Retro Focus Radio
Turn the dial.
Find the room.
Six vintage desk radios from six cities. Tune by hand through the static until the music comes in, with the rain, the fan or the café the set used to sit in.
This one works. Switch it on and turn the knob.
Not a playlist.
A radio somebody loved.
Between stations there is static. No tiles, no shuffle. You turn the knob, the needle drifts, the hiss thins out and a song arrives. Finding it is half the pleasure.
Every set keeps its room. Rain on a Shibuya awning. A ceiling fan over a Bangkok cassette stall. Cups in a café at closing time. Mix the room under the music, or leave only the room.
Then it switches itself off. A focus timer for a block of work, a sleep timer for the night. It plays on with the screen locked and ends on time, with a soft chime.
Every receiver is built, not skinned.
Its own window, speaker, knob, keys and lettering. A vacuum-fluorescent glow in Tokyo, seven segments in Bangkok, a printed slide rule in a European café.
Six receivers.
Six previous owners.
Each set belonged to someone. The first time you switch one on, their note slips out, with the station they always listened to circled on the dial.
-
SHIBUYA '84Tokyo, 1984
- 79.5Morning Acoustic
- 84.2City Pop Easy
- 88.0Night Piano
- roomRain on the awning
Free with Dial
88.0 after midnight. Rain on the window, maths on the desk. If you hear a voice under the piano around 2 a.m., it's not just you.
Kei's cassette label -
SIAM '96Bangkok, 1996
- 91.5Indie Afternoon
- 95.5Midnight Acoustic
- 101.0Lo-Fi Rain
- roomFan and rain on the tin roof
Sound pack · Plus · Lifetime
When the afternoon storm comes and nobody's buying, put it on 101. The fan, the rain on the tin roof, this. That's the whole shop.
Noi's shop receipt -
BRAUN '68European café, 1968
- 93.0Café Jazz
- 97.5Chamber Piano
- 102.5Shortwave Night
- roomCafé murmur
Sound pack · Plus · Lifetime
Chairs up, floor swept, one last coffee for me. 102.5 comes and goes. Wait for it. It always comes back.
Margarethe's order pad -
HONG KONG '79Hong Kong, 1979
- 89.3Canto Easy
- 96.8Harbour Lounge
- 104.5Neon Midnight
- roomRain at the tram stop
Sound pack · Plus · Lifetime
Last crossing is the quietest. Harbour lights, 104.5, nobody aboard but me. Somewhere past 106 there's a song I never caught the name of.
Ah Wing's ferry ticket -
NEW YORK '58New York, 1958
- 92.3Supper Club
- 98.7Late Jazz
- 104.7Rooftop Ballads
- roomStreet below at night
Sound pack · Plus · Lifetime
Home at 3, shoes off, 98.7 on low so the neighbours don't knock. The band at the club was better. Don't tell the radio.
Dolores's hotel card -
RIO '64Rio de Janeiro, 1964
- 90.5Bossa Morning
- 95.1Samba Lento
- 103.3Ocean Night
- roomWaves and sea breeze
Sound pack · Plus · Lifetime
Fixed this one myself. It hums a little at 90.5. Leave it, that's the sea. Mornings sound better here than anywhere.
Tiago's postcard
Start free.
Keep the ones you love.
SHIBUYA '84 is yours from the first launch. Any locked receiver can be switched on for a 60-second Tactile Trial: tune it, hear its room, then decide.
- Free
- $0
- SHIBUYA '84 with all three stations and its room. Focus timer up to 25 minutes.
- Sound pack
- $4.99 each
- Keep one more receiver, forever. Focus timer up to 25 minutes.
- Plus
- $5.99 / month
- Or $29.99 a year with a 7-day free trial. Every receiver and a 60-minute focus timer. Renews automatically until you cancel.
- Lifetime
- $79.99 once
- The receivers and Plus features in the release you buy, permanently. Later cities are not included.
Prices in USD and may vary by region. Subscriptions are managed in your Apple ID settings.
Coming to iPhone and iPad.
Leave the window open. It's raining in Shibuya.