Music From Other Minds

Program 747: International Electroacoustic

KALW Broadcast Date: June 25, 2023 | Host: Mark Abramson

This episode of Music from Other Minds focuses on what we call in the new music biz, electroacoustic music – music that incorporates electronic sound production and manipulation into compositional practice. Often this is thought of as electronic manipulation of acoustic sounds, but there are a lot of grey areas here, and tape-based music with acoustic sounds mixed in, electronics-based music mixed with acoustic sounds, processed or not, and mixed ensembles of electronic instruments and acoustic instruments could also fit in this category. Tonight’s focus is on the electroacoustic work of two composers from Latin America: Joaquin Orellana and Jacqueline Nova. Nova’s work dates from the 1960s to the 1970s, as she passed away in 1974 at the age of 40. Orellana’s work spans the same time period, and into the 21st Century. These two composers are now enjoying more exposure here in the U.S., with releases for both appearing in the last year or two. Also tonight, we’ll feature a long electroacoustic work from Luc Ferrari dating from 1981. I always enjoy the sense of humor and the narrative thread in Ferrari’s work. Also in this program, we’ll hear three pre-release tracks from a new album by Chicago-based composer Matana Roberts, the fifth work in her Coin-Coin series. The full album should be available this September. And we’ll hear a classic electroacoustic work by Iannis Xenakis, and a couple of turntable mash-ups of popular music by Christian Marclay.

Program Audio

30-Second Spot