Van Sounds

There is a lot of death metal bands in Kathmandu, Nepal. Let's figure out why. Oh, and my mom will be there. She'll help interview the metal bands.

The first in a series about Silence.

Silence by John Biguenet

The Music of John Cage by James Pritchett

Roots Connective by Yclept insan
Easy Come Easy Go by ntvrme.ぶ
Brought to you by a cluttered table... by fantompower.
Gone Fishing by Yclept Insan
Beethoven’s 3rd

Fundir Todo

A new album from Las Cosas Que Pasan. Click image to listen.

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A guest postcard from Julian Guy, navigating the bus system of Montevideo Uruguay.

The power and process of naming mountains.

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Beginning with an ear hike through John Muir National Forest, this episode dives into the process of naming places. Denali, Jefferson Davis Peak(s), and literary reflection on the need to give human names to mountains.

New Baseball Shirt: https://vansounds.bandcamp.com/merch/baseball-shirt

This episode was scored by Julian Jacobs.

Lightning over Rural Argentina, rest-stop buffet, sleep paralysis

The Picon Punch in the Great Basin. Exploring shades of brown.

The skyscrapers of São Paulo are like blades of grass. They stretch upright in every direction, farther than you can see.

It’s winter and it’s night time. A line of motorcycles slithers through the sparse traffic on a backstreet of Pinhieros and the moon is behind the clouds. I’m on a street corner at the base of a skyscraper on the top of a hill at a bend in the road. A single motorcycle zigzags up the hill, leans into the turn and disappears into the tall grass, never looking up. Just ahead.

Xau in front of Lavanderia • Curitiba, Brazil • Photo by Kent Irwin

Alan Chaves + Mark Nesbitt in Porto Alegre, Brazil

Gus drinks beer from the corner store • Florípa, Brazil

This episode of Van Sounds was brought to you by Astray Goods Company -- honestly handcrafted backpacks made to last a lifetime. Search for Astray Goods on Kickstarter to get a pack at an early backer price.

Van Sounds contributor Emily Jiang finds a house on a cliff between the highway and the ocean.

Photos by Emily Jiang and Abby Mitchell.

I have a 100 theme songs in my head.
They bounce around, bounce off each other, but mainly, they repeat.
They play, then they play again. Then they play again. Then the show happens until the theme comes and plays again. And then the show and then the theme and then the theme. The television is either mocking or celebrating my repetitive movements, and then in turn I do the same to it.

Maybe think about the engine of a freight train. Maybe think about the pistons somewhere deep in there pumping up and down, over and over again. The repetition makes it go. The repetition moves it.
But even if the pistons stop, the train keeps moving. Repetition builds momentum.
You repeat something enough, and it starts to repeat itself

I called up Union Pacific and asked the first person to answer the phone, "if an average freight train is cruising at full speed on flat, straight tracks, and they cut the engine, how far would it go before it stops?” And the guy on the phone replied — quote "i dunno, pretty far."

20khz

Break Master Cylinder press photo

Roots Connective, Tutzi, and Beet Tape Coop by Yclept Insan
n e e dr e s t by Odyssee
A bunch of theme songs including BREAK MASTER CYLINDER
M-800 by Over Vert.

Roots connective by Yclept Insan
The One by Corya Yo
Blue Sky an’ calm by X.Y.R.
Flow Study by Hammer Screwdriver
Dezembro by JEZMND
Nuestra Noche by Mi Amigo Invencible