Lost And Sound

David Longstreth on Dirty Projectors, Orchestral Experimentation, and the Radical Psychedelia of Fatherhood

David Longstreth stands at a fascinating creative crossroads. For twenty years, he's been the driving force behind Dirty Projectors, crafting music that defies easy categorization while earning collaborations with icons like Björk, Rihanna, and Paul McCartney. Now, with his ambitious new orchestral song cycle "Song of the Earth," Longstreth explores our shifting relationship with nature while processing what he calls "the radical psychedelia of fatherhood."

Speaking from his California home studio (formerly a kitchen, before that a garage that "bloomed with mold"), Longstreth reveals how this project emerged from conversations with his longtime friend Andre de Ritter, conductor of the Berlin-based ensemble Stargaze. Drawing inspiration from Gustav Mahler's "Das Lied von der Erde," Longstreth initially set out to write nature poems, only to discover his feelings about the natural world had "gotten weird" – reflecting our collective anxiety about climate change.

The beauty of Longstreth's approach lies in his embrace of uncertainty. Throughout our conversation, he repeatedly describes putting himself in musical situations "beyond what I'm capable of," allowing the learning curve itself to become part of the creative process. This has been his method since recreating Black Flag's "Damaged" album from memory for Dirty Projectors‘ 2007 "Rise Above" (deliberately avoiding revisiting the original) through to this orchestral collaboration that marries environmental themes with deeply personal transformation.

Perhaps most captivating is Longstreth's description of how parenthood has fundamentally altered his perception. Watching his three-year-old daughter experience the world for the first time has made him question everything he knows, creating a profound sense of renewal that directly influences the emotional landscape of "Song of the Earth." Twenty years into his career, Longstreth has found a way to make music that feels simultaneously ambitious and intimate, political and personal – a rare achievement worth celebrating.

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Lost and Sound is sponsored by Audio-Technica

My BBC World Service radio documentary “The man who smuggled punk rock across the Berlin Wall” is available now on BBC Sounds. Click here to listen.

My book, Coming To Berlin: Global Journeys Into An Electronic Music And Club Culturet Capital is out now on Velocity Press. Click here to find out more.

Lost and Sound title music by Thomas Giddins

Bartees Strange makes music that doesn’t sit still. One moment it’s soaring indie rock, the next it’s touched by soul, punk energy, or the weight of hip-hop—yet it all holds together in a way that feels completely his own. We sat down in a quiet Berlin hotel room to talk about the creative process behind his new album Horror, produced by Jack Antonoff and released on the iconic 4AD label.

Bartees doesn’t approach songwriting as a straight path. It’s more like piecing together different fragments until something unexpected clicks. “I might write five or six sections and not know they’re in the same song until I start plugging them into each other,” he said. That instinctive method pulls influence from across the board—Fleetwood Mac, Parliament, Burial, Neil Young—and filters it through a sound that’s urgent, intimate, and ever-shifting.

What stood out most in our conversation was his view on genre itself. For Bartees, it’s not just about music—it’s about identity, and how people are often encouraged to box themselves in. “Music is representative of people,” he told me. “And people separate themselves from each other because of all these things that don’t make sense. Through music, I can show people that all those things you thought were unique to you are also unique to them.” His work holds a quiet defiance, a kind of gentle political energy that moves through emotion rather than statement.

Before committing to music full-time, Bartees worked as deputy press secretary at the FCC under Obama. That experience brings a clear-eyed perspective to his writing—but it was never about strategy. “I tried not to do it. I got a job, I worked... but after a while, I was like I’d rather just not survive than not do what I want to do.” That sense of risk and necessity lives in every note.

If you’re enjoying Lost and Sound, please do subscribe and leave a rating or review on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, or wherever you listen. It really helps to spread the word and support Lost and Sound.

Bartees Strange on Instagram

Listen/Buy Horror by Bartees Strange here

Follow me on Instagram at Paulhanford

Lost and Sound is sponsored by Audio-Technica

My BBC World Service radio documentary “The man who smuggled punk rock across the Berlin Wall” is available now on BBC Sounds. Click here to listen.

My book, Coming To Berlin: Global Journeys Into An Electronic Music And Club Culturet Capital is out now on Velocity Press. Click here to find out more.

