[ GUNST ]

radia #193 + radia #97
The Military Landscape Show + Apocalypso:
The Cosmic War Dance of Sun Ra's Army of Arthropodial Transistors

[pls. scroll down for english version]

von wegen friedliche vorweihnachtszeit.
radio zero schickt eine 'military landscape show', die den resonanzraum ehemaliger und aktueller militärcamps und -übungsgelände untersucht.
im zweiten teil der sendung imaginieren drei künstler den kosmischen kriegstanz einer von sun ra geschickten armee spinnenbeiniger transistorradios, die an einem ansonsten unverdächtigen sonntag im juli 2006 berlin einnimmt…

credits und hintergrundinformationen: siehe unten

[english]

peace on earth before xmas?
not really. radio zero sends us a 'military landscape show' researching the resonant space of former and current camps and training areas.

A show curated and produced by Jay Needham (wavespace.org), with pieces by…

… Richard Lerman (sonicjourneys.com):

Aleutian Internment – Inside a hunting dwelling on the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea (amplified whale bone, grass, rain, wild celery and a wind harp) Funter Bay Internment camp (slats of the goldmine camp building where they were interned, windharp, rain) Windharp and weeds at a Cemetery across from the Internment camp at Funter BaySeals on St Paul Island, the Pribilofs Ugadaga Bay, looking towards Biorka Island and an Iris in the wind and snow, recorded on Unalaska Islan. (01)

Trinity Site – Trinity Site, near Alamagordo, NM, was recorded in April 1997. Two times a year, the site where the first atomic bomb was tested, is opened up to visitors and many hundreds of people attend. I began recording from the car as I entered the military check point. Later, I recorded sounds from piezo disks attached to glass pieces that I placed into the earth. Also heard are sounds recorded from the fence surrounding ground zero and amplified, grass, weeks and footsteps of persons at the site. (03)

… and Louise K. Wilson (www.lincoln.ac.uk/lsad/staff_pt/l_wilson.htm):

Black Beacon Receiver mix – Mixed-down version of the seven soundscapes produced for "Black Beacon Receiver". From A Record of Fear. (02)

U amplified choir. Sine oscillator (composer: Yannais Kyriakides) – a specially composed piece for Exmoor Singers, made for temporary installation in Lab 5 at Orford Ness. (04)
Recorded at Lansdowne Studios, London on August 7, 2005. Music Director: James Jarvis; Producer Clarissa Farran.

in the second part three artists imagine the cosmic war dance of an army of arthropodial transistors sent by sun ra to invade berlin during a sunday in july 2006:

When the composer and mystic, Sun Ra, returned to his native Saturn on May 30th, 1993, he left behind a vast and varied body of recorded musical works. Up until now, much of this music has been unavailable to the public. But, through a series of séances conducted in the studios of Radio 1:1, Mister Re informed us that on Sunday, July 30th, 2006, between the hours of 4-6 pm, he will be returning to this planet in astral form with a special message for the people of earth. And he
will not be alone. He will be accompanied by his army of Arthroploidal Transistors:
"We are going to invade Berlin!!!" he chuckled, "This is declaration of war! Kreig, baby! Our first target is the TV Tower in Alexanderplatz! My weapons?!! Two full hours of sonic assault—or acoustical magic–taken from my vast library of unreleased recordings. I and my Transistors will dance the cosmic dance. The cosmic WAR dance. It's the Apocalypso!
–A direct spirit communication from Sun Ra on Saturn

Peter Dennet, Art Yard (UK) is sound artist based in London. Darius James (USA/DE) is a writer and radio maker in Berlin.
Karl Heinz Jeron (DE) is an artist and programmer in Berlin.

credits
miss.gunst would like to thank the following artists and sound collectors:
jovica for the space machine, corsica s for some beautiful radiator sounds;
jay needham and radio zero, lissabon, for making us familiar with louise k. wilson's and richard lerman's sonic visions of military landscapes;
radio 1:1, berlin, with peter dennet, darius james and karl heinz jeron for letting sun ra's army of arthropodial transistors invade berlin;
as well as radia.fm radio art network for being a crowd of incredibly creative partners.