Episode 24: KAKAPHONY - with Maria Chavez

Sound Propositions

Maria Chavez is a pioneer of Abstract Turntablism, a self-described practice she developed under the guidance of Pauline Oliveros' Deep Listening. Born in Lima, Peru and raised in Houston, she cut her teeth as a DJ spinning techno and drum & bass, but the male chauvinism of that scene roused her to experiment further with the materiality of vinyl, using broken needles and non-musical sounds. Oliveros inspired her to ditch dance parties for improvisation with a single turntable, an artistic practice which has evolved to include installations, workshops, visual art, and curation. A true sound artist (she adamantly eschews the label “musician”), until recently, Chavez had released only one recording, 2004's Those Eyes Of Hers, focusing instead on her career as longform performance. But after beginning a medical sabbatical in 2019, which forced her to cease touring (a year before the rest of the world shut down), Maria began slowly releasing new recordings into the world. In this episode, we discuss recent and upcoming collaborations, her switch to using four turntables (with double needles), and staking out her rightful place in art history contra White supremacist power structures.

TRACKLIST
Maria Chavez - “I Love You, 2020” (2020)
Maria Chavez - “EMPAC SESSIONS: 2, 2020” (2020)
Beethoven / Werner Elmker - "Slow version of Für Elise" (2021)
Maria Chavez & Jordi Wheeler - “Five Thousand” (2021)
Maria Chavez & Lucas Gorham - “A Side” (2020)
Pauline Oliveros, Stuart Dempster, Panaiotis - “Nike” (1989)
Devin KKenny - “NY Lottery-CBD Kratom (LALIT Remix)” (2021)
DJ Screw / UGK - “Tell Me Something Good” (1995)
DJ Screw - “Untitled [excerpt] (instrumental)” (2004)
Annea Lockwood performed by Maze - “Bayou-borne, For Pauline” (2022)
Maria Chavez - “EMPAC SESSIONS: 1 (excerpt)” (2020)
Grandmaster Flash - [excerpt from the film] (1982)
Geto Boys - “Still (Instrumental)” (1996)
Maria Chavez - [Excerpt] (Maria's Last Live DJ set in Europe, Brussels, Saturday Night Radio Panik & Moacrealsloa, Jan. 2019)
Maria Chavez - “EMPAC SESSIONS: 1 (excerpt)” (2020)
Maria Chavez - “Guitar Vocabulary” (2020)
Maria Chavez & Jordi Wheeler - “Que Te Vaya Bien” 2021)
Maria Chavez - [excerpt] (SquareWheels DJ mix 1998)
Pauline Oliveros - “Big Mother Is Watching You” (1997)
Grand Wizard Theodore and Mean Gene - [excerpt] (1977)
Pauline Oliveros & Cecil Taylor - “Duo” (2012)
Bernhard Leitner - “HT_A” (2003)
Maria Chavez - “Sara Sleeps, 2020” (2020)
Maria Chavez - “The Rain of Applause” (Amplify, 2020)
Susanna Hood, Martin Tétreault - “Hello étendues” (2019)
Maria Chavez - “XI” (Maria Chavez Plays (Stefan Goldmann's 'Ghost Hemiola'), Macro, 2019)
Pauline Oliveros - “Bye Bye Butterfly” (1997)
Antipop Consortium - “Volcano (Four Tet Remix Instrumental)” (2009)