Since January 2005, Music From Other Minds has presented new and unusual music by innovative composers and performers from around the world. Produced weekly for KALW 91.7 FM San Francisco by Charles Amirkhanian and the Other Minds staff, and aired at 8pm every Sunday, Music From Other Minds aims to open up radio listeners to experimental classical work by living and recent composers. We bring you the latest in contemporary music from around the world, and some glimpses into the past, to give a context for today’s music.
Follow this link for information and track listings from programs prior to program 501.
Follow this link to download a complete list of works played on MFOM up to program 791.
Previous Programs
Program 683: Solo & Group Improvisers
This program presents improvised music. The first hour features music from Chicago. A piano solo by Jim Baker and a track by Extraordinary Popular Delusions is followed by four performances from Experimental Sound Studio – a piano / bassoon duet with Wayne Horvitz and Sara Schoenbeck; a tenor sax solo by Ingrid Laubrock; LaDonna Smith playing violin and viola; and a solo by Norwegian pianist Håvard Wiik.
The second hour opens with an alto sax solo by Jack Wright, then a piece by Tender Buttons. Phil Dadson, an instrument designer from New Zealand, is joined by Paul Winstanley and Tom Nunn at the Headlands Center for the Arts in which an entire building is played as an instrument. The show ends with a shakuhachi solo by Douglas Ewart.
Program 682: One Year Later: January 6, 2021
On this Music from Other Minds, a rebroadcast of Liam Herb’s “Musical Multitudes” program, recorded on the evening of January 6, 2021.
Program 681: Ringing in the New Year
On this Music from Other Minds, Ed Herrmann rang in the New Year with music for hand bells and church bells.
Program 680: DJ Favorites - 2021
This program is a combination of feel-good classics and work that embodies the dread many of us are experiencing at this time. We start with a holiday non-sequitur: a low-fi version of Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas” by The Flaming Lips. Then we’ll hear something from Steve Reich dating from the 1980s, and from Terry Riley dating back to the 1960s. We re-focus on the present with some powerful work from the experimental rock group Swans, and a melancholy piece of electronica from William Basinski. And finally, to either drown our sorrows or celebrate the new year, we’ll hear one of Hawaii’s favorite drinking songs by Don Ho. Aloha 2021…
Program 679: Other Minds Records 2021 Roundup
On this Music from Other Minds, Liam Herb plays some selections from Other Minds Records 2021 season. Featuring works by Charles Amirkhanian, Robert Honstein, Jim Nollman, and more.
Program 678: Five New Releases
Five new albums from 5 very different experimental musicians. Cairo-based Maurice Louca’s work combines Egyptian folk instruments, classical western instruments and electronics in an intriguing synthesis of Arabic and Western sensibilities. Pamela Z offers a theatrical take on the voice and it’s possibilities when combined with modern technology. Ben Lamar Gay fuses folk, hip hop, jazz and utter weirdness into something extraordinary. Nick Zanca’s latest release is a fusion of field recording and artfully used electronics. And Lea Bertucci’s work is a thoughtful combination of the acoustic properties of both her instruments and the environments in which they are played.
Program 677: Percussion Music
On this Music from Other Minds, Ed Herrmann makes his Music from Other Minds Debut with a program dedicated to percussion.
Program 676: New Release Mix #1
On this Music from Other Minds, Liam Herb plays a mix of 2021 releases by John Cage, KMRU, Annea Lockwood, and Morton Feldman.
Program 675: Stirred, Not Shaken - Jazz Hybrids
This program presents a few recent recordings that give us some examples of jazz hybrids, combinations of jazz and other musical genres. The centerpiece of this program is an extended improvised jam featuring German free jazz saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, master Moroccan Gnawa musician, singer, and guembri player Maâlem Moukhtar Gania, and highly regarded American drummer Hamid Drake. We’ll also hear work from pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and guitarist Mary Halvorson, from Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and saxophonist Henry Threadgill, from composer and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, from the edgy free jazz ensemble, Irreversible Entanglements and from Sarathy Korwar and the Upaj Collective.
Program 674: From the OM Archive - Amirkhanian and Cage in Conversation
On this Music from Other Minds, Liam Herb plays an archival recording of Charles Amirkhanian’s Ode to Gravity: The Music of John Cage, originally broadcast on NPR stations nationwide on December 12, 1987.
In this program, you’ll hear Amirkhanian’s on-stage interview with Cage at the San Francisco Exploratorium, various works by the composer spanning early to late, and learn about the background of this legendary theorist, artist, and philosopher.