Van Sounds: Recent Episodes
Fil Corbitt
I've started a new show, go subscribe!
https://linktr.ee/thewind
https://thewind.org/
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Hey all, Fil here. I have started a new podcast. It's called The Wind and I am very excited to share it with you. Head over to TheWind.org to subscribe (since it's a new show, it may not yet be searchable in the apps, but you can get direct links on my website!)
Van Sounds speaks to Joe Exotic about running for President of the United States of America in 2016. It originally aired on the episode "That's Politics."
“Language Deficit is attention deficit. As we further deplete our ability to name, describe particular aspects of our places, our competence for understanding and imagining possible relationships with non-human nature is correspondingly depleted.” -Robert Macfarlane, Landmarks
"Lucien" - Part 1 of a 4 part series. Music by Kent Irwin. Thanks to Mignon Fogarty of Grammar Girl.
Nick Rattigan of the band Current Joys checks in every week while touring North America.
How did a singing style from the lungs of swiss herders make it into the mouths of the cowboys? An examination of voice breaking, wildness and parallel histories in North America.
Yodel playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNYDyXn6qso&list=PLkNGcT8rdUVlvvYM-VvcHJYwpP58vnAdz
Music, Book links and photos at www.vansounds.org
A 2013 conversation with Willie Watson from the new Coen Brothers Movie. Watson plays a singing gunslinger in "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs."
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Contributor Lauren Baker reads a postcard from Florence. Recorded on a hike in the Sierra Nevada.
Photo: Lauren Baker
Music:
Master Spirit by I Believe, available through Interactive Test
You are what you do but sometimes that line moves, then blurs. Producer Em Jiang and I wander around the tracks at different speeds.
"In January I left my home for 6 months of wandering and, of course, one of the main things I explored were the infinite shades of night in each new place. What I noticed more than ever is that every night is a finger print – each is unique, with no one the same as another. The sounds tell the stories." - Vanessa Lowe
Extra Extra!! From the banks of the Satoshi River to the banks of the Reese River, a mining-town newspaper that propped up a honest-to-goodness LIARS CLUB, no lie, and a story from the city who built itself on such falsehoods. The secret history of bitcoin? The Toiyabe Mole Man in the mines of ERN, NEVADA? The TRUE story of TOTAL LIARS and the history they invented for themselves. Right?
There is a lot of death metal bands in Kathmandu, Nepal. Let's figure out why. Oh, and my mom will be there. She'll help interview the metal bands.
When composer John Cage spoke of "The Silent Piece," he wasn't talking about 4:33. So, what was he talking about?
The power and process of naming mountains.
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Beginning with an ear hike through John Muir National Forest, this episode dives into the process of naming places. Denali, Jefferson Davis Peak(s), and literary reflection on the need to give human names to mountains.
New Baseball Shirt: https://vansounds.bandcamp.com/merch/baseball-shirt
This episode was scored by Julian Jacobs.
Lightning over Rural Argentina, rest-stop buffet, sleep paralysis
Slithering through the skyscrapers on São Paulo. Playing basements, garages and living rooms. Listening.
••• This Episode of Van Sounds was brought to you by Astray Goods Company -- handcrafted backpacks made to last a lifetime. Back them on Kickstarter or visit astraygoods.co
I'm in Uruguay right now without a computer, so here's Van Sounds' first guest postcard.
"...But this show is entirely unique...It’s often a lesson about music or sense of place, and it’s always an aural escape." - Erin Berger, Outside Magazine.
I have 100 theme songs in my head. Dallas Taylor of podcast 20khz, and an interview with the mysterious Break Master Cylinder.
Photographing from afar. Interviewing through the telephone. Asking bartenders about their lives. Hop in, let's take a ride.
Travel Podcast, travelpodcast, travel, music, places, people and places, sense of place, where am i? what is this in my hand?
