Caesura: The Music Explorer's Podcast: Recent Episodes
Caesura Podcast
Caesura is a podcast made by and dedicated to people for whom listening and making music are not just hobbies, but ways of life, regardless of genre. Come listen as we review new music, talk about current music trends and albums we love, make bad jokes, get super off-track, and generally explore the nearly infinite world that modern music has to offer.
This week we close things off, and have a big retrospective finale. It's been a great few years, but unfortunately we need to stop the podcast (our boy Scoot's gonna be a daddy!). Thanks so much to everybody for listening!
Favorite Albums from the Podcast:
- Scott: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds—Let Love In
- Elaine: Xiu Xiu—Girl With Basket of Fruit
This week we break out the spiky hair as we discuss, of all things, anime and manga, and generally nerding out about it!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Miles Davis—Black Beauty: Live at the Fillmore West
- Elaine: Tony Conrad—Slapping Pythagoras
This week we get visual (a bit of a problem since this is a podcast), and talk about some of our favorite album covers.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Viagra Boys—Cave World
- Elaine: Greg Puciato—Mirrorcell
This week we talk about Music 109 by Alvin Lucier: a book detailing the thought process and inspiration behind some of the most interesting American experimental music compositions of the last century or so.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Dinosaur Jr.—Without A Sound
- Elaine: Gillian Welch—Hell Among the Yearlings
This week we went to Armageddon Shop in Cambridge (MA), and talk about our findings!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: The Goo Goo Dolls—Dizzy Up the Girl
- Elaine: Perfume Genius—Ugly Season
This week we load up the flux capacitor, get the Delorean to 88 miles per hour, and talk about some of our favorite albums of the glorious decade that is the 1980s.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Silver Apples—Silver Apples
- Elaine: The Melvins—Bullhead
This week we have a mashup of some album anniversaries that were released in May and June (or around then), including releases by The Cure, Kyuss, Biosphere, and The Prodigy. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Rage Against the Machine—Battle for Los Angeles
- Elaine: Leonin/Perotin—Sacred Music From Notre-Dame Cathedral
This week we take a bit of a break from music, and talk about some of our favorite books, along with a string of honorable mentions, and little topics that go off the rails almost immediately. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Das Racist—Relax
- Elaine: Sonic Youth—Confusion is Sex/Kill Yr. Idols
Inspired by podcasts like Essential Tremors and Crucial Listening, we talk about six albums (three each) that were particularly important to our own musical journeys.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Pusha T—My Name is My Name
- Elaine: Pyrrhon—The Mother of Virtues
This week we talk about some new album releases, including material by Florence + the Machine, The Smile, Cave In, and Scalped.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Bathory—Blood Fire Death
- Elaine: Mobb Deep—The Infamous
This week we're talking about albums with big birthdays from last month, including albums by Stars of the Lid, Thelonious Monk, Porcupine Tree, and Squarepusher. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Three 6 Mafia—Mystic Stylez
- Elaine: Isis—Oceanic
This week we get loosey-goosey about our topics, and just let the conversation take us: from vinyl collecting to tastemakers/gatekeepers, to a brief survey of lyrical pet-peeves. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Penguin Cafe Orchestra—Music from the Penguin Cafe
- Elaine: Fela Kuti—Zombie
This week we give into the internet trendiness yet again, and rank every Mars Volta album. Get ready for some interesting ranking!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Spawn of Possession—Incurso
- Elaine: Cocteau Twins—Treasure
This week we bring back an oldy but goody: album dares! In particular, we're talking about AFI's Decemberunderground and Linkin Park's A Thousand Suns. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Immolation—Majesty and Decay
- Elaine: Behemoth—The Apostasy
This week we talk about something we brought up briefly in our recent Unpopular Opinions episode, as well as in a previous incarnation of this podcast: what do artists owe their fans? And, conversely, what do fans owe their artists?
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Mogwai—Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
- Elaine: Linkin Park—A Thousand Suns
This week we bring back out Album Anniversaries segment (documenting albums with "big" birthdays this month), and talk about work by Philip Glass, Iron Maiden, The Mistfits, and Prince.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Guided By Voices—Vampire On Titus
- Elaine: Pan Sonic—Aaltopiiri
This week we go, yet again, to Bull Moose in Salem NH and get some nice music—however! We have a guest this week: our friend Andrew, whose purchases we also discuss! Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Anderson Paak—Malibu
- Andrew: Marlowe—Marlowe
- Elaine: Barshasketh—Barshasketh
It's time for that a e s t h e t i c. This week we explore the vast meme that is vaporwave, and report our findings. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Miles Davis—Dark Magus
- Elaine: Yes—Close to the Edge
Opinions are like butts: we all have them, and they all stink, and this week we have a whole litany of unpopular musical opinions to subject—er, for you to listen to! Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Elaine: Mastodon—Remission
- Scott: Slayer—Seasons in the Abyss
This week we’re talking about another music book, in this case, Improvisation: Its Nature and Practice in Music by Derek Bailey: an overview of improvisation in both idiomatic and experimental contexts.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: The Cure—Seventeen Seconds
- Elaine: Einstuzende Neubatuen—Haus Der Luge
This week we discuss some interesting February releases, including new stuff by Sasami, Dan Rosenboom/Tina Raymond/Jake Vossler, Blood Incantation, and Black Country New Road. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Car Bomb—Mordial
- Elaine: V/A—This Is Boston Not LA
This week we bring back our old Album Anniversary segment, talking about albums with "birthdays" from the likes of The Allman Brothers Band, Nick Drake, Pharaoh Sanders, Tangerine Dream, and Bad Brains. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Prince—Controversy
- JimJam: Nine Inch Nails—Year Zero
Sometimes you chase a trend, and sometimes a trend chases you. We're talking NFTs this week—what they are, their pros and cons, and their possible utility to the future of music. Links for sources we used can be found below.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Blood Incantation—Starspawn
- JimJam: Merzbow—1930
NFT Links:
- Johnny Harris explains NFTs and blockchain: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz9zw7-_vhM
- Benn Jordan on NFTs: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WpRt8TrYT0U, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WpRt8TrYT0U
- 99Bitcoins (In-Depth Look at the Utility and Technical Side of NFTs): https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MjsQMAd7_SA
- Anthony Fantano's thoughts on NFTs: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ruAVRY4uBng, https://wapo.st/3szavgY
- Imperial Triumphant Article: https://www.metalsucks.net/2021/12/08/imperial-triumphant-guitarist-says-hes-earned-more-money-from-nfts-than-from-music/
This week we go on yet another CD buy! This time brings with it some humorous incidents, as well as getting off the rails topic-wise in some great ways.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Deftones—Koi No Yokan
- JimJam: Nile—Ithyphallic
This week Book Club takes a turn toward the fictional, as we discuss the latest novel by Mountain Goats frontman (and established author in his own right) John Darnielle, Devil House.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Tuneyards—Whokill
- JimJam: Sheng Jie/Sheng Jing—Parallel Weaving
We end January with some freeform bullshit. Some topics include: pandemic-related album postponements, when to give up on completionism, and the utility of collections.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Tanya Tagaq—Tongues
- JimJam: Amon Duul II—Phallus Dei
We kick off 2022 album reviews with some heavy hitters as well as a few less-known titles, including work by Rachel Beetz, Boris, FKA Twigs, and The Weeknd.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Fallujah—Dreamless
- JimJam: Tom Waits—Rain Dogs
We continue (and conclude) our Caesura On Caesura interview series this week with Scott interviewing JimJam. Some areas of conversation: Discogs customer service, modular synth gear, and the mystery of why Iron Maiden's latest album shows up on so many year-end lists. Enjoy!
