Unsung Podcast

Alongside Fritz, Crag is one of the podcast’s biggest donors. We planned to have him on the show sooner but it proved somewhat difficult to organise on account of him living on the other side of the world. But a recent trip home meant we were able to tie him to a chair for a couple of hourswhile Chris gave it both barrels on Biffy. Sadly, due to a bereavement Weaver wasn’t able to join us, but Crag was in fine fettle and what followed was a two part exploration on the band, their back catalogue, their raise to fame and everything in between. In part one Crag tells us why he chose this record, we run down the band’s history and their discography and wonder how a band as weird as this managed to get as big as they are. Part two on Tuesday!

In many ways, Pitchshifter are an anomaly. Initially staggering onto the scene in a maelstrom of pseudo-Minestry inspired industry metal, although somehow heavier, they were every bit the equal of their early 90 metal peers in terms of sheer ferocity and ambition. But as they progressed, changing vocalist and embracing a multitude of influences from drum and bass, dance music and more, they begun to shed their one-dimensional skin in favour of something more dynamic, interesting and, perhaps above all, much, much more innovative. Which brings us to www.pitchshifter.com. Their fourth album, the title seems somewhat quaint in the modern era, but in a way, it underlines just how forward thinking they were. With addition of Jim Davies, the erstwhile guitarist for The Prodigy, and a major label deal in the offing, they went full on industrial rock. They combined a bunch of disparate influences from across rock, metal and dance to create a record which has ideas that are still, even now 20 years later, ahead of their time. Chris has been a fan since the 90s, whilst Mark and Weaver had never really spent time with the band until this record was thrust upon them. What transpired was, we think, an interesting dissection of a band who may very well have peaked with this album, reaching that critical point where their ambition met the tunefulness that would carry them, at least somewhat, into the mainstream. On the back of this record they became critical darlings in the music press, both for their recorded output and their live shows. At this point, it seems that perhaps their legacy is not as regarded as it should be, and Chris makes the case as to why this album is a proper Unsung Classic. Agree? Disagree? You know what to do.

“Flash in the pan” style genres are a distinctly modern creation. Once born from message boards and chatrooms, they’re chucked into existence on social media and furiously lapped up by the music press. Every magazine, website, blog, podcast and channel is keen to shape the tastes of thousands, and embracing such fanciful “microgenres” can reap immense short term benefits for any outlet that appears to be on the zeitgeist. And sometimes, just occasionally, these things crossover into the mainstream. That was the case with Salem, a “witch house” band from Chicago and Traverse City. Despite having existed before the short lived, two year mini-boom that was witch house, they ended up being at the forefront of it. After this album was released the promptly vanished, and have yet to do a single thing since their final 2011 EP I Am Still the Night. After our discussion of “cool” in the Sonic Youth episode, Weaver was keen to see if albums which come from "cool” genres stand the test of time, and as a result he ended up chosing King Night, the debut album from Salem. A mixture of southern hip hop, sparse electronica and drum and bass, the band were lumped in with a bunch of other improbably named acts all of whom were beholden to a occutly, 80s horror film, gothic aesthetic. Chris was surprised by this album, as was Weaver. Micro genres very much capture a place and time, but does this place and time deserve a place in our discography? Vote below.

Like every genre, hardcore has evolved over the years. From its snotty beginnings in the 80s to the present day, it’s been welded to just about every genre and subgenre of punk rock you can imagine. In this episode, we dedicate a little bit of time to talking about melodic hardcore, the bastard offshoot of hardcore, punk and emo. Oh and we talk about Witness by Modern Life is War. A “foundational text”, as Mark puts it, for this kind of music. It’s an album which has influenced a crazy number of artists. What’s more, it comes out of a tiny town in rural Iowa, a town that lead singer Jeremy Eaton has described as a place completely devoid of art of any kind. A marked change from their debut, My Love, My Way, it seen the band fuse Bane-esque hardcore with 90s emo to create the kind of melancholic, sincere, heart on sleeve style of music which straddles many genres. Critically lauded at the time, if you’ve been within feet of a hardcore show at any point in the last decade you’ll have heard a band attempting to imitate this kind of music. So much so in fact that if you’re unfamiliar with the genre, you might even find this a bit generic. But make no mistake about it, these guys were the progenitors. Along with the likes of Have Heart, Verse and Sinking Ships, Modern Life is War were band who were ahead of their time. Mark brings this to the table on the basis that they’re an unsung band. They ceased being a full time band almost a decade ago, a result of endless touring that seemed to be bearing little fruit, but their legacy echoes through the ages. Is it worthy of a place in our discography though? Well, that’s up to you to decide.

And now we get to the heart of the matter. The very meat of the discussion, if you will. Sonic Youth have a huge discography that, like nearly artists with catalogues of such size, varies wildly in quality. Yet someone, even towards the tail end of the career, they will still able to produce an album as cohesive and consistent as Rather Ripped. After some more discussion around what “cool” is, and how Sonic Youth are still considered as such despite their increasing commercialism, Chris gives us a highlight reel of their career before we discuss Rather Ripped as a whole. We’re not saying Rather Ripped is their best album, but does it classify as Unsung? Does it deserve to be in our discography? Vote below.

