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about

'NS' = Number Stations. These are radio stations that were used throughout history to conduct military and espionage operations. Today, they still prove to be one of the most watertight systems for covert communications.

Number Stations are shortwave transmitters, so they can be broadcast and received all over the world. There are wild theories about their purpose, as it is secret in most cases. Online, there is a large 'following', the stations are tracked by fans, recorded and shared with others.

Number Stations are shortwave stations, so there is much more noise on the spectrum than, say, on the FM spectrum. That noise combined with various voices and sounds from Number Stations create a vast world of ethereal sounds, sounds that have already been used as samples in music (e.g. Wilco). Sometimes even entire albums are made about them (The Conet Project).

I decided to incorporate my fascination into one song, a song to enhance the emotional world of these radio stations. I used samples and did my own recording with different transistor radios that I also use live on stage.

The artwork is a photo by Lynne Vermeulen, she photographed one of the transistor radios.

I also made stickers of the broadcast mast on the Flagey building in Ixelles. That is a building with a rich radio history, and also during WWII, Belgian resistance fighters used 'Number stations' to organise the recapture of their occupied radio building. Thanks to 'Number Stations', they were able to smuggle radio equipment into occupied territory, so that they could start broadcasting again and inform the population as soon as possible after the Liberation, as radio was the main means of communication at that time.

Information I found via:
'Belgian radio broadcasting during the Second World War: The NIR-INR in the Resistance 1939-1944' - Dr Greta Boon
number-stations.com

credits

released December 7, 2023
Produced by leitlokomotiv
Mix by Jolan Decaestecker
Mastering by Gert Keunen
Artwork by Lynne Vermeulen
Special thanks to Stijn Vandeputte for let me using his studio gear, and to Jeroen Vandesande for letting me adopt SABA

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leitlokomotiv Brussels, Belgium

°BXL '19

soundcloud.com/leitlokomotiv

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