General Abstract Nonsense

Briefly, my previously low-maintenance, music-based radio show (on the one and only WMBR Cambridge 88.1 FM) became a project about musically-integrated story sharing. While most of these shows have disappeared into the ether like some a frequency-modulated sand mandala, I recently discovered a handful on an personal digital archeaology excavation.

April 21, 2014

Listen.

I'm quite proud of all of the track looping on this show, I think it mostly worked very well The Bonobo track here was purely Joe Frank inspired.

Stories read:

• Excerpts from My Story, Vol. 1, by Karl Ove Knaussgard

Songs played:

• America St., 02903 -- Andrew Tomasello, Elephant in the Room
• Dunwich Beach, Autumn, 1960 -- Brian Eno, Ambient 4: On Land
• Gypsy -- Bonobo, Animal Magic
• Prelude (Lapalux's Finger on the Tape Remix) -- Bonobo, Black Sands Remixed
• Slow Jam -- Four Tet, Rounds
• Drift -- Brian Eno, Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks

April 7, 2014

Listen.

I didn't stray very far musically with this, but I'm still a big fan of the choices. Two of the stories are pulled from the same McSweeny's issue. I'm pretty sure that's equivalent to playing two songs off the same album. No, like playing two songs off the same Paste Magazine CD.

Stories read:

• Hello Charles, by Jimmy Chen
• People Are Becoming Clouds, by Joe Meno
• Self-Portrait at 28, by David Berman

Songs played:

• Third Stream (Four Tet Remix) -- Boom Bip, Corymb
• dlp 3 -- William Basinski, The Distintegration Loops
• 1/1 -- Brian Eno, Ambient 1: Music for Airports

January 9, 2014

Listen.

A collection of spoken and sung performances about forgiveness, abstract and concrete.

Audio played:

• A Moment -- Tom Stoppard and Tim Roth, Rosencratz and Guildestern are Dead
• I Never Learnt To Share -- James Blake, James Blake
• Forgive -- Burial, Burial
• Testimony of Jeffrey Dahmer -- Larry Steeger
• I Knew These People -- Harry Dean Stanton and Ry Cooder, Paris, Texas
• From a Pirate Radio Sermon, 1989 -- M. Ward, End of Amnesia
• Gardenvision Pt. 2 -- Tapestries, Tapestries
• You Are Forgiven -- Crocodiles, Endless Flowers
• Cash For Gold -- Run DMT, Dreams c30
• Forgiveness -- Iris Moore
• Alpha Rats Nest -- The Mountain Goats, Tallahassee
• Excerpt, Eden -- Joe Frank, Holy Land
• '81 -- Joanna Newsom, Have One On Me
• Naono -- Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto, Summvs
• Excerpt -- Alan Watts, Unknown Lecture

Saturday in May, Sunday Might

Listen.

The piece that first began my foray into spoken word radio. Instead of just putting songs together for my radio show one week, I decided to try slicing up two Joe Frank shows, and mixing those into the music.

Audio played:

• Castles Made of Sand -- Four Tet, Castles Made of Sand
• Ahh... I See -- The Books, Music For a French Elevator and Other Short Format Oddities by the Books
• Excerpt -- Joe Frank, Dreamers
• Deep Blue Day -- Brain Eno, Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks
• Almost -- Harmonia '76, Tracks & Traces
• Asleep on a Train -- Radical Face, Ghost
• The Dance #3 -- Laraaji & Brian Eno, Ambient 3 (Day of Radiance)
• Excerpt -- Joe Frank, Old Man
• Terrapin -- Bonobo, Animal Magic
• Prettyboy -- Dan Deacon, America
• Returner -- Lucky Dragons, Widows
• Autumn Symphony -- Country Inspiration Records
• Excerpt -- Joe Frank, Old Man
• Psalm -- M. Ward, End of Amnesia

Alan Watts -- She Moves She

Listen.

And a bonus track, an unearthed combination of looped Four Tet (She Moves She) and the most important thing that Alan Watts has ever said.