Loops & Topology - Airwaves (Album)
Peachy keen is Lisa after giving this one a spin. Brisbane jazz five-piece Topology have teamed up with Melbourne’s Loops to bring this hugely original project to life; classic speeches and media sound-bites interspersed and remixed, of a sort, with Topology’s spirited jazz and Loops’ beats and electronica.
The record is a celebration of the life of radio over the last century; it makes one realize how quickly radio has been and gone as a mainstay in media and information. Like all good things, though, dying mediums can be reinvigorated with the inventiveness of contemporary acts.
The record flows best as a whole, for it is a concept album of a sort, but key tracks serve to remind you of the stirring power of speech; Bob Hawke’s talks on the recession (“By nineteen-ninety, no Australian child will be living in poverty”), Patrick White on nuclear war, Douglas Adams reading his famous Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Gough Whitlam (“Well may we say God save the Queen…because nothing will save the Governor-General”), Gloria Steinem’s utopian visions, Martin Luther King’s thrilling “I Have A Dream” speech, Pauline Hanson’s infamous gross racism, the spiritual messages of Gandhi, the British announcement of the death of Hitler, the D-Day order of President Eisenhower (“we will expect nothing less than full victory”), Howard Carter’s explanation of the discovery of Tutankhamen and many more stirring moments in history, controversy, tragedy and victory.
Richard Dimbleby’s report on the Belsen concentration camps in 1945 is the piece that truly stands out; though shortened from the full length of the story, it is no less affecting and deeply saddening. I found myself weeping over my keyboard at Dimbleby’s stories from the horrific place, and of the atrocities he saw…and, although it makes one glad that such a medium as broadcast allowed the world to see what inhumane bastardry was being conducted miles away, it does make one disappointed (and angry, if you’re me, or Keith Olbermann) that such a medium is so often used for evil rather than good in this day and age.
A collection of political and oratory brilliance would be remiss not to include Winston Churchill; he is included here with an extract from his “Finest Hour” speech. Adolf Hitler’s famous speaking style is celebrated- in a manner- here with his “Germany is Awake” speech.
Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds” and Albert Einstein’s explanation of his E=Mc? theory are other highlights of the expansive and moving record. Don’t let the ninety-nine track list put you off; it’s a damn treat.
