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Playlist: News Station Picks for November '10

Compiled By: PRX Curators

 Credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/atillavibes/361668824/sizes/m/in/photostream/">Atilla Kefeli</a>
Image by: Atilla Kefeli 
Curated Playlist

Here are November picks for news stations from PRX News Format Curator Naomi Starobin.

What Naomi listens for in news programming.

"Hey, you callin' me short? Okay, short it is! This month, I've pulled out some little gems, fill-ins, interstitials...call them what you will, they are to an hour of radio what capers are to poached salmon, what rhinestones are on eyeglasses...

"These short pieces swoop in and spend just enough time to touch the listener, and are gone a moment later. Lovely." -Naomi

U of M Duck & Goose Calling Club

From Radio K | Part of the Quick Queue series | 01:43

A nice little ditty about humans doing duck calls. Sound rich enough to wake your listeners up in the mornings! Warning: there is reference to "Indian summer."

It's part of The Quick Queue, a weekly series on Radio K, the student-run radio station of the University of Minnesota.

Duck_calls_small Neither.  Crossers of the Washington Avenue Bridge or those looking for lunch in the Coffman Union can often hear the sweet serenade of the Duck and Goose Calling Club plying their trade and looking, if not for geese, at least for those interested in how to sound like geese.

Doors of New Orleans

From Jamie Dell'Apa | :33

This is clever. An audio version of that series of posters showing the interesting doors in a city. And New Orleans is a great choice. We hear the local accents and may even recognize some of the joints behind the doors.

It's by Jamie Dell'Apa, with WWOZ in New Orleans.

Donnas_small For those who perceive the world in audio, New Orleans' doors are a long-forgotten, vintage 1950s sound.  The stretching and contracting of metallic springs with squeaky hinges followed by a thin wooden door slamming shut then bouncing back for an minor encore.  

Unlike today's doors, New Orleans doors don't have the muffling of weather stripping or air-piston governors.  It's New Orleans, houses are barely maintained.  Door hinges lubricated?  Pushawww.  Our doors don't keep bad weather out or the expensive HVAC air in.  Their greatest value is creating a sound that recalls the rich imagery of Elia Kazan's set-in-New-Orleans, Panic in the Streets at a time when 15 cents per gallon gasoline made energy consciousness a thing of the future.  

Like Panic in the Streets, the audio of these doors plays in your mind like a black and white movie.         


Patrons tell us the familiar locations: Spotted Cat, Central Grocery, Apple Barrel, Bicycle Michael's, etc.


(Note, the playback version of this file fades during the last three seconds.  The down load doesn't fade.  If you have any problems, contact the producer, Jamie Dell'Apa at jdellapa@yahoo.com and I'll send you the original file.)  

Knit Tagging

From Radio K | Part of the Quick Queue series | 01:42

"It's graffiti, but with knit fabric" ?! Maybe you've seen knit-tagging in your community. Whether or not you have, you and you're listeners will be intrigued by the knitters in the Twin Cities who adorn light poles and other places with colorful bands of knitted fabric. A nice little drop in that listeners will remember.

This is another piece that's part of the series, The Quick Queue, on Radio K, "highlighting what's cool, new, unconventional or just plain amazing in the Twin Cities."

Playing
Knit Tagging
From
Radio K

Knit_tagging_small Is it graffiti?  Is it art?  And more importantly, does it itch?  

Staff Sergeant Ike Richardson

From Jake Warga | Part of the Soldiers Soundtracks to War--IRAQ series | 01:54

Nice interweaving of the voice and gospel singing of Staff Sergeant Ike Richardson, who reflects on his faith and his experience as a soldier.

Jake Warga is an independent producer/reporter out of Seattle. He embedded himself in Iraq and came out with some great stuff.

091224_240_small “Alright, here’s a song by Douglas Miller … [sings]… I’m Staff Sergeant Ike Richardson originally from Alabama … [sings]… I’ve been in the Army some 18 years … [sings]… I’m a traditional guy from the south, so I like traditional gospel music … [sings]… I grew up singing. At about the age of 8 years old, I was the lead singer for a quartet group … [sings]… Ah, this is my third deployment. biblical traditions, and things we read about happen right here in this country. We aren’t too far from where Daniel was in the Lion’s Den … [sings]… A lot of guys on the extremist’s side want to say there is a holy war and stuff like that. I wouldn’t say that. I think we are in spiritual warfare all the time. Most religions are the same – they teach about love, they teach about peace, and those are the basis of the religion. So, the extremists are totally opposites to that … [sings]… Amen.”