Sean - Viv Albertine

I'm from the post punk generation, and one of my favourite post punk bands back in the late 1970s was the Slits. 2JJ had their single Typical Girls on high rotation in 1979. And then their album Cut was released, with a provocative cover that wasn't on prominent display in any Sydney record store. I loved the slightly shambolic but very poppy/reggae style of their music. Their second album Earthbeat was even better, introducing dub elements. But beyond the great music, the Slits were probably most famous for being an all-girl band. One of the few all-girl bands at the time, along with the equally idiosyncratic Raincoats. In true post punk style, the Slits members were called Ari Up (stepdaughter of Johnny Rotten!), Palmolive, and Viv Albertine. Now, Viv has released a memoir called Clothes Clothes Clothes Music Music Music Boys Boys Boys. I've downloaded it to my Kindle, am half-way through and really enjoying it. Viv writes in a very direct and raw style. It's quite eccentric, and like her music wanders around a bit. But she really captures the mood of the 1970s and brings that era to life in a visceral way that I haven't encountered before. From the early 70s when she was a teenager in the "Woodcraft Youth Movement", through her art college years and living in squats, to meeting musicians (going out with Mick Jones from the Clash), and finally realising that she could become a musician too, and start a band. With a bunch of girls. Actually, a revolutionary act at the time. Viv's approach to life I think is quite indicative of the 2nd wave generation of feminists, including a few of the girls I knew in my early twenties. Very individualistic, forthright and creative. Unabashed about talking about anything. Not anti-male at all, but unafraid to set guys straight. I'm not sure if this memoir would speak to younger generations as much as it grabs me, but I'm finding it a pleasure to read. This review in the Guardian sums it up well.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/may/28/clothes-music-boys-viv-albertine-review

And an interesting article/interview in the Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jun/01/the-slits-viv-albertine-punk-violence-domesticity

Sean - The Boring Conference

How about this as an antidote to TED - The Boring Conference. 

"This year, 20 speakers will tackle, in 10-minute slots, subjects as diverse yet snoozeworthy as domestic inkjet printers of 1999, episodes of the game show You Bet, German film titles, ice-cream-van chimes, how to cook elaborate meals with the equipment found in hotel bedrooms, similarities between 198 of the world's national anthems and – thrillingly – the widely disliked font Comic Sans."

http://www.theguardian.com/society/shortcuts/2014/may/27/the-boring-conference-fascinating-world-mundane-ordinary-london

My boring presentation would be - Shoe shopping for size 15 feet.

What would your boring presentation be?

Sonya - A healthy dose of scepticism

Photo: TEDx Somerville

First up:  We need to talk about TED - Sunday Extra, RN

"Are TED talks truly 'ideas worth spreading'? Or just indoctrination from an American Idol-style infotainment cult?" 

I wanted to hear this story as soon as I heard the promo. Like most people, I've watched the odd TED talk, I've even been to a TEDx gathering in Canberra fairly recently. But I've never been a die-hard fan, which may sound silly but I know people who believe in the concept so strongly that they've given up their spare time to volunteer on extravagant local events that are months in the making. In Sydney, you can't just buy a ticket either, you have to put in an application.

The guest in this segment argues that TED talks have fostered an unrealistically optimistic view of some of the world's biggest issues, and has started to impact grants for research projects.

I definitely left the TEDx event I attended a little confused. It was a pretty feel good, uplifting affair with great food in the breaks and a live band to keep people energised as they came back into the auditorium. People were excited and so encouraging of the presenters, it was almost like they were geared up to love it from the start so it was great to hear a critical perspective on the ever-growing TED.

And:  Longform podcast #88 - Sam Biddle

This was a recommendation from Lee Tran Lam, and at first glance, not something I would have sought out myself. Sam Biddle is a tech reporter who started out at Gizmodo, where he wrote about new products and says he got caught up in the hype that surrounds the industry. Now he works for Valleywag, which he describes as a tabloid tech website where he'll report on the personal lives of Silicon Valley's execs. I was quickly sucked into this interview, and the idea of a tabloid website with a (kind of) noble cause.

