Episode 15: The Wildest! - Strange, Outsider and Contradictory Music

After a number of podcasts which barely addressed the subject, we've finally got an episode on strange, outsider and contradictory music.  This is material that is out of step with normality, either just a tiny bit or more substantially.

For your convenience, a direct download and torrent download of this episode.

Your All-Time Great Album word cloud this week is: In The Court of the Crimson King by King Crimson!


Categories covered:

• 13 A really creepy song (Creep by Radiohead not permitted)
• Jon: They Told Me I Was a Fool - Jandek - Are You Ready for the House?
• Turner: Doll's Polyphony - Geinoh Yamashirogumi
• 43 A song you feel 'set the world on fire while no one was listening' (similar to, but not on, the Wire's playlist)
• Turner: Such a Color - Shugo Tokumaru - Night Piece
• Jon: Epitaph - The Kaplan Brothers - Nightbird
• 44 "Avant-garde" or super strange song
• Jon: Can I Poke You There (On Facebook) - J.J. Kitty and the Jimble Express - Tracks and Tricks to Slay the Compsbeast {FREE to download, if you dare}
• Turner: Victory - Daan - Simple
• 50 Song that most defies genre classification
• Turner: Bring on the Lettuce - Factory of Angst - Plague Years: The Best of Factory of Angst
• Jon: Myr Myr Myr - Jgimblypuff and the House Kattz - Tracks and Tricks to Slay the Compsbeast {Another FREE download}

Cultural reference links:

• The "Guide to Jandek" might help you understand this mysterious art project.
• The combination of the song with this clip:is what makes "Doll's Polyphony" so creepy.
• The Wire's "100 Records that Set the World on Fire (While No One Was Listening)"
• Info about Myrmidons

Episode 14: I Open at the Close - Starting and Ending Songs

Episode 7 was a general guide to sequencing, but we couldn't leave this fertile subject alone.  This episode focuses on opening tracks and closing tracks.  Do you know how to start a party?  Do you know how to end one?

For the convenience of our dedicated listenership, here is a direct download and a torrent download of the episode.

Your extra-special bonus All-Time Great Album word cloud: Black Sheep Boy by Okkervil River!


Categories covered:

• 119 BOOKend: a pair of songs that perfectly open and close an album
• Jon: Gimmie Shelter - The Rolling Stones - Let it Bleed
• Turner: Black Sheep Boy - Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy (Definitive Edition)
• 26 Best track that opens a great album
• Jon: Teenage Riot - Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
• Turner: A More Perfect Union - Titus Andronicus - The Monitor
• 155 Least conclusive closing track
• Turner: As You Said - Warsaw - Warsaw (Demo)
• Jon: Run for Your Life - The Beatles - Rubber Soul
• 25 Song that isn't the last one on an album, but it should be
• Jon: Maggot Brain - Funkadelic - Maggot Brain
• Turner: Love Love Love - The Mountain Goats - Sunset Tree
• 49 Most conclusive closing track
• Turner: My Body is a Cage - Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
• Jon: All Apologies - Nirvana - In Utero
• 120 bookEND: the second part of #119
• Turner: Last Love Song for Now - Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy (Definitive Edition)
• Jon: You Can't Always Get What You Want - The Rolling Stones - Let it Bleed

Cultural reference links:

• Stabbed at a Rolling Stones concert!
• Maslow's Hierarchy of needs
• The woman singing on "Gimmie Shelter" is named Merry Clayton, and she rocks the house.
• Lit Crit is the shit
• Lyrics to "Teenage Riot", so you can be sure that the kids are the ones setting up a free speed nation

Episode 13: I'm a Bad, Bad Man

We looked at music that was socially unacceptable in episode 12, but this time we're looking at songs that are about concepts that are socially unacceptable: lying, cheating and stealing.

Because we love you and want you to love us, here is a direct download and torrent download of this episode.

Your bonus All-Time Great Word Cloud: Funeral by Arcade Fire!


Categories covered:

• 103 Song about stealing
• Jon: Steal My Sunshine - LEN - You Can't Stop the Bum Rush
• Turner: Wolf at the Door - Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
• 104 Song about lying
• Jon: Rebellion (Lies) - Arcade Fire - Funeral
• Turner: Revolution's a Lie - Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today
• 105 Song about cheating
• Turner: Fancy Clown - Madvillain ft. Viktor Vaughn - Madvillainy
• Jon: The Card Cheat - The Clash - London Calling

Cultural reference links:

• Our songs about lying are thematically like the two halves of Won't Get Fooled Again by The Who
• MF DOOM wears a big metal mask
• Check out the hilarious old TRL site
• Stagger Lee!

Episode 12: That Sh*t Cray!

We delve into some weird stuff this time, talking about nutty, nasty and socially unacceptable music.

For your convenience: a direct download and a torrent download

Your weekly bonus All-Time Great Album word cloud: Spiderland by Slint!


