Other Things Besides Songs On The Radio

An interview with artist/Zen priest Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, plus: white noise workouts and experimental bagpiping

Remember Lost, that mystery TV series about the plane crash survivors on a Pacific island?

Over the past six months that we’ve spent mostly in the city, my wife and I have watched all six seasons of Lost on my laptop.

Strong actors, interesting characters, thrilling storyline, a smoke monster, time-traveling and an undercurrent of deep philosophical and religious references – what’s not to love?

The first season launched in 2004, that’s more than two decades ago. Unfortunately, they don’t make shows like that anymore.

In his recent article “The Two-Screen Trap”, TV writer Jon Stahl explains why shows are being dumbed down beyond recognition: They need to be “two-screen friendly”.

What does that mean? Well, streaming execs are apparently telling writers to write for a distracted audience. They’re saying our attention span has diminished because we’re constantly staring at two screens – scrolling through brainrot, checking emails and/or group chatting while “watching” a show on the bigger screen.

That’s why in an awkward reversal of the old writing rule “show, don’t tell”, the protagonists of a contemporary series will constantly explain what they’re doing and why they’re doing it, so that no viewer gets left behind. It also makes them all annoyingly boring to watch.

The article isn’t just a doomsaying one. Stahl is a TV writer and clearly needs to keep his optimism for professional reasons. He mentions Severance as an example for a great show that manages to re-capture our full attention. I haven’t seen it. (Is it any good?)

All I can say is that throughout six seasons of Lost, neither my wife nor I have ever felt inclined to reach for our phones. Not even once.

Still, we’ve canceled all our streaming subscriptions for now, as we’re just about to move back up north, into our semi off-grid countryside home, leaving city life behind and spending the warmer months outside.

After a few months of intense work, concerts, meet-ups and yes, a decent amount of watching Lost, I’m looking forward to roaming the woods with my dog, reading paper books on the terrace and re-simplifying my life.

Before we leave in a few hours, I have a few things to share though.

Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, photo: Brendan Schulman

New Tricycle interview: Jefre Cantu-Ledesma

In a series of pieces for Tricycle – The Buddhist Review, I’ve been exploring the intersection of music and spirituality.

Recently I’ve had an in-depth conversation with the Hudson Valley-based artist Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, who’s actually an ordained Zen Buddhist priest and a full-time hospice chaplain.

We spoke about his individual way toward the dharma, and the correlations between his spiritual practice and his music.

I’ve previously recommended Jefre’s new album Gift Songs in this post which includes a short review blurb:

Tricycle’s online content remains exclusive for subscribers, as it’s a non-profit educational organization that relies on donations and accepts only very limited advertising.

Below the paywall, I am offering a gift link so that my paid subscribers can still read the full interview. Scroll all the way down to access it.

Additionally I’m recommending a Soundcloud mix of influences and discoveries that Jefre made for the UK record store Bleep as a reflection of the sound world surrounding Gift Songs.

I don’t listen to many DJ mixes these days, as I just tend to be more of an album person. But I’ve noticed myself going back to this one intuitively and repeatedly since I first heard it. I’ve even been buying some of the included artists’ albums on Bandcamp.

The pieces in this mix span the period of the last 25 years; they tend to combine and layer acoustic and electronic sources. On the acoustic side, there’s a focus on strings, guitars, percussion, and dissonance.

The tracklist features household names of the experimental and noise music scene such as Kevin Drumm, Lucy Railton, Eli Keszler, Aaron Dilloway, Klein, Fennesz, Valentina Magaletti and Leila Bordreuil.

The accompanying blurb on the Bleep site says the mix was compiled “during a period of anxiety and existential crisis”. That’s probably what conveys a strange sense of comfort to me in these tumultuous times.

The Strange World Of Kevin Drumm

The Chicago-based noise musician has been creating strange sounds for three decades. His vast catalogue is not just completely unpredictable, but also quite intimidating: Drumm currently has 227 releases listed just on his own Bandcamp page. (You can get all for $283.75. What a bargain.)

Drumm just released the double album Sheer Hellish Miasma II in March 2025. Each disc contains just one long track – a huge wall of static with a lot of barely audible details buried within..

Inspired by this career-spanning article over at my favorite music site, The Quietus, I returned to its predecessor Sheer Hellish Miasma, one of his classic albums from 2002 on Editions Mego. It also includes the attention-grabbing opening track from Cantu-Ledesma’s mix.

As the title indicates, it’s a relentless hour-long white noise workout, created with a prepared guitar, effect pedals, a synthesizer, tapes and a computer. I know it’s weird but I also know I’m not alone in that I could listen to these textural blasts for hours and not get bored.

“Conventional music or whatever it’s called can be cool,” Drumm is quoted in that piece above, “still I just – like a lot of people – grew interested in other things besides songs on the radio.”

Experimental Bagpiping Rules

Scottish piper Brìghde Chambeuil (Breech-huh Campbell) has been turning heads by coaxing some fresh and interesting drones out of a traditional instrument which is often reduced to its role in folk music.

The folks at Tone Glow recently published an interview with Chambeuil, who grew up on the remote Isle of Skye in Scotland’s northwest. Alex Fields spoke to her about Gaelic folklore and using the pipes as a drone instrument.

Last year, The Quietus ran a Baker’s Dozen feature which is equally interesting, showcasing her diverse musical interests.

The first single from her upcoming album Sunwise, “Bog an Lochan”, is out now. It’s short, it’s weirdly infectious, and I’ve been rinsing it on repeat.

Brìghde Chambeuil plays Berlin’s Kiezsalon opening on May 30.

Sunwise will be released on June 27 via Glitterbeat.

That’s it for today. Again, below the paywall you will find the link to my full interview with Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, but that’s only for my dear paid subscribers.

I’ll send the next newsletter in a few days from up north.

Take care,
Stephan