We talk with Angelica Olstad about her process and new album Transmute. Angelica provided us with some songs that kept her moving through the pandemic that you will hear after the episode.

Underscore: Angelica Olstad

Join Sonosphere as we talk with Ben Seretan - his approach to composition, songwriting and his latest album - Cicada Waves. 

sonospherepodcast.com
wyxr.org

Underscore: Ben Seretan

Underscore: Christine Ott

Today we discuss the first black owned recording company Black Swan Records which sold popular music to black audiences. Its existence was brief, it was only active for two years from 1923 to 1925. During this time however, the label released over 180 records - more than any other black owned record company until the 1950s. Today we’ll talk about the historical context in which the founder, Harry Pace, began and operated the label with mentor W.E.B. DuBois and how his partnership with Memphis blues man W.C. Handy kicked off Pace’s interest in the music industry. 
For more info and track listing visit www.sonospherepodcast.com
@snspod

Black Swan Records

Today on Sonosphere Amy talks with Christian Fennesz, electronic music composer and musician. Amy caught up with Fennesz at the annual Big Ears Festival in Knoxville. As the first in-person fest in two years, Big Ears was bigger than ever. Acts from all over the nation and the world descended upon the smokey mountain city and brought amazing sounds, visuals, and excellence in musical composition. Always a Sonosphere favorite!

Join Chris and Amy live from WYXR studio in Memphis for some tunes by Fennesz and collaborators like Sparklehorse, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Ulver, and more!

For a full track list visit www.sonospherepodcast.com

Underscore: Christian Fennesz

Welcome to the Sonosphere podcast. This episode we feature our talk with Steven R. Smith. 

Steven is behind projects like Hala Strana, Ulaan Khol, Ulaan Passerine, Ulaan Markhor and releases solo recordings under his label, Worstward Recordings. Active since the mid-90s, Smith releases a solo album this year called Spring and out in September is his project's Ulaan Passerine's Sun Spear. We will hear tunes from both plus a playlist curated by Steven himself. Join us!

Underscore: Steven R. Smith

Welcome to Sonosphere the podcast that explores the sounds all around us in art and music movements through history. Sonosphere is now on WYXR 91.7 FM in Memphis, TN every Monday from 4-5pm. 

Today’s episode is a harrowing tale of a natural disaster that ravaged much of middle America, especially the South.In this episode we will discuss the formation of the Mississippi River, the events that led to the flood, the red cross’ response and how they used the media to shape public opinion, as well as  Blues songs that helped inform the public about the human turmoil that was a direct result of the flood. Listen in as we hear from Christopher Morris, Scotti Parish and David Evans about this extraordinary event.

Learn more at sonospherepodcast.com
@sonospod

The Great Flood of 1927

On this episode of Sonosphere we highlight the life and compositions of composer Margaret Bonds. So many people who made invaluable contributions to classical music have been nearly lost to history or are underappreciated in their time. Bonds is one of those characters. 

We learned more about her when we covered one of her mentors, American composer Florence B. Price earlier in 2021 - be sure to check  out that episode. Bonds like Price is lesser known in the field of classical music - being both female and African-American - often not covered among classical European-based composers dominating the history of classical music. 

One of Bonds’ largest and perhaps most important works–Montgomery Variations, written in 1965 during the Selma-to-Montgomery Freedom March and dedicated to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On this MLK Day we celebrate composer Margaret Bonds.

More information at sonospherepodcast.com

Birth of Modern Music Series 8: Margaret Bonds

Joe Rainey is a Pow Wow singer. He is not used to singing solo, because pow wow is inherently communal, but this debut is every bit as powerful. The album is Niineta, released on Justin Vernon and the Dessner brothers’ 37d03d label, showcases his command of the style - faithful to tradition - accompanied by cinematic, bass-heavy production from Andrew Broder. ⁠

Join Sonosphere as we dive into the sounds of contemporary pow wow fused with vast experimental and electronic oceans of sound. Joe Rainey lent his voice and experience to this episode and I think him for sharing his story through his learning of, preservation of and lifting up of pow wow and indigenous music.

