Shimmer and Sparkle: Saturday, Dec. 30 | 9pm

by Maggie Molloy

There are a few key ingredients you need for any great New Year’s Eve. Some shimmer, some sparkle, a little champagne for your midnight toast—and of course, FIREWORKS.

We’ve got all those things and more on a New Year’s Eve EVE edition of Second Inversion. Whether you’re staying in or going out, join us as we raise our glass to another year of new musical discoveries.

To listen, tune in to KING FM on Saturday, Dec. 30 at 9pm PT.

Not Your Cookie-Cutter Carols: Saturday, Dec. 23 | 9pm

by Maggie Molloy
Jherek Bischoff, The Westerlies, Phil Kline, and the DePue Brothers are featured in this week’s episode.

After years of the same old Christmas carols, the holiday hymns do start to run together. But whether you’re the world’s biggest Santa-fan or a grouchy Ebenezer Scrooge, there’s still a little magic to be found in every classical Christmas tune.

On this Saturday’s episode of Second Inversion: Not Your Cookie-Cutter Christmas Carols. We’ll hear music from composers who like to bend the rules, break the mold, and spike the eggnog. From a Twin Peaks Christmas mashup to a very UNsilent night, we’ll hear how composers today are reimagining holiday music.

To listen, tune in to KING FM on Saturday, Dec. 23 at 9pm PT.

Solstice: Saturday, Dec. 16 | 9pm

by Maggie Molloy
“Meeting the Moon with the Sun.” Photo by Julien Sanine.

Day and night, darkness and light. This Saturday on Second Inversion: music inspired by the solstice. We’ll hear melodies of shimmering sun and glowing moon.

One composer traces the mythic struggle between the sun lion and the moon bull—the long, warm days of summer and the cold darkness of winter. Plus, music inspired by the warmth and nostalgia of summer nights in Middle America…and a bass solo born out of the growling rhythms of a winter solstice in the Far North.

To listen, tune in to KING FM on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 9pm PT.

Alien Encounters: Saturday, Dec. 9 | 9pm

by Maggie Molloy
Southern Ring Nebula. Image courtesy of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.

Do you believe in aliens? Life forms from another planet? What do you think they look like? What do you think they sound like? We’ve got some ideas…

This Saturday on Second Inversion: Alien Encounters. Hop aboard the spaceship and buckle up for the sounds of space, the music of the spheres, and even a tune or two from the Starman in the sky. Plus, one physicist’s recordings from the furthest reaches of our solar system.

To listen, tune in to KING FM on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 9pm PT.

Become Ocean: Saturday, Dec. 2 | 9pm

by Maggie Molloy

Picture yourself walking along a snowy trail through the Alaskan forest. You’re surrounded by aspen, spruce, and paper birch trees. Snowy owls and other critters are camouflaged in the landscape. Mountains in the distance, sun beaming overhead. Your boots leaving footprints in the powdery snow.

Your destination is a small, one-room cabin in the middle of this boreal forest—the Alaskan taiga.

It’s a walk John Luther Adams made almost every day. For decades, this 16-by-20-foot cabin was the center of his world: his studio, where he mapped the music of the arctic—a kind of sonic geography. These days, Adams makes his home in the Sonoran Desert, where his music remains deeply embedded in the landscapes of the natural world.

This Saturday on Second Inversion, we’re taking a deep dive into the music of John Luther Adams, beginning with his Pulitzer Prize-winning piece Become Ocean (commissioned by the Seattle Symphony in 2013). Plus, Adams introduces us to the music and poetry of mountains and desert.

To listen, tune in to KING FM on Saturday, Dec. 2 at 9pm PT.