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A new podcast bearing the name Sound Propositions began in February 2019.

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.

 

Episode 2: DANCING ON THE HYPHEN

This episode features saxophonist and composer Phillip Johnston, known for his work with genre-bending jazz ensemble The Microscopic Septet, the Beefheart tribute Fast ‘N Bulbous, and as the composer of silent film scores. Johnston moved to Australia over a decade ago, but NYC still feels like his home turf. We were both back in town last November for Thanksgiving, and we met to discuss memory, music, media, the (not-so-silent) history of silent film, and his long-association with the various music scenes of NYC.

Episode 3: ROBOT, TEACH US TO GROOVE

This episode features Efraín Rozas, Peruvian-born, Brooklyn-based performer/composer and robotics/software developer interested in new paradigms of cognitive technologies and mythologies. He leads the psychedelic salsa group La Mecánica Popular, fusing groove-based Latin music with electronic and experimental explorations. Rozas’ Myth and Prosthesis series utilizes software programming and robotics to produce sound installations and music, utilizing Latin American influences and modern technology to uproot Western concepts and mind/body duality.We discuss all these projects and more, including the role of NYC in the history of Salsa, and the future of electronic Latinx music to come.

 

Episode 4: GOING HOME AGAIN

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.

Episode 5: B SIDES

 

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.

Episode 6: MUSIC SELDOM HEARD

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.

 

Episode 7: IN THE SOUTH

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.

Episode 8: GREYFADED

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.

Upcoming Episodes

009:  DEEP LISTENING – with Longform Editions

 

005: “…” w/ Forest Management

006: “…” w/ Longform Editions

007: “…” w/ Toni Cutrone (aka Mai Mai Mai)

008: La Digestion

009: Alvin Curran

010: