Wind Is the Original Radio

The Earth's orbit around the sound finds itself at the point where we, from our planet, measure the sun's relative location exactly above the Equator's, making its way South. This marks the autumnal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and the vernal equinox and the beginning of spring in the Southern Hemisphere.

The mix presented today, by our curator Melissa Pons, is an invitation to celebrate - or rather to contemplate, to attune the ears and let the body-mind wander freely.

Thanks to our artists, we'll listen to Earth's soundscapes from Aotearoa New Zealand to Portugal - please see the full playlist below.

They have all been recorded within 7 days of the September Equinox and in this piece, they have been sculpted and twined into a cinematic dreamy travel with ambient electronic music, in some impossible place between the Earth and the Moon.

Full playlist:

Solstice comes from the Latin solstitium - sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still): the moment when the sun appears to pause in its movement. A brief illusion of stillness. The longest day, the fullest expansion of light, and yet, from this very point, transformation has already begun. The brightest moment already carries the beginning of its own disappearance. Gathering recordings captured during different solstices, across distant places and years, this mix follows movements of appearance, disappearance, and return. Each recording holds a specific moment of listening, a fragment of a landscape that has already changed, a trace of something that cannot happen twice in the same way. Some recordings have been split and reintroduced at different moments, creating small cycles inside the composition. They disappear and resurface, carrying the memory of their previous occurrence while being transformed by their new surroundings. Like seasons, tides, or the movement of light, repetition becomes a way of sensing change rather than sameness. Different environments slowly orbit around each other: distant temporalities briefly aligning, moments of stillness revealing movement, and sounds returning as reminders that nothing ever truly stands still.

Tracklist:

Stefano Arrigoni is a sound artist and anaesthesiologist based in Marseille whose work explores listening as an active process of transformation. Moving between electroacoustic composition, field recording, and modular synthesis, he investigates the fragile thresholds of perception. Rooted in psychoacoustics, phenomenological observation, and self-experimentation, his practice examines how sonic environments shape the way we perceive, inhabit, and make sense of the world. https://soundcloud.com/stefanoarrigoni

Welcome to the wind is the original radio podcast!

Episode Summary

In this powerful episode, Frank Oscar Weaver is joined by Watson Whitford (Wapanatak), co-president of UNITY and member of the Chippewa Cree tribe and Navajo Nation. Together, they explore five essential ways to be a mindful visitor in parks and natural places, weaving together traditional wisdom and practical guidance for honoring our green spaces.

The Five Ways to Honor Green Spaces

Leave It Better Than You Found It

Honor Ceremonial Spaces

Respect Wildlife Boundaries

Get in the Right State of Mind

Notable Quotes

"We're a part of this circle of life. I'm no higher than a ladybug. I'm no higher than a buffalo. And we're all the same. We all come from the same place." - Watson Whitford

"I want this place to be beautiful. I want there to be clean water, clean air to breathe, to be healthy animals and healthy plants. Not just for my relatives that are here with us now, but for people that will be coming in the future that aren't even here yet." - Watson Whitford

"Our traditional ways of ceremony are good... we don't talk down about other people's way of religion or talk down about the way other people pray. You know, because we want to be uplifting. We want to help each other." - Watson Whitford

Special Offer

Visit indigenousearth.org to receive an exclusive video prayer from Watson Whitford, guiding you in practicing mindful visitation to green spaces.

Connect with Watson Whitford

Support UNITY

UNITY (United National Indian Tribal Youth) supports Indigenous youth leadership across the nation. Your donation helps:

Donate at: unityinc.org/donate

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Credits

This podcast acknowledges that many parks and natural areas are on ancestral Indigenous lands that have been stewarded by Native people for thousands of generations.

This hour long mix comprises of field recordings made on and around Spring Equinoxes of various years. It takes you down through the Northern Hemisphere – from my sitting room in East London to a cottage balcony in the tropical  forests of Borneo. Listen for Slovenian jackals, Polish moor frogs, a Himalayan shepherd herding sheep, a hippopotamus getting ready for the night in Sierra Leone and choirs of birds singing across the globe.

