FROM REDPEPPERLAND.COM:
Do you want to get away for 3 1/2 minutes? Try this: Close your door. Put on your head phones or turn up your speakers. Close your eyes. Click here and listen. Did you laugh? Did you picture yourself on a specific street corner, or did you recall a detailed, awkward memory with a creeped-out stranger? You’ve just experienced the art of Phonography, the brainchild of independent producer, writer, filmmaker and former fruit picker, Ryan Scammell. His mostly fiction audio essays combine spot-on scoring with beautifully layered sound effects, leaving no question as to whether he has chosen the best medium for his art. Listening, like really actively listening, is one of the hardest things to do in the world. But if you let them, Scammell’s high-flown stories and hypnotic voice will take you to a place where listening comes almost as naturally as feeling. http://www.redpepperland.com/2009/02/11/social-confusion/#comments

FROM PUBLICRADIOREDUX.COM:
When in doubt, poke some fun at yourself. And if you can incorporate some spot-on scoring and sound effects into the mix, all the better. If you haven't checked out Phonography yet, you owe yourself some mid-day procrastination. Phonography is the brain child of independent producer and former Radio Lab intern Ryan Scammell. His most recent audio essay examines into the deep, dank world of "manly men." Don't worry, this is no Women's Studies 101 critique of masculinity. Instead Ryan delves into the personal, recalling a Thanksgiving excursion with his father and their attempt to chop down trees with manly abandon. Dressed in chinos with nary a hatchet between them, Ryan and his father aren't exactly the "gentlemen Rambo" types. Hilarity ensues. Other Phonography highlights include the step-by-step dissection of a friend's failed relationship and a meditation on how to defy gravity with a slightly drunken Rabbi. These pieces are layered, complex and beautifully produced. You'll be glad you took the time to listen.
Category:Press -- posted at: 8:46pm EDT