In the days where online algorithms seamlessly line up the next track in the queue, the human touch is slowly disappearing from our musical experiences. One medium which maintains that sense of human connection with the listener is the antiquated act of radio broadcasting. As you start to tune in on a regular basis, you get to know your DJ’s. It’s not long before you’re chatting about them with your mates as if you knew them on a personal level. The tracks you’ve been hearing have been hand-picked for the show; for you, the listener, and they’re being played right at that very moment. There’s something about someone else playing a piece of music which you’ve taken the time to discover, really listen to and grown to like for whatever reason it might be that brings about a sense of satisfaction. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve listened to Roy Davis Junior’s Gabriel. If I had a list of 10/10 tunes it would undoubtedly be on it. I don’t stick it on when i get home every night, but when I do, I have a little groove. It’s only natural. However, if I’m out record digging or sat at home listening to the radio and it comes on the speakers, that’s it. My reaction is one of a first-time listener. Pure elation. This is the power of radio.

Forgetting about Roy and his oh so catchy tune for a minute, radio stations can also be great facilitators for discovering new music. This is all too often forgotten among the hectic network of digital platforms we find ourselves using these days. In one of my periodic musical ruts where I frustratedly play the same five artists over and over again in a perpetual loop, I Googled “Experimental radio stations Europe” (or something along those lines) as I NEEDED to hear something different. What I found was far more off-the-wall than my 23-year-old self even knew existed. What was even finer was that I absolutely fucking loved it.

Cashmere Radio. It may sound like a naff range of handheld radios wrapped in fine woollen jumpers, but I can assure you that that’s not the case. Based in Germany (give a guess which city), the people of Cashmere Radio have set up a not-for-profit physical and online radio station showcasing the world’s most eclectic and experimental sounds.

With a double helix floating aimlessly on a blank white page like a Portuguese Man of War unwittingly on its way towards its next victim, Cashmere Radio’s webpage gives you no clues as to what you’re about to hear - I’m not sure it could given the broad spectrum of music it offers. Regardless, it lets the music do the talking. After all, that’s a radio station’s bread and butter.

Cashmere radio has no musical boundaries. There’s no artist too “different”, no track too leftfield. In an industry where its elements are expected to be reconciled, experimental music goes against the grain in preference of disorder and disorganisation. Why have cohesion when you can have chaos, it says.

Cashmere Radio understands these values. But you have been warned. Once you hit that infamous play button, it’s like opening Pandora’s box. You could be greeted by drone music bordering on white noise, spoken word overlaying metronomes, underground west coast hip hop, or a chat about Italian Fascist architecture (in English if you’re lucky). But that’s what radio’s all about. Let someone else take control for a change. All you have to do (and I’m sorry if I’m sounding like your partner here) is be a good listener.

Keep it locked.

88.4fm Berlin /
90.7fm Potsdam / cashmereradio.com Worldwide