Louder Than Sound: Recent Episodes
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Jake and Charlie, the music obsessives who formerly brought you beloved podcast Bowie Vs. Dylan, are turning their sights towards a little bit bigger game: every other musician they've ever enjoyed. Listen along as they mine the deepest corners of their respective record collections and dust off of some audio gold. New episodes every Friday. Contact us at louderthansoundpodcast@gmail.com.
Charlie discusses Yo La Tengo's 1993 album "Painful", which is his entry for the "Late Bloomers" theme. Jake listens to it at the gentle behest of Charlie, and wants to discuss it as well, but is too busy gazing at his shoes and tinkering with that damn organ really do it justice.
Ouch! That really hurts, it's almost painful, on this episode of Louder Than Sound.
On this episode, Jake discusses Wilco's 1995 album "Being There", which is his entry for the "Late Bloomers", or as it's more colloquially known, "Albums We Didn't Like at First but Came To Love", theme. Chaz listens to it at the gentle behest of Jake, and wants to discuss it as well, but is too busy traveling in a time machine to recommend it to Jake again in the year 2000, just so that he can take credit for Jake's hopeless love affair with it even more in the year 2021 on this podcast.
There's rows and rows of houses, with the windows painted blue, on this episode of Louder Than Sound.
It's an extravaganza!
If by extravaganza, you mean a continuing little break from our usual format to present a celebration and countdown of hosts Jake and Charlie's favorite albums from the years of our Lord 1970-1974 in an alternating format that starts this time at #5 and finally ends at #1, then yes!
It's definitely an extravaganza, on this edition of Louder Than Sound.
It's an extravaganza!
If by extravaganza, you mean a little break from our usual format to present a celebration and countdown of hosts Jake and Charlie's favorite albums from the years of our Lord 1970-1974 in an alternating format but stopping at our number 6 album and continuing next time with the rest, then yes!
It's definitely an extravaganza, on this edition of Louder Than Sound.
On this episode, Jake discusses The Jayhawks' 2011 album "Mockingbird Time", which is his entry for the "Breakup Albums" theme. Chaz listens to it at the gentle behest of Jake, and wants to discuss it as well, but is exhausted by the thought of how he's going to go about becoming estranged from Jake again, honestly, this time it better stick because Jake's just out here touring with the Louder Than Sound podcast and using the name even though clearly it wouldn't work without him, and now he's never speaking to Jake again. Again.
Plus the last Louder Than Sound album was absolutely terrible, on this episode of Louder Than Sound.
Charlie discusses St Vincent's 2019 album "Masseduction", which is his entry for the "Break Up Albums" theme. Jake listens to it at the gentle behest of Charlie, and wants to discuss it as well, but is too engaged at the moment with popping pills and reveling in some light and consensual BDSM.
The safe words are "Louder than Sound" on this episode of Louder Than Sound.
On this episode, Jake discusses Robert Plant and Alison Krauss' album "Raising Sand", which is his entry for the "Unlikely Collaborators" theme. Chaz listens to it as well at the gentle behest of Jake, and wants to discuss it as well, but the sand raised by the artists is in his eyes and scratching them badly, plus all of Alison Krauss' 27 Grammys are clogging up the works.
There's a lot going on here, on this episode of Louder Than Sound.
Charlie discusses Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach's album "Painted From Memory", which is his entry for the "Unlikely Collaborations" theme. Jake listens to it at the gentle behest of Charlie, and wants to discuss it as well, but found himself awash in a pastiche-tinged 60's pop fever dream instead.
It was a bit of challenge overall, on this episode of Louder Than Sound.
On this episode, Jake discusses John Vanderslice's 2011 album "White Wilderness", which is his entry for the "Albums Of One" theme. Chaz listens to it as well at the gentle behest of Jake, and wants to discuss it as well, but is so busy ravaging the indie legend John Vanderslice with John Mayer and Jack Johnson comparisons that he disappears up his own butt in a spectacular display of poor referentialism.
But at least he likes the album alot, on this episode of Louder Than Sound.
Charlie discusses Laurie Anderson's 1982 album "Big Science", which is his entry for the "Albums of One" theme. Jake listens to it at the gentle behest of Charlie, and wants to discuss it as well, but can't speak about the mundane yet profound outrageousness of life (and consequently, the album) without a constant "huh" noise of his own creation on an endless loop in the background, and he couldn't figure out how to produce one in time even though the technology has existed since the late 1970's.
