Venice Is Sinking - an interview

Positive energy and vibrant enthusiasm abound in the new cd-ep by Georgia band Venice is Sinking, a split cd with the band What We Do Is Secret recently released by One Percent Press (www.onepercentpress.com).

Venice Is Sinking is Daniel Lawson on vocals and guitar, Steve Miller on bass, Lucas Jensen on drums, Karolyn Troupe on viola and vocals, and Alex Thibadeaux on keyboards. Their music is infused with crafted songwriting, gorgeous vocals and harmonies, and seamless musicianship. It’s criminal that bands this excellent don’t get much radio exposure, which is significant part aspect of why I produce Seldom Heard Radio in the first place – to play a small role in turning adventurous listeners on to music they may not have otherwise discovered.

I made a conscious decision only to promote and review music, radio stations, zines & other media in this blog that are engaging & that that I enjoy immensely. Lucas and Daniel kindly consented to an interview for this blog, for which I am grateful!

DJ Frederick: Tell me about the song Pulaski Heights and the making of the video that is on your website (I personally found the imagery of the television everywhere very effective)

Daniel: The video was shot and directed by our friends Chris Poules and Tim Hayden of Wow!Bang!Science! Productions. The filming was done over the course of a few days spread out over two weeks. Chris and Tim did the editing in one 24 hour session in an attempt to meet a deadline that we later found out had been extended. Most of the video was shot in and around the Pulaski Heights neighborhood in Athens, Ga. We trespassed on a construction site for the final shots. The cops showed up but kept driving. It was fun. The lyrics to the song are about losing your keys and breaking into your apartment a 4:00 am.

Lucas: I can tell you that I've never changed my drum part once on that song. That was probably the quickest collaboration processes we've ever had. Daniel just brought in that wah-wah-wah thing at the beginning and it seems like the song finished itself. To be fair, the song is the same chords over and over again and my drum part is pretty basic. The title, "Pulaski Heights," refers to the neighborhood in which the band originally practiced, more or less, and I think that all of us have great memories of our times there, drinking mimosas at three in the afternoon and hitting golf balls at trains. But I can't remember who came up with the idea for the TVs in the video. I think Tim and Chris, the directors, came up with that. I thought it was funny. I decided that I would be cutting would with a Skil Saw. That's about it.

DJ Frederick: Tell me a little about the process of collaboration among the band members and is everyone as cool and eccentric sounding as on the website bios?

Lucas: Well, I would say that none of us is very cool, except maybe Steve. Eccentric maybe. I like a lot of George Michael/Wham records. Is that eccentric? It's surely not cool. As you can probably guess, those bios are a little, um, embellished.

As far as collaboration goes, it works like this: first we consecrate the blood of seven Melanesian virgins. Then we call on Az'grodnok, He of the Third Phase of the Destructors.

I kid, I kid. Actually, collaboration for us is a pretty easy process. Usually Daniel brings in the bare-bones idea for a song: riffs, melodies,keyboard hooks, and the like. Then we sort of jam our way through it and Karolyn and Daniel work out the harmonies and lyrics and stuff. Lyrics are usually the last thing added. Steve's pretty good at figuring out amazing bass parts at the beginning. It's actually not that long of a process for us...it's just getting around to doing it at practice. It's never been contentious.

Daniel: When we first started we weren’t really a band at all. We started out just meeting at a friend’s house at 666 Pulaski Street and improvising. We were much more experimental back then. Eventually, I started bringing in pop songs I had been working on and it went from there. Everyone added their own parts and everything got much more structured. Nowadays, we write songs as a band which is nice. It’s actually a lot like when we first started.

DJ Frederick: How are you promoting your music and how successful has that been?

Daniel: We try to play out of town as much as possible and so far the response has been pretty good. We put songs on the internet for people to hear and things like that. Once our record comes out in March we plan on doing a lot more in the promotion department.

Lucas: We haven't really started promoting stuff beyond small tours and some local and internet press, but we are planning a big campaign starting soon that will last through March, when our full-length is slated to come out. I am a publicist, so that's handy. Hopefully we will find some success.

DJ Frederick: What are your feelings on the state of radio in the US?

