Music From Other Minds

In this episode of Music From Other Minds, we’ll remember the events of September 11, 2001. The centerpiece of this program is William Basinski’s Disintegration Loop 1.1, a one-hour minimalist tour-de-force. We’ll also hear composer Steve Reich’s harrowing take on the disaster, English composer Gavin Bryars’s musical depiction of another disaster, the sinking of the Titanic, as well as work from composers Tunde Jegede, Joan Tower and the late Leonard Cohen.

This episode looks at music that could be described as “sound art” – music made with found sound, synthesizer drones, video game sounds, ambient recordings, custom-made instruments, scientific instruments, accidental and improvised sounds. Featured work includes a collaboration between Japanese artists Akio Suzuki and Aki Onda. There’s a piece by William Basinski, which uses interferon recordings of a collision between two black holes from 1.3 billion years ago. And we’ll also hear from Ai Yamamoto, Lawrence English, DJ Olive, and the Conet Project.

On this Music from Other Minds, Liam Herb plays works by Catherine Christer Hennix, James Romig, and Ellen Arkbro that examine the intersections between the philosophies of maximalism and minimalism.

On this Music from Other Minds, Randall Wong plays The Bewitched and other dramatic and lyric works by Harry Partch including the Gate 5 Ensemble’s performance of The Wayward: I. U.S. Highball-A Musical Account Of A Transcontinental Hobo Trip.

On this Music from Other Minds, Liam Herb digs in to the Other Minds Archive with a rebroadcast of Charles Amirkhanian’s 1989 Ode to Gravity broadcast of his February 2, 1980 conversation with Brian Eno. Together they discuss artistic influences, lyric writing procedures, the recording studio as compositional tool, and listen to demo recordings from the then unreleased album My Life in the Bush of Ghosts.

This week we’ll take a look at music coming from some of the younger experimental jazz artists based mainly, with a few exceptions, in Chicago. Among those are Makaya McCraven, who has made a number of albums with techniques normally used to build hip-hop music. We’ll also hear Chicago-based experimentalist Ben LaMar Gay, whose work stands out for it’s eccentricity and creativity. Trumpeter Jaimie Branch’s work projects major spunk and attitude. We’ll also hear work from a couple of ensemble projects featuring Moor Mother, the poet, musician and activist Camae Ayewa.

On this Music from Other Minds program, Liam Herb featured music submitted by composers from around the globe. The program is composed of works by Jay Williams (GA), Bruno Liberda (Austria), Stephen Ruppenthal (CA), Michael Pisaro (CA), Orlando Jacinto Garcia (FL), Alvin Curran (Rome), Robert Worby (UK), and Stéphane Borrel (France).

On this Music from Other Minds, Liam Herb explores new releases by KMRU AKA Joseph Kamaru, Ben LaMar Gay, Carmen Villain, Aisha Orazbayeva, Benjamin Vraja, Tasting Menu, and Irreversible Entanglements. Tune in to hear the latest releases in ambient, contemporary classical, and improvised music.  

On this Music from Other Minds, Charles Amirkhanian explores the life and music of composer Marga Richter (1926-2020). In this two-hour Music from Other Minds program, Charles Amirkhanian will explore the life of this under appreciated pioneer of American Music through the lens of her work, giving historical context and commentary along the way.  

On the next Music from Other Minds, the first American broadcast of the complete orchestrated version of Marc Blitzstein’s The Cradle Will Rock, with recollections by the composer.