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Flotation Device catches up with the latest from Sam Shalabi (straddling Nubian oud music and international free improv), Joan Tower (the doyenne of American orchestral music), Bernhard Lang and Sarah Maria Sun (with an ambitious setting of William S. Burroughs' posthumously published The Travel Agency is on Fire), Lea Bertucci and Lawrence English (doing transcontinental dark ambient) and the late Kaija Saariaho (via a cello+organ piece getting its first recording). We say goodbye to Wally Shoup (1944–2024), one of the Northwest’s most admired free improvisers, and commence our retelling of The Residents’ origin myth as we approach the 50th anniversary of their debut album—espying their ongoing influence in a quirky new single from Yikii. Cameos from Shelley Hirsch and Michael Nyman round out the playlist. Creative and improvised music from the Northwest and around the world with host Michael Schell.
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Flotation Device 2024-03-17: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell
Intro and SET 1: Wally Shoup (1944–2024) [0:00]
1. [2:31] Spider Trio: Touch of Light. From Out Fall To Stream (Bandcamp, 2020) with Wally Shoup (alto sax), Jeffery Taylor (electric guitar), Dave Abramson (drums, percussion)
2. [8:32] John Seman remembers Wally Shoup (with Shoup: Wayward in Limbo, recorded during lockdown in the I-90 bicycle tunnel, Seattle)
3. [10:16] Wally Shoup, Greg Kelley, Tom Scully, Casey Adams: Shivering in a Warm Room. From None of This Is Implausible (Obscure & Terrible, 2023) with Wally Shoup (saxophone), Greg Kelley (Trumpet), Tom Scully (guitar), Casey Adams (percussion), Dustin Williams (recording engineer)
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SET 2: Oud offering [17:17]
1. [19:46] Sam Shalabi: Your Hand In. From Night School (Bandcamp, 2024) with Sam Shalabi (oud, electronics)
2. [27:05] Kaija Saariaho: Offrande. From Maan Varjot, Chateau de l'Âme, True Fire, Offrande (Radio France, 2024) with Anssi Karttunen (cello), Olivier Latry (organ). NOTE: Composed 2015, arrangement of Maan varjot: 2. Dome. First recording
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SET 3: Burroughs' shadows [33:44]
1. [37:14] Kaija Saariaho: Maan Varjot - 2. Dome (Lento calmo). From Maan Varjot, Chateau de l'Âme, True Fire, Offrande (Radio France, 2024) with Olivier Latry (organ), Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Ernest Martinez-Izquierdo (conductor). NOTE: Composed 2013, recorded live February 18, 2017 at Présences festival, Radio France
2. [44:21] Bernhard Lang: The Travel Agency is on Fire (excerpts)
3. [58:06] Outro with Shelley Hirsch: Paisley
4. [1:03:15] The Residents: Boots. From Meet The Residents 1977 stereo remix (Ralph, 1977). NOTE: Recorded February–October 1973, re-edited in stereo for this release. Based on Lee Hazlewood: The Boots Are Made for Walkin'
5. [1:05:09] The Residents: Smelly Tongues. From Meet The Residents pREServed Edition (New Ralph Too, 2018). NOTE: Remastered version of the 1977 stereo remix
6. [1:07:16] The Residents: Rest Aria. From Meet the Residents (Ralph, 1974). NOTE: Original mono version, released April 1, 1974
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SET 4: Shepherds of the 19th Amendment [1:12:23]
1. [1:13:58] Yikii: Yomi & Yami. From Yomi & Yami - Shepherds of the Bunker (Bandcamp, 2024) with Yikii Tong AKA Yikii (voice, instruments). NOTE: Soundtrack for Madlen Hirtentreu's Shepherds of the Bunker exhibition, February–May, 2024, EKSAV, Eskişehir, Turkey
2. [1:22:42] Joan Tower: 1920/2019. From Rhapsody in Blue et al (Naxos, 2024) with National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic, David Alan Miller (conductor), Bernd Gottinger (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2019–20
3. [1:38:01] Joan Tower in conversation with Michael Schell. See https://tinyurl.com/JoanTower for the full interview
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SET 5: Chill music for the open-eared [1:40:23]
1. [1:41:35] Lea Bertucci, Lawrence English: Strata. From Chthonic (American Dreams, 2023) with Lea Bertucci (cello, viola, flute, lap steel guitar), Lawrence English (field recordings, analog electronics, tape)
2. [1:48:39] Bernhard Lang: The Travel Agency is on Fire - Dream Machine 2. From Voice and Ensemble (KAIROS, 2024) with Sarah Maria Sun (soprano), Soyuz 21: Sascha Armbruster (saxophone), Mats Scheidegger (electric guitar), Philipp Meier (synthesizer), João Carlos Pacheco (drums, percussion), Stéphanie Meyer (cello), Isaï Angst (sound design), Michael Krogmann (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2020. Texts cut up by William S. Burroughs
3. [1:55:30] Outro with Michael Nyman: Water Dances - Stroking
Photo credits: Kaija Saariaho via the artist, Sam Shalabi via Constellation Records, Sarah Maria Sun by Thomas Schloemann, William S. Burroughs by Richard Avedon, Lea Bertucci via the artist, Wally Shoup by Steve Cline, Joan Tower by Michael Schell, Yikii via the artist, Bernhard Lang by Harald Hoffmann, The Residents via the artists