1) Budhaditya Chattopadhyay - Sonic Psychogeographies II

This radio work takes a critical position against cartography, and departs from its connections to colonial practices, of mapmaking and imperial borders. Drawing insights from alternative spatial practices in some of the Global Souths regions and cultures, and from radical-subversive practices in Europe, such as The Situationists, in this work I explore some listening-driven counter mapping practices, attuning with situated listening and drifting. Within this discursive context, I present my artistic work in nomadic listening and sonic psychogeography, manifested in this radio work. Incorporating voice and field recording traces, I try to demonstrate how an unfolding auditory situation holds acts of listening open, instead of closing it down in the form of a soundscape. Here I take liberty to critique Murray Schafer’s soundscaping and acoustic design approach. I show that for a listening-based artist, it is crucial to perform acts of adaptive perception by care and empathy in intersubjective listening, attunement, and trace these situations for sharing in the form of personal narratives.

Commissioned for Radiophrenia 2025 with the support of Creative Scotland.

2) Cashlin MacKenzie - Tobraichean mo Sinnsearan/ The Wells of my Ancestors

The piece ‘Tobraichean mo Sinnsearan’ is a layered Gaidhlig soundscape weaving memory and place, anchored in the voice of my great grandfather ‘Tuam Ross’ (1876-1960). The piece is derived from field recordings taken by my Great Uncle and Great Aunt (James and Anne Ross) for ‘The Scottish School of Studies’ aural archive in 1957. In the field recordings they interview ‘Tuam’ on the uses and behaviours of the different wells and springs of his local area (Fàsach, Glendale) on the Isle of Skye.

Some wells would dry up or get warm in the summer, while others would stay freezing cold at all times of year. There are some wells which are known to have healing properties. There is one he would visit to get water for his sisters or brothers when they were sick. His aged voice carries stories of water, earth, and tradition—of wells that served not just as lifelines, but as spiritual landmarks in the community. These transcripts are layered with contemporary field recordings I’ve taken at ‘Loch Shianta’- a health spring on the Isle of Skye located close to where my family was from.

A co-commission a co-commission between Radiophrenia and Kunst zum Hören, Osterreich 1 produced with the support of Creative Scotland.

3) Wolfgang Pérez - Memorias Fantasmas

Memorias Fantasmas is based on a 1982 concert recording by my family in a church in Segovia, Spain, thought lost but rediscovered last year. The composition uses loops from the original recording, with minimal new material added (e.g., simple oscillators). Each of the three sections begins with a loop that is repeated mantra-like, inviting listeners to focus on sonic details, which are gradually varied and developed. The piece follows principles of Reduced Listening (Pierre Schaeffer) and processes the sounds through sampling, downgrading, filtering, and distortion.

The work emphasizes the spaces between sounds, allowing imperfections to take on a life of their own. It reflects the nostalgia for lost futures described in Mark Fisher's Hauntology, as the resurfaced material represents a past I didn’t experience, yet feel connected to.

This monthly program features highlights and commissions from the Glasgow art radio station Radiophrenia.

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 across Glasgow, the station promotes 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 a number of 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 as a co-operative funded through Creative Scotland’s Open Project Funding.