Captain Radio Visits Pendant Productions

May 25, 2011 By 3 Comments

Captain Radio Audio Reviews

Graphic - FunGraphix.com | Theme music - Shane Lamb

Title: Pendant Productions
Executive Producer/Founder: Jeffrey Bridges
Type: Drama
Genre: Multiple – Anthology, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Horror, Super Hero, Fan Fiction

Rating: Primarily adult fare similar to graphic novels*
Availability: Free – PendantAudio.Com

 

Greetings, Audionauts – Captain Radio here with a visit to mega audio drama site, Pendant Productions.

Pendant Productions Logo In 2004, with the support and participation of friends and family, bound together by a love for all things Star Trek, Jeffrey Bridges launched Pendant Productions and its first series, Star Trek: Defiant. His goal was to use fan fiction to produce old-time radio chapter serial excitement for modern audiences. Not surprisingly, the second Pendant offering was Superman:

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When Bridges began to podcast, his energy, excitement, and prolific success at producing fan fiction audio drama readily infected others. Soon additional series from a small horde of new associate podcast producers and their minions virtually doubled Pendant output.

In this way, Batman, Wonder Woman, and The Martian Manhunter, among other DC super heroes, joined Superman, while Star Wars and the original series, Earth-P, joined Star Trek. British super-spy, James Bond, and archaeologist extraordinaire, Indiana Jones, round out a stellar fan fiction podcast lineup.

With so much low-to-no-budget production ongoing, and with so many producer “buddies” getting into the action, Pendant early pioneered remote recording techniques. Far-flung actors read and record their lines with on-hand equipment, then somehow post their recordings to the program “mother ship” to mix new shows.

Pendant Productions Logo
Taking a slightly new tack in 2007, Bridges struck an alliance with Genesis Avalon producer, Kathryn Pride, to develop an anthology series, Seminar. Each futuristic episode opens with a reverbed Instructor introducing a class learning experience which can be as simple as retrospectively “observing” actors Richard Castro and Bernadette Groves enjoying an enriching, if ultimately sad, Moment of connection:

[SOUND BYTE]

In 2009, Pendant premiered Green Arrow (voiced by Mark Bradford) who enjoys quite different “moments” of connection with gorgeous, tough, and icy hip crime-fighter, Black Canary (voiced by Anna Rodriquez). G.A. scripting neatly combines mundane scenes of witty alter ego realism with obligatory punchy super hero banter:

[SOUND BYTE]

Individual Pendant series producers strive conscientiously to hit their own personal high marks while enjoying the heck out of what their doing. The result, at minimum, is a Pendant Productions virtual mega-mall of entertaining, enjoyable, and frequently escapist audio drama featuring something almost certain to tantalize any listener.

Explore Jeffrey Bridges’ massive audio drama site, Pendant Productions, by visiting PendantAudio.com.

Pendant Productions stats (at time of review):
Total available episodes: 869
Total runtime: 433 hours, 15 mins, 08 secs
Commentary tracks (not included in runtime): 441
Total podcast hits: 46,748,000
Total mp3 downloads: 11,050,000

Until next time, Audionauts, this is Captain Radio, signing off!

 

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Captain Radio Visits Pendant Productions

 

* Rating based on the Audio Drama Directory Ratings System.

 

Filed Under: Articles, Captain Radio Reviews, Jeffrey Bridges, Pendant Productions Tagged With: , ,

Captain Radio Review: Too Much of a Good Thing

May 19, 2011 By 2 Comments

Captain Radio Audio Reviews

Graphic - FunGraphix.com | Theme music - Shane Lamb

Title: Too Much of a Good Thing
Producer: Elsa Lankford and Black Crow Productions
Type: Comedy/Drama
Genre: Social Satire

Rating: AD-G* (mild swearing)
Availability: Free to Listen on PRX (Free Listener Registration Required)

Greetings, Audionauts – Captain Radio here with a review of Elsa Lankford’s Too Much of a Good Thing from Black Crow Productions.

Some global cultures have well-known, presumably independent news gathering outfits working alongside reasonably respectable commercial enterprises.

American news-gathering falls largely upon the shoulders of both commercial and intensely-sponsored “public” organizations.

