Listen Closely

The recordings in this episode were recorded from (roughly) the same spot in my backyard from February to May. Produced in entirety by Alec Cowan.

What's your query? Produced in entirety by Alec Cowan.

New to Listen Closely? Here's your welcome mat.

Humanity has had ways of recording what we see for as long as history has been recorded. But the way we hear? A very recent phenomenon. This is what $10 on Ebay will get you. Music heard in this episode: Time Forest - Hiroshi YoshimuraPeople on Sunday - Domenique DumontLágrimas Negras - Hermanos Gutiérrez

AJ Schlechten is a woodworker and experimental artist in Fruita. Colorado. Find his website here and art here. Produced in entirety by Alec Cowan.

A sonic tour through Madrid, Seville, and Granada, Spain.00:00 - Walking through El Retiro Park02:26 - Birds in El Retiro04:23 - Watching a street performer in Madrid07:40 - Walking tour at Puerta del Sol to Plaza Mayor12:50 - Inside the Almudena Cathedral14:15 - The Prado16:30 - At the Plaza de Toros22:22 - Bells of Sevilla23:00 - At Maria Louisa Park in Sevilla25:00 - The Alcazar27:18 - Horses in Sevilla27:50 - At the Cafe Morillo29:34 - Birds of Granada32:00 - Guitar in Ronda

A sound walk through the marshes of Seattle.

This story took three years to make. Sort of. Featuring: gaming sessions from 2022, 2023, and 2024. Video game noises courtesy of late-night searches on Freesound.org.

Another day in the woods. A note: the text in this episode was AI generated. It comes from a ChaptGPT prompt asking for a podcast-styled narrative story about walking in the woods while it’s raining. I’ve tweaked language in places, and the rest of the production and music is completely original from me. This is meant to be more of a practice exercise and experiment, and is in no way an endorsement for AI podcasting or the replacement of human creative pursuits.

My new documentary series -- "Boom Town: A Uranium Story" -- is officially releasing! Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and find photos, transcripts, and references over at www.aleccowan.com/boomtown

A quick podcast tour through Rome (featuring a cameo from Florence).Sites featured include:00:21 — Birds in our Roma courtyard00:59 — Exiting our apartment onto the Tiber02:38 — Walking down the Tridente, Via di Ripetta03:50 — San Luigi dei Francesci05:08 — Outside the Pantheon06:01 — Inside the Pantheon06:56 — Piazza Navona08:01 — Early morning birds at our Roma apartment08:29 — Yes, even more birds09:30 — At the Vatican Museums' square (with the Pine Cone)10:35 — Explanation of the Sistine Chapel11:08 — Walking the Vatican Museums11:55 — The Sistine Chapel14:43 — Walking through the Basilica of St. Peter15:57 — The bells of St. Peter's, plus the changing of the Swiss Guard17:56 — Buskers in the Piazza del Popolo18:46 — Crowds in Florence20:28 — Sitting on a park bench in the Villa Borghese22:20 — Mass at Basilica of Santi Ambrogio e Carlo on the Corso

A funeral.

A relaxing walk through the woods at Cape Flattery, the northwesternmost point of the contiguous United States.

The sounds that filled the cracks of 2022 and 2023 (I'm late, I know).

A trip home sparks my memory of crickets. A walk and talk featuring beavers, skiing, and the clicks of grasshoppers.

Mary Oliver once wrote, "The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time."Poems are by:RikkyBoy399: https://freesound.org/people/RikkyBoy399/sounds/240389/acclivity: https://freesound.org/people/acclivity/sounds/156550/tim.kahn: https://freesound.org/people/tim.kahn/sounds/74891/

A quick podcast tour through Tokyo.There were many more sounds I could have captured, but I've been a little burned out on audio lately. This is still a nice vignette of Tokyo's massive sonic fingerprint.Locations are as follows:01:24 — Tokyo Station04:59 — On the street by the Imperial Palace08:05 — Hibiya Park10:27 — In the Metro14:45 — Kanda Matsuri, at Kanda Myojin Shrine19:47 — Shibuya 21:21 — Kitanomarukoen22:00 — Senjo-ji at Asakusa23:22 — Sumo Grand Tournament at Ryogoku

