Stadiums & Shrines
S&S-NewtownRadio-E42

 

One of the more potent listening modes as of late here in the mothership is Holodeck Scenario, a hybrid of free electronics and jazz arranged by M. Sage, optimized for playback in Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s beloved virtual reality facility. Last week, the sequence received a proper sequel, transmitted over the airwaves of Newtown Radio and hopefully well beyond, to the cocktail lounges of another dimension. Holodeck Upgrade, which opens Episode 42, is a gift we’ll accept on behalf of Quark’s Bar, Grill, Gaming House and Holosuite Arcade, a popular hangout in Deep Space 9‘s Promenade. The tracklist must not have made it through the Transporter, but the set runs as follows:

Hour One – Holodeck Upgrade
Hour Two – Holodeck Scenario

S&S Radio broadcasts every other Tuesday night on Newtown Radio.

ss-newtownradio-e41

 

Excluding one Russian dance cut from 1986, Episode 41 fixes forward, on this our 2016th year in the Common Era. Much of the selection previews albums nearing release: modular synth sculptor Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, harpist Mary Lattimore, Philly’s Japanese Breakfast, and the highly anticipated return of Jessy Lanza, to name a few. Plus, three sounds we had the honor of introducing over the air: a new Salt Cathedral single, and a very Patient pair from M. Sage and Ian William Craig.

Blithe Field – Outside the Den
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith – Anthropoda
Salt Cathedral – No Ordinary Man
Anna Homler and Steve Moshier – Ee Chê
Porches – Shaver
Your Friend – Come Back from It
Port St. Willow – An Ocean We Both Know
Japanese Breakfast – Heaven
Betonkust & Palmbomen II – 24×33
Владимир Осинский – Аэротон (Серия Спорт и музыка)
Jessy Lanza – It Means I Love You
Mikael Seifu – How To Save a Life (Vector of Eternity)

Blithe Field – Zen Den
Sun Araw – SONNE
M. Sage – Stroller Circuit
beaunoise – Piano VII
Sound of Ceres – Hand of Winter
Mary Lattimore – Jimmy V
Novelty Daughter – Shellbody
Quarterly – When I Die, Bury Me in the Woods so My Husband Will Hunt for Me
Slowspin – Side
Ian William Craig – Lost on Time, Part 1
Florist – Thank You

S&S Radio broadcasts every other Tuesday night on Newtown Radio.

Belgium

 

A wall enters, pillowing the horizon, flanking the foothills, inching towards the city. A ruffle of sea. The frequency is heard at first, a distant chug. Felt second as a misting, wooly, the marble marketplace coated and vibrating. Alarm catches the exterior, vendors awaken in succession… the auctioneer carries on inside, bidders still locked in squabble…

…(indiscernible chatter and horns)…

“Sold! to the…”

A gavel raised: the serene swell—so attentive—slides beneath, just as it wraps around each column and body through the ruby corridors, to the ballroom… every cordial, snifter and champagne flute freezes in the inhale of the ascending squall…

…(something about the sea curling from its bed)… and hovers, drawn back at full amplitude.

____

Longshoreman is Brooklyn-based musician Aaron Hodges (formerly of Holy Spirits). His self-titled 2015 album—a beautiful, devotional folk-drone exploration of darkness and hope (in a more song/vocal-oriented sphere)—is available on 12″ LP at bandcamp.

Dreams is an ongoing project where we ask our favorite artists to create a piece of music inspired by a handmade collage.

pianoworks

 

For a collection spanning nine years and a number of locations, Beau Sorenson’s Pianoworks feels remarkably fluid and whole. Its nine pieces were captured with multi-track tape recorder and processed through analog and digital techniques (all listed at bandcamp with detail befitting of the accomplished engineer/producer/mixer). Under these treatments, the piano becomes pliable; contemplative and cinematic when sharp, other times subdued and distorted into dark noise.

Pianoworks is out now, self-released on cassette.