Kali Malone on Time, Minimalism, and the Power of the Organ
This week, I spoke with the acclaimed composer whose album The Sacrificial Code introduced a new generation to very old instruments
What happens when music becomes so deeply personal that it reshapes the course of your life? Kali Malone joins me on this week‘s episode to explore this through the lens of The Sacrificial Code, the album that transformed her from an underground experimentalist into one of contemporary composition’s most vital voices.
Malone’s approach to the organ exists in a liminal space—both ancient and futuristic. She explains how recording on a 16th-century instrument for the album’s reissue created radically new interpretations despite the composition remaining unchanged: “The music is strictly composed, but the registration and delivery change its identity so much.” You could read it as a poetic parallel to human evolution—our core essence intact, yet constantly shifting.
We dive into the tension between intuition and discipline, a defining force in her work. In an era of relentless digital noise, Malone advocates for silence as a creative act: “Remove all the layers and all the noise, and you’ll slowly start to hear what you feel, what you want, what you believe in.” It’s a philosophy that resonates far beyond music, speaking to anyone searching for artistic clarity.
From Colorado’s DIY punk scenes to Stockholm’s experimental avant-garde, Malone’s journey reveals the role of artistic communities in shaping sound. Her deep collaborations with Caterina Barbieri and Maria W Horn (both previous guests on Lost and Sound) highlight how musical friendships create “secret languages” that transcend time, breaking down artificial boundaries between traditions.
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Kali Malone on Instagram
The Sacrificial Code pre-order on Bandcamp
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Lost and Sound is sponsored by Audio-Technica
I’ve also done some other stuff you can check out. 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