Month: May 2019

Xen Radio, Episode 10

Jude Thomas 0 Comments

Over the next several weeks (now until the June 25 episode) XEN RADIO will be featuring sections of two major microtonal works: Ben Johnston’s String Quartet No. 1, Nine Variations, and Veli Kujala’s Hyperchromatic Counterpoint. Kujala’s work will be opening each show, and Johnston’s will be closing each show; sometimes, you might hear one of those movements among the the middle of the show. This week was also the first track we’ve heard by Harry Partch — who we’ll be hearing more of in the weeks to come — and three tracks from Brendan Byrnes album Room Tapes.

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Xen Radio, Episode 9

Jude Thomas 0 Comments

Episode 9 is juxtaposition of two works, Tombo por Lou, composed and recorded by John Schneider on his recent album, Just National Guitar, and Mileece’s electronic music album, Formations. The show goes back and forth between the Mileece’s tracks and the movements of Schneider’s work. There’s something strangely similar about these two works, despite there obvious differences.

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Xen Radio, Episode 8

Jude Thomas 0 Comments

Occasionally, XEN RADIO will take the time to feature a longer work. Episode 8 was just such an episode, dedicated to Terry Riley’s 1975 work for electronic keyboard, Descending Moonshine Dervishes. To fill out the rest of the hour, we paid another visit to some of Easley Blackwood’s Microtonal Etudes.

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Xen Radio, Special Edition: The Mercury Tree

Jude Thomas 0 Comments

For this special edition of XEN RADIO, I was joined in the KPISS RV by the mircotonal rock band, The Mercury Tree. They’re in the midst of a tour all over the country and I was luck enough for them to make the time to visit the studio and to curate a playlist of xenharmonic/microtonal tracks that they love.

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Xen Radio, Episode 7

Jude Thomas 0 Comments

Xenharmonic and microtonal music is more than “classical” experimentations and deviations from 12-tone equal temperament (in fact, there’s really quite a bit to say about how loaded the term “microtonal music” truly is — but that’s a discussion for another day), so this episode is almost completely filled with tracks from the rock, jazz, and other streams of xenharmonic music.

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