I have found few online resources where it’s possible to find West African Afro beat, reflections on public transport miscommunications, and interviews with the Dame of Punk (she being designer Vivienne Westwood), and it’s not for lack of trying. As someone with undiagnosed ADHD and an affinity for the search bar, the locally based audio resource The [Un]Observed is a long awaited catalog of auditory enjoyment, and I have radio producer Tania Ketenjian to thank.
Inspired by the Austrailain Broadcasting Company’s Night Air, the BBC World Service and Studio 360 contributor recently launched a radio magazine for conversations and observations that is, to her credit, very hand-selected. “I want people to know what quality they’ll hear” when they listen to the new five pieces The [Un]Observed adds to its archives per week, says Ketenjian, who also hosts the artist conversation series Sight Unseen on KALX.
Audio by journalists, sound artists, and producers of American, Australian, and British descent are well worth a browse (and listen). The Chorus of Refuge online installation by Jason Cady, Kara Oehler, and Ann Heppermann stands out with its combination of stories from six refugee populations relocated to as many American cities, and the experiences of postmodern dancer Anna Halprin and singer Marvin Gaye are also lovingly told. Consider it radio, curatorially catalogued.