1. Birdsong Radio
This giant redwood forest in California is what I imagine when I listen to Birdsong Radio. I've been looking for recordings of birds since visiting Japan in 2007, when I went to a Lolita boutique in Harajuku where they had created an amazing Wonderland of frilly dresses, astroturf and white-rabbit mannequins; filled with the sound of birds.
Since then the search has been fruitless, because if you search for the sounds of nature you usually get awful panpipes overlaid with waterfall sounds. Well, look no further, friends. Birdsong Radio plays only the sounds of birds, and it's free. Blast it through your house in the morning and imagine you're cooking breakfast in a forest. Take an afternoon nap and dream of sleeping in a Hockney painting. Play it in your office and see if anyone notices. So many possibilities.
As its playing I can't help but fantasise about what each bird looks like, and I swear there's one bird which says "my little pony...my little pony" in the Dawn Chorus track (let me know if you hear it too). Every so often a sultry pre-recorded voice comes on and says something about indulgence and relaxation, which is a hilarious reminder that you're listening to an actual radio station. Doing a bit of research I found that Classic FM used a recording of English birds as a test transmission which became really popular with listeners; you can still listen to the famous 25 minute loop here. These types of high quality recordings are apparently harder and harder to get because of increasing noise pollution.
When I told my housemate that I was listening to a bird radio station, she asked if that was one where birds do things like read the news. Perhaps she's right, I mean, who knows what they're saying?
I know you wanna see just how giant those giant redwoods were, so check out the girth on this thing:
The rest of my Californian road-trip pics will be coming soon in a dedicated post.
2. Alt-J
Mr Zissou says he heard this band playing in the grocery store, so I guess they're no longer exciting and cool. But just in case you haven't yet heard of them, I'd like to share their song Breezeblocks which I've had on repeat for months. This is what the band had to say about the song:
"‘Breezeblocks’ references Where The Wild Things Are and is about liking someone so much, that you want to hurt them. It’s basically based upon the book. So, it’s translating the narrative of the book to a generic relationship, where you miss them so much, you’re threatening to eat them because you wanted them to stay."
Do you know where the wild things go?
The video has a different message though. Enjoy:
Great links! Thanks. Your blog is quickly becoming my favorite.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I always appreciate getting feedback. Glad you're enjoying things around here...
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