(don’t want to read an essay? Click here to go directly to the 1st Words on Sounds podcast)

Hello dear readers,

As many of you already know, I’ve been part of the Other Music radio show on KZUM for the last four years. I’ve really enjoyed doing the program, helping to get all kinds of creative, adventurous music out to new ears, and occasionally doing interviews and hosting live performances in the studio. But I’m regularly asked if there might be a way to download the show instead of listening live. It airs late on Sunday evenings, after all. It’s difficult for many of my local over-the-air listeners to catch if they need to get up early for work on Monday, and squarely in the middle of the night for European listeners who tune into the livestream.

The answer, sadly, is no. For music shows that originate on terrestrial radio and also livestream, there are a number of weird FCC regulations and copyright issues that put downloads of such shows into muddy legal waters. While some stations have download archives of similar programming, our station chooses not to take that risk, and I can certainly understand their position.

That said, I want to make sure that the time I’m able to invest in various forms of creative music advocacy can help reach as many people as possible. The asynchronous nature of podcasting, that convenience of listening anywhere at any time, seems like such a huge advantage for potential listeners that I’m going to try out a weekly podcast format for a while. Consider this as a companion to my review work on this blog. While it takes me a lot of time to finish reviews because I try to listen as deeply as possible and take layers of notes before I’m ready to write, I’m continually working new recordings into my radio show within days of receipt. It’s pretty clear when new records are amazing right out of the gate, after all, even though it takes me a while to go from a series of astonished expletives to more articulate waters.

So the podcast is going to mirror my weekly listening regimen, and I’m going to incorporate choosing songs for the program directly into my listening and note-taking routine. I think this is going to be really helpful and productive for me, too–I suspect that the quality of my commentary in radio/podcast work, and the quantity of reviews I can tackle, are both going to improve when they’re part of a single workflow instead of two separate volunteer jobs.

I’m pretty excited, actually. I just rearranged my studio to make this process as smooth and inviting as possible. I uploaded the debut Words on Sounds podcast roughly 24 hours ago, and it’s apparently already “making the charts” on Mixcloud, which is amazing!

I’ll be posting the links to each podcast episode both here and on my Facebook page for Words on Sounds (which could use a few more “likes” if you’re so inclined). You can also go to Mixcloud and subscribe directly through them. You can listen on desktop computers by following the link, and they also have easy-to-use smartphone apps for the site. Also, if anybody out there would be interested in hosting these podcasts as downloadable files for folks who would rather listen that way, I’d be interested in that possibility, too. Drop me a line.

My production values will surely continue to improve (gotta swap out that crackly microphone cord for starters), but I think you’ll agree that the music in this first episode of the Words on Sounds podcast is amazing: