Hey, gang. Jon Solomon here. In a year full of terrific long jammers, the self-titled Castle Face debut by New York’s Sunwatchers stood out as one of my favorite records in 2016.
I’m delighted to welcome’m to WPRB for a live session, which will premiere at 6:00 pm ET on Wednesday, June 21st. The band will be playing a set loaded with previously unreleased material.
If this description of Sunwatchers doesn’t get you excited for Wednesday night, there may be no help for ya.
“Hard to pin down, harder to hold onto. Bent circuit board snake charmers unfurl across hexagonal grids. A seemingly familiar sound but then you realize you have your ear pressed against a reflection. Sunwatchers are a distorted prism to so many past greats. Reminiscent of Ethiopiques, John Handy Band, Terry Riley, Art Ensemble meets Laddio Bolocko…Forever swirling saxophone blended belly to belly with elastic guitar and tin foil thin phin (a thai instrument not unlike an electrified tenor guitar or sitar). A whirlpool of repetitious interpretations. Militaristic marches ascend into meditations. These songs map out great pyramids and deep buried labyrinths. They are massive. They are leviathans.”
After several weeks away from the airwaves, Jon Solomon returns to WPRB this Wednesday night in his new 5-8 pm ET time slot.
He’ll be joined by Bay Area truewave duo Street Eaters for a killer live session, highlighting songs off their latest full-length “The Envoy,” which is also streaming below.
For WPRB listeners overseas, Street Eaters are touring Europe into July 2017. See their site for dates. The Street Eaters live session is slated to air at 6:00 pm ET on Wednesday, June 7th.
This year’s membership drive starts on Thursday, October 13th, 7pm and ends on Thursday, October 20th, 10pm.
Around this time last year, we were preparing to celebrate 75 years of WPRB, one of New Jersey’s most precious cultural phenomena, with our most ambitious membership drive to date. The response to our celebration was incredible and heartwarming. We are so grateful to have struck a chord in our community and to be the recipient of such generosity from donors. In every sense of the phrase, we could not have done it without you.
The drive’s success has allowed us to work more effectively to create the kind of broadcasting that our community needs and deserves. We have updated necessary equipment, including our emergency alert system, our CD playing equipment, and our computer in the on-air studio. We’re moving towards broadcasting our unique content on a professional platform.
We’re capturing this momentum and propelling forward, taking WPRB’s sense of history into the modern age. This year, we hope to fulfill a long-term goal of remote broadcasting capabilities. Purchasing the equipment necessary to broadcast outside of our main studio would open up a new world of sounds to put on your dial, including live concerts and interviews.
So once again, we need your help to celebrate another year of WPRB.
Our annual fall membership drive will take place from Thursday, October 13th, 7pm – Thursday, October 20th, 2016, 10 pm. We hope that you’ll tune in during that time for our favorite on-air party of the year. We’ll bring the entertainment, while you give us a ring on the phone or visit our donation page. As always, we’ll say thank you with great swag and awesome giveaways. Stay tuned to our social media for behind-the-scenes action!
One of music’s great, distinctive voices shall be heard on WPRB this Wednesday night at 8:00 pm ET when the remarkable Thalia Zedek joins Jon Solomon on his program for a live session.
Last month Thrill Jockey released “Eve,” Zedek’s sixth solo album after a career fronting iconic independent acts like Dangerous Birds, Uzi, Live Skull and Come the past three decades. It is a gorgeous, gritty and deeply personal record which Bandcamp called “thrilling” and The Quietus described as “[a]n almost unbearably poignant, diamond-hard bolt of blue beauty, red-white pupils, brown-black irises.”
Prior to Wednesday’s broadcast, listen to “Eve” in full below.
On Friday, September 16 and Saturday the 17th, 40+ truly independent bands from all over North America – groups such as Screaming Females, Ought, Radiator Hospital, California X, Fake Limbs, Downtown Boys and Rye Coalition – will unite for a one-time only all-ages event that is not beholden to any major labels or corporate interests.
Don Giovanni founder, proud New Jerseyan and former WPRB DJ Joe Steinhart will be calling in to Jon Solomon’s show on Wednesday, September 14th at 8:00 pm ET to talk about this incredible undertaking and to play music from a cross-section of acts that will be performing. They’ll be giving away a pair of tickets to each day’s show too!
For the full New Alternative Music Festival line-up and to purchase tickets, head here.
