July 10th, 12:00 noon PST to July 11th, 12:00 noon PST

Episode 2 of If the house could speak - a special broadcast series presented by Villa Aurora & LOOKOUT FM airing every two weeks on KFQM, 101.5 FM in the Pacific Palisades and online at http://lookout.fm.

In January of 2025 the Palisades Fire came within feet of Villa Aurora. Miraculously, the house survived, and with it the radio transmitter that broadcasts from there throughout the Santa Monica Mountains and the beaches below.

This series explores the voices, past and present, that reverberate at Lion and Marta Feuchtwanger’s former home. For the past 30 years, Villa Aurora has been an artist residence, a place where exile and expression meet, where history and contemporary events converge.

During the process of rebuilding and awaiting our artists’ return, we will be broadcasting newly produced, archival and historical footage for you to listen to and maybe wonder: Is this really only a house or, like Carl Jung suggests, can the composition of a room induce the realization of new truths?

Each episode of if the house could speak will be broadcast on a loop for 24 hours with no interruption. The first episode will air Thursday, June 26th beginning at 12 PM Pacific Daylight Time. For our listeners across the world, that corresponds to 7 PM Coordinated Universal Time.

Stay tuned!

Episode 2

Part 1: We are starting off the episode with Angela Brussel's poetic essay echo of a sound removed.

Angela Brussel wrote this piece during her residency as a distinguished visitor at Villa Aurora in December of 2024. Beirut, where Angela lives was under bombardment.

While geopolitical forces brought her to California, she unknowingly created the last account of living in the artist residence before the Palisades Fire broke out.

Part 2 - Outerlands by Hanno Leichtmann

During his 2021 stay at the Villa Aurora, Hanno Leichtmann composed a four-channel sound installation for the historic Villa Aurora organ. The organ was built in 1929 by the Artcraft Organ Company Santa Monica, CA and fully restored in 2010. It is comparable to theatre organs in cinemas of the silent era and is not only equipped with a wide range of organ pipes, but also with an effects section, a beautiful 49-piece marimbaphone, and 25 tubular bells in the echo chamber, which can all be played mechanically from the console. Additionally, the organ was outfitted with a MIDI input in 2010 and therefore can be remote-controlled by any MIDI device such as a computer program, a MIDI controller or any hardware sequencer. Hanno Leichtmann recorded the instrument in all possible ways: improvising on the organ, playing the pipes, bells, the marimbaphone and the effects section from the console, or midi-controlled from various DAW sequencers. In addition to these techniques, Leichtmann also recorded the percussion section using different mallets and various metal, wooden and plastic tools, capturing diverse experimental percussion sounds. 

About LOOKOUT FM

LOOKOUT FM is a West Coast terrestrial radio home for the broadcast of "transmission art:" experimental audio composition, modern serials, data sonification, radio plays, multi-day compositions, and radio-centric performances. Their licensed stations in Burbank, Hollywood, and Pacific Palisades function as FM exhibition spaces where radio art is presented without regard to constraints of time, structure, or commercial consideration.