Phantom Power

By Mack Hagood, sound professor and audio producer

Mack Hagood explores how sound works in the arts, music, and culture. Deep but accessible, each episode features the sounds and ideas of a contemporary artist, musician, or sound scholar. Detailed pro... more

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FAQs about Phantom Power:

How many episodes does Phantom Power have?

The podcast currently has 99 episodes available.

Phantom Power episodes:

May 11, 2021 Ep. 26: Lightning Birds (Jacob Smith)

Today we present the first episode of Jacob Smith’s new eco-critical audiobook, Lightning Birds: An Aeroecology of the Airwaves. In this audio-only book, Smith uses expert production to craft a wildly original argument about the relations between radio and bird migration. The rest of the book is available, free of charge, from The University of Michigan Press, but this introduction is a great standalone experience that we think Phantom Power listeners will delight in. It tells a truly unique cultural history of radio, describes important scientific discoveries about bird migration through interviews with key researchers, and continues exploring Smith's singular mode of ecocriticism, combining text-based scholarship with sound art, music, and audio storytelling.

Professor Jacob Smith is Director of the Masters in Sound Arts and Industries Program at Northwestern University and author of numerous books. He is a cultural historian focused on media and sound who never fails to come at his subject matter from an oblique and completely original angle. His first three books focused on the relationship between the media technologies that developed over the course of the twentieth century—the phonograph, radio, film, and TV—and the kinds of performance styles we have come to expect from performers. For example, his 2008 book Vocal Tracks tackles questions such as how radio changed acting and why fake laugh tracks developed on television—and why we feel so weird about canned laughter.

In recent years, Jacob Smith’s work has changed in a couple of ways. Thematically, he took a hard turn towards environmental criticism. His 2015 book Eco-Sonic Media lays out an agenda for studying the negative environmental effects of media culture while also telling a strange alternate history of “green” sound technologies: hand-cranked gramophones with eco-friendly shellac records and needles sourced from cacti instead of diamonds. His next book maintained this eco-critical perspective while revolutionizing the format of the scholarly book. 2019’s ESC: Sonic Adventure in the Anthropocene was a 10-part audiobook that mined golden age radio shows and sound art to explore the dawn of the Anthropocene era, in which humans emerged as the primary force affecting earth systems. In episode 12 of this podcast, we played an excerpt of that book and interviewed Jake about the process of crafting a book-length scholarly argument in sound by sampling sounds from other eras. Lightning Birds continues this Smith's work in this innovative vein.

Transcript
[00:00:00]
Ethereal Voice: This…is…Phantom Power.
[Feedback Noises]
Jacob Smith: The crests of waves in the sea of human knowledge will roll across the entire country into each local radio station.
The metallic throat of radio beams rays of song to its many metallic singers.
Metal sings.
[Techno Beats]
The crests of waves in the sea of human knowledge…
[Techno Beats Cont.]
[1:13]
Mack Hagood: Welcome to another episode of Phantom power, a show about sound in the arts and humanities. I’m Mack Hagood.
This is probably the final, proper episode of season three, as I, and most of my collaborators on this podcast are academics, we tend to release these episodes during the academic year and take a bit of a break during the summer.
But don’t worry, this feed will not run dry. I’ll keep posting once a month,
...more
39min
April 13, 2021 For Some Odd Reason (Kate Carr)
Today’s guest, Kate Carr, is an accomplished sound artist and field recordist whose recent work grapples with issues of communication and longing—themes we can all relate to in the Covid era. In part one of the show, we mark Phantom Power’s three-year … Continue reading →
The post For Some Odd Reason (Kate Carr) appeared first on Phantom Power.
...more
36min
April 13, 2021 Ep. 25: For Some Odd Reason (Kate Carr)

Today’s guest, Kate Carr, is an accomplished sound artist and field recordist whose recent work grapples with issues of communication and longing—themes we can all relate to in the Covid era.

