It Makes A Sound [Review]

It Makes A Sound is a nine-episode fiction podcast from Night Vale Presents. Created, written, and acted by Jacquelyn Landgraf; co-directed with Anya Safir. It told a story from Deirdre Gardner and a finding of a cassette tape in her attic, and from that, she'd like to take you on the journey to rekindle on everything about Wim Faros, the sound of a generation, and the local musician that was--according to Deirdre at least--the best genius ever lived.

Anyway, a bit warning, there gonna be a (hidden) light spoiler ahead. Because, well, it's kinda hard to write my feeling about this podcast without sounding spoiler-ish/like leading you on.

So, coming from network of Night Vale Presents, the sound engineering level is of course really on the top-notch. No question about that. In this podcast, Deirdre Gardner is an amateur podcaster (mentioned as radio show), and the quality of the podcast does sounds amateur (professionally amateur), I very much enjoy listening the background sounds when Deirdre shuffling stuffs in her attic to make amateur sound effect, like chime or music box.  

The acting ability of Jacquelyn Landgraf as Deirdre is also amazing. Her voice is one of the rarest that could get me hooked just by the sound of it. The other supporting characters are also great, quite solid. But beside their acting talents, the most strikingly awesome is the original songs--brought by the cast themselves--in this podcast. I definitely would say it's the best podcast's soundtrack I ever listened.

As for the story.. well, it took a while to really get the feel of it.
My main mistake was to try to label the podcast to specific genre. Is it only about music? mystery? drama? comedy? or even dystopian sci-fi?? I really can't get my head around it.  

[highlight for spoiler]
Most of it was caused because I'm trying hard to formulate Deirdre. At first, her over-the-top adoration and worship to some local kid musician sounded completely ridiculous, laden by inane metaphors, awkward to almost everybody. She's basically the type of person everyone would laugh at while also feeling pity for her. 

...but is she? 

I kinda understand her feeling. Rare moments touch people in different way. And trying so hard to remember the details, and your old feeling when that happened, while no one around you feel the same--or even barely care about how important it is for you, it can be frustrating and heartbreaking. It can make you questioned about your own reality. And in the end, is finding out the 'real fact' is the better? what define 'reality' anyway? is it delusional to trust yourself and your own feeling about your own reality?

On third episode, I then finally realized my stupidity and stop wracking my brain on it, deciding to just go along with the story's flows. Because just like a sound, this story have so many layers and many facets, every of it could be the right ones. And just like a sound, although it's not heard anymore, doesn't mean it's lost forever.

 

Note:

• It Makes A Sound is on Libsyn RSS, iTunes, Spotify, and any other catchers of the pods
• also check Deirdre's website on www.itmakesasound.rocks for good bits around this show.
• recommended for: drama mystery, slow pace mystery, light stories, throwback Thursday, beautiful voice talents, great sound engineering, even greater soundtrack 
• caution for: light swearing, reminiscence, parent with Alzheimer's syndrome