But then again, Chaz doesn't like the color of his sweaters anymore anyway, on this episode of Louder Than Sound.
On this episode, Jake discusses Roy Acuff's nebulous compilation of material recorded in the early 50's "The Great Roy Acuff", which is his entry for the "Music Recorded Before 1955" theme. Chaz listens to it as well at the gentle behest of Jake, and wants to discuss it, but gets so into the country-western vibe that his voice gets stuck in a twang so twangy that it becomes incomprehensible.
And don't even get me started on the near-yodeling, on this episode of Louder Than Sound.
Charlie discusses Washington Phillips' compilation album "Washington Phillips and His Manzarene Dream", which is his entry for the "Music Recorded Before 1955" theme, it having been recorded in the late 1920's and early 1930's. Jake listens to it and discusses as well, but gets so worked up and full of the genuine spirit that he leaves the podcast right then to become a full-time jackleg preacher, which he realizes is a bit against the spirit of jackleg preaching, as he thinks by definition is a part-time unpaid gig.
But so is this podcast anyway, on this episode of Louder Than Sound.
Very special guest Tim Rebers discusses Frank Sinatra's 1955 album "In the Wee Small Hours", which is the inaugural entry for new theme "Music Recorded Before 1955". Jake and Charlie listen to it and discuss in tandem as well, but are frankly not as knowledgable and charming as Tim, so they resort to crooning sad sack tunes about watching the breath they breathe from their lungs on a cold day in January that's enough past Christmas to feel bittersweetly about it, but also far enough from spring that the frigid air burns not just their lungs and nose but also their yet-thawed hearts. They think it's a metaphor?
Also, their old ladies left them lonely AGAIN, wouldn't you know it, on this episode of Louder Than Sound.
Charlie discusses Bridget Bardot and Serge Gainsbourgs' 1968 collaborative album "Bonnie and Clyde", which is his not first, but second entry for the "Albums That Hit Us Hard in 2020" theme. Jake listens to it and discusses as well, but got so, so sick from trying to chain-smoke unfiltered French cigarettes for the entirety of its running time, and about halfway through got his face stuck in an overly-swarthy leer when his unfortunate wife accidentally walked in on him listening.
Comme ci, comme ca, on this episode of Louder Than Sound.
Is everyone ready for 2022 yet?
On this episode, Jake discusses Aimee Mann's 2017 album "Mental Illness", which is his not first, but SECOND entry for the "Albums That Hit Us Hard in 2020" theme. Chaz listens to it as well, and discusses as well, at the gentle behest of Jake, and wants to discuss it as well, but is so overwhelmed by the general classiness and empathy of the album that his vocal cords start crying every time he tries to say something.
We're looking at a goose snow cone, on this episode of Louder Than Sound.
Happy continuing New Years, everybody!
On this episode, Charlie discusses Arthur Russell's 1986 album "World of Echo", which is his entry for the "Albums That Hit Us Hard in 2020" theme, despite it clearly not coming out in 2020. Jake listens to it and discusses as well, but thought it might have come out 2020 for all the influences he hears from it in today's new-fangled minimalist sad-sack reverb bandz.
Bet poor Arthur didn't know he'd created a new musical micro-genre, did he, on this episode of Louder Than Sound.
Happy New Years, everybody!
On this episode, Jake discusses Kahil El'zabar's 2020 album "America the Beautiful", which is his entry for the "Albums That Hit Us Hard in 2020" theme. Chaz listens to it as well, and discusses as well, but gets distracted as usual by making bongo drum noises with his mouth, which is his wont, but he doesn't quite get that only other bongo drums can understand him, and our audience is made up of about 25% bongo drums and 75% human people, according to our latest metrics.
But that's 2021 for you, isn't it, on this episode of Louder Than Sound.
Merry Christmas Day, everybody!
On this episode, Charlie discusses Sufjan Steven's 2006 holiday classic "Songs For Christmas", which is his entry for the "Christmas Albums" theme. They're all EP's, but whatever, he says out loud, but jovially, and as a card-carrying hipster, he is required to, but in fact enjoys it un-ironically. Jake enjoys it as well, he swears, but as a card-carrying winter cocktail kind of guy, he may have had too much of both the immense playlist and of course those fine winter cocktails.
