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Sound Science · Music History · Music Theory · Origins & Oddities · Genre Tombola · Entertaining Noises
Follow a musical thread: Five notes, many musical worlds.
Episode 42 – Never the Same Melody Twice with Akram Abdulfattah
What happens when a melody can never be played quite the same way twice? Akram Abdulfattah brings his six-string violin to explore maqam, microtones and improvisation, with stories of musical tradition, family and his Palestinian-American identity.
Episode 40 - Voice, Power and the Big Machine: Opera Special
Bass Barnaby Rea joins Steve backstage at the Royal Opera House to explore the unamplified operatic voice, La Scala, class, access and the enormous machinery behind opera.
Episode 37 - A Clap, a Slap and a Stomp
What actually is musical time?
This episode kicks off 2026 with the first four days of my “12 Days of Listenmas” mini-series — pulse vs rhythm, groove, micro-timing, and why our brains can’t resist locking onto a beat.
Then we jump back to Wilton’s Music Hall (January 2025) for a live guest spot from Brazilian percussionist and former STOMP cast member Aluá Nascimento — trumpet + pandeiro on “Brazil”, body percussion (clap / slap / stomp), and a quick tour through the sounds (and stories) of berimbau and caxixi.
A practical listen, a bit of audience participation, and a reminder that rhythm is basically everywhere.
Episode 36 - Five Notes, Maisy Mouse and a Sacred Flute
Steve Pretty takes a deep dive into the pentatonic scale — the five-note sound behind playground chimes, folk traditions around the world, and the theme tune for My Friend Maisy. Featuring an Entertaining Noises detour into the Colombian gaita with Mestizo Collective, plus a playful experiment repitching a kids’ TV theme into an Ethiopian-flavoured pentatonic.
Episode 34 — Ciphers, Picks and the Art of the Jam
From WOMEX in Finland, cyphers meet bluegrass picks with Gangstagrass — a live acoustic “Do Better,” an in-studio freestyle, and why the banjo’s a “pitched rhythm” engine. Improvisation as a shared language across genres.
Episode 33 - Malawian Madalitso, Vampire Vamps & Sofa Songs
From sofa farts to Malawian folk, Steve Pretty explores how play, curiosity and imperfection keep music alive.
Episode 24 — Vocal Coaching, Twanging and Matters of Life and Death
Live with vocal coach Juliet Russell at ALSO Festival: twang, resonance, breath and the warm-ups that actually help. Plus a closing tribute to Nathaniel Dye and the making of his album, Matters of Life and Death.
Episode 23 — Ass-haling, Skateboard Zithers and Golden Audio
Breath jokes, throat sounds, skateboard zithers and a trip to Audio Gold in Crouch End — an episode about how we hear, not just what we play.
Episode 22 — Rock n roll defibrillators, bierhall melodies and tech trance
Rock ’n’ roll fundraisers for defibrillators, Bavarian beer hall brass at the Hofbräuhaus, and a Tech Trance Prosit — a Genre Tombola trip through how music saves lives, oils communities and powers dancefloors.
Episode 21 — Oud, microtones and underwater soundscapes
Live at Wilton’s with Hackney Colliery Band and harpist Valeria Clarke, plus a deep-dive with Syrian musician Nawar Alnaddaf into the oud, the ney and the emotional power of microtones — with a sea-soaked soundscape in between.
Episode 20 — Afro-joik, arctic ukuleles and 'Big Boobies Is A State Of Mind'
From Bitchy Big Boobies Bang Band in Hemnesberget to an Arctic eight‑string ukulele maker and Afro-joik fusions in Vadsø, this Norway special explores pride, place, Sámi identity and genre-bending joik.
Episode 19 - Narco music, Ola Onabulé and turf wars
Studio time with Ola Onabulé, AI-anxious soul grooves and a corrido-fuelled look at narco music, diss tracks and musical turf wars.
Episode 18 — Serpents, shanties and shells
Serpents in Jeff Miller’s brass cave, sea shanties on the Suffolk coast and shells at sunrise — a walk through how old instruments keep reshaping how we hear.
Episode 16 — Double bass, planetary resonance and jam
Exoplanet harmonies at Wilton’s and an in-depth session with bassist Charlie Pyne — an episode about resonance, low end and how the bass quietly runs the show.
Episode 15 — Spirited Away, modular expression and mild despair
A bumper episode that moves from the economic reality of being a working musician to bleepy-bloopy modular synths with Jay Chakravorty, then deep into the music and stagecraft of Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away with John Caird, Brad Haak and Maoko Imai.
Episode 14 — Eliza, a cello made of U-boats and Igbo flow
Eliza on announcing pregnancy live on stage, Verity Simmons on a U-boat-spiked cello, and a Genre Tombola dive into Igbo rap, rhythm and call-and-response.
Episode 13 — Worldwide Washboard Registry, autistic art, rockets and zydeco
Autistic Joy and accessible sound with Maddi Crease, New Orleans washboard and Zydeco with Alex Macdonald, and Robyn Rocket’s inclusive space-trumpet nights at Cafe OTO.
Episode 9 — Naked gigs, choral musings and Filament Choir with Hackney Colliery Band LIVE at Wilton's Music Hall
Naked conch shells at Hacknaky, Filament Choir's massed voices and a live Origin of the Pieces x Hackney Colliery Band takeover of Wilton's Music Hall — an episode about risk, community and shared sound.
Episode 8 — Samplers, orchestras and fancy dress harpists
A dog-costumed harp cadenza with the LSO leads into a shed-deep dive on samplers, Amen breaks, synths and a UK hardcore rework of the Origin of the Pieces theme.
Episode 7 — End of year space and slides special, with Chris Hadfield, Rosie Turton and 1201 Alarm
Moon-bound albums with 1201_Alarm, binaural trombone wizardry with Rosie Turton and Chris Hadfield on flutes, space guitars and why music always travels with us.