1970s to 1990s local radio goes on-air again

By James Cridland for media.info
Posted 25 March 2015, 4.40am edt

Resonance FM, the London arts station, is broadcasting a radio artwork tonight containing some elements you may recognise.

AllEco, the work of audiovisual composer Louise Harris, will broadcast tonight at 9.00pm with jingles and sound bites from across local radio broadcasting in the UK.

On the Radio Arts website, she describes the programme as "a dream-like expedition around the cultural and historical broadcast geography of the UK, in which locations, regions and periods in time are hinted at are briefly discovered and then departed from".

Writing on the website, she says: "Local radio, perhaps more so than national broadcasting, develops strong senses of association for local communities; the repeated melodies and motifs heard therein becoming something of a soundmark for listeners, representing particular times, locations or routines in their daily lives. This work explores some of these soundmarks, particularly from stations I was familiar with during my childhood."

The programme airs tonight at 9.00pm on 104.4 FM in central London, and on Radioplayer and TuneIn. Personally, I hope that Coldseal Windows jingles aren't part of the artwork; but who knows what we might hear.

Louise Harris is an electronic and audiovisual composer. She is also Lecturer in Sonic and Audiovisual Practices at The University of Glasgow.