JimJam's Album of the Week: Gaza—No Absolutes in Human Suffering
We change things up this week, and bring you not a discussion of music (per se) nor a musical topic, but, rather (selfishly, perhaps), a topic we're very familiar with: ourselves. This week and next week, we'll be interviewing each other, and while the topics will most likely remain around music, there will be some drift into other territory as well. This particular week finds Scott going under the gun!
Scott's Album of the Week: Pig Destroyer—Book Burner (Deluxe Edition)
We start 2022 off right by returning to our old Album Dares segment, this time going over two releases that couldn't be more different: Tom Waits's Nighthawks at the Diner and Slipknot's debut album.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Beherit—Drawing Down the Moon
- JimJam: Cluster—Cluster 2
Well, this is it! Our last episode of the year, and probably the one most people were looking forward to the most: our albums of the year! We split this episode into three general sections: (1) our methodology for our choices, (2), honorable mentions, and (3) our top 10. Below you can view our respective lists if you're curious. Thanks to everybody who listens, and we'll be back in 2022!
Scott's AOTY:
- Floating Points & Pharoah Sanders—Promises
- Black Country, New Road—For the first time
- Magdalena Bay—Mercurial World
- Japanese Breakfast—Jubilee
- LLNN—Unmaker
- كدرة كدرة [Guedra Guedra]—Vexillology
- Plebeian Grandstand—Rien ne suffit
- black midi—Cavalcade
- The Mountain Goats—Dark In Here
- Victory Over the Sun—Nowherer
Scott's Honorable Mentions:
- Archspire—Bleed the Future
- Bent Knee—Frosting
- Horsey—Debonair
- Kurushimi—Chaos Remains
- Sleep Token—This Place Will Become Your Tomb
JimJam's AOTY:
- Horsey—Debonair
- Squid—Bright Green Field
- Otay:onii—Ming Ming
- Jason Sharp—The Turning Centre of a Still World
- Jon Hopkins—Music for Psychedelic Therapy
- Ryan Van Haesendonck—Vauville
- Floating Points/Pharaoh Sanders—Promises
- Bent Arcana—Moon Drenched
- Xiu Xiu—Oh No
- Iglooghost—Lei Line Eon
JimJam's Honorable Mentions:
- Black Country New Road—For the First Time
- Alessandro Cortini—Scuro Chiaro
- Alexis Marshall—House of Lull. House of When.
- Monobody—Comma
- ZAÄAR - Magická Džungl’a
We start off our very short end-of-year content with our favorite "discoveries": albums that weren't released this but which nonetheless came onto our radar for various reasons.
Scott's Discoveries:
- Black Keys
- Cynic
- fun./The Format
- Limp Bizkit
- MIA
- Psyopus
- Sublime
- White Stripes
- Slipknot [post-All Hope is Gone]
JimJam's Discoveries:
- Active Child—You Are All I See
- Boris—Boris At Last/Feedbacker
- Coil—Love’s Secret Domain
- Chris Corsano/Paul Flaherty—The Beloved Music
- The Mountain Goats—Tallahassee
- The Upsetters—Blackboard Jungle Dub
- Oneohtrix Point Never—Rifts
- Eliane Radigue—Opus 17
- David Tudor—Rainforest
- V/A—No New York
In our final Book Club (and regular episode) of the year, we discuss How Music Got Free, a book detailing the rise and (sort-of) fall of music piracy.
Final Albums of the Week for 2021:
- Scott: Antony & the Johnsons—I am a Bird Now
- JimJam: The Cars—The Cars
With this week comes our final album reviews of the year, and we've got some heavy-hitters today, as well as some unpopular opinions, as we talk about new releases by ZAÄAR, Jon Hopkins, Aesop Rock/Blockhead, and Converge/Chelsea Wolfe!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Limp Bizkit—Significant Other
- JimJam: Prince—Sign O' the Times
This week we get together and go music shopping, and talk about our purchases, ranging from the esoteric to the deliciously normie. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: El-P—Fantastic Damage
- JimJam: Oneohtrix Point Never—Betrayed in the Octagon
This week we talk about some albums with big birthdays this month—except that we made an oopsie, and only one of them actually came out in November. But, nonetheless, we're talking about seminal albums by Sonny Rollins, Black Flag, Talk Talk, and Oneohtrix Point Never. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: The Faceless—Autotheism
- JimJam: Rancid—…And Out Come the Wolves
This week we talk about the book Perfecting Sound Forever: An Aural History of Recorded Music, about...well, music recording, and you know we have some hot takes on the analog vs. digital debate! Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Dying Fetus—Stop At Nothing
- JimJam: The Upsetters—Blackboard Jungle Dub
This week we talk about some albums that came out in October, including new releases by Kayo Dot, BadBadNotGood, Fortresses, and Black Dice. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Ben Browning—Turns
- JimJam: Eliane Radigue—Opus 17
This week we dive into the sonically vast catalog of New York's Sacred Bones Records, and talk about our findings.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Agent Fresco—Destrier
- JimJam: Coil—Horse Rotorvator
This week we're talking about some album birthdays, including releases by Soundgarden, Suffocation, Fugazi, and My Chemical Romance. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Sleep Token—This Place Will Become Your Tomb
- JimJam: Billy Joel—Turnstiles
This week we're talking about poptimism: a critical methodology proposing that pop music deserves just as much attention and critical evaluation as other music. Except it's more complicated than that. Much more complicated. Join us as we try to make more sense of this argument and discuss our own thoughts on the subject.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Slipknot—Slipknot
- JimJam: Squid—Bright Green Field
This week we bring back our Book Club segment and talk about Meet Me in the Bathroom: an oral history detailing New York rock in the early millennium, including bands like The Strokes and Interpol. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Earth, Wind & Fire—I Am
- JimJam: The Weeknd—Thursday
This week we talk about some September releases, including new albums by Carcass, Amon Tobin, Low, and Injury Reserve!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Nirvana—Bleach
- JimJam: Tim Hecker—Radio Amor
This week we dive deep into some albums with big birthdays, including (but not limited to) Nirvana's Nevermind and Mastodon's Blood Mountain!
