Audio-based stories pushing the envelope on the use of audio

December 3, 2020 12:28 AM

Could be books, dramas, podcasts, anything audio based -- but used to tell a fictional narrative. Basically, I have been listening to a lot of audiobooks, as well as some audiodramas. I like the format a lot! That said, I'm looking for audio-based media like this where they reallllly lean into the audio. Sort of like if the radiolab folks made a really elaborate audio narrative. Heavy use of music, editing, sounds, just really really leaning into the "audio" part of the equation.

No real snowflake details. I am open to any genre, any type of story, anything really. I just want to see if there is anyone sort of...trying to push the medium?

If there end up being a ton of options, I will share a bit about what I like: these days I've been getting back into sci fi and fantasy (I know, narrows it down). I also really like chinese historical costume dramas (I've been listening to audio drama productions of various boylove historical dramas, for example). I like wuxia a lot. I dunno, I think I'm happy to let production quality be the deciding factor, as I consume media pretty broadly, even if I have my favorites.

posted by wooh to Media & Arts (18 answers total)

The BBC recently did a 3 season podcast that was modern day interpretations of three H.P. Lovecraft stories - "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward", "The Whisperer in the Darkness", and "The Shadow over Innsmouth". All three seasons feed into each other so you need to start at the very beginning. As a podcaster myself, I was/am insanely jealous over their use of sound, script, foley, etc and the interpretations are both chilling and good mysteries.
HIGHLY recommend.

Link to the show. I couldn't get it to sort the episodes from the beginning, but you need to start with CDW and go from there.
posted by Bill Watches Movies Podcast at 2:42 AM on December 3, 2020 [3 favorites]

The RadioLab podcast does quite a lot of this, though not on every episode. Maybe most notably they hired a singing choir to help you understand sight. Very cool!

https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/segments/211178-rip-rainbow
posted by jander03 at 3:48 AM on December 3, 2020

Response by poster: Radiolab's production is awesome but as far as I know they don't do fiction. I want them too though!
posted by wooh at 3:58 AM on December 3, 2020

The Dust podcast (offshoot of the a broader on-demand TV project and Youtube channel) has some great not-quite-audio-dramas that are really good. They're not quite full-cast audio dramas, more like voiced audiobooks with sound effects. But I've really enjoyed all of them. A couple are astonishingly good. I thought the episode Hard Choices was superb.
posted by Happy Dave at 4:08 AM on December 3, 2020

Oh, and I've also heard very good things about the VAST Horizon podcast, with the caveat that I haven't listened to it yet.

Search terms which might help you are 'audio serial' - that seems to be how this format of quasi-radio play over the internet is being described.
posted by Happy Dave at 4:11 AM on December 3, 2020

This episode of The Drabblecast is a horror short story where they experimented with going all-in on audio effects. Player and MP3 link at the bottom of the text.
posted by Lorc at 4:41 AM on December 3, 2020

In the "legacy" audio realm, I recommend Bob and Ray and, if you don't mind paying for access to the archive, Joe Frank.
posted by Morpeth at 4:50 AM on December 3, 2020 [1 favorite]

The best sounding podcast I've heard lately is the BBC's Forest 404. For this show each episode was paired with a separate release of episode's soundscape "mixed in binaural for a 3D headphone experience".

This is best enjoyed via headphones.

"Set in the 24th Century in a world where forests have been erased from history, Forest 404 is an immersive sci-fi thriller starring Pearl Mackie, Tanya Moodie and Pippa Haywood – with original music by Bonobo."
posted by tiamat at 4:58 AM on December 3, 2020 [4 favorites]

Mabel is a horror audiodrama that did interesting things with the medium.
posted by prewar lemonade at 6:07 AM on December 3, 2020

The Revenge, written by Andrew Sachs in 1978, is a 25-minute radio play without dialogue.
posted by offog at 6:23 AM on December 3, 2020 [1 favorite]

Not sure where to find a legit recording, but would Orson Welles' War of the Worlds radio play count?
posted by rd45 at 7:10 AM on December 3, 2020

Response by poster: Just to say, War of the Worlds totally is in the realm of things that count. It's certainly a classic, and quite thrilling! I guess I'm imagining like, what would happen if Orson Welles' writing met Jad Abumrad's editing...
posted by wooh at 7:17 AM on December 3, 2020

The Shadows from CBC Podcasts is a serial love story which is very good.
posted by catquas at 10:09 AM on December 3, 2020

I love Ross Sutherland's Imaginary Advice podcast. Every episode experiements with production and formats (recently, a reseries of episodes designed as an ARG). The first paragraph of this article gives an idea of what to expect.
posted by orbific at 10:51 AM on December 3, 2020

I have recommendations from the ZBS folks. Ruby 1, Ruby 3, Moon over Morocco, Dreams of Rio, The Incredible Adventures of Jack Flanders, and a few others. They tended to melt into pot-fuelled giggle-dreams in some series, so I'm rather picky about the ones I think survive the test of time. The original Fourth Tower of Inverness lost the plot for the last few episodes, but it was the 60s!

ZBS stuff was always recorded in binaural audio, even back in the 70s, so it's great to listen with headphones now! And you get a mix of sci-fi and fantasy and cool fortean "woo" topics as entertaining fiction and social commentary.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 12:58 PM on December 3, 2020

Give The Truth a listen. Well produced audio dramas.
posted by samhyland at 1:36 PM on December 3, 2020

Alien Worlds (1978-1980) is considered a classic for its writing and production values. The London Symphony Orchestra performed the soundtrack and the sound effects were recorded on an oil tanker.
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 3:35 PM on December 3, 2020

Here's a link to The Revenge, as mentioned upthread. (Clip begins with an interview with the creators, and the play starts at about the 11-minute mark.)
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 3:45 PM on December 3, 2020