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Now available in podcast format: Flotation Device's New Year's Eve special, featuring a selection of seasonal curiosities alongside one last look at some of our favorite new releases of radical music from 2023. Sun Ra, Frank Zappa, Jimi Hendrix and The Residents help drive the revelry with cameo appearances, while Chen Yi, Oliver Knussen and a young Igor Stravinsky offer a musical take on New Year's fireworks. Our 50 years ago in the avant-garde feature rounds out the playlist with a remarkable historical item from the Philippines celebrating its golden anniversary on January 1, 2024.
Annotated playlist and photo credits with Comments. Creative and improvised music with host Michael Schell, Sunday nights 10pm to Midnight Pacific Time on 91.3 KBCS HD1 Bellevue/Seattle/Tacoma.
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Flotation Device 2023-12-31: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell
Intro and SET 1: New Year's sparkles [0:00]
1. [1:27] Yikii: Sweet Gem Berry Farm 宝石甜莓农场. From The Crow-Cyan Lake 鸦青湖畔 (Unseelie, 2023) with Yikii Tong AKA Yikii
2. [4:33] Žibuoklė Martinaitytė: Bathypelagic - Part 1. From Hadal Zone (Cantaloupe, 2023) with Synaesthesis: Artoras Kazimekas (bass clarinet), Simonas Kaupinis (tuba), Arnas Kmieliauskas (cello), Donatas Butkevicius (contrabass), Marta Finkelstein (piano), Volti (choral samples from Chant des Voyelles), Robert Geary (choral conductor), Vilius Keras, Evelina Bajoriniene (recording engineers)
3. [7:40] The Residents: Mr. Skull's New Year's Eve Song. From Stranger Than Supper (UWEB/Ralph, 1990). NOTE: Studio recording, January 1990
4. [14:06] Sun Ra, Alton Abraham: Happy New Year To You! From Singles (Strut, 2016) with The Qualities (Unidentified male vocal quartet), Sun Ra (harmonium), Unidentified musicians (guitar, bells, wood blocks). NOTE: Recorded c.1956
5. [15:53] Igor Stravinsky: Fireworks, orchestral fantasy. From The Firebird · 4 Etudes · Fireworks (Deutsche Grammophon, 1993) with Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Boulez (conductor), Jobst Eberhardt, Reinhild Schmidt (recording engineers). NOTE: Composed 1908
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SET 2: More sparkle [19:42]
1. [22:35] Oliver Knussen: Flourish with Fireworks. From Horn Concerto, Whitman Settings et al (Deutsche Grammophon, 1996) with London Sinfonietta, Oliver Knussen (conductor), Tryggvi Tryggvason (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 1988, revised 1993
2. [26:28] Matt Mitchell: inveiglers. From Oblong Aplomb (Out of Your Head, 2023) with Matt Mitchell (piano), Ches Smith (drums), Daniel Goodwin (recording engineer)
3. [30:07] Scott Fields: Sand 1. From Sand (Relative Pitch, 2023) with Scott Fields Ensemble: Daniel Agi, Norbert Rodenkirchen (flutes), Frank Gratkowski (clarinet), Salim Javaid (alto saxophone), Matthias Schubert (tenor saxophone), Udo Moll (trumpet), Matthias Muche (trombone), Melvyn Poore (tuba), Tal Botvinik, Sergio Sorrentino, David Stackenäs (electric guitar), Shiau-Shiuan Hung, Arturo Portugal (percussion), Axel Lindner, Carolin Pook (violin), Annegret Mayer-Lindenberg (viola), Katharina Hoffmann, Scott Roller (cello), Jonas Gerigk, Miles Perkin (contrabass), Tamara Lukasheva, Hanna Schörken, Sophie Tassignon (voice), Scott Fields (conductor), Reinhard Kobialka (recording engineer)
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SET 3: 50 years ago in the Southeast Asian avant-garde [35:50]
1. [38:41] José Maceda: Ugnayan for 20 radio stations (excerpts). From Ugnayan (Tzadik, 2009) with José Maceda, Antonio Regalario, Arsenio Nicolas, Jr., Fabian Obispo, Felicidad Prudente, Josefina Arrieta, Nita Abrogar, Ruben Federizon (kolitong, bungbung, ongiyung, bangibang, balingbing, agung, echo gong, Chinese cymbals). NOTE: Presented January 1, 1974 over 20 radio stations in Manila, Philippines