We swear we didn't plan to put out all of our episodes on Fridays just to have this land on Christmas, we swear, on this episode of Louder Than Sound.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! On this episode, Jake discusses the good, bad, and the existentially ugly of Phil Spector's "A Christmas Gift For You!", which is his entry for the "Christmas Albums" theme. Chaz rocks around the Christmas tree as well, but straight up knocks himself out running into that famed Wall of Sound.
It's a holiday delight for everyone besides Charlie, who is now lying unconscious on the floor of his home office, on this edition of Louder Than Sound.
Chaz presents his weird thoughts on Bjork's weird Drawing Restraint 9 as his choice for the agreed-upon "One-Artist OST" theme. Jake also tries to discuss it from that one and only time he will ever listen to it at the gentle behest of the above-mentioned Chaz, but each of them just ends up panting, squelching, and slamming their pinkies inelegantly on gamelan chimes.
It's an honest but doomed attempt at a truly experimental podcast structure, on this edition of Louder Than Sound.
Jake presents the English version of his French thoughts on Benoit Charest's The Triplets of Belleville as his choice for the agreed-upon "One-Artist OST" theme. Charlie also discusses it from that one recent time he listened to it at the gentle behest of the above-mentioned Jake, but also because he's been quite familiar with it since it came out in 2003. It's probably more the latter than the former, to be honest.
Bon appetit! For your ears, that is, on this edition of Louder Than Sound.
Charlie presents his nerdy nerdy thoughts on Cluster's Zuckerzeit as his choice for the agreed-upon "Gateway Albums" theme. Jake also discusses it from that one recent time he listened to it at the gentle behest of the above-mentioned Charlie.
The ground-breaking majesty of the vintage synthesizers heard therein are made evermore monumental when the two brothers who host this podcast, so like the two communal "music-brothers" who made this album, find a way to program their synths to sound exactly like embarrassingly executed German accents.
Nein! On this edition of Louder Than Sound...
Jake presents his thoughts, all the way from his mere boy years to his current mannish boy years, on Muddy Waters' aptly titled Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live as his choice for the agreed-upon "Gateway Albums" theme. Charlie also discusses it from that one recent time he listened to it at the gentle behest of the above-mentioned Jake, and boy is he excited! He keeps whooping and hollering at the top of his lungs any time Jake says anything at all, but mostly when he spells simple 3-letter words.
Find out why and how on the latest edition of Louder Than Sound...
Special guest host Nancy Beck (AKA Jake and Charlie's indomitable mother) brings her musical knowledge and enthusiasm to one of her all-time favorite LPs, the 1976 album Luxury Liner by Emmylou Harris. The boys listen in rapt attention like some kind of throwback to their childhood story time before giving their personal, and wildly divergent, opinions on the country classic.
In the latest episode of Louder Than Sound, Jake presents his thoughts on an actual, real-life classic album: Bruce Springsteen's 1982 LP Nebraska. Come along as Jake (and by extension, the Boss himself) weaves a sweet web of tantalizing info about the home demos that somehow became a masterpiece. Charlie (who never really got into ol' Bruce) listens to it for the very first time and lets you know if he thinks it's all it's cracked up to be.
Louder Than Sound: a podcast about music for people who like music made by people who love music.
Charlie introduces Elza Soares, an 80-something samba singer who is a living legend in her native Brazil. In 2015, she released Woman at the End of the World, an explosive departure from her previous dozens of albums and possibly her finest work. Jake dips his toes into Elza's wild decades-long career and lets us know his initial thoughts.
Louder Than Sound, the new podcast from the fellas who brought you 64 episodes of Bowie Vs. Dylan, is back for a second go.
Jake presents the context and background for Soul Coughing's 1994 LP Ruby Vroom as his choice for the agreed-upon "1st Albums" theme. Charlie gives his thoughts on a terribly unique album that up until now he had never apparently listened to. Does he like it? Does he hate it? Will that affect your own feelings about it? Listen to find out.
From the fine folks who brought you Bowie Vs. Dylan comes a new podcast that explores the enormous world of music.
For the inaugural episode, Charlie presents his studied thoughts on Tom Waits' 1973 LP Closing Time. Learn along with Jake about Waits' shadowy past and try to figure out how on earth he actually sings like that. Top it off with Jake's take on the album, not necessarily from a place of expertise, but from that one most recent time he listened to it at the gentle behest of the above-mentioned Charlie.