Michael’s final radio hour

„Klanghorizonte“ – Deutschlandfunk September 24, 9.05 – 10.00  p.m. – Link to listen anytime after the show: HERE (starting on September 25)

Playlist of „Klanghorizonte“ with ten albums, four from 2026, six older ones – five songs, five instrumental pieces: a nearly seamless sequence, in regards to storytelling, dream logic – and different horizons track by track…

FIRST HALF: Brian Eno: Music For Films (1978) / Robert Wyatt talking  / Robert Wyatt: Cuckooland (2003) / Ryuichi Sakamoto & Alva Noto: 12 Conversations  (2026) / Annette Peacock: An Acrobat‘s Heart (2000) / Daniel Lanois: Belladonna Nocturne (2026)

SECOND HALF: Lambchop: Punching The Clown  (2026) / Seefeel: Sol.Hz  (2026) / Laurie Anderson talking  / Laurie Anderson: Bright Red (1994)*  / Jana Winderen: Spring Bloom at the Marginal Ice Zone (2017)** / Brian Eno talking / Brian Eno: Nerve Net (1992)

*“We’d look out at the river, and if the music seemed to be naturally going with it, this was our editing device. Brian’s motto was: if it goes with the river, it goes on the record. So, for example, if the river was really choppy and active, and the music was going pah-bah-dah-dah – whoa, that looks so great! – or if it was smooth and there was some kind of ambient thing going on. We always tried to match – tried to feel – the naturalness of the river, and in this case the Hudson, and if it seemed to fit. It was a very infallible rule while recording „Bright Red“ in Manhattan, because it showed you when you were making it too difficult, not natural.“ (laurie anderson)

**Nearly everybody has a story to tell with „field recordings“, that will always trigger the knowledge about some of the most adventurous sounds being „out there“. Some of those albums became famous, some very much stayed under the radar (very much like the spaces they had been exploring). Even the so-called well-known can easily turn into stranger things. By chance, I once discovered an old album named „Trains in the Night“ beautifully capturing the sounds of old locomotives in England‘s vast hinterland, and the nature around. Listening to the compositions of artists like Jana Winderen or BJ Nilsen, is always a special experience. Is the howling of the wind real, or enhanced by electronics? How can someone „document“ sounds that cannot be be heard within our „normal“ range of perception? In a way the act of „cartographing“ distant areas includes sharpened senses, adequate tools – and inventiveness. When I was sinking, literally, into the „music“ of Jana‘s „arctic“ record, I couldn‘t help but remember, in moments passing by, old sci-fi movies and books, but from minute to minute I was more and more drawn into the sounds themselves and forgetting my sepia-tinged nostalgia. Where-am-I-music of a rare kind. Like all of the albums of this Radio hour! (michael engelbrecht)