicircus erupted in 1967 at the university of illinois, so it's fitting to be reconstructing the spectacle again in chicagoland.

follow your ears this sunday to the cultural center, from 12-4pm, october 7th, where
"you won't hear a thing; you'll hear everything"...

(thanks, chicago composers forum, for making this happen)

have a seat...take a listen

2007-10-04T09:59:00.000-07:00

we just announced this year's winners, over at the third coast festival website. you can hear excerpts from the winning pieces, place bets on who'll take the gold/silver/bronze and check out our new tshirts too. i can't stop wearing mine... (thanks alisa, for another beautiful design)

LISSENUP v.2

2007-09-30T14:26:00.000-07:00

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.

let the people tell

2007-09-25T14:47:00.000-07:00

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.

the art of resonance

2007-09-23T20:52:00.000-07:00

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.)

eleventh hour

2007-09-21T14:47:00.000-07:00

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.

708 vs. 773

2007-08-30T20:20:00.000-07:00

if you've called my cell phone in the last year and i haven't picked up, you've heard a message instructing the usual (leave a message, etc.) but then you've also heard my 'this IS NOT maria's phone number, if you leave a message for maria she will NOT hear it' shpiel. for the past three years i've been getting calls for "maria," who's apparently a nurse, and who apparently gets emergency shouts out from patients at all hours.

i've argued with some of these patient-callers for longer than i'd like to admit - me insisting the number they've called is NOT maria's, and them insisting it IS maria's, and can they talk to her please? will i just get her please?

this had begun driving me crazy - not just because of all of the random calls, but because these men (it was always men) seemed to really need maria. 'she's my nurse,' they'd explain, over and over, and most of the time they did not sound well.

one man was especially incredulous when i told him the number he'd dialed was mine, and that i'd had it for the past six years, and that there was no way to reach maria through it. i kept him on the phone for awhile trying to learn more about maria, so i could track her down and explain the perennial mix-up, and by the end i think he'd taken a shine to me. he called back several times over the next few days, lonely, just wanting to talk to...anyone. finally, after the third call at work, i told him to stop. but felt pretty badly about it...felt pretty bad that i'm no maria.

so earlier today i answered another of these calls, and when i explained there was no maria at the other end of the number he'd dialed, the older gentleman on the phone was very apologetic about his mistake. as per usual i pressed him for information about the elusive maria, and finally learned the crucial bit of information that's been the cause of the dozens and dozens of maria-seeking calls that i've received over the years.

it's an area code thing. maria and i DO have the same phone number...but we also have different area codes. such an obvious, simple explanation! now i'm anxiously waiting for the next maria call, when i can instruct the caller how to actually reach his beloved nurse.

luckily, i probably won't have to wait long - there may be an ailing man somewhere out there in chicagoland, reaching for is telephone right at this very moment. i wonder if maria's ready for him...

update: forget all of the optimistic benevolence above - i'm still getting calls for maria but can't seem to help/make/force the callers to understand the situation, try as i might. and yes, legions of sick, confused old men in chicagoland are still leaving messages for maria on my phone. clearly, acceptance is the only way forward...

one long song

2007-08-18T05:46:00.000-07:00

there are moments when chicago really shines. last thursday we listened (and watched) in awe as legendary pianist muhal richard abrams played one long song on a grand piano set up in the middle of the huge pritzker pavilion stage at millenium park. [the camera on my phone captured the moment surprisingly well, considering up-close pictures of people are barely recognizable] the performance was free, the weather accommodating, and hundreds of folks sat mesmerized in the seats or sprawled on the huge lawn next to their picnic sets, absorbing the music.

there's something incredible about improvised music spilling forward as the sun sets...it strokes the heart somehow. one lucky bird dove and swooped back and forth across the stage as abrams, hunched, did the same across the piano. we rode our bikes home supremely satisfied, a feeling that lingered for the rest of the night.

good job, chicago. and thank you, mr. abrams.

vote!