Albums of the Week:
- JimJam: David Tudor—Rainforest
- Scott: The Fall of Troy—Doppelganger
This week we get all whacky and topic-free, and discuss...well, whatever's on our minds! Which, this time, happens to include, among other things: artist prolificacy and diminishing returns, the Sun Ra Arkestra being active without Sun Ra (and similar examples), and our inability to understand the hype around the new Turnstile album. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: John Frum—A Stirring in the Noos
- JimJam: Sun Ra—Space is the Place
We bring back our Exploration segment this week, talking about dance music and all the convoluted genre tags that come with it and our miscellaneous foibles in exploring eleven (five and six albums, respectively) EDM albums. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Bon Iver—Bloodbank EP
- JimJam: Tim Buckley—Starsailor
This week we talk about some albums that came out this month, including releases by Wolves in the Throne Room, Jason Sharp, Horsey, and Leprous!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: The Black Keys—Brothers
- JimJam: Waylon Jennings—Honky Tonk Heroes
This week we go back to a topic we covered over a year and a half ago, and discuss a few of our favorite lyrics!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Boredoms—Pop Tatari
- JimJam: Chris Corsano/Paul Flaherty—The Beloved Music
This week we talk about some nice albums with birthdays, including work by Bjork, Danny Brown, Leprous, and Chelsea Wolfe.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Depeche Mode—Some Great Reward
- JimJam: Bent Arcana—Bent Arcana
We return with our Book Club segment and discuss a text by Kay Larson that's a mixture of music history, biography, and pseudo-comparative religion, all focusing on John Cage and Zen Buddhism. Buckle in: it's a conversation that takes us from thoughts on John Cage to thoughts on performance art and hero worship and the nature of art and music in general.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Phrenelith—Desolate Endscape
- JimJam: Moral Collapse—Moral Collapse
In yet another of our Freeform Bullshit episodes (where we just talk about music and get silly), we get...off the rails real fast. Topics range from racism at the Grammys to Primus's discography to the XXL Freshman lineup, and go on from there to even stranger places. Enjoy—if that's your thing. If not, stick around for our episode next week, which is going to be another Book Club!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Sausage—Riddles Are Abound Tonight
- JimJam: The Dillinger Escape Plan—One of Us is the Killer
This week we talk about some recent releases, including new albums by Ophidian I, Darkside, Emma-Jean Thackray, and Alexis Marshall!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Black Sabbath—Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
- JimJam: Alice Coltrane—Ptah, the El Daoud
We're back with a CD Buy—our first in a long while! This time we went to Bull Moose in Portsmouth and had a grand old time, and we share our findings with you!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Iron Maiden—Number of the Beast
- JimJam: Einsturzende Neubauten—Halber Mensch
Oh boy, we're back from our vacation with a real scorcher of an episode as we talk about four of our favorite albums ever that also happen to have anniversaries this month: (in order): Funkadelic's Maggot Brain, Black Sabbath's Master of Reality, The Smiths's The Queen is Dead, and Shabazz Palaces's Black Up.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Clipping.—Wriggle EP
- JimJam: Jane's Addiction—Nothing's Shocking
This week we talk about a few albums released this month, including work by Orphan Donor, Tongue Depressor, Pan Daijing, and Alessandro Cortini!
A note, as well: we'll be off on vacation for the next two weeks. Expect a new episode on July 12!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Meshuggah—Koloss
- JimJam: Fontanelle—Vitamin F
The title says it all—this week we rank every studio Deftones album. Be prepared for some unconventional choices by us!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Young Fathers—White Men Are Black Men Too
- JimJam: Fall Out Boy—Infinity On High
We get more abstract in our discussion this week, and talk about something prevalent in any album: track sequencing, or, how the order of tracks in an album can enhance (or detract from) the listening experience, and some examples of both good and bad sequencing.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: They Might Be Giants—Flood
- JimJam: Eyedea & Abilities—By The Throat
This week we cover four new albums from this month, including the new Black Midi album, Cavalcade, and Mdou Moctar's Afrique Victime.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Despised Icon—The Ills of Modern Man
- JimJam: Bjork—Debut
We're back to do the same thing we always do: album anniversaries! This time we're discussing releases by Pharaoh Sanders, Melvins, Tool, and Scott Walker.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Eyehategod—Take as Needed for Pain
- JimJam: The Allman Brothers Band—Eat a Peach
The title says it all: this week we duke it out on the ever-trendy tier list format, discussing every main Death Grips album and ranking it accordingly.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Matana Roberts—Coin Coin: Chapter 2
- JimJam: Parliament—Mothership Connection
We bring back our Album Dare series this week, talking about Nick Cave's Let Love In and PJ Harvey's To Bring You My Love!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Moor Mother/Billy Woods—Brass
- JimJam: David Bowie—Low
This week we dive deep into a topic that most music lovers have some stake in: collections! What makes a good collection? When does it become unwieldy or unhelpful?
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Perfume Genius—Put Your Back N 2 It
- JimJam: Daughters—Daughters
This week we talk about some April releases, including new albums by Amulets, Hiraki, Monobody, and Iglooghost. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: The Faceless—Planetary Duality
- JimJam: Judas Priest—Defenders of the Faith
This week we're back with another Book Club, this time discussing a semi-recent biography on the German experimental rock band Can.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Enter Shikari—Common Dreads
- JimJam: Digable Planets—Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space)
This week we get loosey-goosey and talk about whatever, though we do start off talking about last week's albums of the week (Fever Daydream by The Black Queen and Toxicity by System of a Down). But the subjects range from Insane Clown Posse (yes, no joke) to the limits of using words to describe music.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Wolves in the Throne Room—Two Hunters
- JimJam: Depeche Mode—Songs of Faith and Devotion
This week we discuss four albums with birthdays this month: Wayne Shorter's Speak No Evil (technically it came out in June, but whatever), Sticky Fingers by the Rolling Stones, Massive Attack's Blue Lines, and Mutter by Rammstein.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: System of a Down—Toxicity
- JimJam: The Black Queen—Fever Daydream
This week we talk about 3 of 2021's latest albums, including Ming Ming by Otay:onii, Promises by Floating Points & Pharaoh Sanders, and Oh No by Xiu Xiu.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Blindfolded & Led to the Woods—Nightmare Withdrawals
- JimJam: Behemoth—Zos Kia Cultus
This week we discuss Deep Listening, a compilation of sorts of texts by Pauline Oliveros and people she's worked with in the past. While we aren't the biggest fans of the book as a book (if that doesn't make sense, just listen to the episode for context) we do find the practice of Deep Listening interesting, and discuss at length our own steps in trying to bring more active listening into our own lives.