For more visit www.sonospherepodcast.com

Pow Wow: Joe Rainey Sings Solo

C Major shares his journey through his career in music.
And we'll hear a few tracks he shares, why he chose them and some advice he has for anyone looking to come up in the music industry. Join us!

www.sonospherepodcast.com

Major Talent: C Major's Sonic Tonic

On this week's Sonosphere show on WYXR 91.7 FM, Optic Sink joined me for a live DJ set! You'll hear lots of dance tunes and a couple tracks from Optic Sink's latest album, Glass Box out now. Check it out! The band is on tour in Oct. don't miss them in your town!

Optic Sink: Live DJ Set at WYXR Studio

On Sonosphere today we hear live from the WYXR studios my chat with Kid Maestro of Unapologetic collective and Brandy Cassius with the Memphis Music Initiative. They teamed up to put on a free arts workshop for Memphis youth! On March 16, MMI is partnering with UNAPOLOGETIC. for an artist & engineer music recording workshop. Kid is and the UNAPOLOGETIC crew are top-tier, local industry pros. The youth will learn how to get high-quality recordings as an artist or recording engineer.

MMI X Unapologetic Partnership

Today on the show I feature songs with the Moog synthesizer. I had the opportunity to visit the Moogseum in Asheville, NC. It is funded by the Bob Moog Foundation and I feature tunes from Lisa Bella Donna's commissioned album for the Moogseum's 15 anniversary. Bob Moog saw himself as a tool maker, creating tools for artists and muscians to bring their audio visions to life.

Moog Show

From the WYXR studio Sonosphere welcomes experimental sound artist and founder of Memphis Concrete, Robert Traxler. We play some tunes and talk about a few local and regional artists who recently played in Memphis. Join us!

With Special Guest Robert Traxler

Coming to you live from WYXR Studios Amy and Jenny welcomed electronic music artists Suroor and W1ndow. We talk about women in Memphis music, their new albums and the hard to pin down sound of the new electronic and experimental music movement in Memphis.

Sonic Sisters: Suroor & Window

Iceberg New Music Ensemble is back! Visiting Memphis and working with the Memphis Youth Symphony Orchestra! Check out the conversation we had with Iceberg members as well as members of Memphis' own Blueshift Ensemble. Don't miss the show at the Beethoven Club this Friday 8/23 at 7:30!

Iceberg New Music Ensemble

Today we spoke with Gabriela Fogo and Roberta Dos Santos - two Iris Collective Fellows from Brazil. Here the sounds from all over the country from Brazilian Classical music to bossa nova and beyond! Come listen to the Sounds of Brazil with us!

Sounds Of Brazil with Iris Collective

A Brief History of Noise Music

This episode is the first in a series of European composers who started a change in music - paving the way for avant-garde and disruptive sounds from the classical minimalist genre, to punk and rock and roll we hear today. We’ll start with Arnold Schoenberg, an Austrian composer who mapped out the coming modernist era. 

Schoenberg created new methods of musical composition involving atonality, serialism, and the 12-tone row. 

Don't forget to check out Press Play at sonospherepodcast.com for a playlist of Schoenberg compositions.

Featured Tracks by Schoenberg in this episode:
Gurrelieder
Transfigured Nights
String Quartet No. 2 Op. 10
Erwartung
Chamber Symphony No. 1
Piano Suite Op. 25




The Birth of Modern Music Part 1: Arnold Schoenberg

The ultimate "underground" modernist artist in Paris, Satie didn't get a lot of credit when he was alive for his work. He was largely forgotten until John Cage found his Vexations composition fifty years after his death.

His music "did not resolve as it should according to tonal laws" says our guest Dr. Caroline Potter. She talks with us about how Satie broke from Parisian tradition and led an avant-garde scene which influenced ambient and minimalist artists for years to come. 

Join us as we traverse the eccentric life and work of Erik Satie.

Erik Satie Tracks:
Gnossiennes n.4
The Gothic Dances
Pieces in the Shape of a Pear
Gymnopedies
Let's Get on with it Chochoette
Medusa's Trap
Parade
Vexations
La Diva de l'empire

The Birth of Modern Music Part 2: Erik Satie

Today we will talk about French composer Edgard Varese,
often described as the “Father of Electronic Music.” Varese had a huge influence on John Cage and many other avant grade American artists in the 40s and 50s. Cage said of Varese, he “fathered forth noise,” which “makes him more relative to the present musical necessity than even the Viennese masters.”