Sean - field recording x 4

Being a fan of field recording, I'm always on the look-out (or ear-out?) for interesting field recording projects on the web. There are plenty out there, but a bit hit and miss overall. Raises the question of what makes for interesting field recording? Here are 4 field recording sites that I think work -


1. Cities and Memory - mapping the real and imagined sounds of the world
Cities and Memory is a sound project that attempts to record both the present reality of a place, but also its imagined, alternative counterpart – remixing the world, one sound at at time.

http://citiesandmemory.com/

2. London Sound Survey - a growing collection of Creative Commons-licensed sound recordings of places, events, and wildlife in the capital. Historical references too are gathered to find out how London's sounds have changed.

http://soundsurvey.org.uk/

3. Radio Aporee - global sound map dedicated to field recording and the art of listening. I've even got a couple of sounds on there, see if you can find them!

http://aporee.org/maps/

4. Chris Watson - my hero in the world of field recording. Chris began his creative life as a member of the infamous Sheffield post punk band Cabaret Voltaire. He retired from music to become a full time sound recordist. For years he's been the sound recordist attached to BBC David Attenborough projects. But he's also released a series of highly influential field recording CDs on the Touch label.

http://www.chriswatson.net/

LONDON LIFE IN SOUND

Welcome to the London Sound Survey, a growing collection of Creative Commons-licensed sound recordings of places, events and wildlife in the capital. Historical references too ar

LONDON LIFE IN SOUND

Welcome to the London Sound Survey, a growing collection of Creative Commons-licensed sound recordings of places, events and wildlife in the capital. Historical references too are gathered to find out how London's sounds have changed.
- See more at: http://soundsurvey.org.uk/#sthash.LAYphhAB.dpuf

LONDON LIFE IN SOUND

Welcome to the London Sound Survey, a growing collection of Creative Commons-licensed sound recordings of places, events and wildlife in the capital. Historical references too are gathered to find out how London's sounds have changed.
- See more at: http://soundsurvey.org.uk/#sthash.LAYphhAB.d

LONDON LIFE IN SOUND

Welcome to the London Sound Survey, a growing collection of Creative Commons-licensed sound recordings of places, events and wildlife in the capital. Historical references too are gathered to find out how London's sounds have changed.
- See more at: http://soundsurvey.org.uk/#sthash.LAYphhAB.dpuf

LONDON LIFE IN SOUND

Welcome to the London Sound Survey, a growing collection of Creative Commons-licensed sound recordings of places, events and wildlife in the capital. Historical references too are gathered to find out how London's sounds have change

Vanessa - The girls of ye-ye and French pop

One of the benefits of leaving the radio on ALL day, whether I'm actually listening or not, is I'll occasionally catch something unexpected, and very exciting! Just like the old days pre-podcast, when radio discoveries were much more about flicking the dial around and landing on something serendipitously.

I'm a big Serge Gainsbourg fan, and I love all the female French pop singers of the 60s, especially Francoise Hardy. I used to co-present a French music show on

Eastside Radio (Sean also had a show on Eastside, which continues to this day). Serge Gainsbourg got a great deal of airplay when I was on air, and even though my French is a little bit rusty, the more I listened to his songs, I started to realise how clever they were, loaded with puns and wordplay that I only understood a fraction of. The man was prolific, a master of so many musical styles, and I think he was by far the best interpreter of his own songs. I love his deep voice and emphatic vocal delivery. 

Anyhow, this is a great radio feature. I'm starting to notice Lea Redfern's work on RN, her pieces have a great energy to them. In this piece, I love the mix of voices, music and the lovely way a French male voice formally announces each song and singer. And best of all, I love how all roads ultimately lead back to Serge!

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/intothemusic/the-girls-of-ye-ye-and-french-pop/5440214

Vanessa - Witness to an Execution

I've just come across Sound Portraits, an archive of stories by producer David Isay, who went on to found Story Corps. Story Corps was one of the first series I listened to when I started downloading podcasts, and I keep coming back to it. I love the humble format of a short conversation between two people about a formative moment in their relationship, and the implicit message that mutual respect and the space to talk and reflect are to be valued.

