I have been thoroughly enjoying the eight-part PBS documentary, Soundbreaking: Stories from the Cutting Edge of Recorded Music. It has become “must watch tv” over the last week. PBS has given me an early holiday present by creating a deeply compelling series about the opaque and under documented influence the recording studio has on the recording process. Is it perfect? No. Inevitably, things get left on the cutting room floor. But boy, has it been fun to watch. My personal favorite, so far, is episode two, “Painting with Sound” which focused on the impact of magnetic tape and multi-tracking technology. I was struck by how much of the conceptual focus of the episode, as well as the music, dovetailed with Alloy’s focus. I took time during this week’s Alloy broadcast to talk about the documentary as well as share a couple of tunes inspired by viewing this wonderful music documentary. I have to admit, I only wish that it could be made into a permanent weekly show and run infinitely! Just think how far and deep it could go into the studio/recording process. Yes, please!
In other news, this week’s live show was the 100th live Alloy broadcast! Wow. A little “soundbreaking” of my own. It is a milestone, yes, but still a small number, relatively speaking—I look forward to growing that number while continuing to play new, experimental, interesting, beautiful, progressive, and genre-defying music. My deepest thanks to everyone for listening and supporting the show. Thank you!
Lastly, don't forget that you can listen to all of the music from the last episode, “Orbits” from the comfort of your browser (click here). Thanks for listening!
| Compostion | Album | Artist | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daybreak | Touch My Beloved's Thought | Greg Ward |  |
| Singular Serande | Touch My Beloved's Thought | Greg Ward | |
| I Will Wait For You | Triokait Casual | Kait Dunton | |
| Democrazy | New York Electric Piano | New York Electric Piano | |
| Philadelphia Experiment | The Philadelphia Experiment | The Philadelphia Experiment | |
| Upwards | Macrocosms | Banabila & Machinefabriek | |
| [shift_register] | Atom / Document | Robert Henke | |
| Heptapod B | Arrival (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | Jóhann Jóhannsson | |
| Tama | Zero Time | Tonto's Expanding Head Band | |
| Twelve Is Good (Live) | Efflorescent: Echoes Live 22 | Steve Kimock | |
| Albatross | The Pious Bird of Good Omen | Fleetwood Mac | |
| Strandebarm | Strandebarm | Stein Urheim | |
| Sword Barrel (No. 58) | Away with You | Mary Halvorson Octet | |
| Disintegratiate | Binary | Anna Webber's Simple Trio | |
| Give Up The Ghost | The King Of Limbs | Radiohead | |
| Burn | Day Breaks | Norah Jones | |
| Riversong | Zero Time | Tonto's Expanding Head Band | |