#micro fm

Pirate radio was once the primary area of counterculture, contributing to the growth of rock, punk, hip hop, afrobeat, and even mainstream culture and politics. In the 1980s, Japan experienced a massive, or as it is sometimes called, a “micro” pirate radio movement. Countless radio stations that could only broadcast within walking distance appeared; they were deeply experimental, doing things like hanging microphones from the ceiling or making portable radio stations by putting their equipment on bicycles. FM Koenji, KIDS, Boss-FM, Two & A Half, IBS-FM, Radio Home Run and others had a certain “local” and “DIY” aesthetic, with the use of self-published papers, stylized verification cards, and some even experimented with “cassette magazines”. Many of them even attempted to turn listeners into active participants and would let anyone broadcast on the show. This mini-FM movement was pivotal to radio culture in Japan and has never been thoroughly explored. Mini-FM did not last forever. It seems that it started to decline in the late 80s and fell off completely around the 90s.

Beginning in the mid 80s, the slow food movement began in Italy and over time grew a rabid following worldwide that continues to this day. Starting in the early 90s, a subgenre of southern hip hop called screw was formed, where vinyl albums were played and re-recorded 20-30% slower, sometimes with added beats, introductions and other effects. This subgenre bubbled beneath the surface for over a decade, and took off in the mid-2000s as the phenomenon of chopped and screwed music was applied to hip hop mixtapes. Increasingly in the past 5 years, experimental musicians have begun to mine this technique to combine hip hop, electronic, ambient/noise and other experimental music. SLOW FM has commissioned artists internationally to create new slowed-down compositions as well as will broadcast the full gamut of slow music from ambient, dub, drone, contemporary classical, dance music, hip hop and cross-genre music. Artists included: Tim Hecker, Lawrence English, Aaron Roche, Greg Fox, Cars Will Burn, Yung Pharoah, Thin Gaze, Selfies, Lil 'Merica, Ulalume, Chattr, Eartheater, and Indridi Ingolffson. Additional works will be DJed live and slow by Fade Sunshine and Jacob Herschel. Curator/DJ/Selector: Lee Tusman. Commissioned by Pew Center For Arts and Heritage: New Spaces / New Formats.

FM Receiver hidden away in the studio.

Based on circuit designs by Tetsuo Kogawa.