Radio Territories by Brandon LaBelle


Radio Territories
Title : Radio Territories
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0977259412
ISBN-10 : 9780977259410
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 264
Publication : First published June 15, 2006

The legacy of radio and the arts has spawned many forms of radical culture over the years, from early Modernist notions of the "Wireless Imagination" and its subsequent vernacular tongues to Acoustic Ecology's call for "Radical Radio." This contemporary history of radical radio addresses the transformation of this broadcast medium by recent breakthroughs in digital technology--from digital streaming to web radio and podcasting--paying special attention to the "transmission arts" in culture and politics. It includes creative and critical essays by historians, media theorists, radio producers and activists, coupled with artistic and audio projects by current avant-gardists Kabir Carter, Brandon LaBelle, James Sey and others. While "Modern" radio stitched together an electronic network by expanding outward, today's radio may fulfill Marshall McLuhan's idea of the global "extended nervous system" by networking individual lives on more of a cellular level. According to the authors, radio is no longer out there, in the ether, but inside us, transmitting intense stratifications of culture. Comes with audio CD.

Radio Territories Reviews

  • Murf Reeves

    It is hard to say when I started this collection because I started and stopped three different times. Finishing the book was an exercise in pushing through bad habits as it was to learn what was in between the covers. Radio Territories is a collection of essays dealing with the medium of radio as an art form, and not just broadcasting. Each essay deals with a different fragment or radio art be it history or a specific group, or project. I found the essays a little beyond my reading ability, I had the dictionary and google search on stand by, but once I got the rhythm I was blown away at the different perspectives and uses. This was edited in 2007, so some of the subject matter was prophetic and some are still relevant for what we are learning about radio (digital, analog, etc.) As a radio DJ, I felt somewhat transformed in how I looked at myself(voice) on the air. Where it is, how it moves through the various technological chains and systems. How the medium is used politically ( one person talking, many people listening. The essay Hybrid Cuisine from the new radio kitchen interchanges the functions of kitchens with the functions of the radio studio and the similarities. This is not for everyone, but if you are into the frontiers of radio as an art form and how it can be used for alternative purposes and missions besides entertainment and capitalism.