In part one of the show, we mark Phantom Power’s three-year anniversary and 25th episode. Mack does a little thinking out loud about the different kinds of audio work that we've featured over the past three years. The terminology and practices for audio work always seem to be in flux—and people can have completely different terms for similar kinds of work. Mack imagines a spectrum of sound work, from more materialist genres like musique concrete to more conceptual or idealist genres like the audiobook, which emphasize meaning over form. In the end, the spectrum eats its own tail—the material is always conceptual and the conceptual is always material. Sound is always both resonance and meaning and the two can never be completely teased apart. Signal and noise are one.

Episodes discussed:

Ep. 20: What is Radio Art (Colin Black)

Ep. 12: A Book Unbound (Jacob Smith)

Ep. 15: Goth Diss (Anna M. Williams)

In part two, we meet Kate Carr, an artist the critic Matthew Blackwell describes as a “sound essayist.” Since she began it in 2010, Kate Carr’s work as a musician and field recordist has taken her around the world, from her native Australia to a doctoral program at University of the Arts London. She’s been featured in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Wire, and Pitchfork. She also runs the field recording label Flaming Pines.

Since slightly before the pandemic, the theme of communication at a distance—always implicit in field recording—has taken center stage in her work. We examine three such pieces by Kate Carr. Each one explores how sound helps us communicate at a distance and how it comforts us in moments of loneliness:

“Contact”—a meditation on sonic connection through radio, morse code, and digital technology.

“Where to Begin”—a study of love letter writing, which Carr says has profound similarities with field recording.

“For Some Odd Reason”—an exploration of the kinds of noise we came to miss during social distancing and the mediated ways we've tried to add it back.

Together, these three pieces—one from before the pandemic, one from its beginning, and one from its interminable middle—explore how earnestly we try to connect across distance—and how heightened these attempts have become over the past year.

Huge thanks to our co-producer on this episode, Matthew Blackwell. He is a Visiting Assistant Professor of English at the University of Iowa and a freelance music writer. He writes and edits Tusk Is Better Than Rumours, a newsletter that covers the discographies of experimental musicians. He is also a contributor to Tone Glow, a newsletter featuring interviews with experimental musicians.

Transcript
...more
36min
March 09, 2021 Voice of Yoko (Amy Skjerseth on Yoko Ono)
Today, Phantom Power‘s Amy Skjerseth brings us the story of perhaps the most famous vocal performance artist and avant-garde musician whose actual work probably doesn’t get the attention it deserves: Yoko Ono. Collaborator with the Fluxus group in the early … Continue reading →
The post Voice of Yoko (Amy Skjerseth on Yoko Ono) appeared first on Phantom Power.
...more
35min
March 09, 2021 Ep. 24: Voice of Yoko (Amy Skjerseth on Yoko Ono)

Today, Phantom Power's Amy Skjerseth brings us the story of perhaps the most famous vocal performance artist and avant-garde musician whose actual work probably doesn’t get the attention it deserves: Yoko Ono. Collaborator with the Fluxus group in the early 60s, creator of performances such as Cut Piece and her Bed In with John Lennon in the late 1960s, director of experimental films such as 1970’s Fly, and recording artist of experimental pop albums such as that Fly’s soundtrack... Despite this large body of work, her most famous role was that of wife to that guy in that band—a performance that made her the target of misogynous and racist criticism that persists to this day.

As Amy points out, much of this criticism centered on the sound of Yoko Ono’s voice. Of course, as we’ve explored on this show before, listening to the other with a racist or sexist ear is nothing new. But in Ono’s case, this prejudicial listening is compounded by the fact that, years before the emergence of punk rock, she was pushing the boundaries of acceptable vocal expression for anyone, let alone a woman—moaning, wailing, chortling, and screaming.

The vast majority of listeners immediately dismissed these sounds as a punchline. On today’s show, we’re going to actually listen. What is the purpose and meaning and effect of Ono’s vocal artistry? We’re exploring it in her recorded work, in her feminist and pacifist political agenda, and most of all, in her film Fly, in which she uses her voice to destroy boundaries between sound and touch, human and animal, self and other.

This episode includes elements from an audio essay Amy published at [in]Transition: Journal of Videographic Film & Moving Image Studies.

