The samples are from a shortwave radio recording of the UN Security Council broadcast in January 1980, one of the first responses to the Russian invasion of Afghanistan one month earlier. The invasion created a high level of political uncertainty, had destabilised the fragile détente (an easing of tensions) between the East and West, and had large ramifications for the future politics of the 1980s. The repeated accusations and pleas for peace by the UN Security Council inspired the track, ending in a failed resolution for a Soviet withdrawal, but the underlying thread is fuzziness and uncertainty.
"Where are we headed sir, that’s the question I’d like to ask."
Submission as part of the Shortwave Transmissions call, 2021.
NYC polymath Wells develops rich, layered modern-classical compositions into reflections on queerness, climate change, and the AIDS crisis. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 18, 2022