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Episodes
Excursions into the otherwise. Interviews, reviews and discussion of our strange and estranged relationship to landscape.
Episodes
Friday Apr 28, 2023
Friday Apr 28, 2023
An interview by Justin Hopper with artist and musician Jem Finer.
Jem Finer is an artist and musician whose work spans the musical gamut from co-founding The Pogues to creating Longplayer, a 1,000-year-long composition that has been performing itself, so far, for 23 years.
On Mayday, Finer and co-conspirator Jimmy Cauty (of the KLF) release the first record as Local Psycho - a hurdy-gurdy led acid-barn-dance band - and will infuse a newly erected standing stone with its sounds.
Jem talks about Local Psycho and Longplayer, as well as other projects of his, archaeo-astronomy and 'psychocosmology', and more.
Jem's got a website, as does Local Psycho and their label, Heavenly Recordings. The music in this episode is also by Jem, from his album Hrdy-Grdy on Thanet Tape Centre.
Caught by the River's event on 29 April includes the new Hurdy-Gurdy standing stone. Separately, Jem is playing Norwich on 5 May.
Host Justin Hopper has an Uncanny Landscapes substack - it's free, and has the first post of the podcast + more. JH can be found via LinkTree or on Instagram; there is an Uncanny Landscapes twitter feed.
Title sounds by The Belbury Poly, courtesy Ghost Box Records.
The Uncanny Landscapes icon is by Stefan Musgrove.
Tuesday Apr 18, 2023
Tuesday Apr 18, 2023
An interview by Justin Hopper with artist and roboticist Ian Ingram.
Ian Ingram is an artist and roboticist based in California. His practice is concerned with building robots - kinetic sculptures - that attempt to communicate with animals in their own languages.
So, for example, you'll hear him discuss a 'lizard' robot that does push-ups the way some lizards do, to mark territory - yet through a robot inspired by Brancusi. Or a 'squirrel' robot that uses its tails to signal danger to its wanna-be species.
Besides his website, Ian has a TIkTok with loads of videos, and Instagram, too. It's well worth looking at these to see the robots while you listen.
The music in this episode is by the great guitarist Nick Jonah Davis, from his album When the Sun Came - appropriately spring-like and acoustic for Ian's playful, joyful robots.
Host Justin Hopper has an Uncanny Landscapes substack - it's free, and has the first post of the podcast + more. JH can be found via LinkTree or on Instagram; there is an Uncanny Landscapes twitter feed.
Title sounds by The Belbury Poly, courtesy Ghost Box Records.
The Uncanny Landscapes icon is by Stefan Musgrove.
Wednesday Feb 02, 2022
Wednesday Feb 02, 2022
Uncanny Landscapes #12 -Michael Pawlyn
An interview by Justin Hopper with architect, writer and systems thinker Michael Pawlyn.
Michael Pawlyn is a pioneer in the field of biomimicry - drawing inspiration from mechanisms found in the nonhuman world to inspire architecture and design - and a leading name in regenerative thinking. Michael was one of the key figures in designing the Eden Project, and the Sahara Forest Project and he's co-founder of Architects Declare a Climate and Biodiversity Emergency. He operates his own practice, Exploration Architecture.
Flourish's co-author is Sarah Ichioka - she has her own site, as well as one for her practice, Desire Lines.
I encountered Michael and his work at Flipside Festival 2021: Searching for Albion - a festival of the literature of place held annually in rural Suffolk. Join the Flipside mailing list here.
The music is by Woodchester Piano Company, from the album Persevera, available from their bandcamp page.
Special thanks to Gareth Evans.
Host Justin Hopper can be found via Twitter and Link Tree. There is also an Uncanny Landscapes twitter account.
Wednesday Dec 22, 2021
Wednesday Dec 22, 2021
Uncanny Landscapes #11 - Richard Skelton
An interview by Justin Hopper with writer, artist and musician Richard Skelton.
Richard Skelton is a writer, artist and musician whose work explores the human relationship to landscape; along with the poet Autumn Richardson, he is co-founder of Corbel Stone Press, a preeminent venue for contemporary and historical writing about place and nature from around the world.
Links:
Corbel Stone Press's website and the bandcamp site for their Aeolian music imprint are the places to start exploring Richard and Autumn's work. This includes Richard's latest book, Stranger in the Mask of a Deer, the album Four Workings and their journal, Reliquiae, which are featured in this interview, as well as just-released new publications, recordings and artworks.
Title sounds by The Belbury Poly courtesy Ghost Box Records
Icons by Stefan Musgrove / Firebrand Creative
Thursday Oct 21, 2021
Thursday Oct 21, 2021
An interview by Justin Hopper with writer, academic and psychogeographer Sonia Overall.
Sonia Overall is a writer, academic and avid psychogeographer based in southeast England. She is the founder of Women Who Walk, a network for creatives and academics, as well as the creator of many walking-based projects including Distance Drift, a lockdown-inspired weekly psychogeographic prompt. Her recent book Heavy Time follows a 'pilgrimage' walk through the east of England, exploring the idea of 'thin places' and walking with intent. She speaks to us about psychogeography, hauntings, the dissolving lines between her field and 'new nature writing', women in psychogeography and more.
Links:
Sonia has a website here. Her latest book Heavy Time is available from Penned in the Margins, and her Twitter account is the source for Distance Drift on many Sundays. Women Who Walk also has a dedicated site.
