Show 517: The Haystack by Michael Dean for CKUT 90.3 fm

“The Haystack” addresses modern practices for data gathering and surveillance, approached through the development of evolving sonic landscapes. Four chapters are compiled, each drawing from different methods of data monitoring, including tapped telephone calls, recorded conversation, the sonification of network traffic, and the internal sounds of communication technology itself. Haystack is the sound of dystopia, as told from the eyes of a machine.

For more work by Micheal Dean please go to https://soundcloud.com/m-dean-1

Show 516: Nuit Libre by Naoual Fassal for Radio Grenouille

Nuit Libre

An attempt to work on hyper-stimulation’s impact on ourselves, and on the resulting mix of void and anxiety. This is not a technophobic production but an observation of the exhaustion that comes with a certain way of being in contact with the world – or how sounds and information become intruding and break in our intimacy.

–—-

Un essai autour de l’impact de l’hyperstimulation, et de l’angoisse en découlant. Ceci n’est pas une production technophobe mais un constat d’épuisement face à un mode d’accès au monde qui le rend invasif – les informations et les sons devenant intrusifs, entrant de force dans notre intimité.

Show 515: SAVUSAUNA by LASSE-MARC RIEK for radio x

radia season 34 – show #515 (radio x) – SAVUSAUNA
– playing from february 9 to february 15, 2015 –

SAVUSAUNA
by LASSE-MARC RIEK

As a substantial part of Finnish life and culture, sauna has a considerably long tradition in Finland. Savusauna, the smoke sauna, is the eldest technique of preparing a sauna bath. In contrast to more recent sauna baths, no chimney is needed. A big fire is prepared and kept over hours under constant temperature – not to low, but also not too hot, to produce smoke. The smoke is filling and thus heating the sauna room. When the room is hot enough, small windows are opened to let the smoke escape and the sauna bath can begin.
Have you ever enjoyed a savusauna? You should. Lasse-Marc Rieks piece invites you to join a savusauna bath by listening. It’s really worth a try.

While Lasse-Marc Riek, being a specialist for field recordings, would for sure have been able to provide extra material to capture the atmosphere around the savusauna as well, we did not ask for that. His piece is complete in its on rights, celebrating the Finnish sauna culture of the everyday. At the same time, when it comes to sauna bath: how can we translate this experience into sound? Obviously, for several reasons this seems to be an almost impossible task. Or, to be more precise: what we might consider as the most natural translation would be always the most artificial part. For we’d loose track of what we are missing, what can’t be captured with the means of recording, due to the fact that the core experience is fuelled by substances that can’t be kept: smoke, heat, steam, sweat.

So we chose for our acoustic framework a good mixture of field recordings – some of which are so concrete that they might remind you of Foley sounds, the kind of sounds that are created for exactly this very kind of purpose: a substitute that may feel more real than the real one would. But is this really true? You’ll be able to find out anyway. But then we also have to be complete with our credits (see below), thus it is not really necessary to try. Yet, why not stop reading here. Listen by yourself first. And check the data later. It’s really worth a try…

LASSE-MARC RIEK
is an artist mainly working in the field of sound art, acoustic ecology and related interdisciplinary research, including cooperations with other artists as well
as scientist. He is also the co-founder of GRUENREKORDER, an outstanding label for phonography, sound art and field recordings. Over the past years he has been travelling north more but once, often returning with field recordings from the frozen world.
This winter he has spent some weeks in Finnland. And as it went to be quite cold outside he regularly enjoyed the savusauna.

Find out more about his projects at www.lasse-marc-riek.de
and about GRUENREKORDER at www.gruenrekorder.de

credits:
great many thanks to LASSE-MARC RIEK for SAVUSAUNA! Moreover, special thanks to morosopher, gutek and muf211 for generously contributing their snow recordings, uploading them to freesound.org and donating them to the public domain!

metadata:
SAVUSAUNA
by LASSE-MARC RIEK
radia production: miss.gunst [GUNST + radiator x]
production date: january 2015
station: radio x, frankfurt am main (germany)
length: 28 min.
licence: (c) Lasse-Marc Riek
www.radiox.dewww.gunst.infowww.lasse-marc-riek.de

additional info:
includes radia jingles (in/out), station and program info/intro (english)
intro credits: melting snow (2012) by muf211, snow effects (2013) by morosopher and snow removing (2013) by gutek, all donated to the public domain, on freesound.org

links:
radio x & radiator x: www.radiox.dewww.radiox.de/radiator-x
GUNSTradio & radiator x: www.gunst.infowww.gunst.info/radiator
LASSE-MARC RIEK: www.lasse-marc-riek.dewww.gruenrekorder.de

pics:
verena kuni (cc-by-nc-sa)

Show 514: La Promesse by Julien Quentel (for Jet FM)

Pour l’émission 514, Jet FM donne Carte Blanche à Julien Quentel, plasticien nantais. Voici ce qu’il m’écrit à propos de sa pièce “La Promesse” 2008-2015 réalisée pour Radia :

—Salut Anne-Laure
Tout cela restera bien énigmatique, comme l’est d’ailleurs le noir de la nuit!
je n’ai rien à revendiquer, ni la prise de son, ni la technique, ni même un lien affectif avec le lieu…
rien de tout ça, juste ce qui reste à l’écoute, que l’univers est dans la nuit.—

http://www.reseaux-artistes.fr/dossiers/julien-quentel

** English version**
For the Radia Show n°514, Jet FM gave “carte blanche” to Julien Quentel, visual artist from Nantes. This is what he wrote me to present his piece “The Promise” 2008-2015 :

—Hi Anne-Laure
All this will remain well enigmatic, as the dark of the night !
I have nothing to claim neither sound recording, nor technology, or an emotional bond with the place …
none of this, just what is left to listen, that the universe is in the night.—

http://www.reseaux-artistes.fr/dossiers/julien-quentel

www.jetfm.asso.fr