Both, of late, have received their fair share of cynical criticism for dubious content, methods, objectivity, and, importantly, independence.

The separation between news and sponsorship can become precariously blurred, as our Too Much of a Good Thing protagonists learn while watching “news” that seems more broken than “breaking”:

[SOUND BYTE]

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Laura, a wannabe mystery writer (voiced by Danielle Lenhard), and her Helen Reddy-obsessed intimate roommate, Trina (voiced by Lankford) step outside to try to fathom the news frenzy engulfing the house next door.

When Trina defends neighborhood trash collector Joey (voiced by Patrick Zemeral) from media pillorying, “ace” live reporter Dank Stevens (voiced by James Armstrong) soundly repudiates her:

[SOUND BYTE]

The reporter then presses on to fast-breaking coverage of … unicorn abuse.

Soon, a furtive figure recruits the amenable ladies to investigate the mysterious comings-and-goings in the neighborhood, just as the old News Director at “Channel 7.5” (voiced by Grace Enriquez), explains the (sad) facts of news evolution to Dank:

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When neighborhood uber-gossip Mrs. Lewis (Enriquez again) abruptly is hired and upgraded to become the new Channel 7.5 News Director, Lankford unleashes through her a droll and thinly veiled volley at network newsgathering credibility:

[SOUND BYTE]

Satire eventually shifts more toward a genuine mystery, and imperiled Laura and Trina uncover a plot so large and so sinister that even Monty Python writer/director Terry Gilliam’s dark fancy would be tickled.

While the play hints at autobiographical asides and harbors some fun, if not essential, dialog, its virtually unrelenting satire seems all too suited to modern network news-mongering.

Listen to Elsa Lankford’s Too Much of a Good Thing from Black Crow Productions at PRX.org.

During your visit, you may also wish to hear Lankford’s half-hour documentary about a neighborhood bypassed by road construction entitled, Rooted and Unrooted: West Baltimore’s Highway to Nowhere.

Until next time, Audionauts, this is Captain Radio, signing off!

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Captain Radio Reviews Elsa Lankford’s Too Much of a Good Thing from Black Crow Productions

 

* Rating based on the Audio Drama Directory Ratings System.


 

Filed Under: American, Captain Radio Reviews, comedy, Drama, Mystery Tagged With: , , , ,

Captain Radio Review: Saki’s Quail Seed

May 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Captain Radio Audio Reviews

Graphic - FunGraphix.com | Theme music - Shane Lamb

Title: Quail Seed (19 Nocturne Boulevard Anthology)
Producer: Julie Hoverson and Wheeality Productions
Type: Drama
Genre: Social Satire

Rating: AD-G*
Availability: Free – 19NocturneBoulevard.com

Greetings, Audionauts – Captain Radio here with a review of Saki’s Quail Seed, adapted and produced by Julie Hoverson and Wheeality Productions.

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High-profile classic literary oracles, like H.G. Wells and George Orwell, have astounded readers with profound and often disturbing scientific and social insights into the future. However, audio drama producer Julie Hoverson holds that lesser-known but certainly competent writers, such as Edwardian era author H.H. Munro, known better by his pen name, Saki, could cleverly employ biting humor to reveal equally rare foresights into mundane matters:

[SOUND BYTE]

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Struggling small businesses today could garner an insight or two from Quail Seed which opens with Mr. Scarrick, a small-town shop owner who, having just topped off his inventory, abruptly faces dismal Christmas sales:

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However, some local gossips, trying to be discrete as they surreptitiously browse Scarrick’s lowly local establishment before traveling to the big city to make their purchases, witness two bizarre visitations, first, that of an unusual boy:

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Even as the ladies cackle feverishly over the departed boy, a stranger and more imposing customer stalks in:

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In no time the entire exurban community is abuzz, both about the strange visitors and Scarrick’s puzzling perfidy. On subsequent days, shoppers mill about the store, draining the shelves of goods, at last gasping when the strange boy, the imposing man and Scarrick’s deceit all score an encore. With that, the rumor dam crumbles:

[SOUND BYTE]

And no one can resist shopping at Scarrick’s thereafter for fear of foregoing the finale of all this unfathomable intrigue, perhaps … not even you.