Daniel: The only radio I listen to anymore is NPR and certain shows on AM radio. Sometimes I listen to the local college radio station which can be great and sometimes can be annoying. The rest of the dial is pretty bleak though. I think satellite radio is amazing and overwhelming at the same time.I think podcasting is pretty interesting though I really don’t know much about it.

Lucas: Radio in the US? What kind of radio? I like the top 40 stations, to be honest, because they don't claim to be anything else than what they are. I don't want to hear Creed on classic rock radio and Dave FM...well that's just a stupid name. There are exciting new developments in the world of podcasting, the Jack format, and more, but I think that people forget that college radio, however amateur, has been educating and providing great radio in most markets in America for quite some time. I'm a major college radio devotee. Actually, I listen to a lot of AM radio, and, let me tell you, it's as crazy as ever.

DJ Frederick: What is your band doing in the upcoming few months for gigs, recording, etc?

Lucas: We're hoping to record some new songs for an EP. I have this idea about creating new songs completely out of loops, like the band Menomena. We have a bunch of out-of-town gigs coming up, so there's that. And of course the eventual release of our first LP, tentatively titled Pig Manure Mash Up.

Daniel: We’re taking off for most of December to work on new songs for our next release and to start promoting our full length record which should be out in March. We can’t wait to start recording again, it’s been way too long since we’ve been in the studio.

Editors note: Venice Is Sinking have a visually stunning website with sound samples, the video for Pulaski Heights, band bios & more at www.veniceissinking.net.

Paul Pena 1950 - 2005

I'm sad to report that Paul passed away Saturday October 1, 2005 in the early evening at his apartment in San Francisco. He'd been through a long battle with Pancreatitis and Diabetes. This is a huge loss for all of us.

Thanks to the documentary film, Genghis Blues, Paul Pena is now known and appreciated throughout the world for his amazing accomplishments as a musician, particularly for having taught himself the techniques of traditional Tuvan singing.

Paul Pena was born on January 26, 1950 in Hyannis, MA, the oldest child of Jack and Virginia Pena. His grandparents came from the Cape Verde Islands off the west coast of Africa. He was born with congenital glaucoma. When he was five, he began school at the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown (a suburb of Boston). He graduated in 1967 and then attended Clark University in Worcester, MA.

As a young child, Paul soon showed his talent for music. His mother heard him picking out melodies and chords on a baby grand piano that had been found in the town dump and brought home, 'as a toy that a blind child might enjoy.' He developed 'perfect pitch.' Soon Paul was studying the piano, guitar, upright bass, violin and 'a little trumpet.' He played and sang popular jazz and Cape Verdian ballads with his father, a professional jazz musician, and also sang in his school choruses. Paul appeared in a talent show, and while in college, performed in coffeehouses in Worcester.

In 1969, Paul played in the Newport Folk Festival 'in the Contemporary Composer's Workshop with such people as James Taylor, Joni Mitchell and Kris Kristofferson.' In 1971, Paul moved to San Francisco and recorded his first marketed record for Capital Records, which was released in 1973.

In his musical career Paul played with many of the blues greats, John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Mississippi Fred McDowell, 'Big Bones,' and T. Bone Walker. His song, 'Jet Airliner,' recorded by the Steve Miller Band, was a hit in the 1970s. Another album, recorded by Bearsville Records, was never released.

During this period Paul's wife, Babe, suffered kidney failure. Paul gave up his musical career at that point in order to take care of her. She died in 1991. He suffered greatly from her loss.

Paul first heard a fragment of harmonic singing on a shortwave Radio Moscow broadcast on December 29, 1984 and he was so struck by it, he spent almost eight years trying to track down its source. In 1991 he was finally able to locate a recording of Tuvan music and taught himself the vocal techniques known as 'Khoomei, Sygyt, and Kargyraa'. In addition, he learned a good bit of the Tuvan language using English-Russian and Russian-Tuvan dictionaries and an obsolete 'Opticon' scanning device which translates text into sensations. In 1993, Paul attended a concert sponsored by the Friends of Tuva organization and met Kongar-ol Ondar after the performance. Paul gave Kongar-ol an impromptu demonstration--and astonished him with his talent and mastery of traditional Tuvan singing. The two men formed a strong friendship along with their musical collaboration.

