Main content

Carsten Nicolai aka Alva Noto on the weird and wonderful sounds of radio static

For his Sound of the Week, German sound artist and electronic producer Carsten Nicolai, aka Alva Noto, talks to Hear and Now about his love of radio noise and static. From shortwave radio and the interruption of military number stations in East Berlin to the signals picked up from space, Carsten has continued to work these sounds in to his work throughout his career.

Alva Noto's album with sound-poet Anne-James Chaton, Unitxt, is a strong example of this, with Anne-James reading off numbers and objects in a manner heavily reminiscent of the 'number stations' of Carsten's youth.

This edition of Sound of the Week first appeared on Hear and Now on Saturday 3rd March 2018.

Photo by Deter Wuschanski.

Release date:

Duration:

6 minutes

Featured in...