The Letter S

Chris Brookes (CA 2001)

54min

Whispers in the Air
On December 12th, 1901 Guigliermo Marconi received the world's first trans-Atlantic wireless signal on the cliff just above Chris Brook’s Battery Radio studio. Or... did he?

This beautifully poetic audio work combines fact and fiction, reality and construction to tell the story of the beginning of radio and sound waves. The perfect place to start for any budding audiofile.

Produced by Chris Brookes - Battery Radio

Created for the 2001 centenary of Marconi's transmission. First broadcast: ABC "Classic FM" Dec. 12, 2001.
Special Commendation, Prix Marulic 2002
Atlantic Journalism Award 2002

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At The Edge Of The Platform

Dominique Petitgand (FR 2011)

6 min

Standing, outside, on the edge of the platform, and the feeling that your head is being cut off. "They're asking for, they're asking for, they're asking for, they're asking for, they're asking for the impossible"

Producer: Dominique Petitgand
Voice: Marta Dansie

Featured on Radiola (Belgium)

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You Only Guide Me By Surprise: Tape S-1-12

Landry Ayres (US 2022)

20 min

Described as a suite of sonic somnambulism for those interested in poetry, peripety, magic or mystery. A guided meditation through committee or a dive into hypnosis through a clever plunderphonic escapade of 10 self help tapes from the 70's and 80's.

Producer: Landry Ayres

Follow the series

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Awful Grace: The Treachery Of Sounds

The Champagne's Electric (US 2017)

32 min Episode 4 of 13

You’re never told what you’re hearing but through the sounds you have to piece together what it is that is happening. But is it correct? Have we been mislead? The haunting audio work still has me leaning in at the horror of what I’m hearing, a reality in real-time.

Awful Grace remains a mysterious and understated series of sound art, proving that a podcast can be whatever you want it to be.

Produced by The Champagne's Electric. Originally published for the podcast Awful Grace, or The Tolling of the Void Bell.

Listen to the whole series

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Miss Time

Dinahbird (UK/FR 2011)

DinahBird · Misstime by DinahBird (2011)

4 min

Miss Time, pays homage to the first speaking clocks born in the early 1930s, who were in fact telephone switchboard ladies, chosen for their fine elocution and stamina, who every 15 seconds, 240 times an hour, mechanically told the time to an invisible audience, regardless if anyone called or not. Each country had it's telephone diva, known for her golden voice and accurate timekeeping. Sadly these marathon performances fizzled out in the sixties when technology made these Time Ladies redundant.

Producer: Dinahbird

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Radio Ballad: Song of a Road (1959)

Ewan McColl, Peggy Seeger, Charles Parker (UK 1959)

59 min

This new revolutionary format - radio ballad (BBC) conceived by folk musicians Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger, and the brilliant radio documentary maker Charles Parker in 1958, combining sound: songs, instrumental music, sound effects, and, most importantly, the recorded voices of those who are the subjects of the documentary. This had never been done before, and still sounds incredibly fresh today.

This Radio Ballad is a musical journey along the M1 as it was being built in the late 50’s.

Producer: Charles Parker
Music: Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger

Listen to more Radio Ballads

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In The Dark: The Everything Is Fine Forecast

Ewan Cameron  (UK 2022)

Randomly Generated Thought · Episode 8: The Everything Is Fine Forecast

7 min

The Shipping Forecast but it's you having a panic attack.

Produced and performed by Ewan Cameron as part of an ongoing podcast called Randomly Generated Thought. 

Selected as part of a new producers listening event be In The Dark

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In The Dark - Di Major

D Peterschmidt  (US 2020)

D Peterschmidt · Di major

5 min

An abstract take on the traditional public radio two-way format, D explores the relevance of names.

Produced by D Peterschmidt as part of Union Doc’s “Augmented Audio Realities”

Selected as part of a new producers listening event be In The Dark

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In The Dark: Static Winter - 83 and The Visitation

Pete Hazell  (UK 2021)

10 min

Somewhere in a remote outpost, amongst foul weather and radio static, a lone operator scans the bleak signals and reports his findings to HQ.

But why isn't HQ responding?

Is something trying to visit the outpost?

And Who's Leonard?

Improvised and sound designed by Pete Hazell 

Selected as part of a new producers listening event be In The Dark

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In The Dark - Penguin Dive

Hanna Brühwiler (DE 2021)

5 min

What is life like for a penguin? 

Put on your headphones and lose yourself as this composition takes you underwater to answer that question. 

Composed by Hanna Brühwiler using recordings from The Berlin Museum of Science’s Data Portal. 

The piece was made as part of the competition “Music Hackathon: Your Ocean Sound”. 

Selected as part of a new producers listening event be In The Dark

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