Categories covered:

• 97 Sleazy beats
• Turner: Your Retro Career Melted - The Faint - Danse Macabre
• Jon: Emerge - Fischerspoonder - #1
• 152 Song that is bonkers
• Turner: Wham City! - Dan Deacon - Spiderman of the Rings
• Jon: Coming to a Radio Near You - Supie T. - Getdown Airwaves: Coming to a Radio Near You
• 130 Potty humor song
• Jon: My Ding-a-Ling - Chuck Berry - The Anthology
• Turner: Who Farted? Pt. 1 - Sage Francis - Sick of Wasting...
• 131 Song for a Rube Goldberg Machine
• Turner: Bird Flu - MIA - Kala
• Jon: A Night on the Tiles - Disco Inferno - It's a Kid's World EP

Cultural reference links:

• Why is this episode called 'That Shit Cray'?  It's just yet another reference to this song!
• What is a Rube Goldberg Machine?
• Check out this real-life RGM!
• Electroclash: what is it?  Who makes it?
• Chuck Berry's music went into space as our first ambassador to alien species - which I think is a good choice!
• But it's so sad that 'My Ding-a-Ling' was Berry's only #1 hit...

Episode 11: The Care and Feeding of Musical Obessives

It should be pretty obvious by now that we're musical obsessives.  In this week's episode we'll take a look at what exactly that means: how and why we collect music.

For listening anytime, download the episode directly or by torrent.

This week's bonus All-Time Great Album word cloud: Closer by Joy Division!

Categories Covered:

• 21 Great song you know I have never heard before
• Jon: Premonitions (Fantasy) - Bobb Trimble - Harvest of Dreams
• Turner: Let it Go - araabMUZIK - Electronic Dream
• 29 Great song on a compilation (and that compilation is the only thing you have by that artist)
• Turner: De-Orbit - Speedy J - Artificial Intelligence
• Jon: Qhude Manikiniki - Umahlathini Nabo - The Indestructible Beat of Soweto
• 113 Last song recorded by a dead person
• Turner: Ceremony (Tour Rehearsal Session, Manchester April 1980) - Joy Division - Heart and Soul Box Set Disc 3
• Jon: Black-eyed Dog - Nick Drake - Time of No Reply
• 124 Best version of the song you have the most versions of
• Turner: Heroes and Villains - The Beach Boys - Smile Sessions Box Set
• Jon: Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys - Smile Sessions Box Set

Cultural reference links:

• araabMUZIK making a beat on his MPC
• Robert Christgau, who is referenced but not explained in this episode, is a major music critic.  Jon loves him, Turner is skeptical of him.
• Christgau absolutely LOVES The Indestructible Beat of Soweto
• Our dead persons:
• Ian Curtis
• Nick Drake

Episode 10: You Have Your Whole Life to Write Your First Album...

This time we're taking a look at musical careers: development and maturation or stagnation and decay?

If you don't want to listen from this site but would instead like to download this podcast directly for listening at your convenience, THIS is a direct link and THIS is a torrent download.

All-Time Great Album word cloud of the week: Slanted and Enchanted by Pavement!


Categories covered:

• 2: Best song from an all-time great band's worst album
• Jon: Tight Connection to My Heart - Bob Dylan - Empire Burlesque
• Turner: Dramamine - Modest Mouse - This is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About
• 28: A band's overall best track that's not on their best album
• Jon: How Soon Is Now - The Smiths - Meat Is Murder
• Turner: Rattled by the Rush - Pavement - Wowee Zowee
• 63: That one song from a great band's first album that sounds out of place on their debut but is totally standard for their following albums
• Turner: Here - Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted
• Jon: About a Girl - Nirvana - Bleach

Cultural Reference Links:

• Nirvana released Bleach, then Nevermind, then In Utero
• Pavement released Slanted & Enchanted, then Crooked Rain Crooked Rain, then Wowee Zowee, then Brighten the Corners, then Terror Twilight
• The Smiths released The Smiths, then Meat is Murder, then The Queen is Dead, then Strangeways Here We Come
• There is no way I am doing a list of Bob Dylan's bajillion albums
• Lots of artists' careers function like a bell curve (a.k.a. a normal distribution): they start immature, get better, hit their prime, are kind of okay for a while and then decline.

Episode 9: The Beat, The Funk and The Rock - A Musical Trinity

In this episode we reveal our carefully crafted theology: a musical trinity containing The Beat (The Father: rhythm), The Funk (The Holy Spirit: groove) and The Rock (The Son: the riff).

If you don't want to listen from this site but would instead like to download this podcast directly for listening at any time you'd like, THIS is a direct link and THIS is a torrent download.

All-Time Great Album word cloud of the week: Electric Ladyland by The Jimi Hendrix Experience!


Categories covered:

• 140: Song that best represents The Beat
• Jon: Niggers are Scared of Revolution - The Last Poets - The Last Poets
• Turner: Guns of Brixton - The Clash - London Calling
• 141: Song that best represents The Rock
• Jon: Back in Black - AC/DC - Back in Black
• Turner: Rock the Casbah - The Clash - Combat Rock
• 142: Song that best represents The Funk
• Turner: Overpowered by Funk - The Clash - Combat Rock
• Jon: Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine - James Brown - Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine Single
• 143: Song that best represents The Beat, The Funk and The Rock
• Turner: Who Says a Funk Band Can't Play Rock? - Funkadelic - One Nation Under a Groove
• Jon: Voodoo Child (Slight Return) - The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland

Cultural Reference Links:

• The Trinity explained (almost)
• Eros and Thanatos, the sex and death drives.