2007-08-06T21:40:00.000-07:00

who do you want to hear on the radio?

if it happens to be one of seven contestants still competing in the public radio talent quest then speak up and vote for your favorite(s), now that the audio submissions for round three have been posted. kudos to all of them for sticking in there and subjecting themselves to intense scrutiny. including yours.

the quest still makes me think of capes. but not exactly the kind pictured here. the cape in my mind is more of the orange variety...

superlatives

2007-07-30T22:02:00.000-07:00

my pal aaron and i have been talking for months about organizing an enormous game of catch this summer, at kosciuszko park. we're envisioning an officially record-breaking collection of eager catchers, a veritable BYOMitt free-for-all, though neither of us is sure just how many people would have to participate for this to happpen. at this point i'm not sure our monumental dream will ever come to be...but there WILL be some record-breaking going down at the old town school of folk music on august 7th, when the world's largest music lesson brings an entirely new crown of glory to chicago.

that's the goal, anyway. the entire guitar-teaching staff will be instructing folks how to play two basic chords and will then perform two full songs with the largest student body ever gathered solely for the sake of playing music. they need to officially teach more than 539 people to break the record in the guiness book, which is currently held by a bunch of swiss harmonica-ers.

you have to enroll to participate, but that's about all that's required, besides showing up at 6 pm. the lesson starts at 7:30, please, no stairway to heaven verses, while you're waiting.

so many hows

2007-07-24T20:27:00.000-07:00

the stockyard institute in chicago is organizing a pedagogical factory this summer, "exploring strategies for an educated city" by among other things (happening at the hyde park arts center) offering numerous public events which have been programmed by AREA chicago (art / research / education / activisim).

there's tons planned for the next two months, including three audio-inspired sessions - "how we sound" (featuring the favorite chicago sounds project, 8/18), "how we listen" (featuring audio artists lou mallozzi and christina kubisch, 8/18) and "how we listen pt. 2," (featuring wbez's new project vocalo.org, 9/12).

i love the idea of Teaching the City, and expect these sessions will be provocative and revealing, each in its own way. i hope to report back about them after the fact, but in the meantime - there's so much else going on at the pedagogical factory - check out the entire schedule and marvel at how much there is to learn - for free. then find your way down to hyde park and get yourself some.

medium of life

2007-07-18T01:02:00.000-07:00

taking a short break from russia, to talk about iran. specifically, about the international radio festival, which is held each may (coinciding with the birth of radio in iran) by the islamic republic iran broadcasting (IRIB) in a city called mashad.

the IRF is in its eighth year, and seems in some ways similar to the project i've spent the last seven years working on, despite some differences, like the nods to god in the directors' message.
one other divergence is the list of countries involved with the IRF, which includes afhganistan, iraq, ivory coast and bashkortostan. we've made some strong connections with europe and the australian/nz corner of the world, and have practically been taken over by the canadians (no complaints!) but have yet to work with anyone from africa, or the middle east.

but our goals are especially correlative, as both festivals seek to nourish creativity in radio production and pave the way for exceptional radio work to reach more listeners. i'm especially fond of the IRF's motto: radio is the medium of peace and friendship and the medium of life.

[totally!]

we're hoping some producers from the IRIB will make it over to chicago for the third coast festival conference - it would be amazing to meet them, and learn more about what's happening on the iranian airwaves. in the meantime - take a look around the festival's website
to learn more about it.

5 tiny stories about moscow

2007-07-02T22:29:00.000-07:00

this post will have less to do with sound, and more to do with all of these stray impressions of moscow that are rattling around in my brain. (though i AM typing this to the pops and cracks of firecrackers being shot off in the alley behind our apartment. t'is the season.) there's no cohesive narrative to be found (much the opposite, in fact) so i'm listing.

ready, go:

1. one morning in moscow i rode a one-eyed horse. he was very sweet, and had good balance despite his handicap. his name was kavkaz, which i'm told means 'caucasus', like the region in eurasia.

2. many, many of the people i met - from young producers at the radio festival to the mysterious older woman i encountered one night walking home from the train (she's been seen around town with a parrot on her shoulder) - wanted to know if i was married. then every person wanted to know why not. and they all thought i was about 23.

