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This monthly program features highlights and commissions from Glasgow art radio station Radiophrenia. Presented in today's episode is Music for New Towns by Helena Celle, Perpetual Drift by Colleen Keough, and The Cosmic Ascent to Mars Rx by Rhiannon Walsh & Siobhain Ma.

Music for New Towns by Helena Celle

A piece inspired by early electronic music, primarily the work of Tod Dockstader, the retrofuturism of new towns built post WW2 and the influence growing up in one such town, Cumbernauld has had.
Commissioned for Radiophrenia 2020 with the support of Creative Scotland.

Perpetual Drift by Colleen Keough

The earth has undergone drastic climate changes, and a crew aboard a lost ship at sea struggle to adapt to an uncertain future created by a series of tragic events. The ship's crew are: Ether (a transmissions artist), the Captain, the Navigator (a depressed robot poet), Echo (the mythical nymph), and the Specialist, a female scientist who specializes in rare botanics. The story embodies environmental concerns that we face as a collective human family, and the death of old structures giving way to new life forms, systems, and organizations. Colleen performs each character's voice as well as the composing the electro-acoustic soundtrack.

The Cosmic Ascent to Mars Rx by Rhiannon Walsh & Siobhain Ma

‘The Cosmic Ascent to Mars Rx’ was a mystery collaboration done between two pals who ended up reading each other’s minds and making something that sounded like it was planned all along. Siobhain looked to explore feelings of being trapped, both mentally and physically, and imaginary visions of nature. While Rhiannon used metallic tones and extraterrestrial musings to convey the disruption and disordering that comes along with Mars being in Retrograde and its effect on both personal and collective levels.

Presented on an annual basis, Radiophrenia is a temporary art radio station – a two-week exploration into current trends in sound and transmission arts. Broadcasting live from Glasgow’s Centre for Contemporary Arts, the station promoted radio as an art form, encouraging challenging and radical new approaches to the medium. Each year, the broadcast schedule includes a series of newly commissioned radio works, live shows, pre-recorded features and 12 Live-to-Air performances. The majority of the program is made up from selections submitted to an international open call for sound art and radio works. Radiophrenia is managed by Mark Vernon and Barry Burns and is funded through Creative Scotland’s Open Project Funding with additional support from CCA Glasgow.