The music in this episode is by Oddfellow's Casino, the recording project of writer and producer Dr. David Bramwell, and includes work from both the instrumental and with-words versions of their album, The Cult of Water. It's available from the Oddfellow's Casino Bandcamp page. Used by permission of the artists, with great thanks.
Host Justin Hopper is on twitter, and has a Link Tree.
Title sounds by The Belbury Poly courtesy Ghost Box Records
Icons by Stefan Musgrove / Firebrand Creative
Tuesday Sep 07, 2021
Tuesday Sep 07, 2021
Uncanny Landscapes #8 - Gary Budden
An interview by Justin Hopper with writer Gary Budden
Gary Budden is a Kent-born, London-based, writer of weird fiction and also-weird non-fiction. His latest collection of short stories, London Incognita, explores the realities of a fractured capital through tales of the otherwise. His non-fiction collaborations with the artist Maxim Griffin explore his uncanny home on the Kentish shoreline. He speaks with us about Landscape Punk, underground music, birdwatching, Arthur Machen and more.
Links:
Gary has a website here; his latest book is available from Dead Ink Books, and his collaborative works are available from the author.
The music is by Swedish band Seeds in Barren Fields, from their project, Sånger som rämnar - available via their Bandcamp. Used by permission of the artists, and with great thanks.
Host Justin Hopper is on twitter, and has a Link Tree.
Title sounds by The Belbury Poly courtesy Ghost Box Records
Icons by Stefan Musgrove / Firebrand Creative
Thursday Nov 26, 2020
Thursday Nov 26, 2020
Uncanny Landscapes #8 - Rich Pell, the Center for PostNatural History
An interview by Justin Hopper with artist Rich Pell of the Center for PostNatural History.
Rich Pell is an artist and art professor based in Pittsburgh who founded and operates the Center for PostNatural History - a permanent museum dedicated to the cultural influence on evolution.
Links:
The Center has a website, and is also on Twitter. The film Pell made with filmmaker Penny Lane, about the history of Sea Monkeys, is available from her website. And Ian Nagoski's record label, Canary Records, has a Bandcamp including archival birdsong material.
The music was (Wo)MenHir, from Building the Goddess Temple, and The Orbenfolk, from Suppertime Seance, by Orbury Common - available from their Bandcamp.
You can support this podcast by purchasing the books we mention from the Uncanny Landscapes Bookshop mini-shop.
Host Justin Hopper is on twitter, and has a Link Tree.
Title sounds by The Belbury Poly courtesy Ghost Box Records
Icons by Stefan Musgrove / Firebrand Creative
Thursday Nov 12, 2020
Thursday Nov 12, 2020
[NOTE to subscribers: Due to a technical glitch this episode was briefly removed, edited, and is now uploaded a second time - which is why you may have two notifications, etc.]
Uncanny Landscapes #7 - Kate Davis
An interview by Justin Hopper with poet Kate Davis.
Kate Davis is a poet, performer, artist, swimmer, taxidermist and more based in the Furness peninsula of northwestern England. Her book The Girl Who Forgets How To Walk (Penned in the Margins) examines a lifelong relationship to that landscape as affected by childhood polio.
Links:
Kate Davis is on Twitter; her book is available from Penned in the Margins. The film of The Girl Who Forgets How To Walk, made with Julia Parks, is available online via the Zebra Poetry Film Festival from 13-22 November, and afterwards via Julia Parks’ website.
The music was Undertow by Richard Skelton, on the album The Complete Landings, available from Bandcamp.
Icons by Stefan Musgrove / Firebrand Creative
You can support this podcast and its interviewees by purchasing Kate’s book and many others mentioned from the Uncanny Landscapes Bookshop mini-shop.
Title sounds by The Belbury Poly courtesy Ghost Box RecordsHost Justin Hopper is on twitter, and has a Link Tree here.
Icons by Stefan Musgrove / Firebrand Creative
Friday Sep 25, 2020
Friday Sep 25, 2020
Uncanny Landscapes #6 - Gareth E. Rees
An interview by Justin Hopper with writer Gareth E. Rees.
Gareth Rees is an author whose books explore modern myths and folklore of place. He has previously published 2013’s Marshland, about Hackney, and 2018’s The Stone Tide, before becoming nationally known for 2019’s Car Park Life. His new book is Unofficial Britain, about the 'first shoots of future folklore emerging from an urban Britain that ... remains very strange indeed'.
Links:
Gareth Rees runs the Unofficial Britain website, and can be found on Twitter many days.
Music included ‘Save My Soul’ by Rees’ band The Dirty Contacts, and Church of Ferles by musician, writer and artist Matthew Shaw - available from his Bandcamp. All music courtesy the artists.
Title sounds by The Belbury Poly courtesy Ghost Box Records
Icons by Stefan Musgrave / Firebrand Creative
Thursday Sep 17, 2020
Thursday Sep 17, 2020
Uncanny Landscapes #5 - The Belbury Poly
An interview by Justin Hopper with musician and record-label head Jim Jupp.
Jim Jupp records music as The Belbury Poly, and releases his own music as well as that of many others via the Ghost Box Records label he operates with designer Julian House. His latest record, The Gone Away, is a concept album based on fairy lore and touching on ideas of ephemerality and memory in landscape and life.
Links:
Music and title sounds all by The Belbury Poly courtesy Ghost Box Records