3. the subway system in moscow is incredible. there are huge soviet-style statues all over the place, and mosaics, murals and paintings all over the ceilings and walls. ornate yet mighty chandeliers hang in many of the platforms, and the escalators leading up and down are endless. apparently advertisements are played for commuters while they ascend or descend, but occasionally a poem is read between ads. (shaving cream, pushkin, nescafe) the trains come about once a minute and i noticed a lot of young boys traveling with their grandmothers on the subways, and wearing funny hats.

4. because i hadn't recently pondered it seriously, was not expecting moscow to be so capitalistic. my first hint was passing the IKEA on the way from the airport to lena's apartment. the next day while looking from one corner of red square (which was closed for a party?!) over at lenin's tomb, i also noticed a louis vuitton store in my peripheral vision. and while i expected to find mcdonalds (not to mention mccafes) and other corporate franchises, did NOT expect the tgi fridays, or that crappy fast food 'italian' chain sbarro, which was everywhere. didn't see a starbucks. but they've got their version of it going strong ("coffee house") AND a competing local chain - "coffee mania", which is actually a great name for a coffee shop chain.

5. my new favorite food is kachapuri, which is sort of a georgian (NOT the peach state) version of grilled cheese. it's a round bread stuffed with a white cheese. the kachapuri i found was nice and light on the cheese, but i hear this is not always the case. i also tried many other variations of the 'cheese and bread' theme - a safe vegetarian choice available pretty much everywhere. during the radio festival, lunch was served at a chinese restaurant at the hotel where the festival was held. sitting down the first day for fried rice at a table with a brown checkerboard tablecloth was also pretty surreal. and the condiment containers were ace.

stay tuned for a few more tiny stories about moscow. in the meantime, here are some photos i took at the huge riding stable where i met the handsome kavkaz.

post MOCKBA

2007-07-01T11:54:00.001-07:00

after a 43 hour adventure getting home from moscow, i've been back for a few days...but am still figuring out how to write about the experience. in the meantime, my luggage eventually caught up (with armenian vodka bottle, chocolate bars and assorted souvenirs still intact) and i've had some time to reflect back and collect some thoughts about the experience. there's so much to convey...

to summarize - i was over there to present the third coast festival / american public radio work at a festival called "vmeste rad io," which means "radio together", or "radio brings us together". (fabulous logo above) the festival is organized by the foundation for independent radio broadcasting, (FNR), which i wrote a little bit about in the previous post. i presented one 90-minute talk and also participated in a special session about radio stories covering xenophobia. both were translated into russian as i spoke, a few sentences at a time. if i'm not mistaken i was the only non-russian at the festival besides the inimitable kari hesthamar, from norway, a german-russian journalist and one other american who trains commercial radio djs (and who i didn't cross paths with much - he was working with an entirely different segment of the festival.)

about 200 producers from all across russia (including eastern siberia, northern-most points and a secret city or two) gathered for the happening, and spent three days talking about, listening to, debating, praising and challenging all aspects of radio documentary/feature making. even though i couldn't understand a word of the conversations, it was clear that the producers were passionate and serious about the radio medium - and the power it has to reveal, describe, ponder, define the world. [not so different from the context i work in every day around the TCF.]

i was especially impressed with the young producers i met - in their early or mid 20s - who are _on fire_ about radio production. they're dying to LIVE through radio, and help their audiences learn how to understand radio in new ways. on the last day during the xenophobia session mentioned above, we heard 7 pieces by producers who had all made stories related to that theme. though i couldn't directly follow the stories, my ever-generous host andrey allakhverdov (photo below) summarized and explained them in english, so i was able to listen and then get a sense of the subject of each. stories ranged from a portrait of an anti-fascist rock band to the story of one elderly german woman living absolutely alone in a russian group home, who longs to return to germany. the production quality and sophistication of these pieces was quite impressive - this came through even without understanding a word of them. and the discussions that followed each program were equally dynamic and provocative, which was also evident purely from observation. there was also a good amount of laughter in those discussions - these folks have _sharp_ senses of humor.