It was only in researching for this show that I realised the equinox actually refers not to a whole day but a single moment in time, when the sun faces directly over the equator, granting the entire globe with roughly equal length days and nights around it. I was captivated by this idea of a single moment of equilibrium and the impossibility of capturing that – which is much like the experience of listening itself, always dissolving as soon as you try to catch hold. And the equinox moment itself is both something of a physical reality, and pure idea, constructed entirely by an imaginary line humans have drawn and named the equator. Again, this paradox seems to resonate with the act of field recording, which both records a physical reality of a time and place through the sound waves that are imprinted through a microphone, but also creates a totally new and artificial object of its own.

Whilst lines of longitude go from east to west and determine clock time, lines of latitude go from North to South and determine climate, with the suns rays becoming more intense the further south we go. Whilst enjoying one of the first sunny days we’ve had in London (where I am) in a long time, I decided to structure this mix along lines of latitude, moving from North to South through the Northern Hemisphere. I wonder if listeners will be able to feel the sun’s intensity increasing through their ears.

It was a privilege to shape these extraordinary sounds into a journey. Whilst making it I found myself contemplating the equinox as a time of both stillness and motion, sameness and divergence, meeting and departure – and I invite you to listen into this space of contradiction with me. 

Anna Clock is a composer, sound artist and researcher. Their practice is rooted in live acts of listening and challenging audiences to listen to each other, and their world, in new ways. They play the cello and also cut hair. They are currently pursuing an AHRC-funded Collaborative Doctoral Award with the Science Museum and Royal Holloway University exploring quantum aurality and how we listen to outer space. 

Recent works have been heard in Barbican, Royal Court Theatre, Wellcome Collection, The Albany, 100 years Gallery (UK), Project Arts Centre, Gate Theatre (IRL), Times Square Arts, Irish Arts Centre (USA) Dresden Staatschauspiel, Staatstheater Mainz (GER), CIRKO (FIN) and on Radio 4, Radio 3, Resonance FM and RTE Lyric radio. 

Playlist:

[01:19-03:45] A mysterious voice memo at the piano (me)

[03:45-05:20] Bartlett park (me) | UK

[05:20-07:16] Dawn’s Chorus: Mating Calls of Moor Frogs at Sunrise: Jakub Orzecki | Poland

[07:16-10:11] Howling Jackals: Jan Brelih | Slovenia

[10:11-12:01] Wood Frogs at the Library: Mike Bullock | USA

[12:01-15:10] Dawn Chorus in the Early Days of Spring: Enis Çakar | Türkiye

[15:10-20:05] Incoming Tide at Gold Bluffs Beach: Kelly Rafuse | USA

[20:05 -25:45] Snowfall in Himalayas: Jan Brelih | India

[25:45-31:59] Soft Dawn Chorus in the Jungles of Nepal: George Vlad | Nepal

[30:22-35:37] Himalaya Forest Valley: Jan Brelih | India

[35:37-40:36] Himalayan Shepherd: Jan Brelih | India

[40:36-45:33] Dawn Chorus at Mora River: Giselle Ragoonanan | Trinidad and Tobago

[45:33-48:07] Busy Dawn Chorus in the Savannah: Sounding Wild | Sierra Leone

[48:07-49:38] Gentle Wind at Dusk in the Savannah: Sounding Wild | Sierra Leone

[49:30-51:42] Hippopotamus Preparing for the Night: Sounding Wild | Sierra Leone

[51:42-52:24] Nocturnal Pulse: Usun Apau Ancient Forest: Jan Brelih | Malaysia

[52:24-53:51] Night Walk in Rainforest Discovery Center: Gina Lo | Malaysia

[53:51-58:05] Bornean Anura: Gina Lo | Malaysia

We are delighted to share a special set by artist Asa 808, a 2-hour journey ideal to softly immersive oneself in the nature sounds, instruments and spoken word.

Credits to Asa 808 and Ana Roxanne, Agustin Pereyra Lucena Quartet, Andreas von Wangenheim, Awakened Souls, Dead Man Winter, Djrum, 혁오 (HYUKOH), Sunset Rollercoaster 落日飛車, Felbm, Frankie Reyes, Icarus, Hana Stretton, H.Takahashi, Jeff Parker, Jordi Savall, Julian Lage, Julianna Barwick, Laurie Spiegel, Matonizz feat. Brian Kelley, Meitei, Omni Gardens, Rosie Lowe & Duval Timothy, Sohn, Sonmi541, Starling Arrow, Ted Greene, Yutaka Hirasaka, Wau Wau Collectif.