Music: Roots connective by Yclept Insan The One by Corya Yo Blue Sky an’ calm by X.Y.R. Flow Study by Hammer Screwdriver Dezembro by JEZMND Nuestra Noche by Mi Amigo Invencible
In a rare how-to guide from Van Sounds, you'll hear from well-known hitchhikers (including the founder of Hitchwiki.org), and learn how to stick your thumb up.
American Music is 13 songs from North and South America. Free download at vansounds.bandcamp.com
vansounds.bandcamp.com/merch - Helen Fillmore talks about Standing Rock, Jason Moore talks about Nepal and Brad Bynum talks about wrapping his shirtless body in a filthy coth from a historic bar's rafters. For pictures, links and music, visit Vansounds.org
People with Bodies tour the northwest. We catch a baseball game with 90's G-funk rapper Squeek Nutty Bug, talk Marijuana legalization with offical spokesperson for "Protecting Nevada's Children," and have a chat with Presidential Candidate Joe Exotic.
I spoke with Tijuana-based artist Dani Shivers and Simpsonwave creator Lucien Hughes about nostalgia in art.
4 in the Van Sounds Postcard series. This time, a quick check in from Poughkeepsie, NY.
We set out on Black Creek in a small Craigslist rowboat but we didn't have any oars. So we made some. Patrick's out of a broken piece of particle board screwed to a wood rod and mine a grocery bag wrapped around a rake.
Free Jazz $5
A meandering album review of Elza Soares' Mulher do Fim do Mundo. An interview with Guilherme Kastrup and Saundra Coutinho.
I left my day job to focus on Van Sounds full time. In this episode, I chat with Joe Lally (Fugazi), Luciano Valério, and Saundra Coutinho (Mercenarias) about going for it.
Van Sounds contributor Kent Irwin and I stopped in Austin, Nevada for a night on the way to Ely.
I spent new years in Buenos Aires. 32 years after the Military Dictatorship fell.
Van Sounds contributor Kent Irwin (howlsroad.com) and I drive to Ely, NV to speak with rappers Asocka and Young Creedo.
(Wish I was there)
In this episode: the postcard. A digital version anyway.
Street Music Map - @streetmusicmap
Whiskey Texas (Zine) - @Whiskeyoninstagram
Idaho Explored - @Idahoexplored
MUSIC
Church by Porteur
Wavey by Yclept Insan
Memo-3 by Laid (not online)
Filardo / Dredillah - Bite my Tongue - Silent Forever Dredillah Remix
VAN SOUNDS:iTunes | Twitter | Soundcloud | Facebook
Really stoked to announce that this week's episode is a swap with The Dirtbag Diaries. They'll be playing a condensed version of the Dice Series, and this is a Diaries episode (Crash & Burn) that seemed to fit wildly well with Van Sounds. As you heard in Dice #5, I too drive a mid-90s Toyota pickup (though mine's a T-100 from 2 years later) and on the dice trip, I rolled over to 300,000 miles.
Here's a soundcloud playlist of the Dice Series. Scroll down the blog to see pictures and music info from individual episodes.
This is the final episode of a 6 part series in which a friend and I roll dice and drive in a direction based on the dice roll.
PORTEUR !!
A Paper Cup Band (Andrew Jansen//LOUD SUN)
Arthur Howls - New cassette "Anarcho Jazz" coming soon.
Jona Barish
MIKE BRANCH - Rants from the Hill (Essays and sometimes Audio)
Subscribe to Van Sounds on iTunes, yo,
Pre-300,000 truck back in Stanley, ID.
We spend the night in Cathedral Gorge - a clay, dirt dreamscape - then head to the Hotel Nevada to hear a song by David Dondero.
I dig into William Least Heat-moon's Blue Highways and find we've shared the same road.
Sunset at church.
Truck + Mountain
LINKSHOME OF THE BRAVE episode
Church - Porteur
1996 (Ectoplasm Remix) - doeTheGhost
Layin' low in Ely, NV - David Dondero
Dyin' Sun - Southnorth
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Part 2 of the Dice Series.We cross the nearest state border and drive across Nevada. Featuring two stories from the Little Ale'inn and a found book that would become the trip manifesto.
