SLOW FM was a temporary 12-hour fm and online webcasted microstation dedicated to SLOW music, broadcasted live September 24, 2013 10am-10pm EST and existing as an online archive afterward. It received a warning and its FM signal was shut down by the FCC though it continued to stream online. SLOW FM was broadcast live from Christchurch Neighborhood House at 20 N. American Street, 4th floor. Philadelphia, PA 19106 in front of a live audience.
Beginning in the mid 80s, the slow food movement began in Italy and over time grew a rabid following worldwide that continues to this day. Starting in the early 90s, a subgenre of southern hip hop called screw was formed, where vinyl albums were played and re-recorded 20-30% slower, sometimes with added beats, introductions and other effects. This subgenre bubbled beneath the surface for over a decade, and took off in the mid-2000s as the phenomenon of chopped and screwed music was applied to hip hop mixtapes. Increasingly in the past 5 years, experimental musicians have begun to mine this technique to combine hip hop, electronic, ambient/noise and other experimental music. SLOW FM has commissioned artists internationally to create new slowed-down compositions as well as will broadcast the full gamut of slow music from ambient, dub, drone, contemporary classical, dance music, hip hop and cross-genre music. Artists included: Tim Hecker, Lawrence English, Aaron Roche, Greg Fox, Cars Will Burn, Yung Pharoah, Thin Gaze, Selfies, Lil 'Merica, Ulalume, Chattr, Eartheater, and Indridi Ingolffson. Additional works will be DJed live and slow by Fade Sunshine and Jacob Herschel. Curator/DJ/Selector: Lee Tusman. Commissioned by Pew Center For Arts and Heritage: New Spaces / New Formats.