Asa started making music at the age of six, first learning classical piano and guitar (despite being seen unfit by some peers due to a heredofamilial essential tremor), later specializing in music theory and composition, jazz and improvisation. As a teenager, the non-binary artist released a 5 track EP with their first solo ambient project Hasta la otra méxico!, of which especially 'Túrána hott kurdís' attracted a lot of attention, hitting almost 1 million views on vimeo & youtube. Driven by their love for electronic music, Asa started producing and DJing as ASA 808, releasing on George FitzGerald's MakeMusic, Soundspace, and their own TOYS imprint and playing at festivals and clubs across Europe and Asia.

Bodies Extend Themselves Toward a Breathtaking Absence of Limits

Earth.FM has the pleasure and honour to announce a new work with multidisciplinary artist, field recordist, and DJ, Cameron Randall.

Cameron’s practice involves composing assemblages of field recordings, electro-acoustic sound, sampling, synthesis, AI models, and digital processing. His previous work has involved sculpture, algorithms, sound, moving image, text, and installation, while his Listening With radio series is broadcast every month on Resonance FM.

In this sound piece, Cameron takes us on a journey across the planet with an evocative, intense, surprising, and utterly beautiful sound montage of  Earth.FM recordings made during this Solstice season. 

In his own words:

"This piece was created from field recordings made by a number of international field recordists around this time of the year. These recordings are so rich and diverse that I was immensely inspired by their depth and detail. I am interested in the remixing, morphing, and translation of sound—where the audio both retains its original sonic quality and also becomes something new. Every sound you hear in this piece originates from the initial recordings provided to me. The origins of some sounds are obvious; some are more opaque. This is a line I often like to blur and play with. Thank you so much to Melissa Pons for commissioning me to do the piece for Earth.FM."

To work creatively with precious natural soundscapes is an exercise of affection and appreciation for our world. We truly hope that his cosmic piece will inspire you in many ways.

You can also listen to the original field recordings:

Jan Brelih: 

Serge Bulat: 

Rafael Diogo: 

Ezra Gray: 

Tom Kelly: 

Gina Lo: 

Andy Martin: 

Phil Mill: 

Martha Mutiso: 

Melissa Pons: 

Melissa Pons and Jocelyn Robert: 

Ivo Vicic: 

Gregor Vida: 

George Vlad: 

“I try to find places that still carry a bit of this [...] feeling that [...] something might be watching me in the place I try to record, or that I may have some problems with finding my way back from the recording spot. [...] [R]ecording there [gives] a chance to capture this raw energy of nature.”

In this episode of Wind Is the Original Radio, the Earth.fm podcast, site curator Melissa Pons talks with Jakub Orzęcki. An acoustic ecologist and field recording artist based in Wrocław, southwestern Poland, Jakub was nominated for the Sound of the Year Awards in 2022, in the category of Best Natural Sound.

Jakub has made it his mission to highlight the noise pollution increasingly affecting acoustically sensitive areas, and to archive changes occurring in sonic environments. However, as well as exploring Poland’s remote wilderness and underground environments, his work also encompasses the acoustic heritage of the local folklore and traditions which are coming under threat from globalization. With his Polish Soundscapes initiative, Jakub records and assesses the relationship between biophony, geophony, and anthropophony within his homeland’s acoustic environment.

In their conversation, Melissa and Jakub discuss a novel way of thinking about his field recording work: the notion that different recordings have flavors. For Jakub, this relates to the emotions he feels in the place where they are made - maybe a flavor of adventure (for example, in relation to soundscapes “tied to [an effortful] expedition”), or the flavor of being “the first person in a place for a very long time”. There’s even the flavor of preparation and analysis, drawing on “old descriptions of [a] place[,] [...] of settlements that once existed there” and grounded in everything from maps of topography, light pollution, and air traffic to Lidar-based terrain models. 

Jakub also describes a more primeval flavor - one that comes from respect for, or even fear of nature, and which “mix[es] [...] fascination and unease”. This sonic flavor reminds us that, for most of human history, natural environments were so much more unpredictable, stronger, and powerful than we were, whether in the form of forests, rivers, mountains, or swamps. Capturing that sensation tells us how “small [we] are compared to what surrounds [us]”.

They also delve into topics including:

All this and much more, in a dense and fascinating conversation. You can find out more about Jakub’s work on his website. And, until next time, happy listening.