Music by Yoko Ono, John Lennon, John Cage, Tanya Tagaq, and Graeme Gibson, as well as “Crickets, Birds, Summer Ambient” by Nikodemus Christian. You can hear most of the music again on this Phantom Power Spotify Playlist.

You can hear Yoko Ono's Twitter response to Trump (November 11, 2016) here.

Transcript
[00:00:00]
[Phone Ringing]
Voice of Yoko Ono: Hello?
Ethereal Voice: This is Phantom Power.
Voice of Yoko Ono: This is Yoko.
[Phone Hangs Up]
[00:00:22]
[Between the Takes by Yoko Ono Plays]
Mack Hagood: Hey everyone. It’s Phantom Power. Your monthly-ish deep dive into sound and music in the arts and humanities. I’m your host Mack Hagood.
Today, I am fully and completely psyched to bring you a story from a new member to the Phantom Power production team, Amy Skjerseth.
Amy’s a film scholar, a classical musician, a co-organizer of the Great Lakes Association for Sound Studies. She’s also a PhD candidate in film and media at the University of Chicago, wrapping up a dissertation on pop music in film and media.
And today, Amy brings us the story of perhaps the most famous vocal performance artist and avant garde musician around, but at the same time, someone whose actual work probably doesn’t get the attention it deserves.
I’m talking of course about Yoko Ono.
...more
35min
February 09, 2021 Forest Listening Rooms (Brian Harnetty)
What would happen if you took red state rural voters on a walk into the woods with left-wing environmental activists and experimental music fans? Our guest this episode knows the answer. BRIAN HARNETTY is a composer and an interdisciplinary artist … Continue reading →
The post Forest Listening Rooms (Brian Harnetty) appeared first on Phantom Power.
...more
38min
February 09, 2021 Ep. 23: Forest Listening Rooms (Brian Harnetty)

What would happen if you took red state rural voters on a walk into the woods with left-wing environmental activists and experimental music fans? Our guest this episode knows the answer.

BRIAN HARNETTY is a composer and an interdisciplinary artist using sound and listening to foster social change.

While Brian studied composition at the Royal Academy of Music, London, one of his teachers, Michael Finnissy, suggested he look for musical inspiration in his home state of Ohio. Brian took that advice and the result has been eight internationally acclaimed albums. Brian's music combines archival recordings of interviews and singing—often from the Berea College Appalachian Sound Archives—with his original compositions.

For the past decade, Brian has focused on the myth, history, ecology, and economy of Shawnee, a small Appalachian town in Ohio. His 2019 album Shawnee, Ohio was praised by the BBC, the Wire, and named 2019 Underground Album of the Year by MOJO. The album engages with the social and environmental impacts felt by the town and nearby Wayne National Forest in their long history with extractive industries from timber to coal mining to fracking.

But Brian doesn’t just document Shawnee’s narrative—he intervenes in it. He’s an environmental activist of a gentle kind, one who gets area residents of different political stripes to walk in the woods together to listen—to one another and to the forest. All in service of protecting and healing the land. In this episode, we are thrilled to present an audio documentary that Brian Harnetty has produced for Phantom Power about this quietly radical experiment, called Forest Listening Rooms. And afterwards I’ll speak to Brian about his project.

Learn more:

Visit Brian Harnetty's studio in Ohio.

Check out his Bandcamp page.

Visit his website.

Transcript
[00:00]
Ethereal Voice: This…is…Phantom Power.
[Banjo Playing]
Male Voice [Singing]: You rulers of the forest. This song to you I’ll tell.
Do the impact study. Save us from fracking hell.
[Group Singing]:
Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on?
Which side are you on, girls? Which side are you on?
Male Voice [Singing]: Come on you good people. Good news to you I’ll tell. If we stick together, we’ll save our water bills.
[Group Singing]:
Which side are you on, boys? Oh, which side are you on?
Which side are you on, girls? Which side are you on?
[01:10]
Mack Hagood: Welcome to another episode of Phantom Power. I’m Mack Hagood.
Brian Harnetty is a composer and an interdisciplinary artist, using sound and listening to foster social change. While Brian studied composition at the Royal Academy of Music, London, one of his teachers, Michael Finnessy suggested he look for musical inspiration in his home state of Ohio.
Brian took that advice and the result has been eight internationally acclaimed albums.
Brian’s music combines archival recordings of interviews and singing, often from the Berea College Appalachian sound archives with his own original compositions.
For the past decade, Brian has focused on the myth, history, ecology, and economy of Shawnee, a small Appalachian town in Ohio.
His 2019 album Shawnee, Ohio, which we’re listening to now,
...more
38min
January 08, 2021 Ep. 22: HEY, ROBOT! (Frank Lantz)

