Accordion Noir radio playlist 2021-10-27: Dr. Carmel Raz on Seances, Sperrits, and Ghostly Accordions

AccNoir 2021-10-27

https://twitter.com/carmelrazmusic/status/1453630107797659649

You may not know it, but the Victoria period was rife with manifestations of unruly spirits, denied their eternal rest and driven to ensure that no one else enjoyed any — by appearing at seances and spectrally operating squeezeboxes! (Insert “polkageist” joke here.) Truth is stranger than fiction. To elaborate on the topic, a highly niche yet intensely seasonal aspect of the accordion’s history, Bruce has interviewed Dr. Carmel Raz of Frankfurt’s Max Planck Institut to speak on the subject. (Also, after ten years on the back burner, Bruce has attempted an arrangement of his song “Zombie Dog”!) If your Apple or Android podcast subscriptions (strongly recommended!) haven’t alerted you to the episode’s availability yet, you can enjoy listening to it as digital audio courtesy of the Internet Archive. Here’s its playlist:

AccNoir-2021-10-27,  Dr. Carmel Raz on Seances, Sperrits, and Ghostly Accordions

Thanks so much to our guest Dr. Raz of the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Frankfurt! (Did I say Berlin on the air? My mistake.)

Her work is open-access at:
https://aesthetics-mpg.academia.edu/CarmelRaz

I highly recommend:

Séances, “Sperrits,” and Self-Playing Accordions: Musical Instruments in Victorian Spiritualism
Journal of Musicology, 2021
https://www.academia.edu/49053468/S%C3%A9ances_Sperrits_and_Self_Playing_Accordions_Musical_Instruments_in_Victorian_Spiritualism

and

How the Sheng became a Harp
Journal of Sound Studies, 2020
https://www.academia.edu/43992671/How_the_Sheng_became_a_Harp

* ‟The Many Voices of Accordion Noir, PRA 100.5 FM” – tune “Boyd’s Cove Singles” – The Dardanelles (2009)  http://thedardanelles.com/
* Whiskey’s Wake – ‟He’s Alive!” – (Single) (2021) – Salt Lake City, Utah, USA – http://Bio.link/whiskeyswake Andreas Petersen, acc
https://whiskeyswake.bandcamp.com/releases
* Bluebox – ‟I Don’t Believe in Paranormal” – All I want to do is play the blues (2015) – Permbrokeshire, UK – www.GeorgeWhitfield.co.uk
* Those Darn Accordions – ‟Dancing With A Dead Man” – Lawnball (2004) – San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA – http://www.thosedarnaccordions.com/index.htm
* Bob Skyles & His Skyrockets – ‟Ghost Of The St. Louis Blues” – Single (1938) – San Antonio, Texas, USA – http://countrydiscography.blogspot.com/2010/06/bob-skyles.html
* Martin Green – ‟I Saw the Dead” – Crows’ Bones (2014) – England / Scotland – http://martingreen.tv  with Becky Unthank, and Kiklas Roswall on Nyckelharpa
* Amy Denio – ‟Dead” – Prodigal Light (2013) – Seattle, Washington, USA – http://www.amydenio.com/
* Hot Panda – ‟The Ghost” – How Come I’m Dead? (2010) – Vancouver/Edmonton, Canada – https://mintrecs.com/artist/hot-panda
* Ryder Cooley – Dust Bowl Faeries – ‟Vampire Tango” – The Plague Garden (2020) – New York Hudson Valley, USA – Visit https://rydercooley.bandcamp.com
* Bruce Triggs – ‟Zombie Dog” – Demo (2021) – Vancouver, BC, Canada – http://www.accordionrevolution.com/
* Circus Contraption – ‟Loligo’s Pickled Punks” – Grand American Traveling Dime Museum (2005) – Seattle, Washington, USA – www.circuscontraption.com

Thanks for reading us here (and hopefully listening to us, there), but if you find you want more, you can always keep up with us on Twitter (@AccordionNoir and @AccordionBruce), Instagram (@AccordionNoirFest), and Facebook at Accordion Noir fans, the Accordion Noir Festival, and the Vancouver Squeezebox Circle (coming up next week!) Cheers & squeeze on!