Category: Episodes

554. Napalm Death

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(March 2024) Episode 554 is NAPALM DEATH, pioneers of the “grindcore” subgenre, a mix of hardcore punk and extreme metal. But to my unsophisticated ear, this is indistinguishable from death metal, with the cookie monster growl and thunder kicks. Detectable punk elements include their anarcho-political lyrics (they cover “Nazi Punks Fuck Off” in fine form) and brevity of song: the Guinness Book of World Records awards Napalm Death for having the shortest song ever recorded, “You Suffer,” which clocks in at a little more than a second. They went through several lineup changes, and the early few albums are mixed rawer than what came later. But the pace and fury is consistent from their notable first (1987) to the latest (2020). As I’ve said before, I’m attracted to music at the extremes, and Napalm Death certainly offers that.

Favourite album: Order of the Leech

Favourite song:  Cesspits

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: Do it. Even if you know you’ll hate it, put it on and force yourself to experience it.

553. Ricky Skaggs

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(March 2024) Episode 553 is RICKY SKAGGS. I never listened to Ricky Skaggs (much less any country) back in the day but I did have a sense he was different than his peers who were playing hot country in arenas and Super Bowl halftime shows. True. Throughout his career he’s been a traditionalist, primarily in bluegrass. And I like bluegrass. He was a child phenom who connected early with legends Earl Scruggs and Ralph Stanley. Mandolin is his main instrument but he can pay almost anything, and his voice is the high tenor characteristic of the bluegrass genre. His recordings, particularly for a long stretch in the 1980s-90s, ventured into other styles of country — not all of it is my cup of tea – but never too far from traditional roots.

Favourite album: Ridin’ that Midnight Train

Favourite song: Bluegrass Rules!

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: Start with the bluegrass oriented stuff, including tributes to Bill Monroe and such. The Instrumentals album is a fun listen. I love turbo-speed bluegrass pieces.

552. The Searchers

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(March 2024) Episode 552 is THE SEARCHERS. A lingering question is whether there was something inherently special about the Merseybeat sound,* of which the Beatles were the biggest and best example, or whether the Beatles’ fame is the thing that brought attention to the other Merseybeat bands. One such band is the Searchers, who emerged from the same town at the same time with a very similar sound. Their most famous track on this side of the pond was “Needles and Pins” (ph: needles and pinsah) (co-written by Sonny Bono!), which introduced the jangle guitar sound soon made famous by the Byrds (note the nearly identical guitar riffs that open “Needles and Pins” and the Byrds “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better”). There are a few catchy pop tunes in a here but they suffer the unavoidable comparison with their Best Ever peers, and their sound was soon made obsolete by the R&B-based London bands and gritty freakbeat groups.

Favourite album: It’s The Searchers

Favourite song: When You Walk In The Room

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: A greatest hits disc is more than enough.

* music historians have noted that the fact that Liverpool’s was a port city meant that early rock and roll records from America made it to that city before others in the UK, which supports the first hypothesis

551. The Meters

~ ernopepper ~ 1 Comment

(February 2024) Episode 551 is THE METERS. This funked me up. This New Orleans set didn’t have the flash or flame of funkmasters like Brown or Clinton. Instead it was just pure unadorned funk, a foursome of guitar, drums, bass and keyboard that delivered a simple yet delicious groove. Instrumentals only on the first two albums. By the third album they got more sophisticated, adding horns and vocals. The opening song from their first album, “Cissy Strut,” was featured in Jackie Brown and other movies. The band’s leader was Art Neville, who later joined his brothers to form one of New Orleans’ iconic musical groups. This is fun listening.

Favorite album: Rejuvenation

Favorite song: Funky Miracle

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: Try the first two albums of bare-bones instrumental funk, and next the middle four of a fuller sounds, and pick your style. No need to bother with the last two that tend toward smooth soul and disco. They do get an award for honesty-in-admitting-you’re-following-trends by naming the first song off their 1976 album “Disco Is the Thing Today.”

550. Willie Dixon

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(February 2024) Episode 550 is WILLIE DIXON, the most important person in the development of the Chicago Blues, along with Muddy Waters. His contributions are primarily as a songwriter, producer and double bass player (at Chess Records) rather than as a frontman performer. But he still recorded plenty of albums performing his own material. To my ear, his voice is not as commanding as many of his blues master peers. The list of songs he wrote is astounding, made famous especially by Waters, Bo Diddley, Howlin’s Wolf and Little Walter. Classic rock fans will recognize many of these songs, covered Led Zeppelin, Cream and the Rolling Stones among others.