There's a cool concept called "The Global Sunrise." This is the idea that, as the dawn sun hits the earth, birds are waking up and singing their morning song. As daylight moves across the planet, there's a constant hum of new birdsong ringing out somewhere. So here's a little sonic experiment, where you can experience birdsong from all over the worth, progressively, as the day light might hit it.All the bird sounds in this episode came from the following:https://freesound.org/people/EduFigueres/sounds/266376/https://freesound.org/people/Vortichez/sounds/432523/https://freesound.org/people/Vortichez/sounds/432523/https://freesound.org/people/robyn.levy323/sounds/519206/https://freesound.org/people/taylordonj/sounds/521366/https://freesound.org/people/rbnx/sounds/268080/https://freesound.org/people/tbirch55/sounds/340091/https://freesound.org/people/rbnx/sounds/268080/geotag/https://freesound.org/people/straget/sounds/411849/https://freesound.org/people/Franki-01234/sounds/214869/https://freesound.org/people/DCPoke/sounds/387978/https://freesound.org/people/hargissssound/sounds/345851/https://freesound.org/people/1ratatosk1/sounds/392181/https://freesound.org/people/ciccarelli/sounds/442844/https://freesound.org/people/mmiinneerr/sounds/649218/https://freesound.org/people/kyles/sounds/452411/https://freesound.org/people/Martin.Sadoux/sounds/423908/https://freesound.org/people/EpicWizard/sounds/394291/https://freesound.org/people/burgersmoke/sounds/642005/https://freesound.org/people/burgersmoke/sounds/640991/https://freesound.org/people/Oxlaey/sounds/371881/https://freesound.org/people/hendricbona/sounds/294467/https://freesound.org/people/coalcon/sounds/636071/https://freesound.org/people/Lydmakeren/sounds/510480/https://freesound.org/people/royshavit/sounds/653915/geotag/https://freesound.org/people/thegreatbelow/sounds/546794/geotag/https://freesound.org/people/99021905683/sounds/571316/https://freesound.org/people/99021905683/sounds/571316/geotag/https://freesound.org/people/sphion/sounds/158527/https://freesound.org/people/MartinDanta/sounds/511486/https://freesound.org/people/baryy/sounds/409145/https://freesound.org/people/jigmet/sounds/479324/https://freesound.org/people/liseclavier/sounds/463530/https://freesound.org/people/guanescape/sounds/640088/https://freesound.org/people/universildo/sounds/151773/https://freesound.org/people/cartoonrob/sounds/588465/https://freesound.org/people/ollermarc/sounds/426276/https://freesound.org/people/sama66/sounds/462136/https://freesound.org/people/titi2/sounds/509937/https://freesound.org/people/emmanuel.faivre/sounds/611615/https://freesound.org/people/Tito%20Lahaye/sounds/332025/https://freesound.org/people/Rajaraman/sounds/362211/

I turn on my phone, open TikTok, and the hours blur away. So much content, I had to make some more. Where were you when you made your first Facebook account? This is podcast #CoreCore. Sonic #NicheCore.

*This is a language warning*  Be a host body. Haze's linktree: https://linktr.ee/TheHippieTrippyFrog You can find Haze's content on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/user/CaptainSheo  You can listen to Witchcraft Banjo here: https://anchor.fm/hippiehobbity/episodes

Some thoughts on listening and some things to listen to. Enjoy on a walk and with good headphones.  02:57 — Outside Newark Airport 04:10 — A bench in the Jardin des Plantes 05:54 — Walking the 5th Arrondissement 06:46 — A cafe outside Saint Chapelle cathedral 07:36 — Walking the 5th Arrondissement (contd.) 09:48 — The Paris Catacombs 12:33 — Paris Metro 16:24 — In and around Saint Sulpice, the second largest church in Paris 18:31 — The Jardin de Luxembourg, including a Sunday big band performance 22:50 — Walking the Louvre 25:08 — The window at our Air BnB, including someone practicing opera 27:29 — Gare du Nord 28:20 — At a bar in Brussels 29:54 — An accordion player in the Brussels backstreets 30:25 — A choir rehearsal at the Cathedral of Saint Michael and Saint Gudula, Brussels

Combing frequencies, playing with pans, and a whole bunch of "WTF is this?"

I've always been bad at journaling. I've started four to five notebooks, but have only ever finished one (last year).Lately, I've been thinking about alternate life plans, spent time, different timelines. I revisited some experiences in my journal to remind myself a bit about who I am, and where I've gone. I wanted to take you on that journey as well.

It goes like this: use a random word generator to source ten sounds from freesound.org. Then, combine them together to make an interesting sound.

A mission leads to a change, a change to an opportunity. What's life like when you find sudden fame? Produced in its entierety by Alec Cowan.

Join me for a sunny winter day in the park, along with some Mary Oliver poems.

Audio poem? Audio journal? An errant note on my phone turns into an experience.

It goes like this: use a random word generator to source ten sounds from freesound.org. Then, combine them together to make an interesting sound.

