Fake Radiolab: Audio and Ideology

Fake Radiolab is the name of an ongoing duo performance project in which we interrogate mediated “facts” through explorations in the podcast media form. We adopt the mannerisms and mania of radiophonic personalities and a variety of media genres (e.g., podcasts, YouTube rants, ASMR sessions, self-h...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Akiva Zamcheck, Adam Mirza
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Columbia University Libraries 2023-07-01
Series:Current Musicology
Online Access:https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/currentmusicology/article/view/11045
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author Akiva Zamcheck
Adam Mirza
author_facet Akiva Zamcheck
Adam Mirza
author_sort Akiva Zamcheck
collection DOAJ
description Fake Radiolab is the name of an ongoing duo performance project in which we interrogate mediated “facts” through explorations in the podcast media form. We adopt the mannerisms and mania of radiophonic personalities and a variety of media genres (e.g., podcasts, YouTube rants, ASMR sessions, self-help narrations, dream sequences, radio plays, nature documentaries) to playfully/seriously jar the clarity and authority imparted to “content” by contemporary audio production. Acting as (unreliable) hosts of a live podcast, we present a kind of musicalized speech performance that juxtaposes multiple modes of audio narration against live synths, processed violin, and sampled audio fragments. During live performance, the opening narration, which is pre-recorded, presents an acousmatic pun to the audience who sees us on stage in front of our microphones; instead, our improvised performance inserts other manipulated material in counterpoint to the pre-recorded “backing-track.” Our project self-consciously addresses radiophonic matter as both our subject and form. The result is a technologically and culturally hybridized discourse in which power-symbols presented as performative utterances are subsumed within an assault of genres. In particular, we use audio production to highlight and amplify the transformation of text into performance, and performance into text, powerful manipulations which we see as ubiquitous and scarily efficient throughout contemporary media culture(s). Through all the surface misdirection and dislocation, there remains a through-line in the narration of the title track which offers an analysis of the history and present presence of the radiophonic voice. 
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spelling doaj.art-fa19d612815a43c2824491698db3f82a2023-09-11T20:10:22ZengColumbia University LibrariesCurrent Musicology0011-37352023-07-01111Fake Radiolab: Audio and IdeologyAkiva Zamcheck0Adam Mirza 1Lafayette CollegeEmory University Fake Radiolab is the name of an ongoing duo performance project in which we interrogate mediated “facts” through explorations in the podcast media form. We adopt the mannerisms and mania of radiophonic personalities and a variety of media genres (e.g., podcasts, YouTube rants, ASMR sessions, self-help narrations, dream sequences, radio plays, nature documentaries) to playfully/seriously jar the clarity and authority imparted to “content” by contemporary audio production. Acting as (unreliable) hosts of a live podcast, we present a kind of musicalized speech performance that juxtaposes multiple modes of audio narration against live synths, processed violin, and sampled audio fragments. During live performance, the opening narration, which is pre-recorded, presents an acousmatic pun to the audience who sees us on stage in front of our microphones; instead, our improvised performance inserts other manipulated material in counterpoint to the pre-recorded “backing-track.” Our project self-consciously addresses radiophonic matter as both our subject and form. The result is a technologically and culturally hybridized discourse in which power-symbols presented as performative utterances are subsumed within an assault of genres. In particular, we use audio production to highlight and amplify the transformation of text into performance, and performance into text, powerful manipulations which we see as ubiquitous and scarily efficient throughout contemporary media culture(s). Through all the surface misdirection and dislocation, there remains a through-line in the narration of the title track which offers an analysis of the history and present presence of the radiophonic voice.  https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/currentmusicology/article/view/11045
spellingShingle Akiva Zamcheck
Adam Mirza
Fake Radiolab: Audio and Ideology
Current Musicology
title Fake Radiolab: Audio and Ideology
title_full Fake Radiolab: Audio and Ideology
title_fullStr Fake Radiolab: Audio and Ideology
title_full_unstemmed Fake Radiolab: Audio and Ideology
title_short Fake Radiolab: Audio and Ideology
title_sort fake radiolab audio and ideology
url https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/currentmusicology/article/view/11045
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