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TouchRadio 20 is now posted.

Daniel Menche - Apostate

These 'fragments' were constructed for TouchRadio throughout 2006... Daniel Menche says: "Sound of Vehemence!" Music is like one's own blood, so amplify it! As loud as possible - make the speakers bleed!"

Soundscape - the Sea Swallow
6 parts starting 27th November 2006 at 1545 [UK time]
BBC Radio 4

Sound by Chris Watson

"This is a remarkable piece of radio and the BBC at its very very best." [The Radio Times]

The warden on the Farne Islands off the coast of Northumberland and the Eider farmer in Iceland both eagerly await the arrival of the Arctic terns and the onset of spring. Paul Young follows the amazing migration of two Arctic terns across the globe.

Part Three of Brutal Aesthetics
Monday 27th November 2006, 16:30-17:00hrs (GMT)
(Repeated Fri 1st December 2006, 13:00-13:30)
Please note new time*
www.resonancefm.com (live streaming only) or 104.4FM in London.

Following on from the 'Art and War' series in July/August 2006, Cecilia Wee visits, in person and by proxy, 5 military and industrial sites in Europe to explore their histories, architecture and social impacts. From Orford Ness to Chernobyl, Brutal Aesthetics explores our love/hate relationship with industry and its buildings – simultaneously necessary to contemporary society yet deemed brutal, ugly, visually and physically polluting.

Chernobyl, Ukraine
20 years after the largest man-made explosion at Reactor 4 in the Chernobyl power plant in the Ukraine, sound artist Jacob Kirkegaard spent 3 days in the area making sound recordings. Cecilia Wee spoke to him about his trip to the Chernobyl 'Zone of Exclusion'. The recordings he made there contributed to his album '4 Rooms', which is available from the TouchShop

'Brutal Aesthetics – histories of 5 industrial sites' will be broadcast on Resonance FM on Mondays from 13th November to 11th December 2006, 16:30-17:00 hrs. For more information see Cecilia Wee's website here

Now available from the TouchShop here

Reviews of this album may be read here

Now available from the TouchShop [see opposite]

boomkat (UK):

New Zealander Rosy Parlane’s second full length for the Touch label sees the musician taking a slightly different route from his revered 'Iris' album – where 'Iris' dealt with the more glacial end of the sound spectrum, 'Jessamine' sees him throwing caution to the wind and working with slow moving guitar-based dronescapes, occasionally venturing into ear-shattering noise. It's a acptivating move for the artist that sees him shuffle more in line with labelmate and occasional musical sparring-partner Christian Fennesz as the guitar becomes far more audible in the mix than it was on his previous work. Split into three parts, the album begins with a thirteen-minute piece of cascading digital detritus which drifts and pulsates glacially until, mid way through, organic sounds enter into scope. It is a welcome addition and brings the sound into the wet ground, mimicking the marshy landscapes of Jon Wozencroft’s typically stunning cover art. Rather than bringing to mind frozen Northern European ice fields we are in baking heat, dragonflies buzzing past, brushing our way past reeds and watching carefully for Alligators. The album’s second chunk builds on this theme still further, introducing a low end thrum which would give Sunn O))) a run for their money, again changing pace mid-way through to allow field recordings to creep in, this time of rainfall bringing to mind a tropical shower somewhere deep in the rainforest. It is the third act however which amazes the most, and brings focus to the entire record – slowly building over twenty minutes this starts simply enough with bubbling synthesizer sounds and decaying glitches but over it's duration the track builds and builds into a symphony of harsh noise, peaking in total cacophony at sixteen minutes before plunging into near silence. The track is absolutely mesmerising and is easily one of the most outstanding pieces Parlane has put his name to yet, polishing the album off in truly earth-shaking style. Yet another corker of a release for the crucial Touch label this should have experimental fetishists and noise aficionados beaming this Christmas. Huge recommendation.

OUT NOW

Chris Watson writes:

"'Cho Oyu 8201m' is a wonderfully rich and well documented sonic adventure. A unique narrative full of deep rhythms and exciting textures. Beautiful design.

Cho Oyu can be bought from the TouchShop here