In this final episode of 2021, Alec and Nick wrap up the year by revisiting an early concept from the Flavortone archive: the Cochlear Wind. The Cochlear Wind is a figurative mascot, intended to both cheer and taunt the way composers bamboozle listeners (and often, themselves) through flurries of tactical language, technological posturing and evocations of site-specificity. Poking fun at platitudes found in sound art and phenomenology, this idea is a parody of "the mystery of sound," where sonority and noise disorient the always beleaguered, insufficient Ear as it attempts to understand an audible world. Topics include: the Trap Card of Yu-Gi-Oh!, Jeff Witscher, Oda speaker company, Alvin Lucier, François Bonnet, Pascale Criton and more!

Art by Char Esme, www.charesme.info.