Some Recurring Features of European Avant-Garde Radio

This article identifies some of the dominant features of European avant-garde radio from the late 1920s through to the 1990s: namely, montage, the radical/irrational language technique of glossolalia, and sound distortion. These features can be seen to establish connections between the works, techniques, and practices of radio producers in several European countries and enable one to understand the distinctive nature of experimental radio art. The article focuses mainly on Britain and Germany, although it makes some reference to practitioners in France, Italy, and the Soviet Union.