Shipwreck Radio - July 13

It’s that time of year when a (no longer) young man’s thoughts turn naturally to the Sonic Structures and Enigmatic Episodes of Shipwreck Radio. Read the introduction to this series here.

JULY 13 - SHIPWRECK RADIO: FINAL BROADCASTS

The opening chimes and welcome are nearly uncanny in their clarity, then the track goes right to a heavily processed vocal sample and already unrecognizable phrase where the only intelligible words are “Shipwreck radio“. The sample repeats, each time more processed than the last, the sounds drawn out into long buzzing drones. Between each iteration, is a silence, which, like the quickly inhuman sounding vocal sample, is drawn out longer and longer each time. This, unfortunately, is my least favorite of the Shipwreck Radio tracks, unlike many of the other tracks which seem deceptively simple, this one is just… simple, with the repeating (if longer each time) pattern of processed buzzing vocal sample and then silence. Most other tracks would establish a pattern and then subvert or break it, but regrettably, this is not the case with July 13. There is no surprise awaiting you down in the depths of July 13 as it drags on for 30 minutes, the pattern is establish early and drags on, with the only predictable change of each iteration being longer than the last…But one lackluster track out of the twenty that comprise the Shipwreck Radio sessions? That’s not bad at all.