#5018, Music and Technology
There’s work using the sounds of technology incorporated into music – industrial sounds, from NASA’s mission control, television, and the tones of telephone from touch tones, ringtones, hold music, and answering machines. Hear music by American composer Leah Reid involving telephone sounds of the mid 20th century; by British duo Public Service Broadcasting revisiting NASA mission control recordings; industrial factory sounds from heavy machinery made into music by Annie Gosfield, and more.
Listen to an electroacoustic work, “Crossed Wires” by American composer, sound artist, researcher, and educator Leah Reid which involves the sounds of mid-20th century telephones, communication, and miscommunication. It’s for viola, percussion, and electronics, as played by the Piedmont Duo. Hear a Turkish telephone conversation, set by pianist and composer Jason Moran with help from his group Bandwagon, “Ringing My Phone (Straight Outta Istanbul)”. Then, there’s the music captured as people are leaving or receiving a message in work by UK composer/violist Jocelyn Pook.
Then, listen to music by British duo Public Service Broadcasting, which uses NASA recordings from Mission Control. There’s also old school 1980’s media sampled in work by Steinski and Mass Media, in the vein of late-night television advertisements, along with music from factory samples and heavy machinery by American composer Annie Gosfield from her album, Flying Sparks And Heavy Machinery. Listen to some of her piece, “Ewa 7” made with bits and pieces of metal, featuring driving heavy machine samples, layers of ambient noise, and electronic blips, some recorded in a working factory in Germany. That, and more. - Caryn Havlik
Program #5018, Music and Technology (First aired 6/16/25)
ARTIST: Jason Moran & the Bandwagon
WORK: Ringing My Phone (Straight Outta Istanbul) [1:00]
RECORDING: The Bandwagon
SOURCE: Blue Note Records
INFO: Available on Apple Music, Amazon, Spotify, YouTube
ARTIST: Jocelyn Pook
WORK: Messages [2:22]
RECORDING: Portraits In Absentia
SOURCE: This performance is not commercially available.
INFO: https://www.wisemusicclassical.com/work/14236/Portraits-in-Absentia--Jocelyn-Pook
ARTIST: Piedmont Duo
WORK: Leah Reid: Crossed Wires [7:58]
RECORDING: Private Recording, UVA 2024
SOURCE: This performance is not commercially available.
INFO: https://www.leahreid.com | https://music.virginia.edu/people/i-jen-fang | https://music.virginia.edu/people/ayn-balija
ARTIST: Jason Moran & the Bandwagon
WORK: Ringing My Phone (Straight Outta Istanbul) [8:06]
RECORDING: The Bandwagon
SOURCE: Blue Note Records
INFO: Available on Apple Music, Amazon, Spotify, YouTube
ARTIST: Jocelyn Pook
WORK: Parvin & Trevor's Journey [4:49]
RECORDING: Portraits In Absentia
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available
INFO: https://www.wisemusicclassical.com/work/14236/Portraits-in-Absentia--Jocelyn-Pook
ARTIST: Penguin Café Orchestra
WORK: Telephone and Rubber Band [2:30]
RECORDING: Penguin Café Orchestra
SOURCE: Virgin
INFO: Available at AppleMusic, Amazon.com, Spotify, YouTube
ARTIST: Steve Reich / Kronos Quartet
WORK: Steve Reich: WTC 9/11 [3:33]
RECORDING: WTC 9/11
SOURCE: Nonesuch
INFO: https://stevereich.com/composition/wtc-9-11/
ARTIST: Public Service Broadcasting, featuring Smoke Fairies
WORK: Go [4:14]
RECORDING: The Race for Space
SOURCE: Test Card Recordings
INFO: https://publicservicebroadcasting.bandcamp.com/album/the-race-for-space
ARTIST: Steinski & Mass Media
WORK: We'll Be Right Back [3:12]
RECORDING: We'll Be Right Back
SOURCE: 4th & Broadway
INFO: Try Discogs.com, YouTube Music, Spotify
ARTIST: Annie Gosfield
WORK: Ewa 7: Impulse Turbine [3:27]
RECORDING: Flying Sparks And Heavy Machinery
SOURCE: Tzadik 7069
INFO: tzadik.com