WSCS Playlist October 23

Seldom Heard Radio Playlist
WSCS 90.9 New London NH
October 23, 2005
DJ Frederick, Producer & Host


“music & culture in the spirit of free radio”


Artist/Song/Recording Name


Radio Free Earth – White Bird – Fortune & Death
Scott Ainslie – Don’t Obey – The Feral Crow
Jose Gonzalez – Remain – Remain EP
Paul Pena – Center of Asia – Genghis Blues
Garaj Mahal – Blueberry Cave – Blueberry Cave
For Against – Amen Yves – In the Marshes
Abecedarians – John’s Pop – The Other Side of the Fence
Buddha On the Moon – How Near or How Far > 2 Star Motel
Super Daughter – Mystery Track > Empty Core Disappear – The Animals We See
The Barry Gemso Experience – Dial ‘S’ for Siren – Harpsichord 2000
High Llamas – Cookie Bay – 7” vinyl
The Clientele – Six Foot Drop – 7” single
Clock Strikes Thirteen – We Could Walk Together – 7” vinyl
The One AM Radio – All I Can Recall is the Haunting – Night Falls
Sky Cries Mary – Vuh > Elephant Song – Here & Now

1450 kHz - WKXL

This may be the first and only posting on this blog in praise of 1) a commercial radio station and 2) an AM commercial radio station! WKXL 1450 kHz in Concord NH is the shining exception to the insanity of the corporate owned commercial broadcast industry. Calling itself "Thoughtful Community Radio", WKXL has a signal radius of about 15 miles witha powerful and diverse schedule of community based and locally hosted programs. The program line-up includes health news, arts events, local politics, sports, and a range of shows that highlight everything from books to movies to the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Their local news department is the best in New Hampshire, probably in all of New England. And yes - they survive on local advertising revenue!

Here is WKXL's mission statement from their website:

Our mission is to make our community even better by:

• Offering useful information that makes listeners’ lives more productive, wholesome entertainment that brightens each day, and spiritual programs that provide comfort and direction
  
• Helping our advertising clients solve problems and sell their goods and services;
  
• Helping worthy community organizations attract support for their charitable works;
  
• Creating interesting and rewarding careers for our Team Members;
  
• Earning a respectable return on investment;
  
• Setting an example of excellence for our industry.In summary, our mission is to become the very best AM station in the country.

My jaw drops when I read those words. Commercial radio does not get any better than this. WKXL is providing an outstanding service to both advertisers and listeners in the community. Check out www.wkxl1450.com for online streaming, mp3s, and more information!

The Sixth Great Lake - Sunday Bridge

It's barely mid October & wintery rain, clouds and wind have enveloped New England in a melancholy grey for over a week. Perfect weather for listening to my personal favorite vinyl only release of 2005, Sunday Bridge by Vermont band The Sixth Great Lake.

These twelve songs highlight the storytelling / songwriting skills of Michael Barrett and the unhurried musical craft of The Sixth Great Lake. One easily becomes immersed in the dreamscapes of each of the twelve songs. Mellow, absorbing, and pressed on deep blue vinyl ... Sunday Bridge is a work of art on every level.


Listen to Sunday Bridge online at www.apolloaudio.com & check out the Sixth Great Lake's webpage at www.sixthgreatlake.com .. enjoy!

The Moscow Coup Attempt - an interview with Derek Whitacre

If you’ve tuned up or down a shortwave radio spectrum for any length of time you may have heard mechanical female voices droning a series of numbers into the ether … or crisp high-toned notes chiming a folk tune several times in succession. These transmissions are mysterious signals thought to be messages broadcasts to spies and agents all over the world. They are referred to as “spy number stations” and appear and disappear regularly on both varied and fixed frequencies. For more information please investigate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbers_station.


Derek Whitacre is the architect of The Moscow Coup Attempt and the delightfully cryptic new cd The Failure of Shortwave Radio which incorporates and weaves samples of shortwave numbers stations throughout blissful washes of melody. The title is somewhat poignant for me as a shortwave radio listener who has witnessed the landslide of shortwave stations discontinuing their broadcasts to North America over the past five years including the BBC, and RVI from Flanders.

