Shandar is a legendary French label founded in 1970 by the 24 year old Chantal D'Arcy (who gave her name to the label: Chan–tal Dar–cy). The myth narrates that the label was initiated with the encouragement from Cecil Taylor, whose recordings D'Arcy was searching for a label to release. After beeing disappointed with the scarse artistical commitment shown by the labels he encoutered, she decided to release the recordings herself. The episode features: Vincent le Masne et Bertrand Porquet, Ragnar Grippe, La Monte Young, Charlemagne Palestine, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Philip Glass and Sun Ra.

It annoyed Cage that the general public and popular press continued to identify him as the inventor of the prepared piano. In an interview in 1961 he said: “It was what I was doing 10 years ago. The public is always 10 years behind.” The music featured in this episode has been actually rediscovered recently — in some cases more than 10 years later — thanks to the passionate work of labels such us Superior Viaduct and États-Unis that repressed these avant-garde gems. The episode features: B.C.Gilbert & G.Lewis, Jon Gibson, Anna Lockwood, Edward Artemiev, Warner Jepson, Glenn Branca, Sensations Fix, Milk from Cheltenham and Inflatable Boy Clams

In this episode John Berger explains Walter Benjamin's ideas exposed in his masterpiece 'The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction' arguing that through reproduction an Old Master's painting's modern context is severed from that which existed at the time of its making. The episode features: John Berger, Suzanne Ciani, The Ghostwriters, Orchestra Of The Eigth Day, Colin Potter, O Yuki Conjugate, Johnny Lamas, Leven Signs, Charlemagne Palestine & Robert Feldmen, Rexy.

The hottest days of Italian summer made us want to compose a mixtape of relaxing and meditative ambient music, featuring the enlightening words of Laraaji, resonances of Japanese masters of zen electronic music from the 80s and the spiritual support of Pharoah Sanders. The final part of this episode takes us back to a lecture held by Sun Ra at UC Berkeley in 1971 known as “The Black Man in the Universe”. Let your mind travel. The episode features: X.Y.R., Laraaji, Takashi Kokubo, Dies Irae, Takatoshi Naitoh, Hiroshi Yoshimura, Hideki Matsutake, Mkwaju Ensemble, Sun Ra, Pharoah Sanders.

Viva Venezia is an episode of Occasional Radio, entirely dedicated to the protagonists of the Venetian avant-garde, from Bruno Maderna, to Luigi Nono and Carlo Scarpa. The episode features: Bruno Maderna, Gruppo Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza, Gigi Masin, John Cage, Bebo Baldan, Brian Eno, Rabih Beaini, Luigi Nono, Carlo Scarpa, Sun Ra.

This episode is entirely dedicated to a life-long composition created by the avant-garde musician Tony Conrad. Quoting the about section of the related website published by the american artist Cory Arcangel (musicandthemindofthe.world), 'From 1976 to 1982, Tony Conrad (1940-2016) created 'Music and the Mind of the World', a piano composition comprising over 200 hours of recorded music. During this time everything Conrad played on the piano was recorded (with the incidental exception of perhaps three or four hours)'.

Modern Primitivism is a mixtape — a real one, recorded directly on tape — curated by Pasquale Lomolino, the founder of several obscure independent record labels, devoted to new and old avant-garde music. The term Modern Primitivism also defines the criteria used to establish the selection; in fact the fil rouge that connects the pieces is the use of primitive instruments to produce new music. Another aspect to mention is that all the pieces had been only released on cassette — again a primitive medium — and for this reason are almost impossible to find on the internet. The episode features: Brion Gysin, Cranioclast, O Yuki Conjugate, Robert Rich, Jean Tinguely, Déficit Des Années Antérieures, Riccardo Sinigaglia, Zone, Christina Kubisch & Roberto Laneri, Two Daughters.

Based in Brooklyn, RVNG Intl. is a music institution that operates on few but heavily fortified principals, dealing with forward-reaching artists sometimes categorized as electronic, avant-garde, free, experimental, ambient, etc. Besides the main exercise of publishing new artists and repressing old archives, RVNG collaborates with New York City’s White Columns Gallery, London’s Barbican Center, curates MoMa PS1’s Summer Warm Up series and works extensively with Krakow’s Unsound Festival. The episode features: Pauline Ann Strom, Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe & Ariel Kalma, Julianna Barwick & Ikue Mori, Sugai Ken, Bing & Ruth, Blues Control & Laraaji, Craig Leon and Clean Plate.

The episode features: Monotone, D.A.F., Cluster, Throbbing Gristle, Brian Eno & David Byrne,Manuel Gottsching, Chris and Cosey, Faust & Tony Conrad, Neu, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark.

Slowscan is an obscure avant-garde record label that publishes audio-art vinyls and cassettes from its archive. Based in the middle of Holland, the label is run by Jan van Toorn, ex-electronic music student from the Institute of Sonology in Utrecht, today curator of audio art exhibitions. Special mention should be made of the quality in the design of the releases. The episode features: David Rosenboom, Glenn Frew, Robert Filliou, Al Hansen, Henning Christiansen, Richard Maxfiel, Henri Chopin and William Levy.