In the early 2000s, trudging by the static of mainstream radio, I stumbled upon RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, the Irish-language outpost of Eire’s nationwide broadcaster – and a programme that flipped the script on radio as I knew it. Introduced by Cian Ó Cíobháin from the Atlantic-hugging Galway coast, a good stretch from my house in rural Northern Eire, An Taobh Tuathail (“The Different Aspect”) nonetheless looks like a portal to a far-flung realm.
Broadcast each weekday since Might 1999, Ó Cíobháin expertly blends leftfield music: it has championed ambient and digital pioneers comparable to Mexican composer Murcof and the late Japanese musician Susumu Yokota, and spotlighted the curveballing instrumentalism of Irish artists together with cellist Eimear Reidy and revered Limerick producer Naive Ted. Tremendous Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys is certainly one of many artists to have hailed An Taobh Tuathail’s affect, calling it “one of the radical radio exhibits on the earth”.
In contrast to its flagship station Radio 1, RTÉ upheld a ban on enjoying songs in English on Raidió na Gaeltachta till 2005, with Ó Cíobháin navigating the restriction by presenting in Irish whereas predominantly enjoying instrumental music, spanning post-rock, electronica, jazz, techno, and extra.
Whereas the ban has since been lifted, permitting for the inclusion of anglophone music over the previous 20 years, there’s one thing within the music of the Irish tongue that continues to forged its personal spell. Like numerous different common listeners with solely cúpla focal (or “a number of phrases”), straining my ear has solely deepened the appreciation.
“Listeners have messaged me to inform me that the programme is their sole reference to the Irish language,” says Ó Cíobháin. “It’s a beautiful factor to listen to: that had been it not for the present, hundreds of individuals world wide would possibly by no means hear our stunning, historical language.”
“I’m conscious that almost all listeners don’t communicate the language, so I hold chat to a minimal,” he provides. “I inform you what file I performed and what’s up subsequent. Listeners who don’t communicate the language have contacted me over time to inform me how they discover it fairly comforting to tune in and listen to me communicate, even when they won’t perceive the whole lot I say.”
Because it celebrates 1 / 4 of a century of quietly kicking in opposition to conference, An Taobh Tuathail is a reminder of how devoted and impassioned radio presenters can unlock new musical worlds – even should you don’t communicate their language. Listed below are another cult programmes from round Europe to find.
Klaus Fiehe
In 1994, 5 years earlier than An Taobh Tuathail took to the airwaves, Klaus Fiehe launched into his personal journey towards incomes the title “the German John Peel”: his program, 1Live Fiehe, broadcast by Cologne public radio station Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), showcases a presenter who has all the time marched to the beat of his personal drum.
Fiehe’s profession started within the early Nineteen Eighties as a saxophonist for the choice rock icons Geier Sturzflug, and his three-hour weekly present, drawing from a private assortment of over 60,000 data, reveals his peerless curation, insatiable spirit and storytelling aptitude inside German popular culture. The Peel parallel holds up. And whereas preferring to be often called “that man who spins the proper stuff”, it’s Fiehe’s mastery at waxing poetic auf Deutsch that props up this inimitable present.
Rhys Mwyn
The bassist within the politically outspoken Welsh punk-rock group Anhrefn (or “Chaos”) within the Nineteen Eighties and Nineties is now a tour information and revered archaeologist, and his BBC radio present is a veritable trove, too. Largely offered in Welsh, Recordiau Rhys Mwyn (“Rhys Mwyn’s Data”) presents a elegant mix of lesser-heard music and visitor reminiscences of the period when his previous band extensively toured Europe.
Nonetheless, it’s not purely nostalgic. Alongside disco, punk, electronica and extra, Mwyn’s dedication to that includes quite a few modern artists, many hailing from Wales, seals its attraction. He often switches to English to learn English-speaking company, making the return to the melodious and distinct Welsh language an exquisite payoff.
Grażyna Biedroń
Taking inspiration from the likes of Lyl Radio in Lyon and Tallinn’s Ida, Radio Kapitał in Warsaw has stepped as much as meet the demand in Poland.
One DJ shaping its identification is Grażyna Biedroń, who debuted in August 2023. Each different Tuesday morning, she guides listeners by digital genres from breakbeat to acid home, with themed episodes and a seamless mix of Polish and worldwide sounds: “An immersion in underground flavours throughout the realm of digital music, with a shared thread that sparks conversations,” she says.