The sounds that filled the cracks of 2021.  -- How did this episode make you feel? If you have a moment, please fill out this short survey: https://forms.gle/SUcphdvFDRkN4eNa9 -- Your responses will not be used for anything without additional contact and will help shape the future sound of diary entries. Want to take part?  Reach out at podcastalec [at] gmail [dot] com.

It goes like this: use a random word generator to source ten sounds from freesound.org. Then, combine them together to make an interesting sound. "A religion, almost a religion, any religion, a quintal in religion, a relying and a surface and a service in indecision and a creature and a question and a syllable in answer and more counting and no quarrel and a single scientific statement and no darkness and no question and an earned administration and a single set of sisters and an outline and no blisters and the section seeing yellow and the centre having spelling and no solitude and no quaintness and yet solid quite so solid and the single surface centred and the question in the placard and the singularity, is there a singularity, and the singularity, why is there a question and the singularity why is the surface outrageous, why is it beautiful why is it not when there is no doubt, why is anything vacant, why is not disturbing a centre no virtue, why is it when it is and why is it when it is and there is no doubt, there is no doubt that the singularity shows." Excerpts from the poem Tender Buttons, part 3, "Rooms" by Gertrude Stein. Reading by Ariane Stolfi, in preparation to be performed at the Web Audio Conference in Berlin (19-21 September 2018). Words for this exercise included: Iron Bake Social Conservative Microphone Demonstrator Item Quaint

Hello from the street, the tunnels, and a basement full of jazz. -- How did this episode make you feel? If you have a moment, please fill out this short survey: https://forms.gle/SUcphdvFDRkN4eNa9 -- Your responses will not be used for anything without additional contact and will help shape the future sound of diary entries. Want to take part?  Reach out at podcastalec [at] gmail [dot] com.

A chance for something new, and a chance to do something over. I ask the question: how do you leave a place properly? -- How did this episode make you feel? If you have a moment, please fill out this short survey: https://forms.gle/SUcphdvFDRkN4eNa9 -- Your responses will not be used for anything without additional contact and will help shape the future sound of diary entries. Want to take part?  Reach out at podcastalec [at] gmail [dot] com.

In the 1940s, Osamu Tezuka was drawing manga panels in his spare time when he realized something: due to government censorship, nobody was willing to talk about the problems that led to WWII. And so, with a pen in hand, he set to change that -- and what he created ended up changing the world. -- Read the full story here: https://aleccowan12.medium.com/how-anime-took-off-in-the-u-s-8d6354557867 -- How did this episode make you feel? If you have a moment, please fill out this short survey: https://forms.gle/SUcphdvFDRkN4eNa9 -- Your responses will not be used for anything without additional contact and will help shape the future sound of diary entries. Want to take part?  Reach out at podcastalec [at] gmail [dot] com.

Roll a pair of dice. Make a 1-minute doodle inspired by that number. Guest prompt from Rob Rosenthal and Gwen. Audio Playground is masterfully put together by Sarah Geis, "a radio and podcast maker, editor, and teacher working in Chicago and beyond." Find more information at https://www.audioplayground.xyz/hello -- How did this episode make you feel? If you have a moment, please fill out this short survey: https://forms.gle/SUcphdvFDRkN4eNa9 -- Your responses will not be used for anything without additional contact and will help shape the future sound of diary entries. Want to take part?  Reach out at podcastalec [at] gmail [dot] com.

"No man ever steps in the same [ocean] twice, for it's not the same [ocean] and he's not the same man." A routine post-vacation phone call diverges into that tricky exercise of remembering. And as Rachel Carson reminds us, can anything remember more than the ocean? -- How did this episode make you feel? If you have a moment, please fill out this short survey: https://forms.gle/SUcphdvFDRkN4eNa9 -- Your responses will not be used for anything without additional contact and will help shape the future sound of diary entries. Want to take part?  Reach out at podcastalec [at] gmail [dot] com. 

A compilation of the sounds that defined the tempestuous and exhilarating year, 2020.  -- How did this episode make you feel? If you have a moment, please fill out this short survey: https://forms.gle/SUcphdvFDRkN4eNa9 -- Your responses will not be used for anything without additional contact and will help shape the future sound of diary entries. Want to take part?  Reach out at podcastalec [at] gmail [dot] com.

I find a trove of tape for a project that never materialized. This is audio behind the scenes, before the cuts, in their context and without it. Choo choo.-- How did this episode make you feel? If you have a moment, please fill out this short survey: https://forms.gle/SUcphdvFDRkN4eNa9-- Your responses will not be used for anything without additional contact and will help shape the future sound of diary entries. Want to take part?  Reach out at podcastalec [at] gmail [dot] com.

