"We have a tropical situation where there are thousands of 'species' of music around and they're all constantly cross-breeding and hybridizing. It's very exciting, but you can't keep up with it easily." -- Brian Eno
Ecotones are zones of transition between different habitats and often have a vibrant diversity of species. The Audio Ecotone explores the rich species diversity, cross-breeding, and hybridizing of music of the past 100 years: rock, jazz, pop, r&b, soul, country, ska, electronica, J-Pop/C-Pop/K-Pop, afrobeat, and many more from the 1920s to the 2020s.

May Day! (May 2nd, 2025)Fri, 05/02/2025 - 4:10pm | Eddy OwtInternational Workers' Day (aka "May Day") is celebrated annually around the world on May 1 to honor laborers and recognize the continuing struggle for working class rights. Everywhere, that is, except for the United States and Canada, who hold their "Labo(u)r Day" celebrations on the first weekend of September. Whatever. The change of date is ironic since the holiday initially commemorated the May 1, 1886 protests in the United States for an eight-hour workday, which resulted in the Haymarket massacre in Chicago on May 4, 1886. This week, we commemorate May Day with music from Billy Bragg and Wilco, Tom Waits, Phil Ochs, Fantastic Negrito, Merle Haggard, The Love Me Nots, Chumbawamba and the wonderfully named Flame N'Peach and the Liberated Waffles. |
Duck Days! (Apr 25th, 2025)Fri, 04/25/2025 - 4:10pm | Eddy OwtIn celebration of the Yolo Basin Foundation's annual California Duck Days event, this week's show takes on a "ducky" theme, with music from The Ugly Ducklings, The Bats, the Carl Stallings Project, the Bonzo Dog Band and Morphine. We also feature new releases from Pink Martini, PORTIA and M(h)oal and a tribute to David Thomas of Pere Ubu, who passed away this week. |
Love Your Mother! (Apr 18th, 2025)Fri, 04/18/2025 - 4:10pm | Eddy OwtThe first Earth Day was held on April 22, 1970. Initially devised as a national teach-in on the effects of 150 years of unfettered industrial development, Earth Day helped to galvanize the nascient environmental movement and was a catalyst for a decade of progress in regulating pollution that included the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, the passage of the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts and the Occupational Safety and Health Act. As we face the nihilistic rollback of the 55 years of environmental progress made since the first Earth Day and the darkening spectre of human-induced accelerated climate change, our Earth Day 2025 themed playlist includes music from Common, Justin Townes Earle, Stevie Wonder and John Legend, Vermillion Lies, Bo Diddley, Anthony da Rosa and more! |
The Audio Ecotone for 3:00pm on Apr 11th, 2025Fri, 04/11/2025 - 4:10pm | Eddy Owt |
The Audio Ecotone for 3:00pm on Apr 4th, 2025Fri, 04/04/2025 - 4:10pm | Eddy Owt |
The Audio Ecotone for 3:00pm on Mar 28th, 2025Fri, 03/28/2025 - 4:10pm | Eddy Owt |
Spring! (Mar 21st, 2025)Fri, 03/21/2025 - 4:10pm | Eddy OwtAt 2:01 a.m. Pacific Time on March 20, the sun crossed the plane of the equator, marking the vernal equinox and the start of spring! Across the centuries and cultures, the vernal equinox and coming of spring has not only had practical meaning (time to start sowing seeds, coming of hay fever season, etc.), but has also naturally been imbued with including meaning and symbolism -- Rebirth, Rejuvenation, Renewal, Love, Youth and the Passing of Darkness. Couldn't we all use a little bit of that right now? On today's Audio Ecotone, we celebrate those themes and the coming of spring with music old and new from Elvis Presley, The Flaming Lips, Blossom Dearie, Cibo Matto, Caroline Polarchek and a few other surprises. |
The Audio Ecotone for 3:00pm on Mar 14th, 2025Fri, 03/14/2025 - 4:10pm | Eddy Owt |
The Audio Ecotone for 3:00pm on Mar 7th, 2025Fri, 03/07/2025 - 4:10pm | Eddy Owt |
Nicole Laurenne interview extrasSun, 03/02/2025 - 10:41pm | Eddy OwtSince our interview with Nicole Laurenne included far more great topics of discussion than could be contained in a single hour, we're posting some of the exerpts from the interview that didn't make it to air. In these selections, Nicole discusses touring and maintaining a 50-year-old Farfisa Fast 3 organ, visiting the Farfisa in Italy, the differences in artist support between Europe and the US, how she manages her downtime, catching a surprise Mystery Lights show in the UK and the visual aspects of her performance. We hope you enjoy them as much as we loved hearing them. |
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