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Now I suppose one doesn't tune in to the Feedback Farm in hopes of hearing "good radio," but the Farmers took radio to a new nadir with the most recent episode. Personally, I suspect they weren't actually prepared for the promised show about cooking, so they spent 60 minutes yammering about 40 years in the life of Farmer PJ, who apparently had a birthday recently. Well whoop-dee-doo.

And while PJ repudiates accusations that he was behind it all (listen to his feeble exclamation of surprise toward the end of the programme), he sure played along quite happily at his fete, didn't he?

Really, if these folks can't get their act together and responsibly use the invaluable outlet they have at their fingertips, they should be tossed out on their ears. Somebody else would put the airwaves to better use. The Feedback Farm is a Radio SHOW, not a birthday PARTY.

If you missed the nonsense, you were lucky. If you click here (28MB MP3), your luck will shortly run out.

Political Party Hardy

There's nothing like a presidential election to remind you that America is doomed, but last night the Feedback Farmers got mildly political anyway, taking stabs at both sides as well as some innocent Young Democrats, callers, and historic recordings in their typical endearing way. Since the North Carolina Democratic primary arrives May 6, along with a barrage of advertising and mediocre bands, the nomination war between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton was the main topic of discussion, though McCain and his alleged "chipmunk cheeks" cropped up, too.

If you missed the programme, it's available in one whopping nugget of an MP3 file, downloadable here. (26 MB)

DJ Wicky Wick was not in attendance during the show, and thusly I blog-post this episode instead.

Buchla Buchla Boo

If the folks behind My First Sony truly had any interest in holding my attention past age 7, they would have done everything in their power to slap their name on the Buchla Music Easel and maybe I wouldn't be the schlub I am today.



The Music Easel was one of the many brainchildren of Don Buchla. It combines nearly every sound generating element found on a synth: a keyboard, multiple oscillators, cartridges, reverberation, envelope filters, as well as a variety of modular components. In fact, a majority of its charm stems from its interconnectivity. The only way he could have made it more over the top would be to graft on a baboon's heinie.

I stumbled across a great video of Charles Cohen going to town on the music easel. If the video is any indication of the Music Easel in raw form, it's even somehow producing sound in stereo. Here's the blib from the site and then the video:

/ / / / / Viewing with headphones or a stereo source is highly recommended / / / / /


This colorful video features sound artist Charles Cohen improvising on a 1970's Buchla Music Easel. This extremely rare instrument is one of Don Buchla's 200 series. Buchla (a pioneer of audio synthesis) only manufactured 14 of these units. The entire film was edited from an hour-long set of free improvisation, with audio was taken directly from Charles' mixing board.All of the photography and editing was produced by Alex Tyson, a sound and video artist from Pennsylvania. The film was shot in 16:9 720p High Definition format, using a 35mm LensBaby 3GPL




CHARLES COHEN AT THE BUCHLA MUSIC EASEL from Alex on Vimeo.

Feedback Fashionistas

Does your closet contain anything you should really just throw away? Are outmoded styles keeping you from getting that promotion at work? Do you just plain need fashion advice?

This week the Feedback Farmers (in their expanded form) welcomed spring with a look at this season's hottest new fashions. Yellow is in, leggings are out. Waists are going higher, pant legs are wider. Strap on your gladiator sandals and click here (28MB MP3) to listen to the latest episode of the Feedback Farm!

Hot Diggity Dog!

Frankly, hot dogs are a pretty curious food. Thusly inspired, the most recent
episode of the Feedback Farm was about all things wiener. By the end of the hour, the Farmers managed to encase their listeners in an array of collage and discussion that can only be described as intestinal and dubiously sourced, albeit protein-rich. New Farmers Steph, Andy, and Bryson joined the posse.

Download the programme here (28MB MP3).

This blog-entry guest written by Feedback Farmer/wanted criminal Kevin Clark.

Recurring Dreams

The Feedback Farmers revisited one of their favorite topics last week: Dreams.

The third installment in the series again featured dreams collected in the Chapel Hill area. The Farmers accosted people on the UNC campus, at the Weaver Street Market, and at a local bike shop.

The maximum-density collage may not have quite worked out the way the Farmers (Kevin, in particular) envisioned, but all in all it was a pretty good show. If you sometimes find the Feedback Farm hard to take, this show was one of the more listenable, actually.

Many thanks to all the dreamers who helped make this show a reality!

Click here to download the March 12, 2008 Feedback Farm Dream programme (44MB MP3).

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As a special bonus, click here to read about and download the dream collage that aired on the March 17, 2005 Thursday Night Feature on WXYC (a 40MB MP3 awaits you).

As an extra-special bonus, click here to download the dream collage that started it all, broadcast on WXYC March 29, 2004 (20MB MP3).

Hot Topic

The Feedback Farmers had a heated discussion about all things flammable and inflammable on the programme last week. Fire safety, forest fire suppresion (thanks to special guest via telephone Charles Hill), burning Beatles albums, and the burning of the Reichstag were all at least mentioned.

Lest we forget our ABCS, a big thanks for the contributions to this show made by Andrew, Bryson, Chris, and Steph.

If you have a burning desire to hear the show, click here to download (27MB MP3).