This episode was created by Earth.FM's curator Melissa Pons for the multidisciplinary artist Cameron Randall, on his show Listening With at Resonance.FM, which aired on 8th December 2025.

Melissa's words on the piece:

"A sensorial journey with some of the most poetic field recordings I have encountered. They are delicate, requiring a certain level of attention. The recordings combine depth, dynamics, and space in a beautifully staggering way, allowing the wandering ear to easily attune to the different soundscapes.

Playlist:

“To record well, you have to be listening well.”

This episode, part two from Endless Fields 2025, features a further selection of interviews between Earth.fm curator Melissa Pons and her fellow artists-in-residence. You can listen to part one here.

One of the co-founders of the event, Stefano Arrigoni, spoke to Melissa alongside Cameron Randall.

Stefano is a sound artist and anaesthetist from Italy, who lives in Marseille, France. His practice explores how sound can shape consciousness and open spaces between the inner and the outer. For Stefano, field recording is a form of healing, attention, and surrender. In his compositions and improvisations, recorded sounds trace paths that question authorship and reveal what lies beyond the first layer of hearing. 

Cameron, a multidisciplinary artist, field recordist, and DJ, composes through an assemblage of field recordings, electro-acoustic sound, sampling, synthesis, AI models, and digital processing. Previous work has involved sculpture, algorithms, sound, moving image, text, and installation, while his monthly series Listening With is broadcasted on Resonance FM.

Together, Melissa, Stefano, and Cameron discuss:

Melissa also spoke to Anna Clock, who co-founded Endless Fields with Stefano. Anna’s work as an artist, composer, and musician centers ways of listening, and encompasses theater, film, radio, installation, text, and live music. They also find the time to play the cello and offer affordable, gender-neutral hairdressing in the queer community.

In their conversation, Anna talks about:

You can contact Stefano here, and follow Cameron and Anna.

And check back for upcoming episodes! These will feature conversations with Jakub Orzęcki, an acoustic ecologist and field recording artist who lives in Wrocław, Poland, and the Berlin-based sound recordist and electronic music composer Gina Lo.

Earth.fm curator Melissa Pons was recently invited to attend Endless Fields 2025, as one of seven sound artists-in-residence at Portugal’s Estúdio Yucca, in the Algarve by the Ria Formosa lagoon. 

This inaugural edition of Endless Fields, organized by Anna Clock and Stefano Arrigoni, was funded by the Department of Applied Social Sciences at the School of Science and Technology (FCT), NOVA University, Lisbon, Portugal, and co-organized by its participants. Local facilitation was by Raquel Castro - curator, producer, film director, and former president of the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology - and Ivo Louro, PhD Candidate in History, Philosophy and Heritage of Science and Technology (at FCT NOVA), and “occasional” sound artist. 

During the residency, which involved collective listening and recording, sound performances, jams, and an open day, Melissa conducted interviews with her fellow participants. These conversations form the basis of a new two-part episode of Earth.fm’s Wind Is the Original Radio podcast. 

This, the first part, features Ivo, Iddo Aharony, a composer of electronic and acoustic music and environmental and multimedia compositions, and Xavier Velastín Vicencio - self-described sound designer, composer, technologist, and whale lover.

Ivo Louro - who is studying the acoustemologies of Aeolian instruments, examining how they have been used not only to make music from the wind but also to monitor and forecast weather in both scientific and traditional craft settings - discusses:

Iddo Aharony is a creative musician and listener who continuously explores the myriad intersections of sound, environment, culture, and technology. His body of work spans a wide variety of instrumentations, media, and interdisciplinary collaborations, from a fully-staged opera to various experimental projects utilizing live electronics, created in collaboration with visual artists, theater directors, scientists, and other musicians. He currently lives in Colorado Springs and is Associate Professor of Music Technology at Colorado College. 

He talks about:

Xavier Velastín Vicencio is a performance and sound artist whose practice spans live art, sound design and composition for theatre, sound installations, sound for video games, sound poetry, algorithmic composition, and digital instrument creation. His work often focuses on utterance, agency, the environment, technology, and the physicality of sound. Xavier is a resident of the Pervasive Media Studios, Bristol, and is currently on a research fellowship with the British Library's Eccles Institute, in London, England. 

With Melissa, Xavier speaks about:

We hope that you enjoy this episode. If you’d like to connect with the participants, you can do so here: Iddo and Xavier. 

And keep an ear out for part two - coming soon!