Thomas D'Angelo Pt. 1 - sound poetry, views on noise and Avant Garde, collaborations | WCN Podcast

Summary

Thomas D’Angelo (Philadelphia) discusses his background in underground/experimental music—especially “noise” in a broad, DIY sense—and how his work blends sensuous sound with critical, sometimes humorous, but fundamentally sincere artistic intentions. He reflects on how he got into noise (through record stores, venues, and early discoveries), his listening practices (including archived/obscure releases), and his approach to making recordings that often start from a single compelling sound or idea rather than conventional “entertainment” goals.

A major theme is his philosophy of concept vs. sensation: he argues that artistic concepts should not overwrite the immediate sensuous qualities of the work, and that “purely conceptual” art can become empty or pretentious. He also emphasizes the role of context—booklets, essays, track notes, and physical packaging/art objects—as part of the overall experience of experimental sound.

He describes his long-running collaboration with Stuart Skinner, including co-running the label We Are One and contributing to collaborative projects built from shared source material, jokes, and iterative finishing touches by the group. He outlines aspects of his recording methodology for sparse/minimal sound-poetry-like pieces: patience, sound-led starting points, writing down ideas that may take time to realize, and an interest in both obvious and hard-to-identify sources of sound.

Finally, he discusses his sound poetry/voice-oriented CD “voice prints and aircuts”, created with or in connection to sound poet Duncan Harrison, and how he developed a thematic/essay framework to “wrap” a wide-ranging set of pieces.

---

Artistic techniques, concepts, or creative processes shown/discussed

Making experimental/noise sound (concept + sensation)

• Starts from sensuous sound appeal (e.g., comforting harshness, tape-like crunch) and then builds meaning.
• Uses concepts as support, not as replacements for what the listener can directly feel/hear.
• Avoids “deadpan” or slapstick comedy; humor appears as a subtle element rather than the main point.

Recording methodology (especially for minimal/sparse works)

• Sound-first workflow: begin with something that “sounds interesting” to him.
• Idea capture: jokes or “dumb” thoughts pop up; he writes them down and later finds a way to realize them.
• Patience-testing: deliberately spends time with material until it holds up.
• Accepts that some recordings may be long, exhausting, or non-obvious—appeal can be tied to the “what is this?” fascination.
• Values both:
  • clearly identifiable sound sources, and
  • sound sources that are nearly unidentifiable.

Collaboration as creative process

• Collaboration driven by:
  • exchanging source material,
  • concept/joke exchange that becomes actual recordings, and
  • iterative development where roles can be fluid (“who does what” can be unclear).
• Stuart Skinner described as a high-volume generator of ideas, with selective conversion into real outputs.

Context as part of the artwork

He emphasizes that for his releases (and much avant-garde/noise generally):

• liner notes, essays, track documentation, and
• visual packaging

are not optional extras—they deepen or shape how the sound is experienced.

Sound poetry project development (“voice prints and aircuts”)

• Treats sound-poetry as a tradition that can span disparate intermedia forms.
• Uses a theme/essay framing to unify the wide range of pieces.
• Long gestation: records tracks, identifies emerging themes, and then writes an essay to “put a bow” on the release.

---

Steps / workflow elements mentioned (compiled)

• Discover/curate influences via record stores, venues, blogs, and archived underground catalogs.
• When composing/recording:
  • pick a sound that feels compelling
  • experiment gradually (often requiring patience)
  • write down emerging thoughts and follow them later
  • develop pieces that may be minimal or source-ambiguous
• For collaboration:
  • exchange material and prompts with collaborators
  • develop concepts through conversation and joking
  • apply finishing touches depending on the project’s needs
• For release packaging:
  • include booklets/essays/track notes to enrich listening
  • treat physical media/art object design as part of the meaning

---

Creators or contributors featured (mentioned at end)

• Thomas D’Angelo
• Oscar Brumel (host)
• Steuart Skinner
• Eric Neenan (mentioned discussing collaboration/idea generation)
• Eric Neen (spelled similarly in subtitles; same person implied)
• Alan Mosek
• Jamie (owner of Double Decker record store)
• Jim (mentioned in conversation; surname not clear)
• Sam McKinley
• Sam Franklin
• Duncan Harrison
• Steven/Steve McAffery / Steve McAffrey
• Jeff German
• Joe Colean / Joe Colley (mentioned among contemporary comparators)
• Crawl Unit (listed as reference)
• Small Crow (listed as reference)
• Tardy Tom Cox (listed as reference)
• Tac Darksmith (listed as reference)
• Walter Marchet / Walter Marchetti (referenced via a noise sound piece; name appears as “Walter merchet” in subtitles)
• Wrote EMT Williams
• Hansjörg Meier (mentioned for concrete/fluxus-related recordings)
• Wolf Eyes (referenced as a show he saw)
• Crass? / White House (movement/series referenced; “White cipy/White Noise” appears as title context and “White House” noise magazine/scene is mentioned)
• Tristan Tzara (referenced via an “art for art’s sake” remark)
• “Mountains and Orchestra / Mount house and Orchestra” (referenced in the context of influential cover art; likely meaning a specific noise/LP/art release, but exact title is garbled in subtitles)

Note: Some names/titles are partially garbled by auto-captions; the list above includes everyone clearly identifiable as creators/figures mentioned.