The Hey Robot board game

Today, we’re playing with voice assistants and thinking about the role of voices in gaming with our guest, game designer and NYU professor Frank Lantz.

Over the past nightmare year of the coronavirus, many of us have been hunkered down, trying to figure out how to pass the time with our families. Board game sales on Amazon were up 4,000% percent in March, when Americans began sheltering in place. And, of course, we’ve also spent way more time interacting with digital technology. These two things have come together in a weird and delightful way in Lantz’s game Hey Robot.

Created by Lantz’s family-owned company Everybody House Games, Hey Robot is a guessing game you play with a group of friends—including your voice assistant or smart speaker. The premise is simple: Make Google Home or Alexa utter the words written in a deck of cards. The questions it raises are complex: What are these digital entities that many of us interact with daily? How have web searches and voice-based computing changed the way we talk? And what does this reveal about language itself?

Hey Robot is available in a free online Quarantine Edition that you can play remotely with your friends. The board game edition is available on Amazon.

Today’s show was written and edited by Mack Hagood.

Fake Cumbia music by Mack Hagood.

Ambient music clip taken from Hiroshi Yoshimura’s album Green.

[0:00]

Mack Hagood: Hey, Siri.

[iPhone Beep]

Mack: What’s Phantom Power?

[iPhone Beep]

Siri: Phantom Power, in the context of professional audio equipment, is DC electric power transmitted through microphone cables.

Shall I continue?

Mack: Uh, how about a podcast?

Siri: I don't see an app for that. You'll need to download one.

Mack: Oh no. I meant a podcast called Phantom Power.

Hello?

[Sigh]

[00:35]

[Intro Music]

Mack: Okay, Google. What is the Phantom Power Podcast?

Spacey Voice: This…is…Phantom Power

[Intro Music]

Google Assistant: According to Apple Podcasts, on Phantom Power Mack Hagood explores the world of sound in the arts, music, and culture.

Each episode features the sounds and ideas of a contemporary artist, musician, or sound scholar.

Mack: Good job, Google.

Mack: Hey everyone. Welcome back and happy new year. It's me Mack Hagood. Close enough, Google. Close enough.

Thanks so much for joining me for another episode of Phantom Power. We have a lot of good things in the works for you in 2021. One thing I'm excited about is guest producers.

We have a number of critics and scholars working on Phantom Power episodes, including features on the work of sound artists, Brian Harnetty, Kate Carr and Yoko Ono.

We also have a fascinating piece on voice and disability with influential sound scholar, Jonathan Stern, coming for you this year.

...more
26min
January 08, 2021 HEY, ROBOT! (Frank Lantz)
Today, we’re playing with voice assistants and thinking about the role of voices in gaming with our guest, game designer and NYU professor Frank Lantz. Over the past nightmare year of the coronavirus, many of us have been hunkered down, … Continue reading →
The post HEY, ROBOT! (Frank Lantz) appeared first on Phantom Power.
...more
26min
September 03, 2020 A Life Based on an Experiment (Siavash Amini)
Episode 21 presents a portrait of Iranian experimental composer Siavash Amini. His music, which moves seamlessly between contemplative ambience, menacing dissonance, and spacious melodicism, has been released on experimental imprints such as Umor Rex and Room40. His latest, A Mimesis … Continue reading →
The post A Life Based on an Experiment (Siavash Amini) appeared first on Phantom Power.
...more
48min

FAQs about Phantom Power:

How many episodes does Phantom Power have?

The podcast currently has 99 episodes available.

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