Shirley & Spinoza has existed in some form for over three decades - originally an art school radio show, then on community and pirate FM in the 1990s. We've been streaming online continuously since June of 2001 (yes, that's insane, I know!) During all this time, we’ve been serially based long-term and transmitting from California, the peripheries of mainland China and New Zealand.

 

Over these many years, s&S has crafted a palette that consists of the wonderfully strange, broken, bouncing, whimsical, rare and avant-garde. We intertwine elements of radio theatre, vintage adverts, sound-art, shortwave, orphaned noises, found sound, electronics, personal recordings and otherwise lost aural ephemera. Music we play is from every era of recorded media, from any geographical origin. Much of the included music is even created by our own phenomenal listeners from around the world! We additionally share our own environmental and ethnographical field recordings. You'll sometimes hear them raw and focused, though just as often recombined with improvised studio creations into original surrealist sonic journeys and extended dreamscape collages made live. You'll also hear clips, bits, pieces and full length recordings of our many years worth of mixes and performances.

 

We expect it gets confusing for the uninitiated listener. It's not for everyone. It may even seem chaotic, 'too weird' and unpleasant to some. But if curiosity defines your sensibilities, hold this dusty, jagged little stone in the palm of your hand and you might soon find yourself transfixed as it starts to hum... and glow! 

 

Take it in for a while, and when you're ready, nonchalantly walk towards a close confidant - whisper where you've been, and pass the coordinates.

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s&S is run by a middle aged 'sound guy' of ambiguous origin who calls himself The Remote Operator on these waves.

 

​If you're interested in more of a station backstory, click the button below: