Sonic Landscapes

This week’s episode of Sonic Landscapes comes from Comrade Santi Slade. His selection of music is the culmination of a conversation we had regarding Hurricane Sandy. Santi says it best:

“Generally, I think the songs have a gritty optimism that is a good representation of the New York spirit. New Yorkers will always rise from the ashes of calamities on all scales; from just barely missing your morning subway to being hit with a huge storm or terrorist attack. This is reflected in the City’s diversity as well. The city understands that all individuals are struggling to make things better for themselves. So it’s hypocritical to hinder an entire group in that struggle by marginalizing them. New York accepts all obstacles as conquerable and all people as valuable.”

To download episode to your computer, simply right click and choose “download,” or click normally and listen streaming.

Episode LI: NYC [Guest Mix by Comrade Santi]

The Playlist:

1. Juicy / New York, New York – The Notorious B.I.G. & Frank Sinatra

2. Beginning to See the Light – The Velvet Underground

3. Panic Berlin Fun – Sediment Club

4. Joanna – The Jamboree Sunday

5. I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend – The Ramones

6. Kilojoules – Freelance Whales

7. Bass – Anything Orange

8. Someday – The Strokes

9. Empire State of Mind – Jay-Z

10. Bring Da Ruckus – Wu-Tang Clan

11. No Sleep Til Brooklyn – The Beastie Boys

12. Sailing by Night – Department of Eagles

13. Ragged Wood – Fleet Foxes

14. The Fun Lovin’ Criminal – Fun Lovin’ Criminal

15. 60 Revolutions – Gogol Bordello

16. Ritual Union – Little Dragon

17. N.Y. State of Mind – Nas

18. The Incumbent – Soul Coughing

19. Prove It – Television

20. Antarctic Jungle – The BFGs [Santi’s band!]

To hear more from the local NYC bands featured on this show, point your browsers to the following links:

Sediment Club | Jamboree Sunday | The BFGs

Comrades:

Today we release our 50th broadcast.

The People’s struggle for great music looks to the future and gives thanks to all who have spread the good word and good sound to over 35 countries over the past two years.

What do you hear today?

We hear liberation within the static, rhythm along the fault-lines where civilizations clash. Lounge music pulsating from a Tel Aviv café beneath a doomsday spectacle of rocket fire. The cosmic drone of the muezzin, keeping ancient cadence amidst the roar of modernity from Jerusalem to Cairo. Bouzouki twang, broken bottle ricocheting down bleak Athenian streets. In South Africa we hear the chanted demands of platinum miners as they endure police bullets and batons–hornets and bludgeons that rob them of 50 comrades.

Oftentimes, today’s song seems out of tune. Sonic Landscapes advises that we all listen more than we preach, tune each other in rather than block each other out, and celebrate the sounds of patience, compassion, and justice.

Sincerely in the struggle,

S.L.

The subsequent four links take you to distinct sonic topographies represented by the corresponding images. Right click on link to download onto your computer, or simply click to listen streaming.

I. Lounge Ghost

II. Anti-Catatonia, 1990

III. Communique

IV. Finnegan’s Wake

Follow the leader. One hour. Ten songs. Begins with smooth-soulful-funky tracks, then transitions into a bouncy-energetic-hard block of techno, industrial, so on until the apocalypse. As requested by St. Simon.

[Rick click on link below to download to your computer / Simply click to listen streaming]

Sonic Landscapes Ep. XLIX: Simon Says Dance

The Playlist:

1. Herb – Rondenion

2. Shadow and Construction – Kindimmer

3. Left Behind – Behling & Simpson

4. My Love Is Not Blind [Vocal] – Margaret Grace

5. Workout – L-VIS 1990

6. No Go – Ghosts on Tape

7. Motif [Actress #! Remix] – Teengirl Fantasy

8. Wake – Indigo

9. The Bells – Jeff Mills

10. Pop That P – Jon Convex

On 11.1.12 the Huffington Post published President Barack Obama’s work-out playlist, consisting of thirty songs varying from hip-hop [The president is a close friend of Jay-Z, and recently gave parenting advice to the new father] to rock and roll [Bruce Springsteen is a strong supporter of the Obama administration], to funk, soul, ska, indie, and plenty of americana. While I doubt that the president is sitting around making playlists on iTunes, this is still an interesting look into our commander-in-chief’s musical preferences. For this week’s episode, we chose ten of the finest Obama-jams and created a one hour mix that you can listen to while you sweat, vote, and redistribute to the needy.

“No matter how corrupt, greedy, and heartless our government, our corporations, our media, and our religious and charitable institutions may become, the music will still be wonderful.” – Kurt Vonnegut

(Right click on link below to download / Simply click to listen streaming)

Sonic Landscapes Ep. XLVIII: Obama’s Workout Mix

The Playlist:

1. Different People – No Doubt

2. Green Onions – Booker T and the MG’s

3. I Got You – Wilco

4. Keep Reachin’ Up – Nicole Willis and the Soul Investigators

5. We Take Care of Our Own – Bruce Springsteen

6. The Weight – Aretha Franklin

7. No Nostalgia – Ages and Ages

8. Keep on Pushing – The Impressions

9. Raise Up – Ledisi

10. We Used to Wait – Arcade Fire