Saki’s engaging satire, minimalistically, tastefully, and warmly adapted by Hoverson, might well be served as a delicious after-dinner dessert with a sherry apéritif or Turkish coffee. Though Hoverson jests about making relatively casual casting decisions for her many works thus far, no character of Quail Seed seems truly out of place or unapproachable here. Enjoy.

Listen to Julie Hoverson and Wheeality Production’s adaptation of H.H. Munro’s  Quail Seed currently podcast on the Captain Radio’s Audio Drama Showcase or by visiting 19NocturneBoulevard.com where you can hear three other standout Saki yarns as well as over 60 other short Hoverson pieces.

You can also hear a podcast of Hoverson’s Mark Time Award-winning scifi drama, The Outpost, right here on Radio Drama Revival.

Until next time, Audionauts, this is Captain Radio, signing off!

 

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Captain Radio Reviews Quail Seed from Julie Hoverson and Wheeality Productions

 

* Rating based on the Audio Drama Directory Ratings System.

 

Filed Under: 19 Nocturne Boulevard, Captain Radio Reviews, Classic Retellings, Drama, English, Podcast, Radio Drama Tagged With: , , , ,

Captain Radio Review: Harrison Quest

May 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Captain Radio Audio Reviews

Graphic - FunGraphix.com | Theme music - Shane Lamb

Title: Harrison Quest
Producer: Justin Piasecki
Type: Comedy
Genre: Fan Fiction Satire
Rating: AD-PG13*
Availability: Free – HarrisonQuest.com (available at iTunes as well)

Greetings, Audionauts – Captain Radio here with a review of Harrison Quest from Justin Piasecki.

Ironically, social media networking seems to be creating more and more iconoclastic but energetically bound and resolute subcultures within our increasingly disaffected society.

Our poster child for the day, then, is the Sons of Ford, a bickering, potty-mouthed, occasionally rowdy klatch of young males all ultimately cinched together in blind devotion to superstar Harrison Ford. However, at their weekly meeting to sort through Ford’s trash, the Sons discover their failsafe scheme to aggrandize Ford will soon be despoiled big time by the celeb himself:

[SOUND BYTE]

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The race is on, but the obstacles just keep a’ comin’. First, Simon (voiced by Piasecki) fails to register the Sons fan booth at the annual GalaxiCon that Ford attends, defaulting the slot to odious archrivals, the Harrison Ford Fan Club, led by sadistic Desoto (voiced by McCoy Jen). Then, unbeknownst to the Sons, Desoto plants Joel (voiced by Matthew Novak) as a spy in the Sons’ midst to capture the secret movie script. If that weren’t enough, unbelievers pop up like paint ball targets everywhere, even on a movie date:

[SOUND BYTE]

Stalwart listeners to Harrison Quest episodes gradually grow tolerant enough of the steady stream of expletives to sense how totally enraptured (perhaps self-deluded) Simon, Brent, Eddie, and Horris have become. Their daily lives, their art, even their metaphysics coincide with Ford infatuation. In this scene, brimming with hilarious irony, Horris (voiced by Brad Bogner, on occasion standup comic at NYC’s Eastville Comedy Club) piously exchanges “scripture” with Daniel (voiced by Kai Lahti), a Jehovah’s Witnesses who, erroneously assuming it to be a kindred gathering, shows up for a fan production of “Witness: The Musical”:

[SOUND BYTE]

With time running out, digital whiz Brent (voiced by Dane Williams) concocts a clever plan to foil the superstar’s date with icy Destiny. After sampling Ford’s dialog from various DVD’s, Brent dials up the cryolab to cancel the actor’s upcoming appointment by replaying the samples at opportune moments. All seems at first to go well, until Eddie (voiced by Brad Marriott) decides the lab staff are stone-walling:

[SOUND BYTE]

Subplots and random anecdotes abound, all persistently re-enforcing how deeply entrenched fan adoration is in these guys. The tone and mood of Harrison Quest most closely mirrors a zany blue MTV buddy sitcom.

