Monday, February 14, 2011

[the end. . . for now]


Soundscape/94.9 listeners,

I am sure many of you in the Buffalo area have by now heard about WTF 94.9's demise and the tragic circumstances that led to it. For The Soundscape listeners around the country and abroad who don't know, a tragedy has occurred that has made it impossible for the station to continue.

As far as The Soundscape itself, while the show has a significant listenership online and I could conceivably carry on with the show as an independent podcast, something about that doesn't feel right.  

I regret having to disband pretty much the only forum for local experimental culture, but, after a lot of thought, I have decided to concentrate my energies on building a new station or some kind of media outlet. I feel that this is what circumstances demand at the present time. 

I have no idea how long this will take or what form it will eventually take on, but I assure you no one in the 94.9 crew has any intention of letting it end like this. It would be one thing if this was an FCC issue, but its not, despite what some (including myself) originally assumed. 

Therefore, I am promising you that underground radio will return to Buffalo in the near future. 

The station had been steadily growing in listenership and support over the course of its 2-year existence and it is the opinion of most if not all of those involved in the station that we can not turn our backs and walk away from this (despite a fair amount of temptation to do so after what happened). Plans are already being discussed and we have every intention of building something bigger and better and more beneficial to the community.

Furthermore, we welcome any suggestions, help, or support that the community has to offer. A new space is definitely required, while a new influx of man(and woman)power might go along way, too. So get in touch! Reach out to us to if you want to get involved so that we can get this station back up and running.

As far as The Soundscape goes, I have to say that its 7-month run on 94.9 was a lot of fun. I heard a ton of crazy shit during that time and it made all the work totally worth it. I started the show simply because I wished there was a Buffalo-based experimental music show and I was curious to see if there would be any type of response to that type of program. 

I have to say the response was absolutely mind-blowing. Those of you that sent me your music, I can honestly say I had never heard of any of you and I had no idea what a thriving, if somewhat disconnected, experimental music community we have in the Buffalo region. 

That is why I promise that the Soundscape will return in order to provide you guys a collective forum to present you're radically, twisted, sonic experimentation. And thank you to all the national and international artists and labels who sent me music. It was a real pleasure to see so many people stumble onto The Soudscape. My proudest achievement with the Soundscape is that the show earned regular listeners on every fucking continent, which I still can barley believe. Think about that.  If you were a Buffalo-based artists who sent me music, I guarantee you that your music was heard in every corner of the world. 

I promise The Soundscape will be back so that we can continue projecting our crazy Rust Belt audio insanity onto the rest of the unsuspecting world. 

So adieu....for now. And stay tuned, because we will keep you updated with our plans. After all, we are doing it for you and we will need your help to pull it off. So until then, be safe, don't listen to too much corporate FM, and don't you ever fucking forget about WTF 94.9. 

Peace,

Needles Numark   

 

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

[archive] 2.7.11.


The Soundscape, 2.7.11. by Needles Numark 

1) Skjolbrot, “Ballad of Windfarming,” Maersk
2) Kyle Bobby Dunn, “Promenade,” A Young Person’s Guide To (Low Point)
3) Ducktails, “Screen Scene,” Ducktails & Dracula Lewis Split Vinyl  (No Fun Productions)
4) CRANC, Copper Fields
5) Bob Ohrum, “Beauty in the Aftermath,” All Around Me (Relaxed Machinery)
6) Creation VI, “White Hot Sky”
7) T++, “Voices No Bodies,” Wireless (Honest Jon’s Records)
8) Sculpture, “Cultural Construction,” Rotary Signal Emitter (Dekorder)
9) Forest Feeling, “Lively Thought,” Forest Feeling
11) Chris Russell, “Numb,” Frozen (Relaxed Machinery)
12) Smegma, “Mirage,” Mirage (Important Records)
13) Phosphorescent, “Pride,” Pride (Dead Oceans)
14 )Mark McGuire, “Brothers (for Matt),” Living with Yourself (Editions Mego)
15) Helios, “Luek,” Unomia (Merck)

Monday, February 7, 2011

[preview]: 2.7.11.

Tonight on The Soundscape we'll take a listen to UK artist Skjølbrot and a track from his enigmatic, super limited CD-R release, Maersk We'll also hear good stuff from Ducktails and Dracula Lewis off of their split 12", Honest Jon's artist T++, and Soundscape favorite Forest Feeling.


We will also listen to a special performance by European trio CRANC off of their Copper Fields release. I am going to play a 57-minute performance by them in its entirety because it is that damn good. Don't miss this, I doubt you will ever hear it any where else.

CRANC 
New stuff from local ambient/drone artist Bob Ohrum along with plenty of other good stuff as well. Tune in 'round 8pm on WTF 94.9 Buffalo Free Radio.  See you then...

Needles

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

[archive]: 1.31.11.


The Soundscape 1.31.11 by Needles Numark

1) Mackunochi Bento, off the album Swime. This is "The River Who Drinks All I've Had."
2) Steve Bazcowski, "Side B," Tone Arm (Cea-sur-a)
3) Women, "Can't You See," Public Strain
4) The War on Drugs, "Reverse the Charges," Wagonwheel Blues (Secretly Canadian)
5) Astral Social Club, "Lost Caustic," Happy Horse
6) Robert Messner, "Between the Lines"
7) Stars of the Lid, "Dust Breeding (1.316)," Avec Laudenum (Kranky)
8)Pine Smoke Lodge, "Track 2," Songs for Sucking Spirit Darts (House of Alchemy)
9) Motor, "Gok [RMX]"
10) Johnny Greenwood, "Convergence," Body Song
11) Autecher, "Cap. IV," (Warp)
12) Le Berger, "After the Bombing"
13) The Beans, "Number Four," Bassplayer
14) Pat Cain & Jax Deluca, "At Sea, Two Birds," IEA Residency at Alfred University 10/2001
15) Boom Bip, "Closed Shoulders (Clouddead Remix)," From Left to Right (Lex Records)
16) B. Fleischmann & Margareth Kammerer, "Facing It," Contriva/B. Fleischmann & Margareth Kammerer Tour 7" 2004 (Lok)
17) Broken Social Scene, "Last Place," Feel Good Lost (Arts & Crafts)
18) Brian and Chris, "Ranchera del Espacio," Vectors
19) Amute, "Oh! Le Zeppelin," The Sea Horse Limbo