Pick Of The Pods – May 2015

Speech audio doesn’t have to be boring, and a good time as ever to highlight
two podcasts that put the element to it’s best use, good and bad.

First up, a poet with an amazing way with words, so good that he won’t let a stutter prevent him from getting those words out.

Distraction Pieces Podcast http://www.scroobiuspip.co.uk/distraction-pieces-podcast/

Following on from an exciting stint at XFM with “The Beatdown”,
performance poet Scroobius Pip has spent the last year curating a series
of interviews with figures who have heavily influenced him,
bringing with them a willingness  to dig deep into their individual careers
and various obstacles along the way.

In a climate where mainstream media will only interview guests
if they have something to plug, or adapt the One Show regime of trying to sound knowledgeable  on something they know little about,
Distraction Pieces lets the guests tell all, getting right in depth, knowing that the listener has chosen to spend 90 minutes in their presence.

In terms of format, it’s not too different to Richard Herring’s Leicester Square podcast,
only without the presence of a live audience, and a lesser reliance on cock gags.

An eclectic set of guests have taken part in the 30 plus podcasts,
with notable highlights including Mike Skinner exploring the quandary of
whether to follow the crowd or go it alone in terms of developing a musical direction,
and Billy Bragg highlighting the importance over attending a live gig compared to digital downloading;
“You can download an experience, but you can’t experience a download”

That’s just a tiny fragment of what’s on offer, there’s so many great guests in this series
it doesn’t matter if you choose to listen to just on episode as opposed to subscribing to the whole series.

Most of all, I love the raw under-produced style of the series which some may view
as a turn off but if familiar with the work of Scroobius Pip, it’s very welcoming
and on listening, will learn something of value without doubt.

The Jon Gaunt Daily Podcast http://www.jongaunt.co.uk/

Whilst the above offering showcased the intimate delight of two people in conversation,
this offering from the controversial broadcaster with a voice akin to Frank Sidebottom
proves that it is equally as possible to create compelling audio
by just shouting out complete tosh, without any sane person to argue against you.

It’s particularly interesting to listen at this time with the election just weeks,
now days away and although it’s not entirely possible for me to agree with him directly
with everything he says, the overall idiocy, and hypocrisy is good for a laugh
if ever one’s under the weather.

Like the Scroobius Pip podcast, Gaunt’s offering is notable for a lack of production
though in this case it’s desperately needed in terms of imaging and show structure.

Whereas the poet has a jingle played on a toy xylophone, the shock-jock is
reduced to singing them himself, or more specifically, just the one denoting
“five gold stars” to the tune of a well-known festive carol that he hasn’t received
a lawsuit in breach of, yet.

Though as the podcast is released daily, like any daily programme on the radio
there’s bound to be a time where it will eventually lose it’s novelty,
though if Gaunt’s boasts are to be believed, the addition of sponsors may see the return
of phone callers to the show, now in podcast form.

Just don’t expect those on the other end of the line from Gaunty
to be able to get a word in, as for a man all in favour of free speech,
he doesn’t take too kindly to those ridiculing him on Twitter
inevitably blocking them.

Which means I won’t ever find out his thoughts on the above blog post.