Despite some low-no-budget audio disparities (dialog delivery comes from Piasecki’s former NYU film school cronies, other friends, and the odd stranger, with some lines home-recorded and emailed in from as far afield as Iowa), and despite the proliferation of expletives and adult innuendo, Harrison Quest delivers an intriguing if humorously embellished expose of celeb fandom. As the AD-PG13 rating indicates, this extended spoof is definitely not meant for the kiddies.

[SOUND BYTE]

Hear all nine current madcap Harrison Quest episodes, with a surprised-filled “season finale” tenth episode due out soon, at HarrisonQuest.com.

 

Until next time, Audionauts, this is Captain Radio, signing off!

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Captain Radio Reviews Harrison Quest from Justin Piasecki!

As a bonus this time, hear Mason Page’s fun, fired-up rap theme music for the series, We Are the Sons of Ford

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* Rating based on the Audio Drama Directory Ratings System.

Filed Under: American, Captain Radio Reviews, comedy, Podcast, Radio Drama Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Captain Radio Review: New Kids on the Block

April 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Captain Radio Audio Reviews

Graphic - FunGraphix.com | Theme music - Shane Lamb

Title: Wireless Theatre Kids
Producer: Wireless Theatre
Type: Drama
Genre: Children’s Educational and Entertainment Audio Plays
Availability: Free and Paid – WirelessTheatreKids.co.uk

Title: Sophie’s Adventures in the Dark
Producer: Matt Brown / Leo Media Ltd
Type: Drama
Genre: Children’s Fantasy
Availability: Paid – Explaudio.com
(Till 5/31/11 – hear it on Captain Radio’s Audio Drama Showcase!)


Greetings, Audionauts – Captain Radio here with reviews of ZooDudes from Wireless Theatre Kids and Sophie’s Adventures in the Dark from Leo Media Limited.

Trouble's Up in Alphabet Town Logo

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Though the sudden Recession still stifles public funding in Britain and elsewhere for audio drama projects, Wireless Theatre boldly pledged, through its new offshoot project, Wireless Theatre KIDS, to continue audio drama production for children. ZooDudes mane-framed Bob Marley-esque Ryan the Lion affirms that vow in his opening metaphorical monologue from the pilot episode of the new series:

[SOUND BYTE

Our pleasantly languid narrator casually oversees the abandoned zoo-vivers who seem prone to traditional Celtic internecine wrangling. While these conflicts and their storylines ultimately emphasize the usual social values, the zany goings-on are entertainingly interstitched with UN-usually catchy tunes:

[SOUND BYTE]

In addition to such original audio content, Wireless Theatre Kids will feature more traditional fare, such as fairytales, like The Gingerbread Man, nursery rhymes, and poetry. They also offer more sophisticated works for older children, such as an abridged version of Romeo and Juliet performed by a cast of collegiates from West Thames College of London.

 

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Another funding dearth victim was an experimental interactive kids audio game prototype that BBC commissioned in 2009 to 360 digital media company, Gamelab UK. Despite project termination, GameLab UK chose nonetheless to demonstrate their new 3D audio technology by producing a half-hour static audio play based on the BBC game script:

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In the resultant Sophie’s Adventures in the Dark, the first such drama to have rich 3D audio animation applied in post-production, multi-talented sound engineer and producer, Matt Brown, depicts all characters other than the fretful but plucky protagonist, voiced by Georgia Collins.

Even with a lower-quality audio compression file, listeners with headphones or good home theater surround systems easily perceive the immersive spherical point-of-view.

Also, like early gray hairs, the script’s gaming roots often show through, sometimes viscerally absorbing listeners. Check out this clip in which Sophie races through the whacky-hacky hell of Decapitation Alley with her unique ally, skeletonal Lord Smythe, rattling in more ways than one while clinging to her back:

[SOUND BYTES]

For a limited time only until May 31st, audiophiles and kids can hear Sophie’s Adventures in the Dark on Captain Radio’s Audio Drama Showcase. You can also go online anytime to obtain this, the first 3D audio animation, from Matt Brown and Leo Media Limited, as well as other new 3D audio dramas from Explaudio.com. While online, you can also find more entertaining and educational childrens audio productions at WirelessTheatreKids.co.uk.

