Picture it: You meet someone new who introduces themselves to you. You proceed to start a conversation, but you notice this person’s voice sounds exactly like that of a childhood friend. In that moment, although you’re supposed to be listening to the conversation, you’re also thinking back to those days and that person. You’re there but you’re somewhere else.
Budhaditya Chattopadhyay is very interested in the “somewhere else” that sound can take us to. As an artist, researcher, writer and theorist, Budhaditya’s work revolves around lived experiences as well as contemplation through listening.
In today’s podcast I get to ask him about his life, work, and the kinds of sounds that most fascinate him, particularly during a pandemic when people are moving less and perhaps noticing one another more. Along the way we do something I love to do… remember music and films.
The longest running mashup podcast in the world started in London under the name Radio Clash where to this day Tim sits behind the mic. A member of the original podcasters generation, he has seen trends emerge and disappear, crises, change, the good the bad… the odd.. all of it. And then came Covid19.
Today on the podcast, from Lockdown London, it’s Tim from Radio Clash to talk music, politics, culture, gentrification, London, BLM, and more.
Songs in today’s podcast come from the following episodes of Tim’s program:
Somehow the end of a year (and a decade this time) doesn’t feel right if I don’t find myself at the dinner table in Boston sitting across from Christopher Lydon. The voice of the world’s first podcast, he’s been my north star ever since I started this thing long before itunes had podcasts or NPR knew what to do with the internet. As luck- or perhaps fate– would have it, Chris and I have become close friends over the years and the annual “where are we, what happened, where are we going” podcast conversation are among my most favorite rituals. (right after oatmeal, working on an episode of ROS with Mary and the team, and a historical walk around a neighborhood of Boston). This year we can’t help but talk about the socio-policial state of the world, as well as the environmental crisis we continue to march towards. Then there’s music, books, conversations that have been important to us which may shed some light on why all this is happening and what there is to appreciate or condemn when all is said and done. Lastly, as good friends surely will, we take time to appreciate one another, as we both arrive at landmark decades when it comes to age and wisdom. Listen in and stay for the whole ride for what is an honest and heartfelt conversation… to end one year and welcome in another.
A few months ago Mike Spine and Barbara Luna played a show in Amsterdam that I was fortunate enough to attend. As a bonus, Mike came over for a kitchen table conversation. In this conversation we look at his own path as both an educator and a musician and what he has learned along the way.
There are only a hand full of places in the world that come close to Essouira when it comes music and art. For hundreds of years this place has been a crossroads for trade, culture, and a self-expression. In 2018, from traditional music to spontanous improvised sound, that tradition continues.
Today on the podcast we’re recording in Essouira, Morocco, with the great Imad telling the story of music and why this place was, is, and will remain so vital to anyone who loves art and the beauty of spontaeous collaboration.
The wonderful and talented Shelby Earl came to Amsterdam to perform as part of her Swift Arrows European Tour. The evening, which took place at the fantastic Studiobar, included a performance as well as a Q and A hosted by yours truly. Here is a podcast of that magical evening.
