Long before R&B singer Janelle Monae invented an android alter ego, and even before David Bowie became Ziggy Stardust, science fiction has had a powerful grip on popular music. Today: we explore the power of a literary genre that continues to shape music on the dance floor (as in the latest songs of Christina Aguilera) and in films (Hans Zimmer’s score to the sci-fi thriller “Inception”). 

Guests include bestselling author Rick Moody, whose new novel The Four Fingers of Death is set in the future and involves a mission to Mars, and David Garland, host of Movies on the Radio on WQXR and Spinning on Air on WNYC.

Playlist

1. Janelle Monáe – “Wondaland” (Suites II and III of IV)

2. Hans Zimmer –“ Dream Is Collapsing” from score to “Inception”

3. Elton John – “Rocket Man”

4. Tod Machover – “Valis Song” from the opera VALIS

5. Strauss - Also Sprach Zarathustra – Berlin Philharmonic, Karajan, conductor

6. The Voices of Walter Shumann - “New Frontiers” (Exploring the Unknown)

7. Lothar and the Hand People – “Machines”

8. Sun Ra: “Space is the Place”

9. John Coltrane – “Seraphic Light”

10. Brian Eno, “Drift” (Apollo: Atmospheres And Soundtracks)