In this episode we sample new albums by Endlings, Lukas Ligeti, Nick Fraser, Cheer-Accident, the Voutchkova/Varoutas duo and the Stetson, Fox & Dunn trio—all of which mix composition, improvisation and live electronics in different ways. Missy Mazzoli delivers a salty new take on Lot’s wife from the Old Testament, while Domenica Diavoleria offers Northwest dark ambient and Luis Tabuenca bangs on the Baschet sound sculptures. We celebrate the 50th birthday of Arvo Pärt’s tintinnabuli style and landmark works by Ferneyhough and Isang Yun that were unveiled in the same week. Finally, the late Wolfgang Rihm gets a premiere recording, as does Frederic Rzewski with Part Six of The Road which features the Dies Irae as a recurring cautionary omen. Creative and improvised music from the Northwest and around the world from listener-supported 91.3 KBCS Bellevue/Seattle/Tacoma.
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Flotation Device 2026-03-22: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell - PART TWO
Intro and SET 1: Rock and beyond [0:00]
1. [1:17] Stetson, Fox & Dunn: Nethering. From Nethering (Envision/Invada, 2026) with Colin Stetson (saxophone), Trevor Dunn (bass), Greg Fox (drums)
2. [9:37] Endlings + VNM: See it in the room, At night. From Parallel 03 (Whited Sepulchre, 2025) with Endlings: John Dieterich, Raven Chacon, Vancouver New Music: Parmela Attariwala, Adrian Avendano, John Brennan, Elisa Ferrari, Marina Hasselberg, Alanna Ho, Steve Chow, Web design: Joel Schuman
SET 2: On the Road again [13:38]
1. [16:23] Luis Tabuenca: Críptica II. From Naturstudium III (Kairos, 2025) with Luis Tabuenca (percussion), Les Percussions de Strasbourg: Théo His-Mahier, François Papirer, Enrico Pedicone (percussion), Santi Barguñó, Hugo Romano Guimaraes (recording engineers). NOTE: Percussion instruments by François and Bernard Baschet
2. [21:44] Domenica Diavoleria: Statue Eyes. From Flicker Statue Eyes (Eiderdown, 2026) with Dominica Clark AKA Domenica Diavoleria
3. [26:13] Frederic Rzewski: The Road - Part 6: Travelling with Children - Mile 45. From The Road (Passacaille, 2025) with Daan Vandewalle (piano), Yannick Willox (recording engineer, Acoustic Recording Service). NOTE: Composed 1995–2003. First complete recording
SET 3: Lot's wife [32:30]
1. [36:03] Arvo Pärt: Für Alina. From Lamentate (Accentus, 2020) with Onutė Gražinytė (piano), Evelina Staniulytė, Vilius Keras (recording engineers). Composed February 1976, premiered March 23, 1976 by Rein Rannap at Estonia Concert Hall, Tallinn
2. [38:40] Brian Ferneyhough: Unity Capsule - 1. From Music for Flute (Bridge, 2002) with Kolbeinn Bjarnason (flute). NOTE: Composed 1975–76, premiered March 23, 1976 by Pierre-Yves Artaud at Festival international d'Art contemporain, Royan, France
3. [42:08] Missy Mazzoli: Salt (excerpts). From Salt (Islandia, 2025) with Helga Davis (vocals), Maya Beiser (cello), Dave Cook (recording engineer)
4. [53:24] Outro with Missy Mazzoli: Proving Up
5. [1:00:14] Frederic Rzewski: The Road - Part 6: Travelling with Children - Mile 47: A Walk in the Woods. From The Road (credits as above)
Flotation Device 2026-03-22: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell - PART TWO
SET 4: New and notable [1:08:59]
1. [1:10:56] Nick Fraser: In The Wreckage. From Areas (Elastic, 2026) with Tony Malaby (saxophone), Kris Davis (piano), Nick Fraser (drums, piano harp), John Kameel Farah (composition, electronics, sound processing)
2. [1:13:38] Cheer-Accident: AM. From Q-Pop (Bandcamp, 2023) with Cheer-Accident: Carmen Armillas, Bethany DeGaetano Smoker (vocals), Rob Frye (flute, alto sax), Ross Feller (tenor sax, clarinet, soprano sax), Cory Bengtsen (bari sax), Mike Hagedorn (trombone, slide trumpet, electric trombone), Billie Jean Howard, Sophia Uddin (violins), Gabriel Riccio (piano), Todd Rittmann, Scot Ashley (guitars), Dan Burke (guitar, foundthings), Jeff Libersher (prepared guitar, surprised guitar, vocals, bass), Hali Palombo (upright bass), Thymme Jones (drums, vocals, trumpet, recorder, radio, Moog, handclaps, autoharp, kalimba, nord, mouth trumpet, pump organ, lowered brass, piano, noise)
3. [1:16:17] Wolfgang Rihm: IN FRAGE (excerpts). From Near Death Experience (NEOS, 2025) with Ensemble Risonanze Erranti, Peter Tilling (conductor), Klemens Kamp (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 1999–2000, premiere recording
4. [1:24:24] Biliana Voutchkova, Giorgos Varoutas: Arcadia Nova. From Little Sae (Underflow, 2025) with Biliana Voutchkova (violin, voice), Giorgos Varoutas (live sound processing), Nikos Dimitrakakos (recording engineer)
SET 5: 50 years ago in the avant-garde [1:34:01]
1. [1:36:54] Lukas Ligeti: Intermediate Vector Bosons. From Notebook (New World, 2026) with Dan Blake (saxophone), Adrianna Mateo (violin), Rick Parker (trombone), Ricardo Gallo (synthesizer), Eyal Maoz (guitar), Lukas Ligeti (drums, glockenspiel, pre-recorded piano, whistling, conductor), Joseph Branciforte (recording engineer, Brooklyn Recording)
2. [1:47:19] Isang Yun: Cello Concerto (excerpt). From Cello Concerto, Sonata for Oboe, Harp and Viola (Camerata, 1987) with Siegfried Palm (cello), Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hans Zender (conductor). NOTE: Composed 1975–76, premiered March 25, 1976 by Siegfried Palm, Orchestre Philharmonique des Pays de la Loire, Friedrich Cerha at Festival international d'Art contemporain, Royan, France
3. [1:56:45] Outro with Lukas Ligeti: Kaleidoscope Point. NOTE: See http://tinyurl.com/LigetiInterview for our 2023 interview with Lukas Ligeti about his father
Photo credits: Endlings (John Dieterich, Raven Chacon) via the artists, Biliana Voutchkova by C. Marx (Photomusix), Wolfgang Rihm by Astrid Ackermann, Arvo Pärt by Kaupo Kikkas, Baschet bass cristal by Marc-Antoine Millon, Isang Yun by Elke Nord, Lukas Ligeti via the artist, Cheer-Accident via the artists, Maya Beiser's salted cello by Abigail Fenton, Domenica Diavoleria via the artist, Nick Fraser by Jim Croft, Frederic Rzewski and his daughter by Françoise Walot, Nethering (Colin Stetson, Greg Fox, Trevor Dunn) via Envision Records, Brian Ferneyhough by Charlotte Oswald (Edition Peters).
Flotation Device features creative and improvised music from the Northwest and around the world with host Michael Schell, Sunday nights 10pm–Midnight Pacific Time on 91.3 KBCS-FM Bellevue/Seattle/Tacoma. Visit us online at https://linktr.ee/MichaelSchell