The system:1 = North2 = East3 = South4 = West5 = Stay put6 = Cross the nearest state border.
"That's what I tell everybody - watch the sky." -Pam, Little A'le'Inn
“On the old highway maps of America, the main routes were red and the back roads blue. Now, even the colors are changing.”
— William Least Heat-Moon, Blue Highways
We bought a 6 back and bag of chips and careened into the warm desert night, looking for a place to sleep.
MUSIC:
Church - Porteur (https://soundcloud.com/porteur)
Time Bandit - Yclept Insan (https://soundcloud.com/ycleptinsan)
Italics - Porteur
For the next 6 episodes, middle school friend Brian Anderson and I will wake up every morning and roll a single di. Then, depending on the roll, we will drive in a certain direction for the rest of the day.
Billy Mack got a house, and then got 95 people to play a song about it.
To hear all of the versions of The City Without Limits Theme Song, visit
http://billymackcollector.bandcamp.com/album/city-without-limits-theme-song
In honor of Radiotopia's kickstarter, I assigned all of my favorite podcasts a punk band counterpart.
So to start with the basics:
This American Life - The Ramones
Simple, classic, raw, powerful.
Both the Ramones and TAL are often young people's introduction, and most people continue to love each well after their dive into the depths of fandom. Always relevant.
Radiolab - The Clash
The alternate classic, with a more layered sound. Often relying on gadgety-effects to convey emotional moments, both set a precedent for sound design's role alongside energy and writing.
99% Invisible - Fugazi
Revitalizing the form, both present a huge shake up to the conventions, underpinning the early principles with enthusiasm.
Let's go nerdier.
Roman Mars - Ian MacKaye. The humble front-man. Idealistic but grounded. A good face for the way podcasting/punk rock should be. Pushes the form.
Sam Greenspan - Guy Piccoto. The out-of-the-spotlight front person. Champions the ideals, but is low-key about it and has probably hung upside down from a basketball hoop.
Katie Mingle - Brendan Canty. Holds down the fort, keeps it real.
Avery Trufelman - Joe Lally. The quiet one with a cool voice. Will likely start a solo career later.
Operating under the assumption that Roman Mars is Ian MacKaye, I think it's far to say:
Radiotopia - Dischord RecordsSo…
Theory of Everything - Nation of Ulysses
Very cool. Experimental and contemporary but borrows from old formats (late night radio talk show and free jazz, respectively). Sometimes a little too out there for the casual listener. Lovable to a fan of the craft, but not the best introduction for people who aren't already into podcasting/punk.
Love+Radio - Dag Nasty
All about harmony.
An ultra-tasty blend of pleasing sound and "hell yes" moments.
After dropping into seconds of energetic muscle-tensing, both like to erupt with a catchy and totally accessible refrain.
(I haven't yet fully indulged in Fugitive Waves, Radio Diaries or Strangers so I won't force comparisons.)
I racked my brain trying to lump The Truth with a Dischord band, but it's not a podcast that really fits into that realm. So I went far outside of Dischord for this comparison.
The Truth - The Meteors
Reconstructing a classic format with a lot of modern flavor. What The Meteors did with Rockabilly (coining Psychobilly), The Truth does with radio drama – a complete reprise of the form with a killer new edge. Psychobilly, like radio drama, is theatrical and has to set a believable aesthetic to be successful.
Though not technically a Radiotopia show, I'm going to lump Memory Palace into the Dischord family in The Truth's place.
Memory Palace - LungFish
An interesting, innovative and unique sound. Publicly quiet, and sort of mysterious when releasing material – not often, but with consistency. Ambient and paced.
If you don't see your favorite podcast here, please do leave a comment with your own punk band assignment. Some ideas - Startup, Serial, the remaining Radiotopia shows, Snap Judgment, The Moth, Radio Ambulante. Have at 'em.
-Fil