ISM Frequencies #3 - Johanna Knutsson by Berlin ISM

Welcome to episode 3 of ISM Frequencies, a radio show for Refuge Worldwide from the Institute for Sound & Music. This time we have invited Swedish artist and DJ Johanna Knutsson to create a mix.

Johanna publicly started expressing her love for electronic music in the late 00’s, debuting as a DJ in Berlin, with notable sets at Berghain, About Blank and Wilde Renate among others. This love transitioned seamlessly into her studio work where she has released equal amounts of techno and ambient, releasing her debut ambient album Tollarp Transmissions in 2019, a sonic milieu of a fantasy story set in a small suburban Swedish town, mirrored through the wide-eyed adolescent Johanna. In December 2021, she was invited to a residency at Malmo’s Inkonst venue in partnership with Erica Synths where she has learnt to play their eurorack module system and started on her second album, while also working on sound design for a Swedish Public Radio documentary….

When asked about her mix she said:

"It’s a musical take on thriving in darkness, a suggestion of existing in constant melancholy and at the same time feeling comforted by it. These pieces bring to mind something so familiar and safe that cannot be described, the sounds take you on a journey to a place you've never been, yet recognize. My hope is that whoever listens will have an equivalent experience. It’s a tribute to what’s sacred and spiritual, an interpretation of olden times if you will. "

Tracklist:

Sara Davachi - Oldgrowth

Jon Gibson - Melody IV

Daphne Oram - Purring interlude

MMMD - Grabe

Giulio Aldinucci - Venus of the Bees

Eyvind Kang -Time Medicine

Stefan Fraunberger- Bagatelle - Des Teuffels Maststau

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble - Morning Prayer

Nils Frahm - Harm Hymn

Young HuntingSpiritual Abandonment

Eomac - Prayer Pt1

O morto - The Spirits

Sarah Davachi - Waking

Spite Cathedra l - Dissmissive Avoidiant

Johanna Knutsson - Synthsakral

Anna von Hausswolff - Dolore di Orsini