I heard this piece at the 3rd coast festival - I remember it moved me. I'm surprised to say this "private" listening moved me further.
It is a "report", but Cole flashes his personal passport to tell the story right from the top: the water HE uses, in HIS town, the water HE wastes comes from the sacrifice of those he asks to tell the story. It makes your ears open wide, right up front. It makes you trust the narrator.
The speakers are forthright - painfully evocative painting pictures, and feelings, and conflict. THere's something biblical about it. The editorial choices are exquisite with an occasional production flash (quasi-flambuoyant) of the narrator's personality. It's interesting how he's chosen NOT to be just reporting - he seems to want to remind you, quietly, that he may be letting the faucet run, but not without thought and a little bit of shared angst. The opening and close sfx well placed and happily not overdone.
I would be glad of a longer version. I could have listened longer to these people wrassle with the conflict, the nostalgia and the sorrow.
This is an evergreen piece, but especially meaningful around any issue about the planet. Nice work.
vm
A great piece of history I knew nothing about. Living history. But this is NOT just a piece about loss. Which makes it all the more compelling to listen to. The people in X-Town solidly recognized the largeness of development, but you heard an excitment in their voices. Maybe a level of outrage,but also surprise that THIS COULD BE DONE. Sean's connection to his own water main made this personal to the reporter. Who could have been your or me. Solid writing and creative production. Definitely good for New England region, but also for anyone who is paying attention to the world. This could be where the Quabbin Resevoir meets the Three Gorges Dam.
[redacted]
Posted on February 05, 2004 at 05:39 PM
| Permalink
i lived in western massachusetts for a number of years and read, saw and listened to a number of pieces about the "lost towns of the quabbin." this was one of the best. it has a great mix of voices, and i did like sean's reflection on the price that folks out there had to pay so he can drink his tap water today so many miles away. one thing i did find lacking was a journey to the place - would have loved to hear a tour of one of the "dirt holes" with a former resident or a walk down one of the old roads. but perhaps that's to come in one of the longer pieces now in the works. looking forward to them.
Readers of Andrea Barrett's novel The Forms of Water will know the story of rural Massachusetts towns in the '30s sacrificed for vast reservoirs to keep greater Boston swimming. Ancient loss remembered is often the loss most keenly described and there are wonderful interviews here. But seeing as how this is clearly a piece in progress with different versions in the offing, I will apologize if I see this as an opportunity to nip certain production problems in the bud. First and foremost, the music selections convey neither place nor time. The music here has nothing to do with the 1930s; it has nothing to do with Massachusetts. This is a story from the era of the WPA, not This American Life.
Which leads me to another point: the voices documented are great already. They are all perfectly capable of saying what they feel and, more important, feeling what they say. There's no need to paraphrase when they can speak for themselves.
Finally, the story is too sparing with water itself. Zap Mama once used filling glasses of water as a rhythm track for an entire song. Toilet flushes, gurgling pipes, spitting radiators: water is noisy. I would lose the narration by the bathroom sink near the top. Get the running water, sure, but keep the narrator in the studio.
This is a good story as is, but why shouldn't it be great?
Comments for X-Town
Produced by Sean Cole
Other pieces by Sean Cole
Rating Summary
4 comments
Transom Editors
Posted on January 17, 2004 at 04:23 PM | Permalink
Review of X-Town
I heard this piece at the 3rd coast festival - I remember it moved me. I'm surprised to say this "private" listening moved me further.
It is a "report", but Cole flashes his personal passport to tell the story right from the top: the water HE uses, in HIS town, the water HE wastes comes from the sacrifice of those he asks to tell the story. It makes your ears open wide, right up front. It makes you trust the narrator.
The speakers are forthright - painfully evocative painting pictures, and feelings, and conflict. THere's something biblical about it. The editorial choices are exquisite with an occasional production flash (quasi-flambuoyant) of the narrator's personality. It's interesting how he's chosen NOT to be just reporting - he seems to want to remind you, quietly, that he may be letting the faucet run, but not without thought and a little bit of shared angst. The opening and close sfx well placed and happily not overdone.
I would be glad of a longer version. I could have listened longer to these people wrassle with the conflict, the nostalgia and the sorrow.
This is an evergreen piece, but especially meaningful around any issue about the planet. Nice work.
vm
Jill Kaufman
Posted on August 09, 2004 at 01:31 PM | Permalink
Review of X-Town
A great piece of history I knew nothing about. Living history. But this is NOT just a piece about loss. Which makes it all the more compelling to listen to. The people in X-Town solidly recognized the largeness of development, but you heard an excitment in their voices. Maybe a level of outrage,but also surprise that THIS COULD BE DONE. Sean's connection to his own water main made this personal to the reporter. Who could have been your or me. Solid writing and creative production. Definitely good for New England region, but also for anyone who is paying attention to the world. This could be where the Quabbin Resevoir meets the Three Gorges Dam.
[redacted]
Posted on February 05, 2004 at 05:39 PM | Permalink
Review of X-Town
i lived in western massachusetts for a number of years and read, saw and listened to a number of pieces about the "lost towns of the quabbin." this was one of the best. it has a great mix of voices, and i did like sean's reflection on the price that folks out there had to pay so he can drink his tap water today so many miles away. one thing i did find lacking was a journey to the place - would have loved to hear a tour of one of the "dirt holes" with a former resident or a walk down one of the old roads. but perhaps that's to come in one of the longer pieces now in the works. looking forward to them.
Jackson Braider
Posted on January 14, 2004 at 05:09 PM | Permalink
Review of X-Town
Which leads me to another point: the voices documented are great already. They are all perfectly capable of saying what they feel and, more important, feeling what they say. There's no need to paraphrase when they can speak for themselves.
Finally, the story is too sparing with water itself. Zap Mama once used filling glasses of water as a rhythm track for an entire song. Toilet flushes, gurgling pipes, spitting radiators: water is noisy. I would lose the narration by the bathroom sink near the top. Get the running water, sure, but keep the narrator in the studio.
This is a good story as is, but why shouldn't it be great?