Author Archives: nickH

Voice On Record

Episode 20 – Hamlet with Desmond Leslie

Here’s one of the many Living Shakespeare records doing the rounds from 1962 featuring ” Musique Concrete and Sound Patterns composed and recorded by Desmond Leslie.”

Voice On Record is produced and presented by Sean Williams. Each episode features a selection of recordings of the human voice which have been preserved on vinyl. Historic events stand alongside esoteric guides to better bowling. Arid studio recordings are juxtaposed with location recordings rich with fascinating incidental sounds.

Originally broadcast on January 26th 2010.

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Voice On Record

Episode 17 – Christmas Special

Voice On Record is produced and presented by Sean Williams. Each episode features a selection of recordings of the human voice which have been preserved on vinyl. Historic events stand alongside esoteric guides to better bowling. Arid studio recordings are juxtaposed with location recordings rich with fascinating incidental sounds.

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Voice On Record

Episode 16 – Ireland part 1

The first in our Ireland trilogy featuring WB Yeats, Seamus Heaney (it’s the island of Ireland) and Sean O’Casey

Voice On Record is produced and presented by Sean Williams. Each episode features a selection of recordings of the human voice which have been preserved on vinyl. Historic events stand alongside esoteric guides to better bowling. Arid studio recordings are juxtaposed with location recordings rich with fascinating incidental sounds.

Originally broadcast on December 15th 2009.

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Voice On Record

Episode 15 – Smorgasbord

Bits and bobs that fell through the net, plus our inaugural competition to win a copy of Speaking Personally… Aldous Huxley. Listen to the show to find out the details and names will be drawn out of a hat before Christmas.

Voice On Record is produced and presented by Sean Williams. Each episode features a selection of recordings of the human voice which have been preserved on vinyl. Historic events stand alongside esoteric guides to better bowling. Arid studio recordings are juxtaposed with location recordings rich with fascinating incidental sounds.

Originally broadcast on December 8th 2009.

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Voice On Record

Episode 14 – Elephants and Heffalumps

Minimum/Maximum – i.e. a minimal number of records but which contain stories about large things, namely heffalumps and elephants. These two records are from two of my favourite labels, Argo and Caedmon, who together, have put out the most astonishing array of the highest quality material. I strongly urge you to go and seek out anything they have released and buy it!

Voice On Record is produced and presented by Sean Williams. Each episode features a selection of recordings of the human voice which have been preserved on vinyl. Historic events stand alongside esoteric guides to better bowling. Arid studio recordings are juxtaposed with location recordings rich with fascinating incidental sounds.

Originally broadcast on December 1st 2009.

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Voice On Record

Episode 13: Yorkshire, with apologies.

A complete survival guide to Yorkshire.

Voice On Record is produced and presented by Sean Williams. Each episode features a selection of recordings of the human voice which have been preserved on vinyl. Historic events stand alongside esoteric guides to better bowling. Arid studio recordings are juxtaposed with location recordings rich with fascinating incidental sounds.

Originally broadcast on November 24th 2009.

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Voice On Record

Episode 12: Musique Concrete and Electronic Music

A history of the use of the human voice in tape and other electronic composition.

Voice On Record is produced and presented by Sean Williams. Each episode features a selection of recordings of the human voice which have been preserved on vinyl. Historic events stand alongside esoteric guides to better bowling. Arid studio recordings are juxtaposed with location recordings rich with fascinating incidental sounds.

Originally broadcast on November 17th 2009.

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Voice On Record

Episode 11: Children’s Records

Records for kids but also for adults really.

Voice On Record is produced and presented by Sean Williams. Each episode features a selection of recordings of the human voice which have been preserved on vinyl. Historic events stand alongside esoteric guides to better bowling. Arid studio recordings are juxtaposed with location recordings rich with fascinating incidental sounds.

Originally broadcast on November 10th 2009.

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Ventures and Adventures in Topography

Episode 7: It Isn’t Far From London by SPB Mais (1931)

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In this final episode in the series Nick and John delve into the topographical writing of SPB Mais. Mais was one of the most famous media figures of the 1930’s and 40’s. He presented a number of popular programmes on BBC radio including Microphone at Large and This Unknown Island.

In this episode he is presented as a forward thinking almost proto-psychogeographer in his approach to the experience of walking and a radical call to arms to embrace both the past and the future from the forces of commerce. Nick describes his writing as a kind of nature mysticism.

The walk from Mais’s It Isn’t Far From London that was recorded for the show was an epic tramp from Slough through Stoke Poges, Burnham Beaches, Hedgerley then along the M40 in the gloom to Beaconsfield.
With readings by Heidi Lapaine.

Originally broadcast December 16th 2009.

Here is some video footage from that walk cut with extracts from the audio recordings used in the show.

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Ventures and Adventures in Topography

Episode 6: The Face of London by Harold P. Clunn (1932).
“Those who walk see most”

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Clunn’s weighty tome is an exhaustive survey of London and its environs – probably the most comprehensive compendium of the city covered in this series exploring the world of early C20th topographical walking books. Clunn was a strident spokesman for the pedestrian – chronicling the gradual alienation of the walker from the streets to the designated walkways.
John and Nick sift through the 25 walks covered in the Face of London and set out to follow Clunn’s haphazard route from Highbury through Holloway to Highgate, revelling in the geological infrastructure of the northern heights laid bare and the powerful mythology of the zone around Crouch End with its vampire legends, zombie movie, and serial killer.

With readings by Heidi Lapaine.

Ventures and Adventures in Topography is a show that looks at the rich tradition of early 20th century topographical walking guides to London and the South East and explores what use they might be to us today. Presented by John Rogers and Nick Papadimitriou.

Originally broadcast on 9th December 2009.

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