“The Truth… movies for your ears”
goes the tagline of this radio project, which has managed the impressive feat of
creating radio dramas that don’t bore the shit out of me.
Please... no! Not an omnibus!
I have long abhorred radio dramas,
with the main focus of my hatred being Radio 4’s ‘The Archers’ and the quarter
hour crime against my ears which is the Woman’s Hour’s ‘15 minute drama’. Both
of which are basically 15 minutes of middleclass white people sighing and
moaning over a kitchen sink. This aversion could be down to my dislike of soaps
as a format, but I believe I am frustrated with the way these two programmes
completely fail to utilise the creative potential of the radio medium. Both
dramas reduce the radio drama to a cheap man’s TV series, whilst trying to
compensate for the lack of visuals by destroying any sense of subtlety.
David Tennant... a radio star!
Of course, radio dramas do not
have to be painful. The BBC’s World Service has produced a number of wonderful
plays. Also, Radio 4’s ‘Love Virtually’, which was voiced by
David Tennant and Emilia Fox in March 2012, was a brilliant drama revolving
around the romantic correspondence between two individuals who never meet.
This
work played to radio’s strengths as a non-visual medium, since the drama
unfolds purely through a series of emails and letters. The radio drama was
captivating since the characters had no knowledge of what each other
looked-like, a facet which was an essential ingredient to the story. It rose
beyond poor-man’s TV and created something that was meant to be appreciated as
a unique audio experience. ‘Love Virtually’ can be downloaded at this link
(incidentally, I have absolutely no connection to the site that is hosting the
mp3): http://www.david-tennant.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/lovevirtually.mp3
But I digress, so let us head to
‘The Truth’ of the matter. In the same way that ‘Love Virtually’ utilised the purely auditory aspect of radio to present an epistolary novel effectively,
‘The Truth’ finds inventive ways of presenting stories for a listening
audience.
For example, in ‘Tape Delay’, an
episode that was my introduction to the series, the drama revolved almost
entirely around phone conversations, placing the listener in the same shoes as
the protagonist. It starts off with a phone conversation between a male
protagonist and his would-be-date. However it soon goes beyond this original
phone conversation, as the protagonist listens back to the original phone
conversation (which he accidentally recorded). Then in an act which could only
ever work on radio, he decides to load the recording onto his computer and
edits it to produce his own fictional radio mini-dramas using his
would-be-date’s voice. This piece fully utilises the way audio is open to manipulation
in a way that video is not. Do give it a listen:
Again, in ‘Eat Cake’ they are able
to use telephone conversations in order to produce a sweet romantic comedy,
which like ‘Love Virtually’, embraces the fact that the appearance of the
characters is mystery. This probably my favourite episode.
‘People Beat’ indicates that ‘The
Truth’ (and possibly radio drama as a whole) excels best at short stories, which cover small individual situations. This piece works by having a humorous setup as the female protagonist
stresses in anticipation of a potentially embarrassing family catastrophe.
On the weekend I finally got around to seeing The Artist. My opinion.... I thought it was good, very good in fact... and certainly interesting.
I think what makes it interesting is that comes across as an artefact from another age, which allows us to break with the typical expectations that we have from a modern film. The film has a light hearted playful campiness, that marks it out in our cynical age (the Descendents it is most certainly not).
I think it is the nostalgic tropes that allows us to suspend our eye rolling cynicism and run away with this beautiful piece of escapism. If the film was a full colour all speaking period piece on the era of the silent cinema, it would come across as over the top and unbelievable.
However, being a film that genuinely looked and felt like something from the past, it allowed the audience to make exceptions to the realism that we have come to expect from films. Once we were in this vintage mindset we could simply relish the exaggerated wide-eyed expressions and fantastical plot.
I wonder if this film could spark a revival in silent cinema. I for one would love to see some more silent films, since I loved the level of concentration I gave to the screen and the added emotional intensity the absence of dialogue gave to the musical score.
Well, enough of my views. Let's hear from Alex, Thoughtfully Tooting's resident film critic (sort of). Oh and the quality of the recording is pretty dreadful, lots of very noisy wind! Lesson: never record an interview next to a bridge! Seriously, what was I thinking. I guess I always have to learn the hard way.
