Podplay

Art, audio, and more for July 27, 2021. Five reviews. This week, just in time for the Delta Covid Olympics, we have a bit of a pivot back to what we used to call “Remote” work in the Before Times. Three online pieces, two art pieces in NYC and LA…

The company offers an interesting audio concept marred by poor user experience — Love Note by Rogue Artists Ensemble is a strange show. Not in terms of subject matter, but in the stark contrast between the strength of the material and a, well, complete whiff on how you experience it in person. Let’s start with the good, though. Love Note is a free…

GPS-triggered orchestral music induces wonder in Central Park, Wolf Trap, and beyond — My favorite childhood books felt magical because the characters discovered secret worlds that became their own. Lucy in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe discovered Narnia’s talking animals; Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden tended a garden that healed her sick friend; Jesse and Leslie in Bridge to Terabithia…

Fast Familiar offers a screenless story about one family’s struggle with Alzheimer’s — “In the darkness, you find yourself at the heart of a story about the things families don’t talk about.” Alzheimer’s runs in my family. That’s my (hopefully) nonchalant way of admitting that I try not to think too hard about the disease when I don’t have to. It’s also why…

Darkfield takes one of their shipping container shows to virtual reality — My heart is pounding. I’m clenching my fists as they sit in my lap. There’s a man, his voice taut and strained, speaking into my left ear. You, he says disdainfully. I can feel myself shrinking, trying to become smaller, making my body more defensible. I begin to cry. I’m…

A mixed bag of interactivity and passivity with Hitcher Encounters’ audio-led experience — As the temperature plummets in the UK and the limited options for physical exercise in lockdown are further restricted by black ice and snowfall, an invitation to forget the bleak present is heartily welcomed; any personalized reminder of a world outside one’s four walls and essential workplace in the post-holiday…

The podplay reveals hidden paths and histories in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn — As an audio producer, I make it my secret mission to get people to listen to podcasts with me. When I lived at home with my parents early in the pandemic, I implemented mandatory post-dinner listening sessions. With my friends, I’m a little less imposing, but it’s always an alternative…

A simple phone experience helps us stare off into the sunset — When was the last time you stared into a sunset? Just sat and stared into the beautiful colors as they merged and intertwined in the most mesmerizing and heavenly of ways? If you are anything like this writer, you may not be able to remember the last time you ever…

You’re going to want to invite these guests inside — VISITORS is an audio experience designed for two — only two — living, breathing humans. This is something you might want to remember when you tune in because its characters are going to take up residence in your living room whether you like it or not. Glen Neath and David…