Graciously, Derek Whitacre sent me a promotional copy of The Failure of Shortwave Radio and agreed to an interview for this blog:


DJ Frederick: How did you discover shortwave radio in general and number stations in specific?

Derek: National Public Radio. I heard a story about Numbers Stations and a CD collection of Numbers Stations called The Conet Project. From that point I was hooked.

After weeks of research into the subject, I went searching for myself. Using online shortwave radio networks, I was finding numbers stations every once in a while. It's quite a tricky feat, but if you have the right information on their occurrences, you can find them. Anyway... some of my recordings actually made it onto the album. Others I got from sources world 'round, with permission of course. I'd also like to state for the fact, that NONE of my recordings came from The Conet Project collection. I say this because the individual that compiled it is quite letigious on record.

DJ Frederick: What are you thoughts on the state of radio in the US?

Derek: Short answer, it's dead. Long answer... The corporations that own most of the stations in the US could give a shit about music. It's all about bottom line. And to them, America is the same no matter where you go. We're all a faceless horde of consumers, who will take whatever we're given. So now they have the SAME STATIONS in different cities with the SAME PLAYLISTS. "Keep them listening so we can sell more add time... Oh, this playlist works in LA, so it must work in Denver, and Atlanta, and Boston." And where do those playlists come from??? Dying major labels that don't want to invest in anything but a limited scope of "artists" because to be different is bad. Do what works until it doesn't work. Then do it again with a new hot young piece of ass and call it new. Ok, ok... yes, there are a handful of "indie" stations (most of which are owned by these same corporations) playing different blends of music. But they are few and far between.However, I don't really care all that much because I really don't do what I do to get played on KROQ or STAR or Teenie-Bopper-of-the-moment-.7 FM. If I could get on KCRW or other low budget indie eclectic shows, that would be cool. What was the question again?

DJ Frederick: What is a Moscow Coup Attempt live concert experience like?

Derek: I give everyone a gram of dried mushrooms at the door and we just stare at a bug-zapper set up in the middle of the room. Yeah, actually it's kind of like going to see a really loud art film. I play with laptop and synth and other toys to a film montage I cut to the music. It's all archival footage, really creepy images, some not, ancient war footage, NASA development shite...There's a trailer for it on the "Moscow" website. Eventually I'd like to get rid of most of the computer oriented pieces and replace them with real honest to monkeys people playing instruments that don't require wall sockets.

DJ Frederick: I’m wondering if you could talk about some of your film / visual projects?

Derek: Well, other than what I just described, I've written scores for a couple short films no one will see. Actually, one of them is a good little film about fathers and sons called "Ringside Hero," directed by John Covarrubias. There have been some video games I've written stupid little LimbBuzzcut style songs for. I'm also into photography... a lot of macro-lens laden images like the photos I did for the "Failure" album art. RIGHT NOW... I'm thinking about the next film I want to do for "the Coup." Where as I wrote this album thinking about cinema and it being music for "a movie that never was," I might go the other direction and write and film and music together. More of a narrative structure than abstract expressionism.

* * *

One listen to The Moscow Coup Attempt folds the listener into a world of “eyelid movies” and beyond. For sound samples, video and more information cruise over to www.moscowcoupattempt.com.

The Failure of Shortwave Radio is available to purchase from cd baby via www.cdbaby.com/cd/tmca

Derek's cd was released on Capitalist Records (somehow being a non-capitalist I love that name!) which has a website forthcoming at www.capitalistrecords.com. The image on the temporary page made me smile.

A brief intro to shortwave listening

Shortwave listening (abbreviated SWLing) is tuning for radio stations located on shortwave frequencies, between 1710 kHz (the upper limit of the AM broadcasting band) to 30 MHz (the lower limit of the tuning range of most scanner radio). In between those two frequencies, a shortwave radio is capable of letting you hear news, music, commentaries, and other feature programs in English and other languages from stations located round the world.

Why bother listening to shortwave in this era of communications satellites and cable television news channels? Perhaps the biggest reason is that SWLing can give you a unique perspective on events that you simply cannot get from American media. If you watch coverage of an event in Iraq from CCN or CBS News, you get the American perspective on what is happening from an American journalist. If you listen to China Radio International, you might get a very different interpretation of events.

