WPRB Princeton 103.3 FM

When people think of socialist music it’s usually some annoying kid blasting the Soviet anthem in the back of the bus and the typical ‘socialist realism’ inspired pieces, grand and melodic. Well, Theodor Adorno would disagree. DJ Jagannath and I want to explore the ways in which atonal music serves as a progressive, modern music that represents best the capitalist world we live in, inspired by writings of Adorno but going beyond the music he had available to him at the time. From the foundational Schoenberg to early Soviet composers during the time of Lenin and modern day atonal experimentation in genres other than classical, our show will feature music that depicts the fundamental alienation of man from his labor and the estrangement of the self, alongside discussions of theory that help contextualise the ideas of theorists like Adorno on modern atonal music.