the festival culminated with a big celebration and awards ceremony, honoring the year's best documentaries, news reports, critical media analysis, promotion and websites for commercial radio stations. again, it was hard to follow exactly, but a lot of fun nonetheless. scenes from famous films featuring radio references were screened between prizes and one award trophy was presented along with two huge turnips. i'm still trying to figure out what THAT was all about.

now that you have some sense of what was happening at the festival, what i really want to express is how deeply valuable FNR's work - the promotion and support of independent media, highly-skilled journalism and community radio - is at this point [especially] in contemporary russian history. the best i can do is [over]simplify, but: recently the putin regime has shown little tolerance for independent media, as evidenced by the situation with the educated media foundation, which recently suspended activities after an eleven hour raid on its headquarters. (please follow the link and read more - it's important.)

though radio in russia is rampant, it's mostly in the form of commercial music stations (think - Morning Zoo-type shows and DJs) and other independent networks that are increasingly coming under the control of governmental allies, such as the Russia News Service which recently implemented a mandate dictating how much 'positive' news must be reported each day. (50%)

so especially in this context, the FNR's work shines a bright, bright spotlight on a darkening media landscape. the energy, excitement and commitment to honest and meaningful radio production that FNR is cultivating and nourishing in journalist and producer communities across russia is so significant: historically, politically, culturally and artistically. i was more honored than i can express to be a part of this year's festival, and to share a few american tidbits ranging in topic from mexican/us border crossings to shopping mall culture to teenage obesity and an overview of human conflict throughout history, in two and a half minutes.

pictured with balloons (stay tuned for TCF balloons) are andrey allakhverdov and lena uporova, who are not only two of FNR's hardest-working staff members, but also the most gracious hosts imaginable. they both made my trip even more special. and special thanks to babaev, for his endurance on the highways and byways stretching across moscow, all the while playing calexico cds.

so there are a few impressions to start with. coming next - cultural observations and tales of unexpected equestrian feats, narrowly averted skinhead skirmishes and the georgian version of grilled cheese sandwich.

in the meantime, here are some pictures: churches and skies, and subway snapshots.
more to come...

moscow bound

2007-06-21T11:58:00.000-07:00

a quick apology for the lapse in posts. it's been quite a few weeks, with public listening events to host, a wedding to attend, finding shoes for said wedding, spending as much time as possible on my bike, keeping up with our first CSA vegetable box delivery (greens!) and sorting out passport/visa issues for this trip to russia i'm about to board a plane for.

the foundation for independent radio broadcasting (FNR) has invited me to moscow to talk about the third coast festival at their annual festival - vmeste radio ("radio together" nice, huh?) the FNR is "working for the development of quality and independent broadcasting for the benefit of civil society," and is the only russian NGO producing regular radio programs. i'll be able and look forward to sharing many more impressions about all of it in a few days.

until then, here's a photo from the recent listening room hosted by wjff that went down just a week ago, in the catskills at the greatest bookstore you could possibly imagine finding in a small mountain town. this was snapped just before things got going. there were three cats in attendance for the actual event - a listening room first, no doubt.

all of that radio lissening and yakking about was followed by hanging out on stacy's back deck, underneath a million visible stars. it was profoundly good to see so many stars, so easily, so clearly. i heart the catskills, dearly.

the illusion of everywhere

2007-06-11T20:18:00.000-07:00

the third coast festival's hitting the road again this week, for not one but TWO listening rooms, on the same day, (june 14th) in different locations. which is especially lucky (for you) if you live in the DC area or near livingston manor, in the catskills, and can join us for some radiophonic good times.

as part of the esteemed silverdocs film festival, my boss-lady extraordinaire johanna will be spreading the radio cheer to a bunch of film peoples, while over yonder in the mountains i'll be serving up stories about ghosts and fiddleheads and a merry-go-round museums at hamish and henry booksellers , collaborating with the good, good folks at WJFF (hydro-powered radio!!)

and even though there'll be a light reception afterward, we're saving room and heading out for twist/dipped frozen soft serve treats after all that listening - you're invited.

here's more information about both events, and links to helpful links. and did you know that "creemee" is another word for soft serve? neither did i!