The Hotelier’s Goodness and Pinegrove’s Cardinal hit Bandcamp a couple weeks apart at the beginning of the summer, and both of these loosely emo releases have become soundtracks to the warm and woozy months since. Both bands have mastered the formula of melodic guitars and wordy, sentimental lyrics (complete with emotionally direct confessions and geographic signifiers) that has propelled the emo genre for decades, but the Hotelier’s and Pinegrove’s latest share a few more unique characteristics. (more…)
DEEP∞MINIMALISM Friday 24 June 2016 – Sunday 26 June 2016
I managed to surprise myself as a person who is unhealthy obsessed with the preservation of experience: While I was amidst the music of this festival, it felt so wrong to take my camera out that I ended up taking zero photos.
I only had enough money to expend for two days of the festival: Friday and Sunday. On Friday, I had the pleasure of witnessing the world premiere of Daphne Oram’s once lost 1949 composition ‘Still Point’. The pieces laid claim to significance lies in its use of recorded sound as an instrument in its own right. The orchestra is in dynamic play with the turntablist, who records the orchestra and plays back the recorded product with the added color of some limited remixing and the inevitable fuzz of vinyl.
Oram writing a score. See: Oramics
Daphne Oram was an active musician at around the same time as electronic experimentalists like John Cage, Pierre Schaeffer, and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Music experienced a revolution when the recording had realized its plasticity. Early manifestations of electronic music had much to do with the manipulation of records and tape; pitch and timbre reigned free from the conventional musical instrument and was now under direction control of the artist, who could alter speeds, cut tape, and shift playback directions to achieve a desired sound. However understudied the legacy of British post-war electronic music is in contrast to its German and French contemporaries, Daphne Oram stood in the thick of it all. Daphne Orram and her peer, Desmond Briscoe, founded the BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop, the equivalent of France’s Radio Television Francaise and Germany’s Westdeutscher Rundfunk. British electronic music’s academic impoverishment had much to do with the operations of the nation’s only electronic studio, which functioned more as service wing to the BBC than a department to be seriously respected. The workshop did important work for radical radio plays in its early years, but the majority of its output consisted of jingles and sound for television programs. The first serious book on the BBC radiophonic work shop and Britain’s post war electronic music was released just in 2010 under the title ‘Special Sound’. And so I felt air of rightful justice as I heard Daphne Oram’s Still Point debut perhaps sixty years too late in the respectful and reverent confines of Saint John Smith’s square.
The referendum results / Brexit fall out happened that week. After I left the concert, I came across a group of protesters in front of Parliament
Sunday was a truly glorious day. And I wonder what my life would be like if I bled the extra thirty dollars I needed to attend the Saturday performances. I wish I wrote down this article earlier, because my memories of Sunday are a bit fuzzy. Everything on the program was great, but Pauline Oliveros has stood the test of time – I remember everything relating to her. Pauline sat 5 seats away from me during the entire festival. I glanced at her head of white hair very frequently. Her rock piece was delightful. Musicians, about a group of twenty, were each tasked to beat two rocks against each other with the conscious decision of perpetuating an arhythm and a lack of syncopation. It was mesmerizing to hear certain resonances spring up, but fade away just as quickly as they occurred.
Another piece I liked very much required the participation of the audience – I recorded the entire thing. We were all tasked to make sounds with our mouths, and while doing so, to try to either replicate the pitch of the person nearest us or to produce a totally unique pitch within one’s audible proximity. I never felt so happy. I’m not musically gifted and I’ve never been part of a symphony or orchestra, but it overwhelmed me to be a part of a biosystem of music, and I want to emphasize the word biosystem, because what Pauline had us do couldn’t be approximated by rehearsed performance. I was a part of a living and breathing network of sound. And for some miraculous reason, our collective consciousness stopped us all from continuing the exercise at about the same time. The piece ended like the resonance of a body of water perturbed by a small rock; like a chain, a group of people went quiet as the next group became quiet and the group after that until Saint John Smith’s Square became a vacuum of silence. I can’t put into words the beauty of this exercise, so I encourage all, if they ever have a chance, to experience this for themselves.
Pauline also gave a speech, but I can’t remember for the life of me what she said. I managed to approach her after the festival, and she was more than willing to give me a station ID. Laurie Spiegel’s presentation of selected works was also fantastic, as was Éliane Radigue’s OCCAM 1 and Meredith Monk’s Dawn from Book of Days. The festival led me to affirm the premonition I’ve always held: radical, challenging music need not be cerebral; electronic music of this vein has the ability to provide impact by pure, meditative feeling. Throughout the day I was impressed by my level of concentration. I thought at some point I would hit a wall, that I would be incapable of sustaining my attention to the concert for the entire eight hours, but that was not at all the case. As time progressed, I found myself further entrenched in a meditative state. The more I listened, the more my patience, my joy, and my love for music strengthened.
