A podcast bearing the name Sound Propositions began in February 2019. The 12-episode first season will come to a close in October 2019. We will return for a second season beginning in the Spring of 2020.
Sound Propositions the podcast has the same mission statement as the written Sound Propositions features: to share in depth discussions with artists whose work we love, to delve into the details of their creative practice.
After 100 mixes as part of the Lost Children net label, I decided it was time to switch things up, and while this new series maintains something of the feeling of a mix, it is also something entirely different, as each episodes foregrounds the voice of the subject.
But this isn’t the kind of series where two people sit in front of some microphones chatting, either. I’ve tried to mostly downplay my own voice and let my presence be felt instead in the framing, the editing, and the sound design.
I’ve been a big fan of radio, radio art, and podcasts for a long time, and while I’ve produced segments for community radio before, I decided it was time to try to do something on a more regular schedule, something that would allow me to explore sound itself rather than simply write about it. Since writing my dissertation has occupied so much of my time of late, working with sound in this way seemed to be a good diversion. Sound Propositions the written feature will continue at whatever pace I can manage, but Sound Propositions the podcast should be up with a new episode fortnightly.
Sound Propositions should be available wherever you get your podcasts, so please keep an eye out and subscribe (and rate and review, it helps others who might be interested find us). New episodes will be published every two weeks. Please follow the show on iTunes, Sticher, RadioPublic, RSSradio, or wherever you get your podcasts.
SP on Anchor
Episode 1: (PRESENCE, or ) A METAPHYSICS OF ABSENCE
The inaugural episode of our new podcast, Sound Propositions, features interviews (with Resina and Lea Bertucci) and field-recordings recorded during the 2018 UNSOUND festival in Krakow, Poland. (You can read my review of the festival here.) The theme of this year’s festival was “Presence,” and so that became the point of departure for my interviews, particularly the ways in which absences can also be felt as a “presence.”
Read more, including a tracklist and additional photos, at A CLOSER LISTEN.
Interviews recorded in Krakow, October 2018.
Produced and mixed in Napoli, February 2019.
Episode 2: DANCING ON THE HYPHEN
This episode features John Daniel, a Chicago-based musician best known for his ambient solo project, Forest Management. I caught up with him from his childhood home in Cleveland over the holidays. We discuss his latest LP Passageways (inspired by his childhood home), his influences, how his approach to music has changed, his new imprint Afterhours, and the importance of place, space, and community.
Interview recorded in Montreal, December 2018.
Produced and mixed in Glasgow, April 2019.
This episode features Joe McKay, profiling his label Dinzu Artefacts. We talk about his previous label, Spring Break Tapes!, his own artistic practice (as Monte Burrows), the importance of listening to the quotidian, and the persistence of physical media in an increasingly digitally mediated world.
Interview recorded in Montreal, December 2018.
Produced and mixed in Napoli, May 2019.
This episode features a wide-ranging discussion with Mimmo Napolitano, one of the organizers behind the concert series La Digestion in Napoli. As a musician, he produces challenging and dynamic sounds inspired by musique concrète and noise. Utilizing the Revox B77 reel-to-reel tape player together with no-input feedback and other sounds, SEC_ has cultivated a very singular approach to live performance. This episode brings together his work with music from just a few of the many exciting artists who Mimmo has helped to bring to Napoli over the last decade. Mixed in are live recordings made during Musica Sanae in Napoli, as well as field-recordings recorded around the city earlier in the year (mostly as a part of my [Useless Sounds] series). Headphone listening recommended.
Interview recorded in Napoli, March 2019.
Produced and mixed in Essaouira, May 2019.
This episode features a deep conversation with Toni Cutrone (best known as Mai Mai Mai) delving into all the various facets of his career. On the occasion of the release of his latest LP, Nel Sud, we met to discuss his southern Italian and Mediterranean roots, the rediscovery of Italian music from the 70s, and the difficulties (and joys) of running clubs and a cultural association in Italy’s capital. Cutrone draws an implicit link between the same eclecticism that is on display in the Roma Est neighborhood he calls home with the ancient links of circulation which unite diverse Mediterranean identities.
Produced in Calabria, mixed in Roma, June 2019.
Greyfade is a New York based label founded by Joseph Branciforte, dedicated to releasing high-quality physical and digital album length works of art. Greyfade’s inaugural release is the aptly titled LP1, a collaboration between Branciforte and the acclaimed vocalist Theo Bleckmann. In this episode, Branciforte discusses why Greyfade is emphasizing HQ downloads via their own web store and eschewing streaming services, how he regards launching a label as an extension of composition, collaborating with Theo Bleckmann, and working with max/msp as a performative tool.
Interview recorded in Montreal, June 2019.
Produced and mixed in New York, July 2019.
Episode 9: WHO CARES IF YOU DEEP LISTEN?
Andrew Khedoori talks about his latest series Longform Editions, featuring long form compositions designed to encourage deep listening. Very much organized against the prevailing streaming ecosystem which encourages short tracks and distracted listening, Longform Editions has released 32 works and counting.
Interview recorded in Napoli, February 2019.
Produced and mixed in Montreal, August 2019.
Many of our readers at ACL responded enthusiastically to the Anthology of Electroacoustic Lebanese music compiled by the Unexplained Sounds Group in 2018. Earlier this year, I reached out to label founder Raffaele Pezzella (Sonolygyst) to discuss his label, his radio show, his solo work, and why he keeps digging for unheard artists. We had a great chat, discussing his interest in dark ambient, conspiracy theories, and the technical pursuit of sound. I am also really into this playlist, if I don’t say so myself.
Interview recorded in Napoli, March 2019.
Produced and mixed in Montreal, August 2019.
The Liminaria festival ran for five editions between 2014 and 2018, culminating with a collateral event in Palermo as part of Manifesta 12. Based in the rural micro-region of Fortore, the frontier between Campania, Molise, and Puglia, Liminaria offered residencies and public presentations in which visiting artists worked with local residents to apply sound art methodologies to the unique geographies of this territory. Curators Beatrice Ferrara and Leandro Pisano take this period to reflect upon the successes and challenges of working in the rural south of Italy with virtually no budget, the important solidarities between the south of Italy and the Global South, and their recently published “Manifesto of Rural Futurism.”
Interview recorded in Monastero di Santa Chiara, Napoli, March 2019
Produced and mixed in Montreal, September 2019.
Episode 12: MAKING YOURSELF DISAPPEAR
And now for the big finale. Alvin Curran has been at the forefront of challenging musical convention for over half a century. His work has pushed back against the institutional stranglehold on culture, encouraging anybody to make music, anywhere and with anybody. A dominant tendency in his oeuvre has been finding new ways to activate spaces and cultivate active listening and music making. His recent sound installation Omnia Flumina Romam Ducunt serves as an entry point into a wide-ranging discussion encompassing many aspects of his long career.
Interview recorded in Alvin’s Studio, Rome, March 2019
Produced and mixed in Montreal, October 2019.
Upcoming Episodes
Season 2 will be back in 2020! Featuring interviews with the co-founder of Die Schachtel, the director of a documentary about Mimaroglu, a profle of Istanbul’s experimental music scenes, and much more.