2007-06-03T21:30:00.000-07:00

in general i'm leery of manifestos found on the internet but kevin t. allen's thoughts about the way we listen to, view and comprehend the world really struck a chord - partly because his manifesto contains traces of humor (unusual), partly because it's abstractly conceived yet clearly expressed, and partly because it includes this sentence: "Put some luster in your step, try phonoscopy."
see the appeal?

kevin builds boxes (phonoscopes) that exhibit 3d photography and corresponding binaural sound recordings. viewers/listeners peer into the boxes through bincoular-like slide viewers (kinda like viewmasters) and wear headphones with seperate volume for each ear (!), thus experiencing both sound and image simultaneously, though not necessarily listening to sounds directly associated with the image on display. i've never had the chance to gaze into phonoscope myself, but apparently doing so urges you to "listen with your eyes, and look with your ears" ...which is a notion i'm not sure i really believe, but am hugely intrigued by, and would love the chance to see/hear for myself.

i imagine these boxes are easier to experience than explain, but kevin's website does a good job, even showing the construction of a phonoscope. and if you live near or make it to brooklyn some time, you can actually see and hear one at the proteus gowanus gallery. if you make it over there, let me know how it goes, ok?

sometimes i just appreciate thinking a little bit more/harder about things...

fills your head...empties your head

2007-05-28T19:05:00.000-07:00

so i made a radio piece last week for the daily arts and culture show on WBEZ called eight forty-eight. it's about experimental music, and this organization called lampo (which presented it's HUNDREDTH show this past weekend, with the most beautiful concert by philip jeck, balloons dropping from the ceiling, a five-foot trophy and tasty chocolate cake.)

my goal was to offer listeners a few more things to think [about experimental music], besides [automatically] "yuck" or "huh?"

one way to do this was with a tale about potato pancakes - works every time.

dueling live music events this saturday

2007-05-21T22:01:00.002-07:00

well..not really. one's in new york and one's in rhode island. sadly, i can't make it to either. but maybe you can. they're both happening this saturday, may 26th.

there's the eye, ear, nose and throat festival in providence, featuring 'forward-thinking' music and experimental films made by a variety of folks, including some old friends, some musicians i've heard of but not heard yet, and one guy i've been trying to catch in chicago all year. it's seven dollars for eight+ hours of music. that's kind of incredible. you should go.

unless you're of the brooklyn/manhattan stock, in which case you should head down (up?) to the housing works books store for the cd release party [including free, forward-thinking ice cream] for michael hearst's [of the one-of-a-kind one ring zero band] new project songs for ice cream trucks. this is literally and quite amazingly a record with 13 new songs written for ice cream trucks. michael may be the only person on the planet who could pull this off with the proper respect for the traditional canon of ice cream truck music...and a little bit of class...but he's done it. i've been lucky enough to hear the cd, and it's about the sweetest thing you can imagine. no, that's not a pun. and according to the website, the album features all kinds of instruments like the claviola and....space crickets!!

("hello. HELLO! hello. boing sound effect)

who hearts toronto?

2007-05-18T10:38:00.000-07:00

well even if you don't love, or yet love toronto, maybe you'll feel more appreciative of the city after hearing this special broadcast - invisible cities: toronto - airing tonight only on the CBC, at 9:05 local time (that's 9:30 NT ) across canada. it's streaming too, so if you're interesting in diving in this page can help you figure out exactly how/when to do that.

according to paolo pietropaolo, one of the producers, "It's part radio documentary, part audio-musical composition, and part audio love-letter to the city of Toronto, combining the voices, sounds and music of the city in an hour-long journey that's meant to allow the listener to achieve a kind of shortcut to intimacy with the city, focusing on sounds that are lost in the din of contemporary life."

invisible cities: toronto is brought to you by the same team (paolo, chris brookes and jowi taylor) who produced one of my favorite radio programs EVER a few years ago - the wire (nothing to do with the tv show). so i'm betting this program will astound your ears and very well MAY instill a deep love for toronto in your heart. or at least a deep like.