Albums of the Week:
Scott: Demigod—Slumber of Sullen Eyes
JimJam: Oneohtrix Point Never—Replica
After some initial silliness (as to be expected on this podcast), we dive into this month's anniversaries: Metallica's Master of Puppets, Slint's Spiderland, Daft Punk's Discovery, and Opeth's Blackwater Park.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Guedra Guedra—Vexillology
- JimJam: Kraftwerk—Computer World
This week we're talking about...well, nothing! And everything! All at the same time! Seriously though, some topics today in our "freeform" episode: Patreon and the bigger issues involving making a living as an artist, and rating distribution and bias in RateYourMusic and SputnikMusic.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Brand of Sacrifice—Lifeblood
- JimJam: Active Child—You Are All I See
This week we do something different: we take two of our favorite albums—The Mountain Goats's Tallahassee and Florence + the Machine's Lungs—and talk about them track by track. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Coalesce—OX EP
- JimJam: The Beastie Boys—Hello Nasty
We start off the 2021 version of our monthly "new review" series with five albums of particular interest to us: Black Country, New Road—For the First Time, Dark Time Sunshine—Lore, Signe Emmeluth—Hi Hello I’m Signe, Slowthai—Tyron, and Ryan Van Haesendonck—Vauville.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Yasmin Williams—Urban Driftwood
- JimJam: Michael Jackson—Bad
We have a big helping of album anniversaries this time around! Such as: John Coltrane—Ascension, Alice Coltrane—Journey in Satchidananda, David Byrne/Brian Eno—My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, Rush—Moving Pictures, J Dilla—Donuts, Tim Hecker—Ravedeath 1972. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: The Weeknd—Beauty Behind the Madness
- JimJam: Florence + the Machine—Lungs
Contrary to this episode's title, we're discussing Jeff Tweedy's book How To Write One Song. However, we're also taking what Jeff has written in his book, and writing our own songs, both of which are featured in the middle of this episode for all to enjoy and/or take pain medication as needed. So...enjoy! Or not.
(If anyone wants to skip around, the the songs start at 26:42—and they end at 31:06, if you want to skip them.)
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Black Country, New Road—For the First Time
- JimJam: Herbie Hancock—Mwandishi
This week we discuss what we're calling the "critic's conundrum": the pseudo-paradox of critiquing something that one doesn't personally do. Like any of our topic discussion episodes, we never land on a definitive answer as much as we try to explore and exhaust all the topic has to offer.
Albums of the Week:
Scott: The White Stripes—Get Behind Me Satan
JimJam: Amnesia Scanner—Another Life
We normally end each month with album anniversaries and new reviews, but, given the general lack of new albums in January, we're hitting you with a grand slam of album anniversaries: David Bowie's Station to Station, Atomizer by Big Black, Tortoise's Millions Now Living...., and Dowsing Anemone... by Kayo Dot. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
Scott: Rhye—Home
JimJam: Angels of Light—How I Loved You
It's one of those episodes—we go to one of our favorite CD stores and talk about our purchases. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Slipknot—Vol. 3
- JimJam: Danny Brown—Atrocity Exhibition
This week we discuss Alex Winter's recent documentary on Frank Zappa, as well as, of course, talk about Zappa himself. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: The Mountain Goats—Gonna
- JimJam: Shpongle—The Ineffable Mysteries of Shpongleland
We start off 2021 by talking about what we're looking forward to this year, as well as some of our goals as music listeners. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Grizzly Bear—Vekatimest
- JimJam: The Jimi Hendrix Experience—Axis: Bold As Love
Hey, y’all, it’s the end of the year, and you know what that means: it’s albums of the year time! This time we present to you our longest episode as we talk about our respective top ten of the year, as well as a handful of honorable mentions. Enjoy, and have a happy holidays.
Scott:
Top 10
- Fleet Foxes - Shore
- Run the Jewels - RTJ4
- Pyrrhon - Abscess Time
- Sa-Roc - The Sharecropper's Daughter
- Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters
- Video Age - Pleasure Line
- Protest the Hero - Palimpsest
- Taylor Ashton - The Romantic
- Tame Impala - The Slow Rush
- The Mountain Goats - Getting Into Knives
Honorable Mentions
- Natalia Lafourcade - Un canto por México Vol. 1
- Dawnwalker - Ages
- Party Dozen - Pray for Party Dozen
- Liturgy - Origin of the Alimonies
- Xythlia - Immortality Through Quantum Suicide
Elaine:
Top 10
- 36 & Zake—Stasis Sounds for Long Distance Space Travel
- The Weeknd—After Hours
- Neptunian Maximalism—Eons
- Perfume Genius—Set My Heart On Fire Immediately
- Protest the Hero—Palimpsest
- Oranssi Pazuzu—Mestarin Kynsi
- Autechre—SIGN/PLUS
- Greg Puciato—Child Soldier: Creator of God
- Dizzee Rascal—E3 AF
- Imperial Triumphant—Alphaville
Honorable Mentions
- Henry Kaiser—Problems Are Just Opportunities in Work Clothes
- Mamaleek—Come & See
- Merzbow/Gareth Davis—Broken Landscapes
- Pyrrhon—Abscess Time
- Dan Terminus—Last Call For All Passengers
- Anna Von Hausswolf—All Thoughts Fly
We begin our end of the year lists with Discoveries: albums that came to our attention during 2020—all of which can be read below if you're interested. Enjoy!
Scott:
- Johnny Cash—At Folsom Prison
- Arlo Guthrie—Alice’s Restaurant
- Elton John
- Jukebox the Ghost
- The National
- Mr. Bungle
- Bruce Springsteen—Nebraska
- Video Age—Pop Therapy
- Volcano Choir—Unmap (Bon Iver/Justin Vernon and Collections of Colonies of Bees)
- Malady—Toinen toista / Sammal—Suuliekki
Elaine:
- Allman Brothers Band—At Fillmore East
- Fiona Apple—When the Pawn
- Beach Boys—Pet Sounds
- Bon Iver—22, A Million
- Four Tet—There Is Love In You/Rounds
- Grouper—AIA
- Hasidic New Wave—Complete Recordings
- Steve Reich—Different Trains/Electric Counterpoint
- Sonic Youth—EVOL
- Squarepusher—Feed Me Weird Things
No, no, the title of our episode isn't about our Weeknd/Naruto crossover fanfic, but, rather a discussion about the Weeknd's trilogy of mixtapes, followed by a rare occurrence of something not musical at all: a brief talk about Junji Ito's horror masterpiece Uzumaki. We get off track, and we talk about David Lynch, and it's all good. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Jesu—Terminus
- Elaine: Four Tet—Rounds
This week we get down and jiggy with it, and talk about two albums that have "birthdays" this month (GZA's Liquid Swords and Bauhaus's In the Flat Field) and review two new albums (William Basinski's Lamentations and Aesop Rock's Spirit World Field Guide). And we get pretty stupid and off the rails almost immediately, so yay! Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Matmos—A Chance to Cut is a Chance to Cure
- Elaine: Iglooghost—Neo Wax Bloom
It's been a long time, but we're back talking about our recent excursion to Bull Moose in Salem NH and our buys! Enjoy.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: The Microphones—The Glow, Pt. 2
- Elaine: Dizzee Rascal—E3 AF
This week we chill. We relax. We talk about whatever...and whatever happens to include, among other things: the "new" Mr. Bungle "album", the talent of projecting emotion through art, contrast in music, and how elitist we've become as music listeners. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Black Sabbath—Master of Reality
- Elaine: Stars of the Lid—And Their Refinement of the Decline
This week we celebrate 20 years of Radiohead's Kid A, by talking about our experiences with the album, and Steven Hyden's recently published book about the album, This Isn't Happening.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Atoms For Peace—Amok
- Elaine: Tim Hecker—Harmony in Ultraviolet
This week we get down and dirty with some old albums and some new ones. Our anniversaries include Electric Wizard's seminal Dopethrone album and Lightning Bolt's Hypermagic Mountain, while we review the new Autechre album Sign, as well as Greg Puciato's solo debut Child Soldier: Creator of God.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: The Mountain Goats—Getting Into Knives
- Elaine: Squarepusher—Feed Me Weird Things
This week we talk about Alex Ross's book on twentieth-century classical music, The Rest is Noise, and our thoughts and findings. And also R. Kelly, for some reason.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Anti-Scrunti Faction—Damsels in Distress
- Elaine: Henry Kaiser—Problems are just opportunities in work clothes
This week we take a dive into the weirdness, and finally listen to a few Residents albums, with some interesting results.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Mayhem—Grand Declaration of War
- Elaine: Ken Ikeda/Eddie Prevost—The Whole Moon Rests in a Dewdrop on the Grass
This week we're getting all Janus-faced with it yet again, and talking about two albums that both turn 10 this month (by Nails and Swans), and some new albums that just came out (Anna Von Hausswolff and Deftones).