2. [47:00] Rizky Argadipradja, Wahono: . Satu. From Tiga Bilangan (DIVISI62, 2023) with Rizky Argadipradja, Wahono (wind/brass instruments, electronics)
3. [56:59] Outro with José Maceda: Suling-Suling and Frank Zappa: Auld Lang Syne (live October 31, 1981)
4. [58:56] Frank Zappa: Auld Lang Syne. From Halloween 81 (UMe, 2020) with Frank Zappa (lead guitar, announcement), Steve Vai (stunt guitar, vocals), Ray White (guitar, vocals), Robert Martin (keyboards, saxophone, vocals), Tommy Mars (keyboards), Scott Thunes (electric bass, vocals), Chad Wackerman (drums), Ed Mann (percussion, vocals), Mark Pinske (recording engineer), Joe Travers (digital transfers), Craig Parker Adams (restoration). NOTE: Recorded live, October 31, 1981 at The Palladium, New York
5. [1:00:50] Ava Mendoza: Interwhining. From Echolocation (AUM Fidelity, 2023) with Mendoza Hoff Revels: James Brandon Lewis (tenor saxophone), Ava Mendoza (electric guitar), Devin Hoff (electric bass), Ches Smith (drums), Jim Clouse (recording engineer)
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SET 4: Music for New Year's Eve [1:07:39]
1. [1:09:53] Helmut Lachenmann: Ritsch 4, Großmutter, Nimm mich mit, Himmelfahrt. From Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern (Kairos, 2002) with Elizabeth Keusch, Sarah Leonard (sopranos), Salome Kammer (speaker), Mayumi Miyata (shô), Yukiko Sugawara, Tomoko Hemmi (piano), Staatsoper Stuttgart, Lothar Zagrosek (conductor). NOTE: Premiered 1997
2. [1:17:58] Brandon Seabrook: I Wanna Be Chlorophylled. From brutalovechamp (Pyroclastic, 2023) with Epic Proportions: Brandon Seabrook (guitar), Nava Dunkelman (percussion, glockenspiel), Marika Hughes (cello), Eivind Opsvik, Henry Fraser (contrabasses), Chuck Bettis (electronics), John McCowen (clarinet), Sam Ospovat (drum set), Ben Greenberg (recording engineer)
3. [1:27:16] Armaroli/Kujala/Schiaffini/Sjöström: Windows #5. From Windows & Mirrors, Milano Dialogues (Leo, 2022) with Sergio Armaroli (vibraphone), Veli Kujala (concert accordion), Harri Sjöström (soprano and sopranino sax), Giancarlo Schiaffini (trombone), Raffaele Stefani (recording engineer)
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SET 5: Last sparkles of 2023 [1:32:02]
1. [1:35:45] Todd Sickafoose: Water Table. From Time to 1.5: Soundtrack to Threshold Season 4 (Secret Hatch, 2022)
2. [1:41:42] Chen Yi: Sparkle. From Sparkle (New World, 1999) with New Music Consort: David Fedele (flute, piccolo), Sean Osborn (E♭ clarinet), Rolf Schulte (violin), Theodore Mook (cello), Victor Kioulaphides (bass), William Trigg, Michael Lipsey (percussion), Christopher Oldfather (piano), Claire Heldrich (conductor), Adrian Carr (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 1992
3. [1:53:49] Outro with Jimi Hendrix: Auld Lang Syne (live December 31, 1969 at the Fillmore East, New York)
Photo credits: Sun Ra in Space Is the Place, Zappa '81 (Frank Zappa, Tommy Mars, Ray White, Steve Vai, Chad Wackerman, Robert Martin, Ed Mann, Scott Tunes) via Zappa Trust, Epic Proportions (Henry Fraser, John McCowen, Eivind Opsvik, Brandon Seabrook, Chuck Bettis, Sam Ospovat, Nava Dunkelman, Marika Hughes) via Brandon Seabrook, Scott Fields by Helmut Hergarten, Helmut Lachenmann by A.T. Schaefer, Band of Gypsys (Billy Cox, Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Miles) via the artists, The Residents with Mr. Skull via the artists, Igor Stravinsky by George Grantham Bain, José Maceda 2017 stamp, Ches Smith and Matt Mitchell by John Rogers, Žibuoklė Martinaitytė by Tomas Terekas, Sweet Gem Berry Farm by Yikii, Ava Mendoza and Devin Hoff via the artists, Chen Yi by Kuandi Photos