[ i, for one, still remember an amazing veggie hot dog purchased from a hot dog stand at about 1am one morning years ago, in the pouring rain. my crush on the city started then.]

happy birthday studs

2007-05-16T14:51:00.000-07:00

here's a very simple happy 95th birthday wish to studs terkel, who is simply one of the most amazing humans, not to mention radio-dedicated humans, on the planet. here he is pictured (click! it gets bigger and more beautiful) at the third coast festival awards ceremony, back in 2002, accepting our lifetime achievement award. which is now called the 'audio luminary award.' which is equally appropriate in studs's case.

for some studs trivia check out this kind of silly web page, which reveals (in a kind of silly font) his favorite drink (gin martini), and some of his favorite musics.

buzzbox

2007-05-12T19:23:00.000-07:00

check out this evolving emotional sound map of milan. according to the handy dictionary.com translator, the text on the homepage reads:

"Buzzbox collects the contribution personal, authentic and lose interested in the customers who address directly to other customers, a model of networking human that produces information and reduces the waste of time and energy. The point of view of who crosses and lives the city and its places come collected and amplified, the single comment become part of the `buzz', a brusìo diffused and choral profit to who adventure in the city and are wanted to be have ud of of a collective patrimony of acquaintances."

got it?

my favorite emotion recorded on the map is the one with the man who says: zazazazazazazazaza. i'm not exactly sure what he's trying to express, but i know i've felt that way too. recently.

zazazazazazaza

!!!

sign here

2007-05-05T19:06:00.000-07:00

the previous post alluded to the situation at DR (the national danish radio organization), where managment has made the decision to close down the documentary and feature departments. this means that dozens of talented producers (from those just starting promising careers to those who have been making radio for the organization for decades) will no longer be employed as of jan 1, 2008, and that denmark's about to lose a beautiful and important tradition of radiomaking.

having spent the past week at an intense radio conference hosted by these very people, i can tell you that it's nothing less than criminal that they're about to lose their jobs. and given DR's mantra "this is purely a financial decision. it has nothing to do with the quality or value of the work," repeatedly stated from the bowels of their new media house that's grossly over-budget, it's even more revolting.

disappearing funding and federal support for arts and culture is something we're practically accustomed to in the US...but to find it happening over on this side of the ocean is somewhat shocking. and hugely depressing.

what can YOU do? well you can sign this petition, to protest DR's decision to let go of this incredibly valuable and meaningful element of its radio landscape. small detail - it's in danish, but where to sign's clear enough. ['by' means city and 'stilling' means title or position]
thanks for taking the time.

(pictured above is the petition that was circulated at the conference, and signed by 125 producers from all over europe and beyond.)

update! here's a translation of the first part of the petition, in case you'd like to know more about what you're signing. thanks MUCHLY to pejk:

The unfortunate mess of DR?s (National Danish Radio) economy will mean that DR listeners no longer will be able to hear new montages and radio documentaries on Programme 1 or elsewhere on Danish radio stations.

This is a great loss for the listeners. Who will be missing out on extraordinary radio experiences.

It is also a cultural loss for Danish society, who'll be loosing an entire radio tradition which has been recognized, admired and won prizes all over the world for decades.

It seems absurd to completely dismember this important genre. Especially considering that the programmes are relatively cheap to produce, and have a level of quality that makes them listenable many times, over many years.

It seems random that this genre, which has played such an important role in the history of the radio medium and cultural and intellectual history of Denmark since the 50s, does not figure in the public-service agreement. The same agreement saves the girl choir, the symphony orchestra, the big band and the entertainment orchestra, which to some might seem less central for DR's function and image as a public service institution.

Shutting down the Documentary Zone and Ultrasound would be a radical deterioration of DR and the Danish media landscape in general.

radio across time zones

2007-04-29T09:57:00.000-07:00

was wandering around copenhagen yesterday with two friends who i hadn't seen in a long time. that was enough of a treat in itself... finding the bar built out of stereos in the middle of a park was an added bonus. only one speaker actually transmitted any sound - an edgy but melodic indie/jazz song (but somehow palatable!) i thought for a moment this was all a jet lag induced hallucination, but no...the "landing bar" is very real, and very, very amazing. here's a picture of the back wall.