Here is another Falling Tree production – an indie that initially caught my attention with their bold 4 part series, ‘Short Cuts’. It's a great 50 minute documentary on the all female rock band… Lez Zeppelin.
(Note: The embedded mp3 and the link is from the Falling Tree website)
Sarah McLellan
It’s littered with some great Led and Lez Zeppelin tracks. If anything it’s great to hear Zeppelin again, a band which I have neglected for far too long. It makes you realise how amazing songs like ‘Rock & Roll’, ‘Blackdog’, ‘Dazed and Confused’, ‘Whole Lotta Love’ etc… are – and how a pair of female lungs can really add an interesting dimension to them. The documentary often plays Zeppelin tracks alternating between the Lez and Led versions, letting the listener compare the vocal qualities of Robert Plant with that of the Lez Zeppelin singer, Sarah McLellan.
Listening to Lez Zeppelin is used as an opportunity to reflect on the aspects of Zeppelin that makes them so great. For example, they talk about the sexual energy of their performances, as well as the effeminate posturing of the blouse wearing Plant. They also discuss the diversity of Zeppelin’s influences and question whether they really are the quintessential “Cock Rock” band. Members of Lez Zeppelin discuss how they feel about performing Zeppelin tracks as a female group, talk about how they are received by the sometimes sceptical crowds and ponder over whether they see themselves as a 'Tribute Band'.
Amy Jane Hall
What adds an extra charm to the piece is the way the documentary is presented. You are guided through the interviews and the themes by the father/daughter team of Alan Hall and the 15 year old Amy Jane Hall. Amy gently mocks her father’s attempts to play Stairway to Heaven and they talk about their favourite songs. This gives a nicely personal touch to the documentary, which adds to the sincerity of the admiration the presenters have for Zeppelin.
In short, it's a wonderfully warm documentary, which shows how the love of Zeppelin can span generations. It also demonstrates through Lez Zeppelin’s recordings that the great band’s tunes are truly timeless.
Now this is an interesting show, which isn’t to say it is necessarily completely accessible or enjoyable. It should be said that not everything works on this show; however it’s refreshing that something that is genuinely experimental is being played on Radio 4.
It’s a Falling Tree production and is described on the website as:
“A selection of brief encounters – true stories, found sound and radio adventures. A new series for BBC Radio 4, presented by Nina Garthwaite”
Nina Garthwaite
In some ways it’s like ‘This American Life’. Each week has a theme, such as “Divided We Stand” or “Misadventure”, with contributors who narrate tales and ordinary folk telling their own stories. However the style is distinctly British. The pieces bear a similarity to the Hackney Podcast, with a focus on captured sound and, unlike American public radio, usually lack the voice of an interviewer/narrator. The absence of the reflective narrator is used to good effect, creating personal relationship between the listener and the interviewee. Nina Garthwaite has a lovely youthful voice and she does is excellently job of linking the sometimes disparate pieces. The clip below is the introduction to the first episode, 'Misadventures'.
It’s a programme that’s willing to showcase experimental pieces, though it keeps them relatively short and accessible (in contrast to the often over indulgent experimentations found on Resonance FM). However some pieces can be slightly indulgent, having an excessive use on ambient effects, which distract you from the main story as opposed to complimenting it. This is particularly true with the first episode which overlays interview tracks with sounds of birds and other ambient nonsense.
Also, some pieces are a bit too experimental for my liking, such as the third piece from episode two, ‘All you need is a separation barrier’. It consists of someone reading a list of countries and the other nations they border on, all with annoying bleeping sounds and typewriter noises in the background. The piece is pretentious and it’s jarring to hear such an abstract art piece right after a fairly conventional radio story. Below is a short sample.
The pieces that came before were brilliant. A couple spoke about how they met and the adversity they faced when the man was forced into an arranged marriage to his cousin by his parents (a short sample is embedded below). Another piece was an interview with an old man who was a teenage fighter pilot during WW2, who spoke about his objections to the class system during the war and his love of singing. Both stories were lovely and simple, going largely without added sound effects, besides a few pieces of well placed music.
In short, I’m going to be keeping an eye on Shorts Cuts. This programme is helping the BBC catch up with the progress that has been made by American public radio. It is willing to explore new ways of using radio to tell stories and provide space to an array of inventive producers.
