Thursday, October 30, 2008

Joe Frank

Joe Frank amazes me. His monologues and radio dramas that he has written and produced for NPR since the 80s are fantastic transportation into an inner world. Part of this is just the content of his writing, but another big part is the production values of his voice recording and his sound effects and music accompaniment.

In a lot of pieces he (or his engineers) make very skillful use of loops of music from other sources. There is something about a Joe Frank show that seductively takes you by surprise. Transitions and transformations happen frequently but, usually, gradually. He is a hypnotist. Whenever I listen to his shows, I have to make time to devote all my attention to them. They're really captivating.

He has a site where you can listen to some of his pieces for free, and where you can pay a little bit for access to more recordings. You can also follow the links to a podcast of his programs, which you can get with iTunes or whatever. WNYC's AM station (AM 820, I think) is also still playing his program on the weekends; I think on Saturday morning.

No comments: