This is a piece composed of complex layers of sound ? bits of interviews manipulated into rhythms that makes the human voices take on the semblance of percussion instruments. There?s much to admire in the composer/producer?s skill and effort spent into the making of this feature.
However much I love artistic skill in radio though, I?m dubious about whether form should be secondary to content. So much effort and fiddling around has gone into making this an artistic audio work that it makes it ? for me at least - just a bit too self conscious.
Listening to the piece, I was forced to re-examine my ideas on what radio is for. The discussions here by a group of 20 somethings about where their lives are going, in the end were the ramblings of not quite adults searching for meaning. Fine ? but is this of real interest to a radio audience? Do we learn anything about this group of people in particular, young people in general? Not sure.
Does this piece have a right to be played? Yes it does ? it can rightfully be called audio art. Is it a documentary, suitable for the radio ? I have a feeling that its not. There are few radio slots left for this kind of audio work. One would have to listen to it on stirling quality FM for it not to turn into sound mush. The ABC?s Listening Room was such a forum for audio afficianados in Australia for decades before it was recently axed. If you have a radio slot that wants to feature experimental sound then by all means play this piece. If however you?re looking for a documentary on say, the Confusion of Modern Youth ? you should perhaps look around a bit more.