No one knows the exact number of shortwave listeners (SWLs) in the United States, most estimates place the number in the millions. Shortwave radio sales have increased dramatically in the US since September 11, 2001.

Of course, not all shortwave stations broadcast in English. If you’re studying a foreign language—or want to maintain your proficiency in one—shortwave radio will offer you an unlimited supply of contemporary practice material. If you enjoy music, shortwave will let you hear sounds you probably can’t find in the even the most specialized record and CD shops. Ever heard a lagu melayu song? It sounds like a cross between Indian-style instrumentals and an Arabic vocal style, and it’s very popular in Indonesia. You can hear such songs over the various shortwave outlets of Radio Republic Indonesia. The so-called "world beat" popular with young people had its origins in the "high life" music broadcast by shortwave stations in Africa. Other SWLs arise before dawn to catch the haunting huayno melodies coming from stations in Bolivia and Peru. Some SWL music fans have compiled tape-recorded libraries of folk and indigenous music from shortwave broadcasts that many college and university music departments would envy.

DXing (distance listening) is a manifestation of shortwave’s biggest weakness—the fact that shortwave reception is highly variable compared to the AM and FM broadcasting bands. Reception of a shortwave station on a given frequency will usually vary greatly with the time of day and season of the year. Shortwave reception is heavily influenced by solar activity as indicated by the number of sunspots visible on the Sun. Solar flares and storms can disrupt shortwave reception for hours and even days. Fading is also common on the shortwave bands. While shortwave can offer you listening you cannot find on your local AM and FM stations, it unfortunately cannot offer you the same reliable reception or audio quality from day to day or even hour to hour sometimes.

Many shortwave stations welcome correspondence from listeners, especially reports on how well the station is being received and comments on their programming. Stations often respond to such letters by sending out colorful souvenir cards, known as QSL cards, for correct reports of reception. Some station reply with QSL letters instead of cards, and a few send other items, like pennants with the station’s name or call letters, to lucky SWLs.

1420 kHz

An interview with Pam Berry of UK indie folk pop band The Pines.

Tell me about your previous and present bands - when did you realise you were in love with music?

I realised music was the best thing since iced raisin bread long before I had any kind of involvement with making it myself. My parents had a big beautiful cabinet stereo that finally bit the dust only about a decade ago, the kind with the stack-o-vinyl spindle on the turntable. I've got an old Christmas polaroid from when I was three of me and my younger brother standing next to what must've been our first record player, with seven-inches without sleeves strewn about the place. Old record filing habits die hard!

The first band I sang in that put a record out was Black Tambourine. I couldn't sing very well but it didn't matter, writing songs and playing with friends was the best time ever. Every band I've been in since then has been the same ace situation of playing with friends and if I still lived in the US I'd hope to be playing music with the same people, I miss them! Speaking of those folks, lemme just say how many times a day I'm compelled to play When You Come Around by The Saturday People, can I get a witness?

I'm presently playing in The Pines with my friend and guitar wonder Joe. These days we record everything at home in my South London flat on a digital 16-track portastudio with my husband at the controls. Joe and I stay pretty busy with our jobs and don't see each other as much as we'd like, but we record more than we play out - we just played our first and last show of the year at what is turning into our annual live gig at the Bush Hall in London. I also join in when I can for Snowdrops recordings with Keith and Dick, who live in Brighton.

Which would you consider your 'day-job' band?

Don't make me laugh! Playing and recording is great but at the rate we do things, I'd be wiser to work on one of the ten gazillion other things that are more appealing than working 9 to 5, like world craft domination or starting London's foremost homemade pie delivery service.

Tell me a little bit more about the process of releasing Pines records - you've recorded for various labels - what is your relationship with them all?

The first Pines release was a song on a comp CD that came with an issue of Papercuts magazine that our friend Stevie put out in 2000. Our first seven-inch came out on the label Long Lost Cousin, which is run by Mark who currently plays in the fantastic Pipas. Mark used to record us on his Mac before Mike and I got the Akai, he wanted to start a label, I was keen to make some sleeves, and it was done. In the earlier days Joe and I didn't really work much on recording until someone asked us for songs, having some kind of deadline would kick our butts into recording action. We've been lucky because the labels who have asked us for songs like Becalmed, Annika, Foxyboy and Matinee have committed to putting out a Pines release and trusted that they'll like the songs without hearing them first! I've known Jimmy from Matinee for ages but still couldn't bring myself to tell him after we recorded that True Love Waits Volume 2's first song was a capella and the last song clocked in at 9 minutes, I just sent along the finished songs and hoped for the best. Only recently have we started recording songs that don't have a home yet.

