Prospect Culture Newsletter

Listening to music on the radio was anathema to John Cage—radios were, he thought, means of generating sound in themselves. This disc by Clare and David Lesser, the British husband and wife performer-composer team, dials into Cage’s unique relationship with the radio and includes pieces involving actual wireless sets. Particular highlights include the tracks “Radio Music” and “Speech”—conceived during the mid-1950s, both are soundscapes created from randomised weaves through different radio stations, in which instantly recognisable sounds and speech patterns are wrenched out of their usual contexts, meaning we listen with ever refreshed, alert ears. Endlessly fascinating.

—Philip Clark