 

Until next time, Audionauts, this is Captain Radio, signing off!

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Captain Radio Reviews ZooDudes from Wireless Theatre for Kids and Sophie’s Adventures in the Dark from Leo Media Limited!

 

 

Filed Under: Captain Radio Reviews, Drama, Fantasy, Mariele Runacre Temple, Podcast, Radio Drama, UK and Ireland, Wireless Theatre Company Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Captain Radio Review: Chicago Gumshoes

April 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Captain Radio Audio Reviews

Graphic - FunGraphix.com | Theme music - Shane Lamb

Title: Trouble’s Up In Alphabet Town
Producer: Jared Jeffries
Type: Comedy
Genre: Detective – Noir Spoof – Serial (Adult Innuendo)
Availability: Free – Alphabet Town Podcast

Title: Trouble’s Up In Alphabet Town
Producer: Stephan A. Bellinger Productions
Type: Comedy/Drama
Genre: Detective – Humorous
Availability: Free – CaptainRadio.com


Greetings, Audionauts – Captain Radio here with a reviews of Trouble’s Up in Alphabet Town and Murder on the Evanston Express.

Previously, we met Third Coast Live’s dodgy but durable Dick Private. Then we sauntered past, pretending not to notice, Washington Audio Theater’s Stosh Force on stakeout.

Now we’re off to the urban Heartland to meet two starkly different Chicago gumshoes, Spencer Marx and Johnathan Tower.

Trouble's Up in Alphabet Town Logo

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Youthful sleuth Spencer Marx (voiced by Jared Jeffries) spouts obligatory, if slightly skewed, similes as he’s approached for help by rich and sultry Charlotte Branagan (voiced by Letitia Guillaud):

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The innuendo-ridden adult dialog of this first episode foreshadows heavy influence from Jeffries’ improv comedy team, Inkling, that performs at Chicago’s iO Theater.

For a first effort, rapid hat-shifting Jeffries edits in some decent stereo FX. Check out this zany clip in which the clueless cop duo of Tyler Samples and Jeff Rukes try to detain gumshoe Marx just as his client is kidnapped:

[SOUND BYTE]

While Gen-X writer-producer-actor Jeffries impeccably channels a youthful Leslie Nielson in his audio send-up of Naked Gun Gets Busted, Boomer Steve Bellinger dusts off the harpsichord as he elegantly reincarnates Hercule Poirot as the Windy City’s deducer extraordinaire, Johnathan Tower, in Murder on the Evanston Express.

[SOUND BYTE]

Gumshoe ImageTrapped during the real-life Chicago blizzard of 1979 on a stalled “L” train in which the CTA Director himself is murdered, petulant Tower (voiced by Mark Burk) forgoes his longed-for catnap to flush out the ne’er-do-well from among a locally authentic lineup of suspects. The story eventually leans a bit toward Sheer Luck Holmes as effusive Dr. Stickney, DDS and Olympic Conclusion Jumper (voiced by veteran Jim Keith), becomes Tower’s Dr. Watson clone in the investigation:

[SOUND BYTE]

At first blush, the audio may seem fuzzy by current standards for this fun Chicago-style spoof of Dame Agatha Christi on a tea date with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. However, when you discover that this script was produced in the late 70’s using analog tape decks in a cramped home studio … Well, the Captain gets a lump in his throat to realize individuals, like Steve Bellinger, assured that the spirit of radio drama never entirely succumbed to the TV tsunami.

Listen to Trouble’s Up In Alphabet Town episodes at AlphabetTownPodcast.org, where Jeffries is about to release a second episode of this madcap caper, and hear Murder on the Evanston Express on the Audio Drama Showcase channel at CaptainRadio.com.

 

Also, be sure to catch SueMedia’s haunting production of the Witches of Lublin, a drama of three Jewish woman musicians who secretly aspire to live uncommon lives under a repressive 18th century European regime on the next Radio Drama Revival podcast!

 

Until next time, Audionauts, this is Captain Radio, signing off!

 

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Captain Radio Reviews Trouble’s Up In Alphabet Town and Murder on the Evanston Express!

 

 

Filed Under: American, Captain Radio Reviews, comedy, Podcast, Radio Drama Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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