How many volumes of the 'True Love Waits' eps will there be?

Volumes 1 and 2 are the whole shebang, Joe wrote the songs as a group, though we didn't record them all at once. A long time ago we got asked to release some songs on a new indie mini-CD label and decided to start recording the first half of the True Love Waits bunch of ten. When the label crashed and the record wasn't going to happen after all, Ara from Foxyboy offered to release the songs. Matinee then kindly offered to put out the second batch of five, which mirrored the first five nicely and completed the TLW set.

Did you start 'Chickfactor' with Gail O'Hara - or just work on it for a while? How did they come about?

I started Chickfactor with Gail in 1992 and though she did take on more of the reviewing burden and was a friend to the deadline in a way I never was, we were right there together transcribing, putting on shows, pasting candies and hair thingies on the covers and stapling pages together until I left after issue 11 in 1995. All told, Gail did put much more work into Chickfactor than I did (she hit people up for ads for instance, something I could never do) and though I miss doing a fanzine I really think of it as her mag. Good thing, then, that she carried on doing it after I left and now has a wonderful webspace devoted to it! Check it out for a complete history of Chickfactor, fab pictures by Gail and awesome web-only CF articles (like Peter Paphides waxing excited about choc!).

Do you and Joe have different ideas about how The Pines should sound? Is there any element of compromise when you're working together?

Joe and I have very similar ideas about how The Pines should sound, which is why recording is something I look forward to. We also have very similar ideas about how much lazing about should be done during any day of recording and how much cheese should go on top of the pasta bake made on the day of recording. Doing any kind of creative activity with someone else will always involve elements of compromise but we've yet to have fisticuffs over where the melodica fades out or anything like that, and since we have all our recording gear at home we have the luxury of trying things out different ways, without the pressure of time or expense that recording in a studio would have.

Would you like to be more prolific?

Yes, and not just in music. In music, I'd love to be recording more frequently and getting more Pines records out. In everything else, I'd love to finish even half of the projects I start and get my small biz up and running this year. More music, more bags, more gocco fabric stamping, more mass pierogi-producing and more hat-making!

Playlist October 1, 2005

Seldom Heard Radio Playlist
WNEC 91.7 Henniker NH
DJ Frederick, Producer & Host
October 1, 2005


“awaiting autumn colour”

Artist/ Song/ Recording

Windy & Carl – The Sun – Consciousness

Unknown / Unknown (track 2) – Folk & Pop Sounds of Sumatra vol. 2 – www.sublimefrequencies.com

Deepak Ram – A Night in Lenasia – Asian Groove

Ansuman Biswa – Swimology – Eastwestercism Vol. 1

Banco De Gaia – Sakaiyia – Arabian Travels

Lotus – Ball of Energy – Nomad

Rajna – Cantara – Summoning of the Muse (a tribute to Dead Can Dance)

Nick Drake – One of These Things First – Bryter Layter

Jose Gonzales – Stay In the Shade - Veneer

Devon Sproule – Plea For a Good Night’s Rest – Upstate Songs

The Finches – The Road – Six Songs

Devon Sproule – Julie – Mp3 www.foundmagazine.com

Great Lake Swimmers – The Animals of the World – Bodies and Minds

Ex Reverie – Orange Flame – Phronesis 3” cd

Espers – Hearts & Daggers – Espers

Friends of Dean Martinez – All In the Golden Afternoon – Lost Horizon

Sixth Great Lake – 300 Miles – Up the Country

Bedsit Poets – Refusing to Play > Reach for the Sky – The Summer That Changed

Dan Leigh – Away > These Twisting Paths – The Shortest Life

The Clientele – I Can’t Seem to Make You Mine – Strange Geometry

Doleful Lions – O Martyr Atlantis – Shaded Lodge & Mausoleum

Rachel Goswell – If – Friends & Lovers (Songs of Bread)