Moving in the middle of a pandemic is freeing, but it ain't easy.  -- How did this episode make you feel? If you have a moment, please fill out this short survey: https://forms.gle/SUcphdvFDRkN4eNa9 -- Your responses will not be used for anything without additional contact and will help shape the future sound of diary entries. Want to take part?  Reach out at podcastalec [at] gmail [dot] com.

With some inspiration and help from YouTube Filmmaker Dan Mace, I reach out to a South African Musician in a shared Facebook group.  -- How did this episode make you feel? If you have a moment, please fill out this short survey: https://forms.gle/SUcphdvFDRkN4eNa9  -- Your responses will not be used for anything without additional contact and will help shape the future sound of diary entries. Want to take part?  Reach out at podcastalec [at] gmail [dot] com.

7 months into a pandemic, and home is starting to spin. Enable the "Listen Closely" Alexa skill today to stay up to date on the latest log. How did this episode make you feel? If you have a moment, please fill out this short survey: https://forms.gle/SUcphdvFDRkN4eNa9 Your responses will not be used for anything without additional contact and will help shape the future sound of diary entries. Want to take part? Reach out at podcastalec [at] gmail [dot] com.

What makes a Great American Roadtrip? A look at the life on the road now and back then. Enable the "Listen Closely" Alexa skill today to stay up to date on the latest log. How did this episode make you feel? If you have a moment, please fill out this short survey: https://forms.gle/SUcphdvFDRkN4eNa9 Your responses will not be used for anything without additional contact and will help shape the future sound of diary entries.

"It doesn't matter how so slow you go so long as you do not stop."  Enable the "Listen Closely" Alexa skill today to stay up to date on the latest log. How did this episode make you feel? If you have a moment, please fill out this short survey: https://forms.gle/SUcphdvFDRkN4eNa9 Your responses will not be used for anything without additional contact and will help shape the future sound of diary entries.

An Intricate Context of Things is my new lo-fi hip-hop album based on the things getting me through quarantine.  Find the full album with instrumental tracks here: https://soundcloud.com/alec-cowan/sets/an-intricate-context-of-things How did this episode make you feel? If you have a moment, please fill out this short survey: https://forms.gle/SUcphdvFDRkN4eNa9 Your responses will not be used for anything without additional contact and will help shape the future sound of diary entries.

Painting legend Bob Ross walks us through a painting come to life: the Trinity Alps in northern California, where hijinks and sore muscles are to be found. How did this episode make you feel? If you have a moment, please fill out this short survey: https://forms.gle/SUcphdvFDRkN4eNa9 Your responses will not be used for anything without additional contact and will help shape the future sound of diary entries.

Don't buy fireworks, people.How did this episode make you feel? If you have a moment, please fill out this short survey: https://forms.gle/SUcphdvFDRkN4eNa9Your responses will not be used for anything without additional contact and will help shape the future sound of diary entries.

A trumpet ensemble, drive-in COVID test, and annoying midnight bird walk into a bar.  How did this episode make you feel? If you have a moment, please fill out this short survey: https://forms.gle/SUcphdvFDRkN4eNa9 Your responses will not be used for anything without additional contact and will help shape the future sound of diary entries.

To be heard is a blessing and some days a miracle. I'm so thankful for my name and voice to have been weaved into the sound of this city, to be played over radios and heard through ears. To Seattle, the Emerald City and my welcome home for the past year. Goodbye. Thank you for listening. How did this episode make you feel? If you have a moment, please fill out this short survey: https://forms.gle/SUcphdvFDRkN4eNa9 Your responses will not be used for anything without additional contact and will help shape the future sound of diary entries.

The summer of '93 was a busy one. Fun times were to be had at the pool and on the golf course.  Videocameras grab everything you see, but today the goal is to grab everything you can hear.  How did this episode make you feel? If you have a moment, please fill out this short survey: https://forms.gle/SUcphdvFDRkN4eNa9 Your responses will not be used for anything without additional contact and will help shape the future sound of diary entries.

Over the ferry, through the woods, to foamy shore and crystal lake we go. Recorded in Olympic National Park in Washington. How did this episode make you feel? If you have a moment, please fill out this short survey: https://forms.gle/SUcphdvFDRkN4eNa9 Your responses will not be used for anything without additional contact and will help shape the future sound of diary entries.

In order of appearance:  - Wailuku - The Iao Valley - Kihei - Haleakala National Park - Wailuku How did this episode make you feel? If you have a moment, please fill out this short survey: https://forms.gle/SUcphdvFDRkN4eNa9 Your responses will not be used for anything without additional contact and will help shape the future sound of diary entries.