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Fleet Foxes—Shore
- Elaine: Nas—Illmatic
We enter yet another episode of off-the-cuff musical takes in this new episode. Some topics: the paradoxical nature of Nickelback, active vs. passive listening, and comparing Oneohtrix Point Never and Wadada Leo Smith.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Vatican Shadow—Persian Pillars of the Gasoline Era
- Elaine: Candlemass—Nightfall
This week we travel back to the past, to when we had...not-so-good of tastes in music, and reflect on how things have changed for the better.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: The Specials—The Singles Collection
- Elaine: The Knife—Silent Shout
This week we dive deep down into the catacombs of esoteric music and explore Zeuhl, a genre created by the band Magma.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Dimmu Borgir—Enthrone Darkness Triumphant
- Elaine: The Budos Band—The Budos Band
This week we go back to an old Caesura classic: Album Dares, where we “dare” each other to listen to an album the other hasn’t heard before. This week’s picks: the debut Specials album, and Morton Subotnick’s Silver Apples of the Moon.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Fleet Foxes—Fleet Foxes EP
- Elaine: Oneohtrix Point Never—R Plus 7
This week finds us talking about some of our August picks, including the new Video Age and Deerhoof (live) albums, as well, as discussing some old favorites: Opeth’s Ghost Reveries, and Rancid’s And Out Come The Wolves!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: The Killers—Imploding the Mirage
- Elaine: Neptunian Maximalism—Eons
This week...well, the title says it, right? This week we read This Searing Light, The Sun, and Everything Else, a fascinating oral biography of the band Joy Division, and we talk about our thoughts on it, and how it has shaped our opinions on the band and its members.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Cinder Well—No Summer
- Elaine: 36 & Zake—Stasis Sounds for Long Distance Space Travel
This week we have…no topic! And instead devote this time to kind of seeing where the conversation takes us, baited by a challenge we issued to ourselves: to each listen to one “classic” album that we haven’t previously listened to before.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Roy Clark—The Lightning Fingers of Roy Clark
- Elaine: Pedestrian Deposit—Dyers’ Hands
(P.S. Shoutout to Pad Chennington for recommending Pedestrian Deposit!)
What if the Sex Pistols didn’t break up? What if the British Invasion wasn’t much of an invasion? We talk about these and other musical what-ifs this week.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: The Mountain Goats—Tallahassee
- Elaine: The Smiths—The Smiths
This week we review two recently-released albums (by Laraaji and Xythlia) and discuss two anniversary albums for July (Miles Davis and Joy Division).
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Joni Mitchell—Blue
- Elaine: Leprous—Malina
This week we talk about our favorite guitar solos—though the ones you expect to find (Stairway to Heaven, Comfortably Numb) are nowhere to be found!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Sufjan Stevens—Illinois
- Elaine: Dizzee Rascal—Boy In Da Corner
This week we take the adage that is this episode's title (I'm not typing it out again) and applying it to some music that we perhaps initially overlooked, either due to their artwork, or context, or what have you. We also briefly talk about Ennio Morricone's score for The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly, in a continuation of our talk from last week.
Albums of the Week:
Scott: Jack's Mannequin—Everything In Transit
Elaine: Billy Joel—The Stranger
We get a little loosey-goosey this week with an unplanned episode. So, as to be expected, random tangents into nowhere are abound, including a brief talk about the manga Fairy Tail and glitchy Skype calls, but also to some topics actually related to music, such as the recent passing of Ennio Morricone and film music in general and the notion of change in relation to music.
Albums/Singles of the Week:
Scott: Baroness—Yellow & Green
Elaine: Video Age—“Aerostar”
We wrap up June with some reviews of albums that came out this month:
- Lithics—Tower of Age
- NIhiloxica—Kaloli
- Pyrrhon—Abscess Time
- Protest the Hero—Palimpsest
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Justice—Woman
- Elaine: The Beatles—Revolver
This week we get down and dirty with some great albums that have their birthdays this month, including:
Bjork—Post
Deftones—White Pony
Queens of the Stone Age—Rated R
Kvelertak—Kvelertak
Albums of the Week:
Scott: A Tribe Called Quest—Midnight Marauders
Elaine: Bill Evans Trio—Sunday At the Village Vanguard
We get down and dirty with some album dares this week, and, after, go off the rails something fierce with thoughts on career-ruining stunts.
Albums of the Week
Scott: Black Flag—Family Man
Elaine: Red Hot Chili Peppers—By The Way
This week we talk about creativity—and the obstacles that can often come in the way. And, of course, we go off on segues about random things, so don't worry.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Aesop Rock—None Shall Pass
- Elaine: Fiona Apple—When The Pawn. . .
This week we have a special guest: our friend, and resident Sonic Youth expert, Devin! And, accordingly, we tackle a band who’ve eluded our listening habits for a very long time: Sonic Youth.
Albums of the Week:
- Devin: Gas—Pop
- Scott: Vampire Weekend—Vampire Weekend
- Elaine: Massive Attack—Blue Lines
The title says it all. This week we talk about the idea of humor in music? What makes it work? What doesn't make it work?
Albums of the Week:
Scott: Flying Lotus—Los Angeles
Elaine: Mamaleek—Come & See
This week we talk about some big releases this month (for us, anyway), including new material by Little Simz, Einsturzende Neubauten, Matt Mayhall/Dan Rosenboom, and Perfume Genius!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Natalia Lafourcade—Un Canto por Mexico, Vol. 1
- Elaine: The Allman Brothers Band—Live at the Fillmore East
This week we talk about some album anniversaries, including:
Deftones—Diamond Eyes
Primus—Frizzle Fry
Suffocation—Pierced From Within
Scott Walker—Tilt
Albums of the Week:
Scott: Black Taffy—Opal Wand
Elaine: John Zorn—50th Birthday Celebration Vol.4: Electric Masada
This week, we discuss the notion of bad music. Can music be bad? Can art be bad? And what is it like to fall out of love with an artist due to (perceived) bad music?
Albums of the Week:
Scott: Flying Lotus—Cosmogramma
Elaine: Derek Bailey/Evan Parker/Hugh Davies/Jamie Muir/Christine Jeffrey—The Music Improvisation Company
This week we take a slight turn off the traditional Caesura path and talk about about a few albums we found all within the indigenous/folk music traditions of East Asia! And, yes, we don't know how to pronounce most of anything, so sorry ahead of time.
