March 6, 2012: Zepelim: A Radiophonic Postcard From Portugal

ZEPELIM: A RADIOPHONIC POSTCARD FROM PORTUGAL

This episode of Zepelim is an invitation to experience a glimpse of Portugal through sound. The collage blends sounds from different times and cultural communities, presented as a symbolic and fragmented/non-representative piece rather than a documentary piece. It explores the touchstones between early electronic Portuguese music, oral traditions (like the ballad The Rapist Soldiers sung by Marta dos Anjos Martins Fidalgo), and field recordings. Sources include the Antologia de Música Electrónica Portuguesa curated by composer Rafael Toral – this anthology brings 30-years of Portuguese experimental electronic music together from artists with a wide range of musical backgrounds (some pre-dating The Carnation Revolution of 1974 that brought Portugal out of a dictatorship that lasted almost 50 years). Fragments from the anthology are layered over a stream of field recordings that capture the sounds of leisure, labor, and natural scenes through the ears of Luís Antero, a preeminent field recording artist that has done extensive coverage of Beira Serra and Serra da Estrela's sound heritage. The collage also features recordings from foreign ears, including the work of Spanish artist Alejandra Salinas and the American Aeron Bergamn - both presenting research and recovery of the sound aesthetic around the present-day city of Porto, from Porto- Folklore Fragments vol. 2. http://zeppelinruc.wordpress.com/2010/05/10/zepelim-29-04-2010-portugal-turismo-radiofonico/

Carlo Patrao is a 27 year-old native of Coimbra, Portugal. He attended the University of Coimbra and has been working in radio since 2007. His education at RUC immersed him in the independent spirit of exclusively author-oriented radio programs free from the pressure of ratings, advertising, and profit-earning. Carlo began his radio career covering several areas of radiophonic activity, ranging from weekly shows featuring pop and folk music to more topical programs presenting cultural events, reviewing books and music, and promoting the work of local artists. In 2008, he created the program Zepelim with his friend Afonso Biscaia in order to explore the diverse possibilities of radiophonic space through the use of field recordings, experimental music, musique concrete, drones, archived sound and live improvisation. Episodes of Zepelim are 60-minute sound collages based on specific themes every month. The tracklists of sounds featured in each program are annotated in his blog. 

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