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February 08, 2005
Podcast Review: The Overnightscape
This entry posted in:
3 and a half stars
, I do not subscribe
, Podcast Review
Format: personal talk radio
Content: new york area life, product reviews, personal commentary
Rating: 
What I'm going to do: not subscribe
Typical Length: 30 minutes
The more podcasts I listen to, the more I am impressed with how personal the content of many podcasts are. The Overnightscape is no exception to that tendancy. Your host at the Overnightscape, Frank Edward Nora, brings to the podcasting world his experiences and unique perspectives dealing primarily with New Jersey, New York, and the mental space between them. Throw in a few product reviews, some Nora family members, and the audio from a home-cooked video series and you'll have The Overnightscape.
Frank's is certainly a unique voice, both from the aural standpoint, and from the point-of-view standpoint. As is the case with most "personal record"-style podcasts, I think most listeners appreciation for this podcast will be primarily based upon their sense of Frank's personality. Frank's got some interesting things to say about working in New York City and living in New Jersey, and having spent a little time in NYC (but not much) there's a certain fascination that goes along with hearing about day-to-day events in Manhattan and its surrounds. Frank's attitudes regarding his fellow New York/New Jersey denizens is sometimes a little harsh, but to his credit Frank often turns that same harsh light on himself. These two sets of commentary, coupled with the sessions with Frank's father, Frank Ralph Nora, comprise the best of what The Overnightscape has to offer.
On the other side of the coin are the product reviews and the "Beublin A. Richardson" video series. I didn't find Frank's product reviews particularly insightful or entertaining, and the video series isn't particularly captivating either. To be fair, I had no interest in any of the products that Frank reviewed (OK, that's not true. The Hot Nuts sounded interesting, if mildly risque) and the current episodes of the Beublin A. Richardson videos that Frank is playing may be less successful for the fact that they are originally in video. Frank indicates that later in the series it switches to audio-only, and perhaps those episodes will be more successful in the podcast format.
Frank's delivery is very comfortable and the production values are decent; he's obviously at home with the microphone, and while the intervening music is somewhat bland, the fades between segments and the encapsulating music are well-executed. The audio levels are even and require little, if any, vloume adjustments during the course of the podcast. Meta-data is acceptable - the tracks are easy to identify in Windows or on my portable player, although a date-tag in the file-name would be welcome (rant). Frank has recently changed his format to a 30 minute show every day instead of a 2 hour show once a week. I think this is a great move on his part for the podcatching audience at least - I tried to listen to a few of the 2 hours broadcasts before I was overwhelmed with backlog and never was able to get all the way through one. The Overnightscape site also has a lively user community built around the show (many of whom seem taken aback by the format change).
Subscribe to mp3s.
Tagged: podcast podcasting review
Posted by cori at February 8, 2005 11:40 PM