Albums of the Week:
Scott: X—Alphabetland
Elaine: Tetema—Necroscape
It just so happens that today is that funny number day where everybody smokes up, and that we also talked about an album with the number 69 in the title...so we got both funny numbers! And therefore the episode should be titled as such. Enjoy our juvenile humor—and if you can get beyond that, we talk about some interesting stuff including: THEEsatisfaction's EarthEE, Ministry's Psalm 69, and dream recordings/rerecordings/covers of classic albums. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Fiona Apple—Fetch The Bolt-Cutters
- Elaine: Fugazi—Red Medicine
This week we talk about a number of ambient albums we've listened to. Enjoy, and RELAX.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: John Prine—Fair and Square
- Elaine: KEN Mode—Success
This week we talk for an extra-long amount of time (really about half an hour more) about film music: what makes a good film score, the interesting relationship between film and music, and some of our favorite scores.
Albums of the Week:
Scott: Johnny Cash—Live At Folsom Prison
Elaine: Nine Inch Nails—Ghosts V: Together
This week we really knuckle down and talk about six—yes, SIX—albums that all have a special anniversary this year.
Albums of the Week:
Scott: Circa Survive—On Letting Go
Elaine: Steve Reich—Music For 18 Musicians
This week we take things super simple, and talk about two newly released albums: After Hours by The Weeknd, and Who Sent You? by Irreversible Entanglements.
Albums of the Week:
Scott: Fange—Pudeur
Elaine: Danny Brown—XXX
We get silly this week and attempt to make up subgenres, some cool, some just plain stupid (example: blackened reggae, SK/RL, respectively), but also get sidetracked and talk about Harry Potter and some other "serious" music topics.
Albums of the Week:
Scott: Vaisseau—Horrors Waiting In Line
Elaine: Fantomas—The Director's Cut
Among the things we talk about today are: the recent passing of McCoy Tyner, the music of Fela Kuti, and our dream picks for albums we wish we could afford to buy.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Tame Impala—The Slow Rush
- Elaine: Four Tet—There Is Love In You
Every listener has some sort of pitfall in their experience with music, whether it be an album or a genre they can't get into, or perhaps a bias toward a certain aspect of music. Today we discuss our own musical blindspots, and try to look at them from every angle we can.
Albums of the Week:
Scott: Taylor Ashton—The Romantic
Elaine: Andy Stott—Faith In Strangers
Today our topics include: Primus's recent announcement to play Rush's A Farewell To Kings in full on their tour, a review of the new Raspberry Bulbs album Before The Age of Mirrors, and a lengthy discussion on the self-titled Naked City album.
Albums of the Week:
Scott: Elton John—Madman Across the Water
Elaine: Medeski, Martin, and Wood—Combustication
This week we talk about Muse and Radiohead, and why people keep insisting on comparing the two, and Scott listens to his first Muse album—to semi-positive results!
Albums of the Week:
Scott: Parachute For Gordo—Best Understood By Children and Animals
Elaine: Frank Zappa—Hot Rats
We go back yet again to our darling local CD store Bull Moose, and talk about our finds in this (relatively) short episode!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Fleet Foxes—Fleet Foxes
- JimJam: 30 Seconds To Mars—This Is War
This week we continue some topics we touched upon in our State of Music 2019 episode, including nostalgia in music trends, and the (supposed) lack of new instrumentation in the modern music landscape.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Organized Konfusion—Stress: The Extinction Agenda
- JimJam: Daniel Rosenboom—Absurd In The Anthropocene
We decide to look back upon the last year of music and talk about recent trends in music and music media. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
Scott: Morbid Angel—Domination
JimJam: Merzbow/Gareth Davis—Broken Landscapes
Join us as we listen to the music we used to dig back in the day, with bands ranging from AFI to White Zombie, and plenty of angst to be had for all.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Moon Hooch—Life On Other Planets
- JimJam: Hasidic New Wave—Complete Recordings
We start off this week's episode on a sad note, as we mourn the passing of Rush drummer Neil Peart, and discuss our own relationship with Rush; but, we continue by talking about a few of our favorite lyrics.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Thy Catafalque—Naiv
- JimJam: Nine Inch Nails—Pretty Hate Machine
We're back, baby, and we've brought with us a big list of audible goodies that—we think—will be coming out this year! Let's get to it!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Despised Icon—The Ills of Modern Man
- JimJam: Amon Tobin—Foley Room
We listen to two albums today—Avantasia's The Scarecrow and Sufjan Stevens's Age of Adz—and then get silly with some music lyric madlibs. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Strawberry Girls—Tasmanian Glow
- JimJam: Guns N' Roses—Appetite For Destruction
This is it, the sonic brass ring...our favorite albums of the year! We did ten each, with five honorable mentions each to start things off. If you don't want to wait to hear our picks, you can view them below. As always, thanks for listening, and happy holidays! We'll be back in January with a new episode!
Honorable Mentions:
Scott:
- The Biology of Plants—Vol. 2
- Blood Incantation—Hidden History of the Human Race
- Freddie Gibbs/Madlib—Bandana
- Hiss Golden Messenger—Terms of Surrender
- King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard—Infest The Rat's Nest
JimJam:
- All Your Sisters—Trust Ruins
- Tim Berne/David Torn/Ches Smith—Sun of Goldfinger
- Floating Points—Crush
- Leprous—Pitfalls
- Thom Yorke—ANIMA
Top Ten:
Scott:
- Lightning Bolt—Sonic Citadel
- Orville Peck—Pony
- Pound—• •
- Exulansis—Sequestered Sympathy
- Lingua Ignota—CALIGULA
- Dysrhythmia—Terminal Threshold
- Toro y Moi—Outer Peace
- Clipping.—There Existed An Addiction To Blood
- Hashshashin—Badakhshan
- Xiu Xiu—Girl With Basket of Fruit
JimJam:
- Xiu Xiu—Girl With Basket of Fruit
- Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds—Ghosteen
- Swans—Leaving Meaning
- Surachai—Come, Deathless
- William Basinski—On Time Out of Time
- Danny Brown—uknowhatimsayin¿
- Amon Tobin—Fear In A Handful of Dust
- Little Simz—GREY Area
- John Zorn—Tractatus Musico Philosiphicus
- Blood Incantation—Hidden History of the Human Race
This episode we talk about our top discoveries of the year: albums that finally clicked with us but didn't come out in 2019. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
Scott:
- Cannibal Ox—The Cold Vein
- Pharaoh Sanders—Deaf Dumb Blind (Summun Bukmun Umyun)
JimJam:
- Naked City—Leng Tch'e
- Circle Jerks—Golden Shower of Hits
We kick off our 2019 Best Of lists with our favorite album art of the year!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Iron Butterfly—In A Gadda Da Vida
- JimJam: Lightning Bolt—Wonderful Rainbow
This week we listened to a bunch of albums related to hardcore punk, and talk about our findings!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Michael Kiwanuka—Kiwanuka
- JimJam: How To Dress Well—Care
Today we went to Bull Moose and bought some CDs, and we, well, just...talk about music!
