Music From Other Minds

On this Music from Other Minds, Liam Herb broadcasts Charles Amirkhanian’s conversation with pianist Robin Rubenstein (1980). Tune in to hear in studio performances and tapes of Rubenstein performing Brahms, Gershwin, Grainger, and more.

On this broadcast of Music from Other Minds, Liam Herb plays works of sound art in memory of Phill Niblock (1933-2024) and Steve Roden (1965-2023). Tune in to hear Niblock’s composition Sweet Potatoes (2002), and Roden’s teacup composition winter couplet (2002). Also on the program, Annea Lockwood‘s Glass World (1970) and Francisco López‘ luggage travel from the airplane to baggage claim in his 2023 piece San Francisco (OAK).

This program begins and ends with two modern takes on the madrigal by Peggy Glanville-Hicks and James Weeks, moving inward, drone pieces by Noah Jenkins and Mattie Barbier, further inward, percussion and piano pieces by Tyondai Braxton and Joan Tower, all centered around a vibraphone piece by Matt Sargent.

Another dive into the recently opened Other Minds Archives brings this program featuring Jin Hi Kim discussing Korean court music and playing the komungo; Lou Harrison and William Colvig demonstrating the instruments of their American gamelan; pianist Marilyn Crispell and violinist Leroy Jenkins playing together for the first time in public; and, in the final Speaking of Music program in 1992, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan performing with Swapan Chaudhuri.

Charles Amirkhanian pays homage to visionary violinist Anahid Ajemian (January 26, 1924–June 13, 2016) in celebration this week of the 100th anniversary of her birth in New York City. Ajemian, and her older sister, pianist Maro Ajemian, were early advocates of the music of maverick composers John Cage, Alan Hovhaness, and Lou Harrison. They went on to record dozens of LPs in the 1950s for MGM Records featuring then-little-known contemporary music, some of which is heard here by composers Wallingford Riegger, Silvestre Revueltas, Carlos Chavez, and others. Included are rare recordings of the 1942 American premiere of the Khachaturian Piano Concerto, a 1947 V-Disc of Debussy’s Violin Sonata, and a 1948 RCA Victor 78rpm side of Khachaturian’s Chant-Poéme. The broadcast coincides with the launch this week of the new Other Minds Archives website.

This program features interviews and music from the new Other Minds Archives, which will be available for free public access on January 26, 2024. Included are excerpts of interviews and music by Laurie Anderson, Jim Nollman, Tom Marioni, Terry Riley, and Charles Amirkhanian‘s 1981 RadioVisions program “The New Consonance.”

This program features interviews and music from the new Other Minds Archives, which will be available for free public access on January 26, 2024. Included are excerpts of interviews and music by John Cage, Morton Feldman, Henry Cowell, Pauline Oliveros, Nicolas Slonimsky, Mari Kimura, Tony Gnazzo, Pamela Z, and Sheila Davies.

Although a certain rock producer turned murderer is often credited with creating the “Wall of Sound,” those efforts are feeble compared to tonight’s program. This music is not necessarily loud or abrasive, but dense, impenetrable. Works by George Antheil, Brian Baumbusch, Henry Threadgill, Harry Bertoia, Conlon Nancarrow, Pauline Oliveros, Phill Niblock, Julia Wolfe, Tony Conrad, Iannis Xenakis, and the mysterious New Zealand artist sometimes known as WITCYST.

We’re going to try something different for this New Year’s Eve 2023. Usually our focus is on experimental music from a contemporary classical perspective. But tonight we’ll listen to experiments with blues-based music. This means we’ll be playing some jazz—Don Cherry, Jamie Branch. We’ll also hear from experimental guitarists like James Blood Ulmer and Elliott Sharp. And we’ll play some old acoustic blues by Robert Johnson and Blind Willie Johnson.

On this Music from Other Minds, Liam Herb plays experimental songs by John Oswald and Jacqueline Humbert / David Rosenboom, clay instrument improvisations by Sonic Mud, and a live performance from Other Minds Festival 27 by Craig Taborn.