PODCASTS So what if podcasts get less attention these days in the wake of Twitter and Tumblr and videocasts? Several dudes with Arkansas connections made them wholly relevant this year. Local guitar god and co-owner of the sound studio Lucky Dog Audio Post Charles Wyrick smartly tapped into the world of niche publishing with two new projects. With “Pedal Talk,” he celebrates the most fetishized part of guitar playing — effects pedals. And amazingly, it’s not like sitting in on a Guitar Center geek-off. The first two episodes, which featured interviews with and demos from local singer/songwriter Chris Michaels and national indie heroes Real Estate, are just as breezy as they are edifying. Wyrick appealed to another nerd demographic with his mixes-inspired-by-books series (which, technically, isn’t a podcast, in that it only streams from a website, but close enough). So far, he’s compiled mixes that include songs featured in John Wray’s “Lowboy,” Colson Whitehead’s “Sag Harbor” and Nicholson Baker’s “The Anthologist.” For the latter, he mashed songs like Ludacris’ “Money Maker” with a recording of Elizabeth Bishop reading her poem “Rooster.” It works amazingly well. Props, too, to “The Best Cuts of Music,” a groove-oriented, mixed genre show recorded in Fayetteville and hosted by the zany duo of Robe Flax and Sam Houser, and to “Tony Tost’s America,” a wonderfully weird trek through Americana hosted by former Arkansan and Walt Whitman Award-winning poet Tony Tost.

Be a Part of the Fight

Step up and make a difference by subscribing or donating to the Arkansas Times, the progressive, alternative newspaper in Little Rock that's been fighting for truth for 50 years. Our tough, determined, and feisty journalism has earned us over 63,000 Facebook followers, 58,000 Twitter followers, 35,000 Arkansas blog followers, and 70,000 daily email blasts, all of whom value our commitment to holding the powerful accountable. But we need your help to do even more. By subscribing or donating, you'll not only have access to all of our articles, but you'll also be supporting our efforts to hire more writers and expand our coverage. Join us in the fight for truth by subscribing or donating to the Arkansas Times today.

Previous article 2009 Rewind: Q for Quotes Next article 2009 Rewind: O for Odds and Ends