Show 783: Close-Shaved Sardine by Ed Baxter (Resonance FM)

via archive.org

It took a year or more to think of a sequel to The Exeter Whisper (2018), a radio work realised with 400 primary school children in which a short text decayed and revivified under pressure of being passed along individually and being misheard and reinterpreted. This time I searched for a transparent and static text as a point of departure. I settled on the phrase “God Save The Queen” for five reasons. First, it is something one never actually says; secondly, it is something one never actually thinks; thirdly, everyone in the UK knows precisely what it means and carries a civic weight; fourthly, it is essentially meaningless, especially perhaps to a republican atheist such as myself; and finally, it is a phrase which will become extinct when the present Queen dies, as she shortly will. Initially I wanted to have lots of people repeat the phrase so as to provide a map of regional accents and dialect, perhaps drawing on Members of Parliament as speakers. The corona virus crisis meant that faced with the Radia deadline I had instead to do this sketch on the spot, using a standard industrial  sound effects unit which brought out the tones of my own received pronunciation and seemed instantly to dictate rhythm, diction, and a sense of musicality and ham theatre I had not anticipated. This is a live recording made in real time on the afternoon of Tuesday 16 March 2020 in Resonance FM’s Frank Howling Studio. It is dedicated to Michael Umney and Margot Gibbs on the occasion of the postponement of their wedding. Title by Anthony Moore.

Show 782: Milan Sketches (Kanal 103)

via archive.org

Sound artists and field recordist Toni Dimitrov was working on several field recordings pieces inspired by cities during his trips. After the sketches from Athens, Belgrade, Ioannina, Bucharest, here is a new piece, dedicated to a city, produced from short sound sketches. This time the sketches are recorded in Milan during his stay for the Radio City festival in spring 2018. The recordings from the Duomo metro station, Sforza Castle, Orto Botanico di Brera, Santa Maria del Carmine church, escalators, bars, parks, etc., interweave subtly, blurring the line between field recording and sound art.

Show 780: Vertigo 282 by Sue Coulson (Soundart Radio)

It was autumn 2019.   Britain on the eve of political upheaval, is split over the impending separation from Europe.  Against this shifting background I wound my way on foot down the long valley to the Tamar river that separates Devon and Cornwall, and flows into those vast waters of the Sound.  Two bridges placed side by side span the river at this point.  I intended to cross the water via the pedestrian walkway on the road bridge. But I had to be quick.  Ironically it was about to close that day for long term engineering works.  Vertigo 282 is the soundtrack of my passage across, the narrative constantly shifting, slipping from action to inaction, from reality to fantasy, silence to noisiness, and like life it is on-going (until someone switches it off).

Sue Coulson is a visual fine artist using sound as part of her practice. 

Show 779: Zugunruhe by Amber Meulenijzer (Radio Campus Bruxelles)

ZUGUNRUHE (2016/reworked for Radia 2020)

copyright Esther Sla

Zugunruhe was originally conceived as an installation, a piece where the audience lies together on a large mattress and watches 27 stuffed birds fly in a large circle above their heads. A fiction soundcollage dealing with being lost, new horizons, too much clouds, magicians and birds on cruise control. For this reworked version, it is introduced by a nightly fieldrecording in Brussels. A single bird is singing, calling out into the night, confused and at the same time encouraged by street lights and city noises. 

Voices: Tibo Vandenborre, Elise Pierre, Sam Lowyck, Igor Paszkiewicz
Extra music: Mi_les Davis

Amber Meulenijzer (°1994) lives and works in Brussels. As a visual artist with an audio background (RITCS Radio, 2016 | KASK Installation Art 2019), she mainly investigates the relationship between image/installation and sound. Where do decor and soundscape meet?  What does the eye need in order to listen better? Beyond the silence.  
https://ambermeulenijzer.tumblr.com
https://soundcloud.com/amber-meulenijzer 

Curated by Carine Demange for Radio Campus Bruxelles