Whoops, I did it again, well in this case, it was no accident but another happy opportunity to play a radio DJ once more. This was my second turn at the web-powered microphone for the Latvian online radio station tirkultura. My first time was back in February of this year, which I related on my other, comix-related blog, The Reluctant Sadist and Other Wanderings in the Comix Underground. Yes, I have two neglected blogs. Always the overachieving underachiever.
Michael Holland (check out his show on OnoTesla – NTS) once more was my producer and studio engineer as he was for kuš! radio. This was a good thing as I needed his technical expertise and moral support to try and pull off my ambitious upgrade to my first outing. I wanted to go beyond just working through a playlist with a bit of yammer in between the tunes. I wanted to take my listeners for a trip around the world with me on a show that I called, “Wherever You Go, Well That’s Where You Are”. With that plan in mind, I set to harvesting golden moments I had captured on my various travels and intended to weave those found sounds together with appropriately themed songs. With Micheal in my corner, I knew all I had to do was show up with the bits and pieces and he would put the cables into the right sockets and we’d be off. Now, I did not map out each and every clip as I wanted to build the story on the fly and let our conversation lead us where it may. This loose approach did result in a few technical hiccups, which felt jarring to the point of disaster in the live moment, but on later listens actually adds to the charm and authenticity of the show I think. You be the judge, here’s the show:
It was an exhilarating process stitching this crazy, patchwork sonic quilt together in the moment. I was playing mp4 video of travel clips so Micheal and I could watch them together and comment. We agreed ahead of time to let the clips, music and talking overlap to build unexpected sounds and make room for happy accidents and I think that works as much as it doesn’t. All that overlapping though meant that the source materials were consumed much more quickly than I expected, so we had to do a little scrambling at the end to fill time. Here’s the playlist –
01 – India_Varansai_Religious_Procession (Travel clip)
02 – On the Road Again (Willie Nelson)
03 – Morroco_Desert_Dancing (Travel clip)
04 – Spread Your Wings (QUEEN)
05 – Bali_Ubud_Furneal_Procession_01 (Travel clip)
06 – I’m a Ramblin’ Man (Waylon Jennings)
07 – Japan_Tokyo_Folk_Dancing (Travel clip)
08 – Japan_Yokohoma_Dragon_Dance (Travel clip)
09 – Niamey Jam (Nomad- Bombino)
10 – Vietnam_Ho_Chi_Mihn_Broom_Machine (Travel clip)
11 – Vietnam_Hanoi_Street_Karaoke (Travel clip)
12 – High Plains Drifter (Beastie Boys)
13 – Thailand_Bangkok_Thai_Boxing (Travel clip)
14 – Thailand_Chiangmai_Pop_Singing (Travel clip)
15 – Singapore (Tom Waits)
16 – Hong_Kong_Slyvester – (Sonny Rollins – St. Thomas) (Travel clip)
17 – Bali_Ubud_Shadow_Puppets_02 (Travel clip)
18 – The Crystal Ship (The Doors)
19 – Nepal_Gandaki_Mule_Train_on_the mountain (Travel clip)
20 – Myanmar_Bagan_Ice_Cream_Man_Rap (Travel clip)
21 – Road Trippin’ (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
22 – Morroco_Marrakech_Night_Music (Travel clip)
23 – Cambodia_Siem_Reap_BATS (Travel clip)
24 – Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Judy Garland)
25 – India_Varansai_Ganga_River_Night_Ceremony
26 – Lawrence of Arabia (Movie Soundtrack)
27 – Bali_Gainyar_Ceremony (Travel clip)
28 – King of the Road (Roger Miller)
29 – Here At The End of The World (Alex McMurray)
30 – City of New Orleans (Johnny “Doc” Criner)
What do you think? Should I do some more radio shows?
Keep smiling,
OK HW
