Between The Ears - Dream Astronomy
January 22nd, 2008 by Russell DaviesI sometimes feel there’s a rather predictable formula for radio documentary - especially if the subject is slightly abstract. Female voice-overs will whisper at you. Radio crackle and/or digital glitches will be added. Sweeping music and white noise will drift in and out. Occasionally an expert will crop up. Not terrible, but not that inventive.
And then you get programmes that aren’t that far from the formula but which are still hypnotic and deeply listenable. This edition of Between The Ears is an example. The music is well-chosen and stirring (Messiaen and Sisask), the acting is splendid and the subject is fascinating - the letters written early in the 20th century to Mount Wilson Observatory in California by people who wanted to share their own experiences of connection to the universe. It’d be easy to just make fun of the loopiness of some of these letters and theories, but they do something more subtle than that. It’s more of an illustration of the way mental illness will fasten on any grand, mysterious and current topic. (MP3 here)