Turtle Dreams

*The Persistence of Memory* by Salvador Dalí.

Artists have long been fascinated by the subconscious. Salvador Dalí used to nap at his painter’s easel, ready to capture whatever melting clocks or lobster telephones drifted into his dreams. Composers do the same thing sometimes…

On this Saturday’s episode of Second Inversion: Strange Dreams. From the surreal to the subliminal, we’re exploring composers’ wildest and most bizarre musical visions.

One composer finds music in the snores of his sleeping partner. Another explores how our evening TV viewing seeps into our subconscious. We’ll hear from a composer who imagines herself in the dreaming mind of her pet turtle⁠—plus, the whimsical story of a dream collector, who runs around picking up everyone’s dreams at the end of the night.

To listen, tune in to KING FM on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 9pm PT.

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by Maggie Molloy

Meredith Monk has secured a place in history as one of the most singular and significant voices of the 20^th and 21^st centuries. For nearly six decades, she has redefined and revolutionized contemporary vocal music and performance, seamlessly weaving in elements of theatre and dance to create visceral musical experiences that transcend the confines of the classical tradition.

Monk’s compositional range is as wide as her vocal one—but her inimitable creations are united in their merging of ancient and modern musical ideas. In her music, abstract vocalizations, primal rhythms, hypnotic dances, and ritualistic soundscapes come together in an intimate embrace of the human experience.

In honor of Monk’s 75^th birthday today, we take a look back at three of our favorite Monk masterpieces:

Education of the Girlchild (1972):

Benjamin Button meets feminist deconstruction in this interdisciplinary (and unapologetically avant-garde) one-woman opera which traces the life of a woman in reverse from old age to childhood.

Turtle Dreams (1983):

Sprawling vocal textures, hypnotic organ loops, and unconventional choreography are spliced together with black and white turtle footage in this surreal 30-minute film exploring themes of time and space.

On Behalf of Nature (2016):

Extended vocal techniques pirouette above a whimsical instrumental accompaniment in this wordless exploration of the space where humans coexist with the natural and spiritual world.