This eclectic show begins with a survey of new improvised tracks by Gordon Grdina, Christian Lillinger, Satoko Fujii and Adam Rudolph. The Ekmeles vocal ensemble with James Weeks revisits Italian madrigals using 31-tone equal temperament, while Osnat Netzer revisits Beckett. Ches Smith arranges a meeting of minds between disco, hip-hop and Beethoven string quartets, while Sam Rivers tackles atonal bebop with a big band.
We interview Anahita Abbasi about a solo piece she wrote for harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani. And a cherishingly selected closing set offers chill music by the late Phill Niblock (featuring what may be his most beautiful drone ever, created just months before his death), Éliane Radigue (a work that she premiered at Niblock’s loft half a century ago), Rhys Chatham (a 2014 duet with Z'EV that’s just gotten its premiere release) and Ewa Trębacz (a fixed-media piece that straddles the worlds of dark ambient and acousmatic music).
Global chart history
Top position held by this upload
Comments
Flotation Device 2024-03-03: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell
Intro and SET 1: New and unusual [0:00]
1. [1:32] Ches Smith: Disco Inferred. From Laugh Ash (Pyroclastic, 2024) with Shara Lunon (voice, vocal processing), Anna Webber (flute), Oscar Noriega (clarinets), James Brandon Lewis (tenor saxophone), Nate Wooley (trumpet), Jennifer Choi (violin), Kyle Armbrust (viola), Michael Nicolas (cello), Shahzad Ismaily (bass, keyboards), Ches Smith (electronics, programming, vibes, drums, tubular bells, glockenspiel, timpani, tam tam, metal percussion), Randall Dunn (recording engineer)
2. [7:56] Gordon Grdina, Christian Lillinger: Dissolution. From Duo Work (AttaBoygirl, 2024) with Gordon Grdina (guitar, MIDI guitar), Christian Lillinger (drums, percussion), Martin Waschkowitsch (recording engineer)
3. [11:47] Satoko Fujii Toyko Trio: Along the Way. From Jet Black (Libra, 2024) with Satoko Fujii (piano), Takashi Sugawa (bass), Ittetsu Takemura (drums), Takanori Terabe (recording engineer)
4. [18:11] Adam Rudolph: Timeless. From Timeless (Meta, 2023) with Hu Vibrational: Adam Rudolph (keyboards, percussion, flutes, double reeds), Sameer Gupta (tabla), Hamid Drake (drum set), James Dellatacoma (recording engineer)
5. [22:06] Osnat Netzer: away dream all away. From Dot : Line : Sigh (New Focus, 2024) with Amanda DeBoer Bartlett (soprano), Constance Volk (flute), Doyle Armbrust (viola), Dan Nichols (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2015, text by Samuel Beckett
⠀
SET 2: Coming up in Seattle [26:35]
1. [31:17] Anahita Abbasi in conversation with Michael Schell (with excerpt from Safar II)
2. [38:49] Anahita Abbasi: Intertwined Distances. From Musique? (Hyperion, 2020) with Mahan Esfahani (harpsichord), David Hinitt (recording engineer)
3. [53:26] Outro with Thomas Tomkins: Barafostus Dreame (with Mahan Esfahani)
4. [59:01] Sam Rivers: Bursts. From Crystals (Impulse, 1974) with Sam Rivers (saxophones, conductor), big band, Ronnie Boykins (bass guitar), Harold Smith, Warren Smith (drums, percussion). NOTE: Recorded March 4, 1974 at Generation Sound Studios, New York
⠀
SET 3: Microtonal voices [1:05:54]
1. [1:08:26] James Weeks: Primo Libro. From We Live the Opposite Daring (New Focus, 2024) with Ekmeles: Charlotte Mundy (soprano), Elisa Sutherland (mezzo-soprano), Timothy Parsons (countertenor), Tomás Cruz (tenor), Jeffrey Gavett (baritone, artistic director), Steven Hrycelak (bass), Ryan Streber (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2012–16
⠀
SET 4: Chill music for the open-eared [1:26:15]
1. [1:28:10] Ewa Trębacz: The Tower of Broken Mirrors. From PSeME Collection Odyssey two (Requiem/Opus Series, 2024) with Josiah Boothby (horn), Leanna Keith (flutes), Ewa Trębacz (violin, electronics)
2. [1:42:10] Rhys Chatham & Z'EV (excerpts). From Rhys Chatham & Z'EV (Entrefer, 2024) with Rhys Chatham (trumpet, flute, alto flute, bass flute, electric guitar), Stefan Weisser AKA Z'EV (Yamaha DTXPRESS, 16-bit AWM2). NOTE: Recorded Fall 2014, Studio Myrha, Paris
3. [1:49:54] Éliane Radigue: Biogenesis (excerpts). From Biogenesis (Metamkine, 1996) with Éliane Radigue (musique concrète), Luc Martinez (digital mastering). NOTE: Realied 1973, premiered March 6, 1974 at Experimental Intermedia Foundation, New York
4. [1:54:38] Outro with Phill Niblock: Biliana (with Biliana Voutchkova)
Tune in live to Flotation Device every Sunday night 10pm–Midnight Pacific Time on 91.3 KBCS Bellevue/Seattle/Tacoma, streaming worldwide at www.kbcs.fm. The Northwest's finest and longest-running radio program devoted to avant-garde music.
Photo credits: Ekmeles (Tomás Cruz, Steven Hrycelak, Jeffrey Gavett, Charlotte Mundy, Elisa Sutherland, Timothy Parsons) via the artists, Laugh Ash (Shahzad Ismaily, Shara Lunon, Anna Webber, James Brandon Lewis, Kyle Armbrust, Ches Smith, Michael Nicolas, Oscar Noriega, Nate Wooley, Jennifer Choi) by Bianca Claircidor, Anahita Abbasi by Michael Schell, Mahan Esfahani via Early Music Seattle, Sam Rivers by Tom Marcello, Rhys Chatham via the artist, Éliane Radigue by Yves Arman, Osnat Netzer via the artist, Ewa Trębacz by Mark Haslam, Tokyo Trio (Takashi Sugawa, Satoko Fujii, Ittetsu Takemura) by Kazue Yokoi, Phill Niblock by GN Ration, James Weeks via the artist.
Photo credits: Ekmeles (Tomás Cruz, Steven Hrycelak, Jeffrey Gavett, Charlotte Mundy, Elisa Sutherland, Timothy Parsons) via the artists, Laugh Ash (Shahzad Ismaily, Shara Lunon, Anna Webber, James Brandon Lewis, Kyle Armbrust, Ches Smith, Michael Nicolas, Oscar Noriega, Nate Wooley, Jennifer Choi) by Bianca Claircidor, Anahita Abbasi by Michael Schell, Mahan Esfahani via Early Music Seattle, Sam Rivers by Tom Marcello, Rhys Chatham via the artist, Éliane Radigue by Yves Arman, Osnat Netzer via the artist, Ewa Trębacz by Mark Haslam, Tokyo Trio (Takashi Sugawa, Satoko Fujii, Ittetsu Takemura) by Kazue Yokoi, Phill Niblock by GN Ration, James Weeks via the artist