Albums of the Week:
Scott: X—Los Angeles
JimJam: Florence + the Machine—High As Hope
Today we discuss a very broad topic—namely, the idea of music as a tool for manipulation—which takes us to some interesting points, such as what defines art, and the notion of intent and interpretation in music and art. Shoutouts to Tantacrul, whose video on corporate music inspired this conversation, and to Polyphonic, who tweeted the video.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Rage Against The Machine—Rage Against The Machine
- JimJam: Dead Can Dance—Toward The Within
The title says it all: this week we get down and dirty with some newly released music, including the new releases by Swans, Clipping, Zonal, Leprous, and Mayhem.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Kanye West—Jesus Is King*
- JimJam: The Imperial Court Ensemble—Gagaku: Ancient Japanese Court and Dance Music
*Scott: "this isn't an endorsement, merely something intriguing I've been listening to."
In the second half of our Desert Island Discs series, we talk about compilations we'd bring to our proverbial island, and finally pick what constitutes our "definitive" Desert Island Discs.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Iron Maiden—Brave New World
- JimJam: Merzbow—Tauromachine
After a recent listen to Thom Yorke's appearance on BBC's Desert Island Discs, we thought we'd do something similar, and talk about the tracks, albums, and compilations we'd have with us if we were stranded on a desert island.
Albums of the Week:
Scott: The Cure—Pornography
JimJam: Kate Bush—The Dreaming
This week we buckle down and focus on only two topics: the new albums by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds and Danny Brown.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Dysrhythmia—Terminal Threshold
- JimJam: Hototogisu/Prurient—Snail on a Razor
Opeth has recently released their fourth album in their new prog rock style In Cauda Venenum, and we not only take a listen to it, but also listen to the previous three prog albums (Heritage, Pale Communion, and Sorceress) and, you know, make a whole episode about it. Warning: things get negative and salty pretty fast.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Casimir Liberski—Cosmic Liberty
- JimJam: Iglooghost/Kai Whiston/BABii—XYZ
We visit Bull Moose in Portsmouth, and we talk about our findings, including (but not limited to) albums by Slint, Dio, Cecil Taylor, and They Might Be Giants!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Hiss Golden Messenger—Terms of Surrender
- JimJam: Cult of Luna—A Dawn To Fear
Last Saturday we managed to catch none other than Billy Joel live at Fenway Park—we spend this episode talking about the concert and our experience with the Piano Man's music.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Jamie xx—In Colour
- JimJam: Avantasia—The Scarecrow
This week we decide to dive into the deep well that is industrial music. Will we come up on the other side? Who knows? Who cares?
Our Listening:
Scott: Throbbing Gristle—20 Jazz Funk Greats, Coil—Horse Rotorvator, Skinny Puppy—Last Rights, Whitehouse—Bird Seed
JimJam: Throbbing Gristle—Second Annual Report, DOA: The Third and Final Report of Throbbing Gristle; Foetus—Nail, Killing Joke—Hosannas From the Basement of Hell, Skinny Puppy—Last Rights; Front Line Assembly—Tactical Neural Implant, :wumpscut:—Bukertor 7; Controlled Bleeding—Knees and Bones; IRM—Virgin Mind; Prurient—And Still Wanting, Pleasure Ground; Sutcliffe Jugend—We Spit On Their Graves
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Mylingar—Döda Själar
- JimJam: Mega Drive—198XAD
We celebrate some albums with birthdays in the month of September, including Abbey Road, Interstellar Space, Powerslave, and 13 Songs!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Agalloch—Pale Folklore
- JimJam: The Paul Butterfield Blues Band—The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
This week we dive deep into the murky depths of Bandcamp and find some releases that deserve some more love (links below), and then end things with a conversation about the recent trend of "patching" albums (i.e. editing albums after they've been released).
Bandcamp Finds:
- https://wishfieldmn.bandcamp.com/album/wishfield
- https://poweritupvisionsofwar.bandcamp.com/album/swine-parade
- https://music-from-memory.bandcamp.com/album/nothing-is-objective
- https://fawnlimbs.bandcamp.com/album/harm-remissions
- https://vibrationsofnautilus.bandcamp.com/
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Devourment—Obscene Majesty
- JimJam: Paula Abdul—Forever Your Girl
We first start this lovely episode off with a few albums we've been listening to as of late—Psychotic Waltz's A Social Grace and Townes Van Zandt's self-titled third album—but then we get to the meat of the conversation: music tastemaking/gatekeeping. Is music entirely controlled by a combination of stilted music critics and our mighty corporate overlords? Or are we freer than we realize?
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard—Infest The Rats' Nest
- JimJam: Blood Incantation—Star Spawn
We've got a busy episode, so listen up: first we dive into the new Tool track from their upcoming album Fear Inoculum, then we go back in the past with the 60th and 50th (respective) anniversaries of Miles Davis's Kind of Blue and Can's Monster Movie, and we finally end things with a discussion about Thom Yorke's latest album Anima.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Purple Mountains—Purple Mountains
- JimJam: Porcupine Tree—Deadwing
We're back and we've returned with hot takes. How much are rappers like popular high schoolers? Mono vs Stereo? Double album, triple album, or just single album? We talk about this and more in today's episode.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Orville Peck—Pony
- JimJam: John Zorn—Tractatus Musico-Philosophicus
After talking about some…less than great singles from Miles Davis and DJ Shadow, we discuss a few albums we’d love to see reissued and/or remastered.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: The Kovenant—Nexus Polaris [originally released under the moniker Covenant]
- JimJam: Captain Beefheart—Doc At The Radar Station
This week we go out and buy some CDs and talk about our picks!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Lanayah—Forever In May
- JimJam: Lingua Ignota—Caligula
Today we celebrate the life of Joao Gilberto, discuss Faith No More’s (arguably) best album The Real Thing, and talk about the new Opeth track, “Heart In Hand”
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Freighter—The Den
- JimJam: Misþyrming—Algleymi
This week we’ve decided to go for an improvised format: anything musical is on the table (including lots of segues!). Some things we touch upon: collaborations/features in modern music, the increasingly bland choices of albums by music reviewers, and JimJam’s piss-poor memory.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Jute Gyte—Birefringence; Lavender Country—Lavender Country
- JimJam: Jim Croce—You Don’t Mess Around With Jim; David Torn/Tim Berne/Ches Smith—Sun of Goldfinger
Once again we visit the great Bull Moose Music in Salem, NH—and talk about our findings!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: The Dismemberment Plan—Change
- JimJam: Biosphere—Substrata
This week we talk about four albums that have “birthdays” this month, and are actually all pretty special to us.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Matmos—The West
- JimJam: Florence + the Machine—Ceremonials
King Crimson recently released their entire catalog on streaming services, so we decided to talk about their three most popular releases: In The Court of the Crimson King, Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, and Red. And, finally, we end off talking about some music purchases that…well, we’re not too happy about. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Mexican Summer (Various Artists)—Self Discovery For Social Survival
- JimJam: Scott Rosenberg—V: Solo Improvisations
This week, we attempt to give JPEGMAFIA a second try (or, in Scott’s case, a first try), and get silly with our spin on Madlibs.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Denzel Curry—Zuu
- JimJam: Suicide—Suicide
This week we get caught up on some recent releases!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Melvins—The Maggot
- JimJam: Ned Rothenberg—The Lumina Recordings
This week we celebrate two anniversaries of albums by Mayhem and St. Vincent, and discuss the notion of “legendary” bands: should they be infallible in the eyes of critics?