Lost and Sound title music by Thomas Giddins

Yann Tiersen and QUINQUIS (Emilie Tiersen) are on a boat with a manifesto, touring the Celtic Islands and playing community halls, pubs, record shops and places along the way. The producer/musician/composing couple talk with Paul about the environmental and consumerist impact of touring and their holistic approach to navigating this. Yann (who first appeared on Lost anf Sound two years ago) did the score to Amelie, which he’s not super hot on by all accounts, he did the score to Goodbye Lenin too, and his recent stuff on Mute plays with textures and atmosphere, Emilie’s work has that magic of early 4AD but in it’s own unique way. Together, they talk about their inspiring adventure and how it relates to our wider world.

YANN TIERSEN & QUINQUIS

NINNOG SUMMER TOUR - SAILING TO CELTIC LANDS

KERBER COMPLETE - MODULAR SYNTHESIS, SOLO PIANO, REMIXES

BOX SET WITH NEWLY RECORDED SOLO PIANO VERSION OF HIS 2021 ALBUM, KERBER - 15 SEP ON MUTE

Lost and Sound is proudly sponsored by Audio-Technica

Paul’s debut book, Coming To Berlin: Global Journeys Into An Electronic Music And Club Culture Capital is out now on Velocity Press. Click here to find out more.

Lost and Sound title music by Thomas Giddins

Seamus Rawles Malliagh, better known as Iglooghost, is an artist who doesn’t just make electronic music—he builds entire worlds. His sound is hyper-detailed, bursting with surreal textures, and deeply tied to the mythologies he creates around it.

In this episode, we dive into how growing up in rural Dorset shaped his imagination, from childhood experiments with ley lines to the eerie, folklore-like atmosphere of empty landscapes. We also explore the making of his most recent album, Tidal Memory Exo, crafted during a five-year stint living near Thanet’s brutalist seafront. Immersed in what he calls “aesthetic ugliness”—concrete towers, decay, a nearby sewage plant—he channeled these surroundings into an intricate fictional narrative, where a storm isolates Thanet from the mainland, birthing underground music subcultures.

Iglooghost shares how discomfort and constraint fuel his creativity and how mythology plays a key role in his artistic process. Whether you’re deep into his sonic universe or discovering him for the first time, we get into one about how environment, storytelling, and electronic music collide.

If you’re enjoying Lost and Sound, please do subscribe and leave a rating or review on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, or wherever you listen. It really helps to spread the word and support Lost and Sound.

Iglooghost on Instagram

Iglooghost on Bandcamp

Follow me on Instagram at Paulhanford

Lost and Sound is sponsored by Audio-Technica

My BBC World Service radio documentary “The man who smuggled punk rock across the Berlin Wall” is available now on BBC Sounds. Click here to listen.

My book, Coming To Berlin: Global Journeys Into An Electronic Music And Club Culturet Capital is out now on Velocity Press. Click here to find out more.

Lost and Sound title music by Thomas Giddins

Bogdan Raczynski has created a body of work as enigmatic as it is enthralling. Rumoured to have been discovered sleeping on a bench in Tokyo by Aphex Twin, he’s collaborated with Björk, remixed Autechre and at one point took a break from electronica to release an album inspired by Polish folk music.

Bogdan reflects on nearly three decades of defying norms within the music industry. We discuss his latest work, "You're Only Young Once, but You Can Be Stupid Forever," which captures his signature blend of playfulness and depth. Through the lens of his childhood experiences as a political refugee and his unique perspective on the world, we explore how these elements shape his creative process and continue to influence his groundbreaking sound.
As we talk with Bogdan, we explore creativity beyond the constraints of commercial success—we ponder the societal limitations that stifle potential artists. Emphasizing the importance of ambiguity in art, Bogdan shares personal anecdotes from his past, challenging the conventional need for predefined interpretations and advocating for spontaneous, personal engagements with creative works.
Our conversation also delves into the complex interplay between music, identity, and defiance. Bogdan shares how moments of feeling different have shaped his artistic identity, from the childhood discovery of a humorous hip-hop cassette to finding his place within the IDM scene of the '90s. We also tackle the struggle of balancing music with other career paths and the journey towards achieving a flow state in creativity.

You’re Only Young Once But You Can Be Stupid Forever is available on Vinyl / CD / download / stream from 18th October on Disciples. Check it out here.

Follow Paul Hanford on Instagram

Lost and Sound is sponsored by Audio-Technica

Paul’s BBC World Service radio documentary “The man who smuggled punk rock across the Berlin Wall” is available now on BBC Sounds. Click here to listen.

Paul’s debut book, Coming To Berlin: Global Journeys Into An Electronic Music And Club Culturet Capital is out now on Velocity Press. Click here to find out more.

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Lost and Sound title music by Thomas Giddins