Friday, 8/26/2016, after midnight (technically this is Saturday morning) Bernhard Wöstheinrich (aka the Redundant Rocker) will be performing on the WPRB program Music With Space.
“The alter ego The Redundant Rocker was created around 2002, and it finally established itself with the release of “Collider“. Since then, the moniker somehow co-existed with and influenced Bernhard’s other diverse projects; the realm of The Redundant Rocker and all the rest (which actually don’t have dedicated names) just mutually enhanced each other, there is no cusp between his projects, and you may find Redundant Rocker music under the names “Bernhard” and “Bernhard Wöstheinrich” as well, and the other way around.
The name The Redundant Rocker ironically alludes to a certain kind of replace-ability in modern art and music: with today’s technology, anyone could easily be replaced with a drum (or coffee) machine.
The person behind The Redundant Rocker, Bernhard Wöstheinrich, is a composer, painter, graphic designer, performer, small town bohemian, failed control freak, and, finally, even a record label owner in Germany. His projects and albums have been released on a variety of labels and span different fields of electronic and ambient music.
Bernhard started in about 1987 to intensely experiment with his own sounds and tunes after he found out that drawing and painting simply weren’t enough to adequately express himself. He went about to find something that might had a more “performing” approach. Inspired by the likes of Einstürzende Neubauten and other informal and experimental music, he finally began to work in a very personal way to compose and record some early tapes. The rest, as they say, is history.”
Have a Good Season is a mathy emo rock band from Eatontown, New Jersey. They’ve been playing together for four years, and have two brilliant EPs to show for it, as well as a new project on the way. The boys from HAGS were kind enough to stop by WPRB for a live session and an interview, in which they discussed songwriting, Asbury Lanes, secret shows, hypothermia, and everything in between.
WPRB: I’m here with Have a Good Season from Eatontown. How are you guys doing?
WPRB Charts 8/15/16
What We’re Spinning at WPRB!
August 15, 2016
Aida Garrido
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Heavy Airplay
ARTIST / ALBUM / RECORD LABEL
1. Bjork / Vulnicura Live / One Little Indian
2. Mark Pritchard / Under the Sun / Warp
3. Zig Zags / Running Out of Red / Castle Face
4. Various Artists / Boombox 1 / Soul Jazz
5. Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band / The Rarity of Experience / No Quarter
6. The Smoking Trees / The Archer & the Bull / Burger Records
7. Jherek BIschoff / Cistern / Leaf
8. Wye Oak / Tween / Merge
9. Aphex Twin / Cheetah / Warp
10. Holy F*ck / Congrats / Innovative Leisure Records
11. Fadoul / Al Zman Saib / Habibi Funk
12. Sumac / What/One/Becomes / Thrill Jockey
13. The Dories / Outside Observer / Self released
14. Bichkraft / Shadoof / Wharf Cat
15. Mogwai / Atomic / Rock Action
16. Death Valley Girls / Glow In the Dark / Burger
17. Lunapark / Gefangene voegel / Dark Entries
18. Higher Authorities / Neptune / Domino
19. Deep Throats / Good Bad Pretty / Effeminate
20. Useless Eaters / Relaxing Death / Castle Face
21. Radiohead / A Moon Shaped Pool / XL Recordings
22. Transistors / Cuppa Jarra Brossa / Forward Fast
23. George Hurd / Navigate Without Numbers / Innova
24. Bronze / Live In San Francisco / Castle Face
25. Young Magic / Still Life / Carpark
26. Mivos Quartet / Garden of Diverging Paths / New Focus
27. Jessy Lanza / Oh No / Hyperdub
28. Mountains & Rainbows / Particles / Castle Face
29. Levitation Room / ethos / Burger
30. Fiona Brice / Postcards From / Bella Union
Medium Airplay
1. Mystery Girls / Household Shocks / Dark Entries Records ~
2. ttng / disappointment island / sargent house
3. Dream Wife / EP1 (12″ ep) / Cannibal Hymns/Lucky Number
4. angkanang kunchai w/ubon-pattana band / essential doi inthanon: classic isan pops from the 70s-80s / em