Check out the playlist accompanying this episode featuring songs by Edgard Varese at Press Play on sonospherepodcast.com. Subscribe on itunes and check us out on Facebook and Twitter @sonospod

The Birth of Modern Music Part 3: Edgard Varese

Welcome back to Sonosphere's Birth of Modern Music series featuring modern European, classical composers that inspired the experimental, avant garde art and music scenes of the 50s, 60s and resonate in music composition today. Today we will delve into the life and works of Olivier Messiaen.

Messiaen escaped the world of composition’s shift to serialism through religion, nature, and birdsong, but he had a profound influence on the evolution of electronic music composition through composers like Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Boulez, and Xenakis. 

Join us by subscribing on iTunes and following us on Soundcloud, Facebook, and Twitter.

Thanks for listening!

Songs in this month's episode:

Des Canyons Aux Etoiles I: Le Desert
Des Canyons Aux Etoiles II: Les Orioles
Preludes: La Colombe (The Dove)
Quartet for the End of Time
Turangalila - Symphonie
Mode de valeurs et d'intensites
Meditations sur le mystere de la Sainte Trinite

The Birth of Modern Music Series Part 4: Olivier Messiaen

Welcome to Sonosphere the podcast that explores the sounds all around us; in art and music movements through history.  

This is part 5 of our Birth of Modern Music Series on European composers of the early 20th century from the atonal compositions of Austria’s Schoenberg to the realization of total serialism of Olivier Messiaen we continue our coverage with German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen and the evolution of electronic music. This episode we’ll hear from Stockhausen scholar Joe Drew; thanks to Ben Siler as the voice of Stockhausen.

Stockhausen tracks in order:
Kontra-Punkte
Kreuzspiel
Klavierstuck
Gesang Der Junglinge
Gruppen
Kontakte
Stimmung
Momente
Aus Den Seiben
Fur Kommende
Gesang Der Junglinge

The Birth of Modern Music Series Part 5: Karlheinz Stockhausen

This episode of Sonosphere takes a look at the life and work of composer Pauline Oliveros through the eyes and ears of those who worked with her and learned from her. We spoke with Claire Chase, Wu Fei, Monique Buzzarte, Tara Rodgers, and Kerry O'Brien about how Pauline touched their lives personally and professionally, and how her legacy shaped the musical world of today.

sonospherepodcast.com
WYXR 91.7 FM Mondays 4-5pm CT
 
 Join us.
 
Tracks in this episode:
Mnemonics IV - Pauline Oliveros
Ocean State - Tara Rodgers
A Bubble in My Eye - Monique Buzzarte
Dawn - Wu Fei
b_second - Deep Listening Band
Bye Bye Butterfly - Pauline Oliveros
Nike - Deep Listening Band
d_forth - Deep Listening Band
Tribute to Pauline Oliveros Sonic Meditations - Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre
ICE Performs Pauline Oliveros "Concerto for Bass Drum"
ICE Performs Pauline Oliveros "Double X"

Pauline Oliveros

Welcome to Press Play, a monthly interview and mixtape from record labels, musicians, and bands from around the globe and in our own backyard! This month's Press Play mixtape comes from a Toronto-based label called Adhesive Sounds (A/S). Sonosphere connected with A/S creator, Kel.

When did you create Adhesive Sounds?

The winter of 2014 was a time when I was basically housebound with an illness. I was forced to find some kind of creative outlet to keep me active and ease any symptoms of cabin fever.

During my imposed confinement, I started listening to more ambient and freeform music. Film scores were big on my listening menu as well as modern composers. I studied graphic design, and have an enduring interest in the relationship between sound and imagery and its packaging. Music has always been a huge part of my life and starting a label had been a pipe-dream. The label developed from this period of isolation. A blessing in disguise.

For more on our interview with Kel and a complete track listing visit sonospherepodcast.com

Press Play on Adhesive Sounds

Interview with Ryan and Gibby of Dais Records followed by a playlist.