[update! i later learned this was just a temporary art installation (makes sense, in retrospect.) but this makes the fact that we stumbled upon it even more amazing...]

we also found some swans who must have been performing traditional danish swan dances, as we cheered them on. click on the photo to get a better look.

and all of this adventure was had last night, before the 33rd international features conference even started earlier today, at the danish radio house - DR BYEN. over the course of the day we listened to radio from russia, canada, holland, poland, australia, ireland and denmark, covering topics like songs about abilene, texas, and a boxer who was stabbed to death in the heart. my ears are full and my brain is over stimulated. now it's time for some dinner and a few expensive danish beers. (even the cheap beer's expensive.)

p.s. DR BYEN's a newly built behemoth of a building / media compound (deserves the all caps). it's truly stunning, and unfortunately so over budget in its construction that the danish radio management is closing down their documentary and feature departments / laying off quite a few producers. this is crushing news, and with 125 documentarians having descended from around the world...it came at a strange time (announced last tuesday.) the situation could bode very, very badly for the future of these departments in other countries, and consequently the future of beautiful and important radio works.

sorry to end on such a downer. but i thought you should know.

the old organ and the sea

2007-04-24T20:02:00.000-07:00

so you've probably caught wind of the ghanaian postal workers cancelling stamps ditty, and we all know that elephants play a mean beethoven, but have you yet witnessed the greatness of the fluba (one of a kind tuba-sized flugel horn), or the exquisite tones of croatia's one-of-a-kind morske orgulje?

i suspect not. and hope you have a good chunk of time to spend at the oddmusic website, which is devoted to celebrating...well...let's just say it's aptly named.

(the picture's of an aquaggaswack - just as you suspected.)

thanks to nthl for pointing.

moms on the radio

2007-04-18T20:57:00.000-07:00

perhaps you've always wanted to honor your dear mother by producing an audio story inspired by or directly about her?

well producer zak rosen (who keeps this blog) would like to give you just that chance. he's putting together a one-hour special for mother's day, and is looking for a few good 'mom stories' to round out the program. and not only will your story be aired on the radio, it'll be aired in detroit, on WDET. give zak a holler (soon) if you're game.

you should know that he's not able to pay for your story, but i sincerely hope that doesn't stop you from contributing. SHE'S YOUR MOM, FOR CHRISSAKES.

livediekill

2007-04-16T15:23:00.000-07:00

if you live near durham, NC, i hope you'll not pass up the chance to attend a fantastic-sounding event at the center for documentary studies. audio artist/radio producer karen michel has been asking strangers in two geographies - new york and north carolina - three questions: what do you live for? what would you die for? what would you kill for?

find out what people had to say on friday, april 20th, when she presents the answers to these questions at an audio presentation not only kicking off with BBQ, but followed by an evening of music. you can hear an interview about her live/die/kill project here.

and while it sounds like her audio piece is finished, she's still curious to know your answers to these questions. if you're so inclined, send her your thoughts.

not far from here

2007-04-11T15:07:00.000-07:00

resonance-fm contributor and producer Martin Williams has put together what he describes as 'slightly rickety' website, but I've found it full of extremely solid audio work. You can hear excerpts from dozens of 30-90 minute documentaries, audio collages, radiophonic features, field recordings and interviews. There's everything from 'melancholy dada' to various artists' sonic ideas about 'home' to a hypnotizing radio rendition of Michael Lesy's book wisconsin death trip.

the only slightly rickety thing about the site is that you can't hear MORE of the audio...

dollar storeys!

2007-04-08T15:06:00.000-07:00

over at third coast festival hq we've just announced a new project, and hope tons of people will get involved. (nudge, adventurous reader of this blog.)

introducing...dollar storeys. here's how it works: we'll show you three items purchased randomly at a dollar store and you'll submit a 3 minute finished audio story directly inspired by one of the items. it's that simple. all the subsmissions will be posted (forever!) on the TCF site and four bucktales* will be chosen as the 2007 TCF shortdocs, which means producers of them will be invited to our conference in chicago this fall to present their work. besides those four we'll also be showcasing other fine submissions in various ways - like at public events and on the radio.

if you're a chicagoland resident all of this might sound familiar. that's because the project's a collaboration with the dollar store show, a monthly reading series in chicago. and it was THEIR (jonathan messinger's) idea, in the first place, to give people dollar store items to inspire stories of all stripes. so thanks to him for joining forces with us for this project, and thanks to YOU for giving it a try.