5. Dinosaur Jr. / Give a glimpse of what yer not / Jagjaguwar
6. Steve Turre / Colors For the Masters / Smoke Sessions
7. Os Noctambulos / Stranger / Stolen Body
8. Honey Radar / Blank Cartoon / What’s Your Rupture
9. Cate Le Bon / Crab Day / Drag City
10. king gizzard and the lizard wizard / nonagon infinity / ato
11. Plaid / The Digging Remedy / Warp
12. Various Artists / This is Kologo Power! / Sahel Sounds
13. Sarah Kirkland Snider / Unremembered / New Amsterdam
14. The Goon Sax / Up to Anything / Chapter Music
15. Civil Union / Seasick, Lovedrunk / MIC
16. Will Calhoun / Celebrating Elvin Jones / Motema
17. Scott Tixier / Cosmic Adventure / Sunnyside
18. Goggs / Goggs / In The Red
19. Nels Cline / Lovers / Blue Note
20. Black Quantum Futurism / Space-Time Collapse I / s/r
21. tom hamilton / city of vorticity / pogus
22. Sex Snobs / Emotional Stuffing / High Dive
23. Matt Walerian – Matthew Shipp – Hamid Drake / Live at Okuden / ESP-Disk’
24. The Fred Hersch Trio / Sunday Night at the Vanguard / Palmetto
25. Jeff Parker / The New Breed / International Anthem
26. Terry / Uncle Greg / Upset! The Rhythm
27. Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids / We Be All Africans / Strut
28. Tenement / S/T / Deranged
29. KAYTRANADA / 99.90% / XL
30. Jaye Bartell / Light Enough / Sinderlyn
Light Airplay
1. John Morrison / Southwest Psychedelphia / Deadverse Recordings
2. Eric Copeland / Black Bubblegum / DFA
3. severed heads / clifford darling, please don’t live in the past / dark entries
4. Suthep Daoduangmai Band / Come My Brother, Let’s Go to the City! / EM
5. male gaze / king leer / castle face
6. John Beasley / Presents Monk’estra vol. 1 / Mack Avenue
7. The Mystery Lights / The Mystery Lights / Wick
8. The Frozen Autumn / TIME IS JUST A MEMORY / Dark Entries
9. Devin Maxwell / Works 2011 – 2014 / Infrequent Seams
10. Victor Gould / Clockwork / Fresh Sounds
11. Horse Lords / Interventions / Northern Spy
12. Brand Image / Are You Loving? / Dark Entries
13. Vivien Goldman / Resolutionary / Staubgold
14. Glenn Branca / Symphony No. 13 (Hallucination City) / Atavistic
15. Daniel wohl / corpus exquis /
16. Ravi Shavi / Independent (12″ ep) / Almost Ready
17. Robert Stillman / Rainbow / Grindal
18. Jerry Bergoni / Spotlight On Standards / Savant
19. Su Na / Surface / Self-Released
20. kerenDun & echo / yey4ney / raw tapes
21. mumblr / the never ending get down / fleeting youth
22. Sam Coomes / Bugger Me / No Quarter
Jazz
1. William Parker / Stan’s Hat Flapping in The Wind / Centering
2. David Murray-Geri Allen-Teri Lyne Carrington / Perfection / Motema
3. The Pedrito Martinez Group / Habana Dreams / Motema
4. Ryan Choi / Three Dancers / Accretions
Classical, Classical-Rock Crossovers
1. Mivos Quartet / Garden of Diverging Paths / New Focus
2. Devin Maxwell / Works 2011-2014 / Infrequent Seams
3. yMusic / Balance Problems / New Amsterdam
4. Glenn Branca / Symphony No. 13 (Hallucination City) / Atavistic
5. Taylor Deupree & Marcus Fischer / Twine / 12k
6. Andrew Tuttle / Fantasy League / Someone Good
7. Norman Westberg / MRI / Room40
8. Julianna Barwick / Will / Dead Oceans
9. Robert Stillman / Rainbow / Orindal
World
1. Various artists / The Essential Doi Inthanon: Classic Isan Pops from the 70s-80s / EM
2. Suthep Daoduangmai Band / Come My Brother, Let’s Go to the City! / EM
3. Various Artists / This Is Kologo Power! Makkum / Sahel Sounds
Dance/Electronic/Hip-hop
1. su na / Surface / self-released
2. Fujiya & Miyagi / EP1 / Impossible Objects of Desire
3. Brand Image / Are You Loving? 12″ / Dark Entries
4. ANOHNI / Hopelessness / Secretly Canadian
5. Jessy Lanza / Oh No / Hyperdub
6. Colder / Goodbye / Bataille
7. The Frozen Autumn / Time is Just a Memory / Dark Entries
8. Severed Heads / Clifford Darling, Please Don’t Live In The Past / Dark Entries
9. Young Magic / Still Life / Carpark
10. Sofi Tukker / Soft Animals / Ultra
11. Plaid / The Digging Remedy / Warp
12. Eric Copeland / Black Bubblegum / DFA
13. Aphex Twin / Cheetah EP / Warp
