Show 170: Radio Wonderland by Joshua Fried

Joshua Fried contributes free103point9’s latest show for the Radia network. The Radio Wonderland slogan is “turning the bits and bytes of commercial culture into the driving backbeat to our dance of independence.” (Wait a a minute–doesn’t THAT sound like an ad right there? Oh, the recursion is making us dizzy.) Every Radio Wonderland show starts with an empty palette, and all sounds are gathered from a live boombox playing commercial FM radio. All processing is done in Max/MSP software written by Joshua Fried. And all the processing is controlled in real time by Fried, using a vintage steering wheel (from a Buick 6), old shoes hit with sticks, and various gizmos. The surreal touch of using these ordinary objects is meant to underscore the absurd disconnect between digital controller (drum pad, mouse, infra red) and the sound it triggers or controls. This live recording was made in February ’08 at the Spark Festival, Minneapolis Minnesota. The 35 minute raw material was condensed and gently remixed by NYC producer DJ Easy Beat.

Show 169: stille zone/silent zone

European soccer championship – an acoustic invasion of the city. Fearing the masses and the noise. Such were the expectations – wandering around the fanzone the days before the upcoming event.
No entry – closed – under construction: The fanzone is creating deserted spaces of silence. The noise ephemeral.
A story of expectations not being met. Imagine a fanzone and no one turns up.

Authors: Michael Fischer, Caroline Hofer, Barbara Kaiser, Lale Rodgarkia-Dara, Fiona Steinert

Show 166: Deep, Down and Under by Jean-Philippe Renoult

“Deep, Down and Under” is a contemplative audio work that plays with the natural resonances of underground spaces. The piece begins in the main station of Helsinki where the icy cold sharpness of Winter amplify the comings and goings of the trains. From there we are taken to a number of diverse sonic locations; from the empty metro tunnels of Oslo, down to the subterranean underpaths of Montreal, through the 18 km labyrinth of Gallo-Roman chalk vaults in the champagne cellars in Reims, ending up in a tiny toy shop down a claustrophobic alley in Venice.

production : Jean-Philippe Renoult
mastering : Jano B @ Parisson

Jean-Philippe Renoult is a sound artist, radio producer, writer and music journalist based in Paris. His work focuses on field recordings and electroacoustical transformation of environmental sounds. Recent commissions and collaborations include I could never make that Music Again, for the Radiodays festival, De Appel gallery, Amsterdam. The album won “Best Artist” prize at the Qwartz Electronic Music awards 2008. He also curated and presented the Voir et Entendre (See and Hear) cycle of conferences at the Pompidou Centre Paris. His audio works have been played on Resonance FM, Kunst Radio, France Culture, ABC Classic, and have been edited on Deep Wireless 2008 edition, Vibrö 2 (the Broken Tale issue), Aphasia, Subrosa labels.