The Sound Portrait stories I've heard so far have a similar simplicity and space to them. I really like the way a key character provides the narration, which is woven around different voices collectively telling the story.

Witness to an Execution uses this spareness to great effect to address a topic that's heavily loaded, but steers clear of emotion or judgement and simply communicates the reality through small details observed by bystanders.

Sound Portraits: Witness to an Execution

The most striking image for me was the moment where the condemned person is strapped onto the bed. It felt like the turning point where their life is about to end, and the image of them being attended to by several people strapping them in makes it palpable.

My favourite thing about radio is the way it can foster empathy through the imaginative leap you need to make to build a picture through voice alone, and this piece is a great example. For me, it got the tone, the length and the balance between voices just right.

The photo above is from the series An Execution Night Timeline by Scott Langley. Langley does a similar thing with images that Isay does with sound, and it's an eerie experience to first listen, then look at the photos that document so many similar details.

Langley has dedicated the last 15 years to documenting and campaigning against the death penalty. His website, the Death Penalty Photography Documentary project is an online archive of thousands of images of the hidden world of the death house, which he makes available for educators and campaigners, in the great tradition of documentary photography as activism.

Photo by Scott Langley, used with permission.

http://www.deathpenaltyphoto.org/about.html

Sean - Radiotonic & Soundproof on RN

A couple of new programs on RN, perhaps commissioned via the Creative Audio Unit.

Radiotonic, produced by Jesse Cox, looks particularly promising, starts June 1st. Might send our upcoming First Memories package their way! 

"Refresh your ears with Radiotonic: a heady mix of fiction, non-fiction, essays and drama from writers, artists and radio makers."

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/radiotonic/

There's also this program starting June 1st -

"Trust your ears with Soundproof: a weekly portal into radio art, soundscapes, performance and composed audio features."

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/soundproof/

Vanessa - Fugitives on the Pacific: Richard Fidler conversation with Petar Belic

I listened to this conversation during an hour spent provisioning our boat (ie stuffing a 2 month supply of non-perishable food into every possible stowage cavity) for our first sailing adventure with Bryn. As Bryn slept and I willed him not wake up till the chaos of cans, packets and tetra packs was cleared away, it was strange to listen to the story of a father who absconded with his 2 sons aboard a yacht bound for South America. Some of the details are a bit hair raising given the ages of the two boys, and the lack of preparation and safety precautions made me shudder to listen. Interesting that Petar, the eldest son who tells the story, now sounds like a very un-adventurous adult. I love Richard's comment at the end about the Pacific being right at his doorstep, as if he's egging Petar on to break out of his settled-down adult life and return to the adventures of his young days!

I would love to hear this story in more detail, it felt like it was cut short and wrapped up too quickly.

Richard Fidler conversation with Petar Belic

Sonya - A Family Life

I happened upon this story from the Encounter archives yesterday afternoon, I don't think I've ever listened to the program before and really enjoyed this story from 1990.

It was introduced minimally, so you don't really know much about the story, other than it's set in Melbourne and focuses on a family that has experienced something incredibly traumatic but has found a way to keep living with hope.

I really liked the voice of the reporter in this story, he seems warm and genuine but isn't overly present. But I think the mother in this particular story is so fascinating in how she looks at life, expresses herself and what she does with her time. Parts of this story made me laugh but there were certainly parts that made feel uneasy too, with some of the ideas about living and contributing to a community that were being expressed.

Last year I was really interested in listening to and making stories about what happens to people when something unexpected and usually bad happens in their lives. I think it reflected something that was happening in my family, with my aunt being very unwell, and feeling really confronted and scared and far from home. I no longer have the urge to make or seek out those particular kinds of stories, and I realised that as I listened to this story, I was happy to go along with wherever it went without trying to take anything specific away from it.

Encounter: A Family Life

I listened to this story whilst working on my special apple pie, which I finished baking this morning.