Favorite album: I Am the Blues

Favorite song: I Ain’t Superstitious

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: Willie Dixon: The Chess Box is a concise compilation of most of his famous songs by others as well as by Dixon himself

549. Dead Milkmen

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(February 2024) Episode 549 is DEAD MILKMEN. I seems like there were a thousand bands like this when I was in college, but somehow Dead Milkmen stuck in my memory, probably due to the prevalence of “Bitchin’ Camaro” on college radio. It’s easy to see why suburban kids like me in a comfy dorm room would label this punk rock; at most we can call it nerd punk. It’s more fitting to consider them as humor rock because that’s the main thrust of their lyrics and songs. But I find that it hasn’t aged well, compared to bands that exhibited more cleverness and absurdity in their approach, like They Might Be Giants, Violent Femmes and King Missile. Much of my sour impression is due to the vocal style of Joseph Genaro, who comes off as the kid who tried to write a comic series in high school that no one but him thought was funny.

Favorite album: Big Lizard in My Backyard

Favorite song: Bitchin’ Camaro

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: Only if it scratches your nostalgia itch, otherwise no need to bother.

548. Siouxsie and the Banshees

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Episode 548 is SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES. There was a goth girl at my high school who was really into Siouxsie and the Banshees and, despite never having heard their music, I declared that therefore I hated the band. Many decades passed and I have gotten into many other bands that also emerged from the late-70s UK punk scene (Wire, Buzzcocks, Stranglers, etc.). So I thought Siouxsie and the Banshees deserved a try. Well, I didn’t dislike it for the reasons that I thought I would have hated it in the 1980s. But I still didn’t like it. I found their music … boring. And Siouxsie Sioux’s wailing annoying. I don’t want to write off all things labeled “goth rock” because of this, but it doesn’t help.

Favourite album: The Scream

Favourite song: Hong Kong Garden

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: Nah

547. The Temptations

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(February 2024) Episode 547 is THE TEMPTATIONS. I had known them as a legendary Motown act through classic mid-60s hits like “My Girl,” “The Way You Do the Things You Do” and “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” who endured to the present day on the nostalgia circuit. What I did not know, and was not prepared by have MY MIND BLOWN by, were their “psychedelic soul” albums from 1968-1972 (notably Cloud Nine, Puzzle People and Psychedelic Shack). I knew “I Can’t Get Next To You” and “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” but hadn’t connected that this was the same outfit that made “My Girl.” This period is when producer Norman Whitfield took over and guided them to a rougher and funkier sound, as well as more socially conscious themes. Alongside Sly Stone and Funkadelic, this sound made the Temptations a big influence on funk and 70s soul. Love this stuff. I am a sucker for falsetto, so I highlight Eddie Kendricks, one of the best and one of my favorites (along with Curtis Mayfield, Phillip Bailey and Prince). Amidst lineup changes, they kept pumping out albums through the decades following R&B trends, but never recapturing the magic of their peak. The Temptations are around today, still led by founder Otis Williams, the last original member.

Favorite album: Psychedelic Shack

Favorite song: I Can’t Get Next To You

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: Get those “psychedelic soul” albums referenced above, but their earlier “classic 5” era albums are very good too, such as Getting’ Ready and The Temptations with a Lot o’ Soul

545. Michael Abels

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(January 2024) Episode 545 of the “opus project” is MICHAEL ABELS, a contemporary classical composer. Popular awareness found him when he wrote the nerve-inducing soundtracks to the three Jordan Peele films, Get Out, Us and Nope. That launched a steady stream of soundtrack work, some of which incorporates hip-hop elements. Long before that, Abels was composing orchestral, chamber and concert pieces. There’s a lot of variety in styles across his pieces and it would be hard to guess they all came from the same person.

Favorite piece Urban Legends (chamber backed by orchestra)

Favorite orchestral piece: Guitar Concerto “Borders”

Favorite soundtrack: Nope

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: If you’ve seen the Peele movies you know how well the soundtracks make the eerie atmosphere. Check out his orchestral pieces too.

544. Lana Del Rey

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(January 2024) Episode 544 is LANA DEL REY, another leap out of my comfort zone to explore a contemporary popular artist, one that my daughters would listen to. Not knowing her music, I did have a sense she was independent and a little saucy (as evidenced by the F-word in an album title) and not a corporate cookie-cutter pop star, which is something. And so she is. Lizzie Grant (her real name) has a great voice and is a talented songwriter, melodically and lyrically. What I had not expected was how consistently emo and languid her songs are. “Sadcore” I’ve seen it called. I don’t mind emo and languid in doses, but not full albums of it. On the recordings her voice is highly processed and layered, which I know is the way things are made now, but to me it erodes the authenticity that is otherwise central to the lyrical content.

Favorite album: Norman Fucking Rockwell

Favorite song: A&W

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: She’s got 52 million Spotify followers, so that tells you a lot. I’ll probably listen in to her new releases because she’s got the talent to do something unusual.