Tracklist:
2:45 Ragnar Grippe - Sand Part 1
30:02 Tor Lundvall - Hiding
32:56 Coil - 7-Methoxy-β-Carboline: (Telepathine)
55:49  GENESIS BREYER P-ORRIDGE & Thee Early Worm - Rather Hard to Libel
57:22 Choir Boy - Sunday Light
1:01:29 YOU - Feral
1:05:26 Psychic TV - Papal Breakdance
1:11:37 Annabelle's Garden - If
1:16:37 Youth Code - What Is The Answer
1:19:37 Drab Majesty - 39 By Design
1:24:30 Death of Lovers - The Absolute
1:29:35 Deviation Social - Machines Convulse
1:32:58 Sissy Spacek - Always Eating
1:33:16 Aaron Dilloway - Ghost
1:38:05 Iceage - Remember
1:40:17 Coum Transmissions - 73 Vibrant  
1:43:07 Them Are Us Too - Marilyn
1:46:41 Twin Stumps - Siberia
1:50:58 Tor Lundvall - July Evening
1:52:30 Cold Showers - New Dawn
1:57:00 Martial Canterel - And I Thought
2:00:49 Drew McDowall - This Is What It's Like

Press Play on Dais Records

This month Sonosphere talks with Martyn Heyne, composer, producer and engineer. Martyn has a new album out on November 17th called Electric Intervals on !K7 Records’ new imprint 7K!

We discuss the making of this album, which is his first full-length solo work. Martyn has worked as a producer and engineer with the likes of Nils Frahm, The National, Efterklang, Peter Broderick, and others.

We also chat about the creating the video of the single “Carry” with FELD, the Berlin based design studio behind the album’s imagery, and the nuisances involved in listening and recording music. 

Tracks in this episode:
The National - Don't Swallow the Cap
Martyn Heyne - Curium
Martyn Heyne - Carry
Funkstörung - Test

sonospherepodcast.com 
@sonospod

Martyn Heyne: Electric Intervals

In this month's episode of Sonosphere, we focus on the use of drone sounds in music. There is a lot to cover with Drone music, often known as a part of the genre of Minimalism and modern ambient.

Sonosphere caught up with Joanna Demers, author of Listening Through the Noise: The Aesthetics of Experimental Electronic Music, Drone and Apocalypse, and others. 

We will focus on the drone itself, what is drone music, and the common drone instruments as a continuation of the Birth of Modern Music series on avant-garde, classical music and minimalism.

This episode begins with the evolution of the drone sound as a musical style and aesthetic used in many parts of the world. Join us!

www.sonospherepodcast.com
@sonospod

Drones: A Brief History of Sustained Tones in Music

Welcome to Sonosphere, the podcast that explores the sounds all around us. 

The first artist we present in our 2019 Sound Observation series is Nadah El Shazly, Egyptian composer, musician and producer. She will be performing at Crosstown Arts' Green Room in Memphis, TN on May 31st as a part of her first tour in the U.S. We are so excited to have her in Memphis. Performance at 8pm.

Sonosphere spoke briefly with Nadah prior to her show. She talks about collaborating in the Cairo music scene, her debut album and her experiences on her first U.S. tour. 

Thanks for listening.

Nadah El Shazly

Welcome to Sonosphere's Underscore series where we highlight composers, artists, creators, and more. This episode we highlight Alex Weston,  a New York-based composer.

This month he released his score for the Lulu Wang film The Farewell. On this episode we talk with him about his process for The Farewell and his approach to music in film versus his approach to commissioned works for live dance and others. Enjoy this month's Underscore.

For more information visit sonospherepodcast.com

Underscore: Composer Alex Weston

This month on Sonosphere we hear from Ken Zuckerman, co-founder of the Ali Akbar College in Basel, Switzerland and sarod aficionado.  Peter Lavezzoli, author, percussionist and vocalist also joins us as we discuss how Indian Classical Music has influenced modern rock, pop and ambient music today.

While we only scratch the surface of Indian Classical Music, you'll find how one man in particular, Ali Akbar Khan, took America and popular music by storm through his teachings that span across the world and across musical genres.

More information at www.sonospherepodcast.com

Indian Classical Music

This week on Sonosphere we end 2020 with our 100 years of the Theremin episode. We’ll start with a brief history of the theremin and with Theremin virtuoso Clara Rockmore. We then combined our conversations with thereminists and composers Caroline Eyck and Dorit Chrysler to give you the ultimate Theremin filled episode. 

Sonosphere is now on WYXR 91.7 FM Mondays from 4-5pm CST in Memphis, TN.
sonospherepodcast.com

The Theremin Comeback

The independently produced podcast that explores the sounds all around us; in art and music movements through history.

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