Check it out on the Radio 4 website while you still can:
I’d like to write briefly about a short lived show from the days of “Queen Mary FM” old. I came across it again recently whilst looking for the MP3 of my old show. There were quite a few pilots commissioned by Queen Mary Radio when it was starting off and this was my favourite.
It had everything - anecdotes, humour, fantastic music (mopy US indie and folk pop), plus heaps of personality (the “self-hating Jew” and “self-contradictory Socialist”). So it’s a shame that this two part show is all you’ll get of Natalie and Kyle – a pair of Queen Mary students, who are also a romantic couple. Amongst other things you’ll hear tales of trips to America and Hungary, delivered in a reflective self-doubting tone – which is rather aptly summed up in the title.
Here are first two (and to the best of my knowledge the last two) episodes of “Radio Show I Guess”:
Well, I couldn’t just have a big chunk of text, so using my crafty skills of investigative journalism I dug up (what I think) is a photo of the young radio making couple. Judging from one of their facebook profiles, I don’t think they are together anymore. So “I guess” that this radio show, along with the facebook photos swilling around cyberspace, is relic of a relationship that has now passed.
Like a photograph, the radio show has perfectly preserved the dynamic between two people in their youth. A picture is worth a 1000 words, but a radio show captures a whole chapter of the presenters’ lives. It speaks mouthfuls about their musical tastes, their personalities, their emotional bonds and their quirks at a particular moment in time. Perhaps it’s the charming and teasing relationship of the hosts that makes it such wonderful radio – and the fact that it’s a relationship that is now gone makes it rather precious and poignant.
I thought I might write a few reviews of the radio shows and podcasts that I love. The internet has given me access to a staggeringly large and varied array of audio content – so I’m forever spoilt for choice.
One of the shows that I will listen to without fail every week is NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour. Unlike other NPR shows (such as the nationally syndicated ‘Fresh Air’ and “All Things Considered”) this is not a podcast of show; rather it is only available as a podcast.
As a side note, it demonstrates what is great about NPR. NPR produces great shows that are only available as podcasts (such as Alt Latino and All Songs Considered), which are offshoots of the various NPR blogs. It’s an advantage of NPR's funding model, which is a mixture of federal funding, “underwriting spots”, contributions from member stations and listener donations during pledge drives. They fully embrace the benefits of not having to make scheduled weekly broadcasts for a general audience. The podcast format allows the production of great specialist shows with a dedicated fan base, in the same way that specialised blogs have advantages over traditional print media.
Pop Culture Happy Hour is presented by Linda Holmes (warm and smiling) with her three co-presenters Steven Thompson (funny and mildly unintellectual), Trey Grahams (reflective and gay) and Glenn Weldon (chirpy and flamboyantly gay) - plus the producer Mike Katzif makes an appearance from time to time.
They are all writers for NPR’s website and I think that the fact they work as colleagues outside of the show makes them completely comfortable in each others company, giving the discussions a rather playful tone.
The initial idea of the show was for it to be like people having a discussion over cocktails (hence the two martinis on the show's site). It sounds like 4 friends in someone's living room - laughing/joking/bitching about films, TV and music. It’s an arts discussion show that lets the presenters show off their personality.
It's a show about popular culture, so it’s on TV, Film, comic books, blogs and podcasts. Actually I have not watched 90% of shows being talked about, but it doesn’t matter because what makes the show great is the structured banter, which is capable of evolving into diatribes on pet hates and other fun loving silliness. There are standard segments, such as the “What’s making you happy this week”, though they will usually devote half the show to a particular pop culture theme (e.g. Guilty Pleasures).
Anyway, can’t recommend it enough – here's the archive:
This year I generally stuck to my charity shop rummages (discovery highlights being Stephen Malkmus’s debut album, Sleigh Bells’ debut album, Grandaddy’s Sumday, Ryan Adams’ Heartbreaker).
However, I thought I’d write about the new albums that have made me happy this year. I actually haven’t reviewed albums in nearly a decade; in fact I hardly even read reviews anymore. Reviewing has always been fiendishly difficult, since I can never be bothered to listen to lyrics and discover meaning in the song and all that nonsense – but anyhow – here are three reviews right up:
St Vincent - Strange Mercy
This was my favourite new album of the year. St Vincent (Annie Clark) has previously caught my attention since she seemed to give fascinating interviews (plus crikey, just look her! She’s so gorgeous!), but I never listened that carefully to her songs (which I thought could be a bit over orchestral)
However I heard the new songs off ‘Strange Mercy’ when watching her 4AD sessions a few weeks ago. (http://www.4ad.com/sessions/010 Check it out!) These performances completely blew me away. They bring out the layered sounds and stellar guitar work that make this album so astounding. In fact, being able to see how Clark constructs her songs live really adds something to the tracks. Plus, the way Clarks uses the noise from her guitar is far more prominent.
