I’ve always been captivated by the unique atmosphere of night radio shows.

I think it was around 2016 when I began recording some programs from an old radio in the kitchen of our house’s first floor. Winters were particularly cold and I’d brave the chill to make dinner. On those moments, I’d tune in to these distinct AM (and sometimes FM) radio transmissions broadcasting nationwide—a mix of music : folklore, tango, cuarteto, rock and other genres and a mix of talk shows that filled those late hours.

Argentina’s “Official Radio” often centers around two main topics: politics and football. My aim, though, was to document everything outside that intense duo, hoping to shed light on other subjects that reflect better our spirit. Of course, Argentina is far more than this collection of sounds—perhaps distorted, perhaps incomplete—but through the crackling of my different radios, you might catch a glimpse of the voices and melodies that define a part of its character.

(Pablo Picco, slowriot77@gmail.com)

About the sound materials

SIDE A - List or “Guide”

- Warming up. Melody with “Charango” (four string instrument)

-“La Compañía familiar” (¨cuarteto traditional¨ typical musical genre from Córdoba)

- Very old news about Diego Maradona

- Radio Collage Sounds recorded near a river

- Old man leaves a message for the radio to play a Carlos Gardel tango song called “Marioneta” (¨Marionette¨ in Spanish)

- National Radio Musical Separator

- Someone talks about how good is laughing for your health

- Distorted Folklore song that I don’t know the name (or can’t remember)

- Radio flash separator sounds

- Argentinian Rock song (interrupted by some words of the singer talking about Argentinian Dictatorship period when the song was released)

- ¨Latin music Loop

- Folklore music transmitted live from Radio in a school event

- Guest talks about cellphone and their prices in Argentina

- Piano Advice from the 90s

- Advertise from a loan company

- “Tarantella” (Very popular italian music played in Argentina)

- Catholic transmission from Catholic Radio AM

- “Zamba para olvidar”, popular folklore song (from which we took a line for the title of this tape: “Sólo una Pobre canción da vueltas por mi guitarra”. Means “Only a poor or sad song is spinning through my guitar”)

- Radio Zapping and noises and church organ from catholic radios.

SIDE B - List or “Guide”

- Latin Jazz music loop

- Destroyed guitar tape

- Night music presentation of a program

- Haughty Folklore song that sings about a star from the sky

- Another Folklore song that I remember from childhood (and don’t know the name!)

- Some recent news about Argentina (news from 2022-23)

- Long long radio joke telling from Luis Landriscina (a popular folklore “joker”). The joke situates a typical “healing” situation between a patient and someone that cures people as a farm “sorcerer”

- Folklore dance song that on the song tells about “coming out the house to dance”

- Phil Collins song in the night.

- Guest at show talks about birds

- “Astronomine Domine” by Pink Floyd being broadcasted

- Interview with the daughter of “Agustina”, an old lady that is currently being evict from her own house.

- Instrumental and Classical folklore made by Ariel Ramirez

About the design

The photos are sourced from “Salsipuedes en el recuerdo”, a book published in the 1990s that captures life in Salsipuedes from the 1940s through the 1960s. The cover photo was taken in 1952 during a rally competition held in Córdoba, at a spot known as “Piedra Mora.” The image on the spine depicts Salsipuede’s main street in 1965. The photo inside shows the first bus that made a direct journey from Salsipuedes to Buenos Aires, also in 1965. The snakes on cover and inside live in Salsipuedes and all the Córdoba Province.

我总是着迷于晚间电台节目的独特气氛。

我记得大约是在2016年前后，我开始从一个老收音机里录制电台节目。收音机是在我们房子一楼的厨房里。冬天太冷了，我每次做晚饭都要鼓足勇气去厨房。在那个时候我会打开收音机，调到那些清晰的全国范围的AM电台（有时候也会是FM电台）——混杂着各种各样的音乐：民俗音乐（folklore music）、探戈、cuarteto（流行于阿根廷科尔多瓦地区的音乐形式，西班牙语意思为“四重奏”）、摇滚以及其他种类的音乐和各种谈话节目，充斥着这些晚间时段。

阿根廷的“官方电台”主要集中于两大主题：政治与足球。而我的目标则是尽量去记录这两者之外的其它种种，希望它们可以更好地展现我们的精神风貌。

当然，阿根廷的声音远不仅限于这里收集的这些——可能有些扭曲，可能不太完整，不过通过这些收音机里的噼啪声，你或许可以瞥见一些声音与旋律，它们成为阿根廷的一部分特色的定义。

所有声音采集于Salsipuedes，2016-2023。

关于选用的节目素材：

A面

- 开场曲，一段Charango演奏的旋律（一种安第斯地区的小型弦乐器，像是复弦的尤克里里但更小一些）

- “La Compañía familiar”（传统cuarteto曲目）

- 一则关于马拉多纳的老新闻

- 在河边录制的电台声音拼贴

- 一位老人给电台发信息，要求点播一首Carlos Gardel的探戈曲目”Marioneta”

- 国家电台的串场音乐

- 一个人谈论笑对身体健康的益处

- 一首扭曲了的民俗音乐，我不知道（或忘记了）名字

- 电台串场声音

- 一首阿根廷摇滚歌曲，在歌曲中间主唱谈到说这首歌发行时正值阿根廷的独裁统治时期

- 拉丁音乐重复段落

- 电台在一个学校活动里录制的节目，现场演奏的民俗音乐

- 嘉宾谈论阿根廷的手机及价格

- 90年代的钢琴建议

- 一家信贷公司的广告

- 一首在”阿根廷非常流行的意大利歌曲”Tarantella”

- 天主教AM电台的节目

- “Zamba para olvidar” ，一首流行的民俗歌谣（本专辑标题也出自这首歌，意思是“只有一首伤心的歌缠绕在我的吉他上”）

- 电台杂讯以及天主教电台里的教堂风琴

B面

- 拉丁爵士循环段落

- 被损坏的吉他演奏磁带

- 晚间节目里播放的音乐（一首爵士名曲）

- 一首傲慢的民俗歌曲，关于天上的星星

- 另一首民俗歌曲，小时候就听过（但现在忘记了名字）

- 一些阿根廷的近期新闻（2022-2023）

- 一段长长的电台笑话，讲故事的人是Luis Landriscina（一位很受欢迎的民间搞笑艺人）。是一个关于“治疗”的笑话，故事的双方是病人和农场的巫医

- 民俗跳舞音乐，歌曲主题是“走出房子来跳舞吧”

- 晚间时段的Phil Collins歌曲

- 一位嘉宾谈论鸟

- 电台播放Pink Floyd的歌曲”Astronomine Domine”

- 采访”Agustina” 的女儿。这位老女人最近从自己的房子里被赶了出来

- Ariel Ramirez的一首有古典音乐感觉的民俗器乐曲

关于磁带设计

磁带设计所使用的照片出自“Salsipuedes en el recuerdo”，这是一本1990年代出版的书，记录了1940-1960年代Salsipuedes的生活。封面照片是1952年的一次骑车拉力锦标赛，在一个名为Piedra Mora的地点举行；磁带侧边使用的照片是1965年Salsipuede的主街风景；内页照片记录了第一辆从Salsipuedes直通布宜诺斯艾利斯的巴士，同样是1965年的事情；封面与内页中出现的蛇生活在Salsipuedes以及科尔多瓦省全境。