The boundary between imagination and technology blurs in Lila Tirando a Violeta's mesmerizing sonic experiments. From her early DIY noise experiments in Uruguay to her current position as one of electronic music's most distinctive emerging voices, Lila's creativity has flourished despite—or perhaps because of—the challenges of living with a chronic condition.

When health issues confined her to hospitals and home at age 23, Lila found herself transitioning from improvisational performance to structured composition. The internet became both her music school and lifeline, leading to collaborations with artists like Loraine James and Amnesia Scanner—relationships that began digitally before materializing in the physical world. This digital-first approach mirrors the themes in her work, particularly her fascination with David Cronenberg's Videodrome, which she references in her new album "Dream of Snakes."

What makes Lila's creative process so compelling is her transformation of limitation into innovation. She samples her own pulsating tinnitus, captures field recordings from hospital rooms, and builds intricate sonic collages without formal training. Though her aesthetic suggests urban futurism, she's found her creative sanctuary in the quiet Irish countryside, where nature and technology intertwine in unexpected ways.

Most striking is Lila's openness about navigating the music industry—from including special lighting requests in her rider to dealing with international promoters who expect her to play reggaeton simply because of her South American heritage.

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Lila Tirando a Violeta on Instagram

Listen/Buy Dream Of Snakes here

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Lost and Sound is sponsored by Audio-Technica

My BBC World Service radio documentary “The man who smuggled punk rock across the Berlin Wall” is available now on BBC Sounds. Click here to listen.

My book, Coming To Berlin: Global Journeys Into An Electronic Music And Club Culturet Capital is out now on Velocity Press. Click here to find out more.

Lost and Sound title music by Thomas Giddins

Bartees Strange makes music that doesn’t sit still. One moment it’s soaring indie rock, the next it’s touched by soul, punk energy, or the weight of hip-hop—yet it all holds together in a way that feels completely his own. We sat down in a quiet Berlin hotel room to talk about the creative process behind his new album Horror, produced by Jack Antonoff and released on the iconic 4AD label.

Bartees doesn’t approach songwriting as a straight path. It’s more like piecing together different fragments until something unexpected clicks. “I might write five or six sections and not know they’re in the same song until I start plugging them into each other,” he said. That instinctive method pulls influence from across the board—Fleetwood Mac, Parliament, Burial, Neil Young—and filters it through a sound that’s urgent, intimate, and ever-shifting.

What stood out most in our conversation was his view on genre itself. For Bartees, it’s not just about music—it’s about identity, and how people are often encouraged to box themselves in. “Music is representative of people,” he told me. “And people separate themselves from each other because of all these things that don’t make sense. Through music, I can show people that all those things you thought were unique to you are also unique to them.” His work holds a quiet defiance, a kind of gentle political energy that moves through emotion rather than statement.

Before committing to music full-time, Bartees worked as deputy press secretary at the FCC under Obama. That experience brings a clear-eyed perspective to his writing—but it was never about strategy. “I tried not to do it. I got a job, I worked… but after a while, I was like I’d rather just not survive than not do what I want to do.” That sense of risk and necessity lives in every note.

If you’re enjoying Lost and Sound, please do subscribe and leave a rating or review on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, or wherever you listen. It really helps to spread the word and support Lost and Sound.

Bartees Strange on Instagram

Listen/Buy Horror by Bartees Strange here

Follow me on Instagram at Paulhanford

Lost and Sound is sponsored by Audio-Technica

My BBC World Service radio documentary “The man who smuggled punk rock across the Berlin Wall” is available now on BBC Sounds. Click here to listen.

My book, Coming To Berlin: Global Journeys Into An Electronic Music And Club Culturet Capital is out now on Velocity Press. Click here to find out more.

Lost and Sound title music by Thomas Giddins

David Longstreth on Dirty Projectors, Orchestral Experimentation, and the Radical Psychedelia of Fatherhood

David Longstreth stands at a fascinating creative crossroads. For twenty years, he's been the driving force behind Dirty Projectors, crafting music that defies easy categorization while earning collaborations with icons like Björk, Rihanna, and Paul McCartney. Now, with his ambitious new orchestral song cycle "Song of the Earth," Longstreth explores our shifting relationship with nature while processing what he calls "the radical psychedelia of fatherhood."

Speaking from his California home studio (formerly a kitchen, before that a garage that "bloomed with mold"), Longstreth reveals how this project emerged from conversations with his longtime friend Andre de Ritter, conductor of the Berlin-based ensemble Stargaze. Drawing inspiration from Gustav Mahler's "Das Lied von der Erde," Longstreth initially set out to write nature poems, only to discover his feelings about the natural world had "gotten weird" – reflecting our collective anxiety about climate change.

The beauty of Longstreth's approach lies in his embrace of uncertainty. Throughout our conversation, he repeatedly describes putting himself in musical situations "beyond what I'm capable of," allowing the learning curve itself to become part of the creative process. This has been his method since recreating Black Flag's "Damaged" album from memory for Dirty Projectors‘ 2007 "Rise Above" (deliberately avoiding revisiting the original) through to this orchestral collaboration that marries environmental themes with deeply personal transformation.

Perhaps most captivating is Longstreth's description of how parenthood has fundamentally altered his perception. Watching his three-year-old daughter experience the world for the first time has made him question everything he knows, creating a profound sense of renewal that directly influences the emotional landscape of "Song of the Earth." Twenty years into his career, Longstreth has found a way to make music that feels simultaneously ambitious and intimate, political and personal – a rare achievement worth celebrating.

If you’re enjoying Lost and Sound, please do subscribe and leave a rating or review on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, or wherever you listen. It really helps to spread the word and support Lost and Sound.

Dirty Projectors on Instagram

Dirty Projectors Official Store

Follow me on Instagram at Paulhanford

Lost and Sound is sponsored by Audio-Technica

My BBC World Service radio documentary “The man who smuggled punk rock across the Berlin Wall” is available now on BBC Sounds. Click here to listen.

My book, Coming To Berlin: Global Journeys Into An Electronic Music And Club Culturet Capital is out now on Velocity Press. Click here to find out more.

Lost and Sound title music by Thomas Giddins