It’s Annie Clark’s intricate guitar work that makes this album so unique. She doesn’t just strum along to provide a background to her voice. Instead, each time she strikes the strings it’s with a specific purpose, it’s with the intention of adding a specific effect to her songs. In a single song the guitar can switch several times from providing a soft echoing accompaniment to a giving a blistering noise-laden fuzz. The guitar burrs a thick distorted rumble on tracks like ‘Chloe in the Afternoon’, which mesh well with the ambient synth backdrops.
In a recent interview she said that she is working on a project with David Byrne. You can definitely hear the influence of Talking Heads (particularly the ‘Remain in Light’ era) in the way the guitar is used during solos to deliver these great elongated contorted sounds. A great example is the wonky guitar solo in ‘Surgeon’ which recalls David Byrne's killer guitar freak-outs from ‘The Great Curve’ and ‘Cross-Eyes and Painless’.
The 11 tracks work well together as an album, but there are still a few standout tracks. My favourite is album’s title track ‘Strange Mercy’, which has a grand majestic quality. I’m not someone who pays attention to lyrics, but there is something almost cinematic about the song’s grandiose chorus “If I ever meet that dirty policeman who roughed you up, No I don't know what”. It sounds beautifully protective and the tenderness of lyrics meld wonderfully with the soaring guitars. Instruments, great vocals and an array of experimental guitar sounds melding together effectively is what makes ‘Strange Mercy such a strong album.
Best tracks: ‘Strange Mercy’, ‘Year of the Tiger’, ‘Surgeon’
Let’s Wrestle – Nursing Home
‘Nursing Home’ has songs which are full of energy and pack awesome distorted guitars, but are ultimately grounded in a poppy bounciness.
They sound like a British Pavement, making lo-fi tracks, with songs that embody a lo-fi spirit. There’s this Pavement-like slacker edge to them, such as ‘In the Suburbs’ and ‘I’m so lazy’, little songs about the little things in life. There’s quite a range to songs on the record. There’s the chugging guitars and urgency of ‘Dear John’, the playful ‘There’s a rock star in my room’ and earnest pleadings of ‘I am useful’.
What makes the band great is that their songs pack sincerity. They make music that’s genuine, they’re not trying to be cool, they’re not putting on an act. The ‘sounds like the band is in the room with you’ production adds to the immediacy of the songs, making it seem like they’ve been put together on the spot, giving them an enjoyable raw emotional bite.
Best tracks: ‘Dear John’, ‘Getting Rest’
Veronica Falls – Self-titled Debut
VeronicaFalls are the only band I saw twice in 2011 and their stint supporting the Dum Dum Girls at ULU was probably the best support performance I’ve seen this year.
They’ve gotten stick for being a mopey hipster band – but this album has some great tunes, with a hard hitting folksy 60s sound and some nice harmonies. They sound like a 60s Christian folk group showing off their dark side. In fact they remind me of the 70s folk band Steeleye Span as well as the jangle-pop of early My Bloody Valentine.
There are whimsy pop tracks like ‘Stephen’ and the utterly joyful ‘The Box’ (complete with a beachy reverb-laden guitar solo!). Though it’s their more thudding moody tracks like ‘Bad Feeling’, ‘Right Side of my Brain’ and ‘Found love in the graveyard’ that allow the band to come into their own. Their 60s nostalgia and tendency to evoke a Hammer Horror feel makes them sound a bit like the Horrors (before they became a boring wannabe 80s post-punk band). It’s particularly clear on tracks like Beachy Head. Even some of their poppier tracks like “Wedding Day”, pack a mischievous dark wink.
The band has found a great sound, packing great drumming and the sweet vocals of the lead female vocalist with simple hooky guitar work.
Best Tracks: ‘Right Side of my Brain’, ‘Bad Feeling’, ‘The Box’