Albums of the Week:
Scott: Petrol Girls—Cut & Stitch
JimJam: This Heat—This Heat
We went to Bull Moose Music in Salem before this recording, and spend the majority of this episode talking about what we buy, and tangentially related topics.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Vampire Weekend—Modern Vampires of the City
- JimJam: My Chemical Romance—The Black Parade
This week we try to recheck our current enjoyment of Neurosis, and then have an interesting discussion about deluxe albums.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Pound— • •
- JimJam: Queensrÿche—Operation: Mindcrime
This week: Q-Tip’s producing the new Danny Brown album, posthumous albums kinda suck, and we talk about track-only artists (i.e. artists whose single tracks we primarily prefer)!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Nirav Sanghani and the Pacific Six—Nirav Sanghani and the Pacific Six
- JimJam: Behemoth—Zos Kia Cultus
We’ve got a big whole heaping helping of reviews today, all across the board genre-wise. Specifically: the improvised collaboration between Daniel Rosenboom, Jake Vossler, and Yina Raymond, Trio Subliminal; the first collaboration of Marissa Nadler and Stephen Brodsky, Droneflower; the new Sunn album Life Metal, and, finally, Amon Tobin’s much-anticipated Fear In A Handful of Dust.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: St. Vincent—St. Vincent
- JimJam:John Zorn—The Classic Guide to Strategy Vol. 4
We’ve got shits and giggles this episode, but mostly giggles: we talk about the strange new Flying Lotus single (with an insane video that is worth checking out), discuss Nick Cave’s Let Love In, and, finally, talk about musical guilty pleasures—do they exist? And what are ours? Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Judas Priest—Screaming For Vengeance
- JimJam: Astral Projection—Trust In Trance Vol. 3
This week we talk about prog rock and metal: our experiences with it, some recent albums we listened to in the genre, and how the name “progressive” has become a bit of a misnomer when describing this sort of music. We also start off this episode with a brief discussion on the closing of the Red Bull Music Academy, as reported by The Quietus.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: The Beatles—Abbey Road
- JimJam: Incubus—Light Grenades
This week we start off with a review of the new Mana album Seven Steps Behind, and then we spend the rest of the episode talking about albums/artists that we’ve changed our opinion about. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Waste of Space Orchestra—Syntheosis
- JimJam: Porcupine Tree—Fear of a Blank Planet
This week finds us paying tribute to the late, great Scott Walker, as well as reviewing the new Triumvir Foul EP Urine of Abomination and discussing our own personal takes on each other’s previous albums of the week.
Albums of the Week:
Scott: Sermon—Birth of the Marvellous
JimJam: Little Simz—GREY Area
On today's episode we start off a little salty, as we learn that crowdfunding platform PledgeMusic has not paid any of their artists (which has effected Tzadik Records, among other people), but we soon get more positive with a discussion on Mastodon's seminal Crack the Skye (which actually turns 10 this month), and then verge into near-insanity with a talk on cover songs, with us naming some of our favorite covers ever.
Albums of the Week:
Scott: Monobody—Monobody
JimJam: 36 Crazyfists—A Snow Capped Romance
Hola! Today's episode is relatively sparse in terms of actual subject matter, but we make up for that by rambling like you wouldn't believe! First off is the new single from Baroness, "Borderlines", followed by reviews of the new William Basinski and Matmos records (On Time Out of Time and Plastic Anniversary, respectively).
We’ve got some interesting little audio-nuggets for everyone today: first off, the new single from drone metal pioneers Earth; then, a lengthy discussion of making money as a musician (thanks for a fantastic article from Heavy Blog Is Heavy); and, finally, our own explorations into modern classical music. Enjoy!
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Jack DeJohnette—Zebra (1989, MCA)
- JimJam: Merzbow & Gareth Davis—Atsusaku (2016, Moving Furniture Records)
So, we're back, after a week off due to travel. Today we briefly discuss a recent MacRumors article regarding issues with streaming classical music, and then we get to the big stuff: we listen to Devin Townsend (which is basically the first time for both of us), and talk about our thoughts with his music, and specifically the albums Ocean Machine, Addicted, Ki, and Deconstruction.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Aesop Rock—None Shall Pass (2007, Definitive Jux)
- JimJam: Aretha Franklin—Lady Soul (1968, Atlantic/Rhino)
Today you get the best of both worlds: the salty and the sweet. First off, with the salty: our thoughts on the trailer to the upcoming movie Yesterday, and general complaints and theories on why the Grammy’s exist and/or matter at all. Then, we review the new Czarface/Ghostface Killah collaboration, and talk about Darkthrone’s Transylvanian Hunger, which turns 25 this month.
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Saba Alizadeh—Scattered Memories (2019, Karlrecords)
- Jimjam: Deftones—Saturday Night Wrist (2006, Maverick Records)
We've got some nice audible goodies for you today: the announcement of a new pair of Sunn O))) albums, and reviews of the fantastic new albums by Malibu Ken (ie Aesop Rock & Tobacco), Barshasketh, and Xiu Xiu
Albums of the Week:
- Scott: Wandering Monster—Wandering Monster (2019, Ubuntu Music)
- Jimmy: Xiu Xiu—Girl With Basket of Fruit (2019, PolyVinyl)
For the first time in a long time, we actually have a little piece of music news to share: namely, that Beth Gibbons (of Portishead fame) is going to be coming out with a version of Gorecki’s 3rd Symphony. After that, we talk a bit about John Zorn’s preface to the essay series Arcana, as well as our own findings in our first Music Exploration on free jazz.
We've got some goodies lined up today: first off, we're talking about some recent purchases we made at Bull Moose in Portland (ME) a few weeks ago (which we recorded, but...they sucked, so here we are), Scott finally listens to a Beastie Boys album in full (with expected results if you listened to our last Unpopular Opinions episode), and we introduce a new segment about our respective album of the week. As always, thanks for listening!
Scott's Album of the Week: Digable Planets—Blowout Comb (1994, Pendulum/EMI)
JimJam's Album of the Week: Surachai—Come, Deathless (2019, BL_K Noise)
Opinions. We all have them, and sometimes we feel pretty alone with them, so today, we once again get just a little salty, and talk about our unpopular music opinions—oh, and Jimmy talks about some shit he bought, too, but, like, whatever.
Since we’re near the end of the year, we decided to start off with something silly, yet still endearing to us: the soundtracks to the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series of video games. From then on we move to more music-related subjects, including trying out the new Sons of Kemet album again, as well as our most anticipated albums for 2019. Have a Happy New Year, everyone!
Welcome, welcome welcome! In our inaugural episode, we discuss our favorite albums of 2018, as well as our music-listening goals for 2019. Enjoy!