* i know the term 'bucktales' is very silly, maybe even cringe-inducing. but we need at least one other way to refer to the stories. in the course of a few paragraphs, one can only use the words 'dollar storey' so many times...thanks for understanding.

sound camp

2007-04-04T19:54:00.000-07:00

here's a camp experience probably unlike the ones you may remember. for one thing - it only lasts about two days. and it's centered around a series of boulders and joshua trees with a natural ampitheater living room and an adjoining kitchen. and it's BYOBJ (bring your own bug juice), along with five gallons of water.

routesandmethods.org (an open venue for the communication and exchange of ideas) is teaming up with high desert test sites (a series of experimental art sites located along a stretch of desert communities) to offer this weekend getaway/ sound camp which takes place may 5-6 in the high desert above yucca valley, california. the goal is simply to explore sound in this large, open space. around 50-60 people will attend, and the cost is just $25.

registration opens april 9th and spots will likely fill up quickly. read more including how to sign up here. if i didn't have a direct conflict with dates and a different sort of sound camp, i'd try to pitch my tent right next to yours. so if you do make it - by all means, report back...

the sounds of delay

2007-03-21T09:42:00.000-07:00

bleh. i'm ready to get this listening room tour thingee going, but it's rainy and windy and everything's delayed out of o'hare today, including my flight to oklahoma city. the sounds of the airport are predictable, and relentless:

- CNN headline news / how BOUT that boy scout-saving dog gandolf?!
- the dept. of homeland security still has a thing for orange
- beep. beep. (higher tone) beep. beep. (low tone) beep.
- ringtones. could post an entire essay about cell phone ringtones. but am not about to.
- in case you haven't been paying attention lately, smoking's prohibited in the airport. this is a very popular announcement.
- the phone at gate G3's check-in counter keeps ringing, with news of further delay, i'm sure.

and can't quite hear it, but the SENSE of frustration and defeat amongst fellow travelers is palpable. everyone's gloomy, and i can already hear the collective groan that the next flight status update announcement will inspire.

(after typing that, while looking for an eye-catching 'flight delay' image, a flight to nashville was cancelled, at which point the expected collective groan was replaced with a collective gasp of disbelief.)

time to wander...apparently there's an art gallery in here somewhere...

portable listening room

2007-03-18T12:19:00.000-07:00

i've just replaced my trusted old grey duffel bag, ordered from an l.l.bean catalogue (?!) fifteen years ago, with a rolly suitcase [somewhere between rust and orange - the color of my childhood bedroom actually - my dear parents tried to approximate a horse stable as best they could] that will fit in the overhead compartment on a plane. for some unfathomable reason i'd held out all this time, despite the fact that i probably fly with carry-on luggage 8-10 times a year. after sprinting the entire length of o'hare a couple weekends ago clutching that duffel bag in a clumsy, strained bear hug, i'd decided it was time for wheels.

so i found the above-mentioned fine item at a discount luggage store just in time for next week's adventures in the southwest. the third coast festival listening room is touring! which means from march 21-24 i'll be presenting a bunch of our favorite radio stories to a room full (we hope) of radio producers, audio fans, people just like YOU, in three cities - oklahoma city (march 21), austin (march 22) and houston (march 23 and 24). this is the rock band tour i never got to take Back In The Day, complete with merch to sell, sound checks and radio documentary encores.

ok, i'm not really anticipating any encores demanded. but i DO like the sound of 'radio documentary encores.' and will be armed with a few appropriate audio gems, just in case.

hey, if you happen to live in any of those places, hope you'll consider coming out for the show, or if you know someone living in any of those places, hope you'll pass this information along. it's going to be fun, i swear.