AudioFlare CD {review}

national | arts and media | opinion/analysis Friday August 01, 2003 17:38 by redjade

{ text by redjade }

Review: Kevin's AudioFlare CD
Cost: Only 3euro
review by redjade
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Kevin's 'AudioFlare' CD presents audio interviews of activists involved in the Dublin Left, connecting the recent stories of the Disco Disco Squat, Carlo Giuliani Commemoration, CIE Bus Privatisation, Critical Mass, and the Stop ESSO and Boycott Coca-Cola campaigns.

All of these stories are well edited and allow the interviewees, themselves, to tell their own stories. Kevin nicely weaves the six tracks together, telling each story from beginning to end - while touching on what the state of the movement is and where the activists involved want to go next.

On the first track, AudioFlare documents the purpose and inspiration of the Disco Disco squat, then later the confusion and disappointment since the Gardai raid. He then presents what the squaters learned from the Disco Disco experience and what their hopes are for future efforts.

As with all good Indymedia productions, AudioFlare tells our stories the way that the Mainstream Media would not - AudioFlare tells our own stories the way we would want them to be told.

One thing I have found again and again in my own media making, especially while shooting video, is that ordinary people, when asked to speak, can be incredibly articulate and even profound.

Such as, with the Killer Coke track:
'they let us believe that it is a unstoppable thing - globalisation - where as in fact it is not. the corporations want us to believe that we are powerless which we are not.'

These AudioFlare interviews allow people to tell their own stories of how their activism links to other issues and movements - such as, many of the Critical Mass interviews describe how bicycling links to not just traffic jams, but also air pollution, personal health and the general quality of life in Dublin.

The Critical Mass track comes after the CIE Bus Privatisation track - thus, perhaps subconsciously, making the links between what are otherwise seemingly unrelated topics of Neo-Liberalism and traffic safety. Or, as with the Killer Coke track, connecting Ronald Reagan's corrupt approval of the drink sweetener Aspertame with Bill Clinton's Plan Colombia and then connecting to the history of CIA backed Death Squads that kill trade unionists in Colombia's Coca-Cola plants.

Kevin deserves a lot of praise for collecting interviews, producing and distributing AudioFlare while the stories are still fresh and relevant. It takes a lot of time, energy and commitment to pull something like this off.

Also, AudioFlare should be an inspiration for the rest of us that have thought about making media on Indymedia.ie but are timid in trying. While much hard work went into making this disc, it was technically not as difficult to produce as one would imagine.

All one needs to make your own ‘AudioFlare’ styled CD is:
1) a cheap audio tape recorder, 2) go out and interview people involved in an issue or action, 3) connect the tape recorder to a computer and digitise the audio using software available for free on the net, 4) edit some good quotes that tell the story of your topic, 5) export it as a .aif file that's readable by a CD player, and 6) then... burn blank CDs available at low-cost when bought in bulk at any computer or music store. (I am sure that Kevin has better and more detailed directions than I, however.)

But now, go buy two AudioFlare discs, one for yourself and one for a friend and spread it around.

I am not sure what other Dublin shops are selling AudioFlare, but I bought mine at Connolly Books in Temple Bar, Dublin - only 3euro!

Also, to get more involved in Indymedia, join the new Indymedia.ie Radio Mailing List to connect with others on how to make your own audio - either for CDs, radio or the web...

http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/listinfo/imc-irl-radio