Our "50 years ago in the avant-garde" feature summons the zeitgeist of June 1976 with the duos of Anthony Braxton & Richard Teitelbaum, and Don Cherry & Charlie Haden, while The Residents cover the Rolling Stones and Frank Zappa uses his “xenochrony” technique to combine guitar rips, drumbeats and Ivesian hymnody. On the contemporary front, Donnacha Dennehy's new opera The First Child examines themes of vengeance and violence while John Luther Adams finds a new home and a new string orchestra piece in central Australia. Free improv meets prog rock in the George quartet’s latest album, while Zhang Meng modernizes the Chinese sheng, Joseph Branciforte and Jozef Dumoulin rehabilitate the Fender Rhodes, and The Dwarfs of East Agouza connect Cairo and Shenzhen. The latest installments in our ongoing exploration of Frederic Rzewski’s The Road and the Endlings duo's Parallel project round out the playlist. Creative and improvised music with host Michael Schell from 91.3 KBCS Bellevue/Seattle.
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Flotation Device 2026-06-07: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell - PART ONE
Intro and SET 1: Golden anniversary [0:00]
1. [1:49] John Hollenbeck: Norma (in support of reproductive autonomy). From Looking for Consonance (Out Of Your Head, 2026) with George: Anna Webber (tenor saxophone, flute, alto flute), Sarah Rossy (voice, synthesizer), Chiquita Magic (voice, synthesizers), John Hollenbeck (drums, glockenspiel), Nanni Johansson (recording engineer, Hansa Studios)
2. [6:03] Charlie Haden: Out of Focus. From The Golden Number (Horizon, 1977) with Don Cherry (flute, pocket trumpet), Charlie Haden (double bass), Baker Bigsby (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded June 7, 1976 at Kendun Recorders, Burbank
3. [13:30] Frederic Rzewski: The Road - Part 7: Final Preparations, Mile 51, Notes from Underground (excerpt). From The Road (Passacaille, 2025) with Daan Vandewalle (piano), Yannick Willox (recording engineer, Acoustic Recording Service). NOTE: Composed 1995–2003. First complete recording
4. [18:57] The Dwarfs of East Agouza: Is Shaban Hiding in the Lada Niva?. From Tropic of Taurus: Dwarfs of East Agouza in Shenzhen (Old Heaven Books, 2025) with Alan Bishop (vocals, bass, saxophone), Sam Shalabi (electric guitar), Maurice Louca (keyboards, electronics, beats), Zeng Jun, Luo Lvye (recording engineers). NOTE: Recorded live May 25th, 2024 at Tomorrow Festival, B10 Live, Shenzhen
SET 2: Zut alors! [26:57]
1. [31:27] Frank Zappa: Friendly Little Finger. From Zoot Allures (Warner Bros., 1976) with Frank Zappa (guitar, Höfner bass), Roy Estrada (drone bass), Terry Bozzio (drums), Ruth Underwood (marimba, synth), Ian Underwood (saxophone), Sal Marquez (trumpet), Bruce Fowler (trombone)
2. [25:43] Donnacha Dennehy: The First Child - Room. From The First Child (Signum, 2026) with Man: Eric Jurenas (countertenor), Girl: Caia Leseure (actor), Simon: Emmett O’Hanlon (baritone), Alva: Niamh O’Sullivan (mezzo-soprano), Gary: Dean Power (tenor), Older Woman: Joan Sheehy (actor), Karen: Sarah Shine (soprano), Irish National Opera Children's Chorus, Crash Ensemble, Ryan McAdams (conductor), David Sheppard (sound designer), Wolfgang Schiefermair (recording engineer)
3. [37:50] Endlings + VNM: protrio veneno. 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
4. [43:25] Donnacha Dennehy: The First Child - Could the moon decide to leave me there. From The First Child (credits as above)
5. [45:48] Outro with The First Child - The story is beginning again…
6. [50:29] The Residents: Satisfaction. From Satisfaction (Ralph, 1976) with Snakefinger (guitar), The Residents, The Pointless Sisters (backing vocals), Don (percussion). NOTE: Recorded June 1976. Song by Keith Richards and Mick Jagger
Flotation Device 2026-06-07: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell - PART TWO
SET 3: I can't get no weed [55:25]
1. [56:44] The Residents: Loser ≅ Weed. From Satisfaction (credits as above). NOTE: Recorded January 1976
2. [58:56] Anthony Braxton, Richard Teitelbaum: Behemoth Dreams (excerpt). From Time Zones (Freedom, 1977, reissued 1996 by Black Lion as Silence/Time Zones) with Anthony Braxton (contrabass clarinet), Richard Teitelbaum (modular Moog and Micromoog synthesizer), Bill Warrell (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded live June 10, 1976 at Creative Music Festival, Mt. Tremper, NY
3. [1:03:15] Joseph Branciforte, Jozef Dumoulin: ⊏. From Iterae (Greyfade, 2026) with Joseph Branciforte (Fender Rhodes, electronics, live editing), Jozef Dumoulin (Fender Rhodes, electronics)
4. [1:12:17] Zhang Meng: A Strange Key, Earrape (excerpts). From Noising Sheng 噪笙 (Dusty Ballz, 2025) with Zhang Meng 张梦 (sheng, Fostex Multitracker X-26). NOTE: Recorded live February 3, 2024, at Trigger, Shanghai
5. [1:18:21] The Residents: You Yesyesyes. From Fingerprince (Ralph, 1977) with Snakefinger (guitar), The Residents (vocals, guitars, horns, synthesizers, keyboards, percussion). NOTE: Recorded June 1976
SET 4: Radical symmetry [1:21:45]
1. [1:26:05] John Luther Adams: Horizon - 1. Visible Horizon. From Horizon (Cold Blue, 2026) with Australian Chamber Orchestra, Richard Tognetti (director, lead violin), Bob Scott (recording engineer)
2. [1:46:27] Outro with John Luther Adams: Horizon - 2. True Horizon
Photo credits: Frank Zappa by Sam Emerson, eyeball by The Residents, George (Chiquita Magic, John Hollenbeck, Sarah Rossy, Anna Webber) by TJ Huff, John Luther Adams by Madeline Cass, Zhang Meng via Neo-Tradition, Endlings (John Dieterich, Raven Chacon) via the artists, Frederic Rzewski and daughter by Françoise Walot, Don Cherry and Charlie Haden at Festival International de Jazz de Montréal 1989, Anthony Braxton and Richard Teitelbaum by Peter Gannushkin, Dwarfs of East Agouza (Alan Bishop, Maurice Louca, Sam Shalabi) by Hans Van Der Linden, Donnacha Dennehy by Hugh O’Conor, Joseph Branciforte by Taylor Deupree.