We’re back in action this week as Chris finally pulls the trigger on Sonic Youth. Behind the scenes he’d been deliberating doing this record for a while, but the time has finally come to do it. The episode turned out to be a lot longer than we anticipated - I mean, the band have a lot of records and a huge legacy - and we barely even scratched the surface of their discography, instead devoting more time to discussing their impact on music and culture. That’s why we split it into two parts. The vote comes next week, but for now, enjoy part one of our epic two parter on Sonic Youth’s 14th album, Rather Ripped.

With Mark currently undertaking a road trip of the American Deep South, Chris and David thought this would be a fine time to talk about their own road trips, discussing some of their favourite tunes from playlists of old. They even trade some cool tour stories too, which is definitely worth the listen alone. And in true Unsung fashion Mark even finds some time to phone in his own comments. So this week, each of the lads take a turn at picking five songs that they feel are perfect road trip playlist fodder. And you can find the combined playlist below, if you want to listen along with the guys as you listen to the pod. We return to regular action next week.

Purveyors of fine Southern Fried prog rock, Mastodon, are one of those bands who have slowly grown in stature with each album. Over the years, their sound has evolved, but the musicianship has remained nothing short of breathtaking. It’s rare you find a band that can play like fuck and continue pushing the limits of what they can do as their career progresses. Some will argue, as we do in this episode, that their earlier, heavier stuff is better, but that appears to be the minority opinion if record sales, tours, awards and accolades are anything to go by. Remission is their debut album, a masterwork in which they combine the speed of thrash with the twenty ton weight riffage one finds in sludge metal. There are also hints of the prog rock that they would later go on to embrace, yet as a statement, as the opening salvo of what has become a storied career, it heralds the arrival of something special. Many will say the two albums that follow this, Leviathan and Blood Mountain, constitute their best work. However, no on can deny that Remission is a fantastic start to a glittering career. Is this their Unsung classic? You know what to do.

When one considers the “golden age of hip-hop”, Public Enemy are rightly discussed as vital element of it. It’s a vitality that’s both earned and odd, as their acerbic, caustic, antagonistic, overtly political message may seem at odds with the kind of content their contemporaries were discussing. Yet when viewed as another facet in the rise, and dissemination, of the black culture that PE and their kin were at the forefront of in the late 80s, they can be viewed as part of a more complete picture that aimed to communicate the black experience in America at the time. Apocalypse 91… is the end of the band’s own “golden age”. Four albums in four years is a tall order for most acts, yet Public Enemy bring this period of their career to a staggering close with their fourth release, bringing things back down to a street level, and handing the sonic reins to The Bomb Squad’s proteges, The Imperial Grand Ministers of Funk. The result is that this sounds different from what came before, with a much more upfront edge, but the samples and production work are by no means watered down. On this episode we look extensively at PE’s early career, the controversy around the band, and wax lyrical on a whole bunch of other things besides. We know this band has another three great records, but in our view only two are unsung. Is this it?

O HAY Because we chopped this in two we decided to drop it on Tuesday instead of Friday. SURPRISE! In keeping with the usual “Ask a question, we’ll give the answer” theme of our Split 7” episodes we’re answering another question. This time, it’s one posed by Chris: who would be the worst band to tour with? It gives him an excuse to tell some of his own touring stories, which we think is the secret reason he chose this topic, but we’ll let him off with it. There’s some interesting choices in here, and some expected choices too. We hope you like it. Remember, you can subscribe at www.unsungpod.net/donate and get these episodes as bonus content on a regular basis. It’s fun, promise. As ever, if you have a funny/interesting topic you’d want to see us cover just let us know via your preferred method of communication: Facebook, Twitter, carrier pigeon, the comments etc.

This week David had an urgent family emergency and couldn’t join the proceedings, so we thought we’d shelf our Public Enemy discussion until his return. With Dave (mostly) out action, Chris and Mark decided to give the general listening public a little taste of what we offer our subscribers. Our Split 7” episodes is where you, the fans, give us a topic and we talk about it. This week we’ve chosen two, one by Mr. Ricky Stewart and one that we chose ourselves. Ricky’s topic was to see if we could pick albums who have had a run of three great albums in a row. Whilst our own choice is all about bands you would hate to tour with. David also manages to join us via the medium of WhatsApp voice memos, because we’re in the future after all. So yeah, we hope you like this episode. We enjoyed doing it. If you’d like hear more then all you gotta do go to www.unsungpod.net/donate and fling some cash at us. Any amount helps, and you’ll get access to our exclusive content. Everyone wins!

This is…three weeks late? We apologise. In our quest to offer you PREMIUM CONTENT at ROCK BOTTOM prices we’ve slung together the second episode of our new feature Sound is a Pound. This week, David takes the reins and dives deep into the Poundland catalogue to produce something which one can definitely describe as an album.

If, like the people on this podcast who are not Chris (i.e, most people), you fuck with Google and Search Engine Optimisation, you would know that Google likes it when you type a blog post that’s over 250 words. So now you know why that sentence above exists.. Seriously though, this week we’re discussing Italian jazz rock maestros Zu. Zu are an incredibly talented band. Since their first album 1999 they’ve gone onto create some of the most avant-garde jazz/rock music that you could imagine. It's a journey which has led them to the door of Mr. Mike Patton, the singer of Faith No More/Fantomas/Tomahawk/Mr. Bungle and, more to the point, the owner of the exceedingly weird Ipecac Records. Carboniferous is their debut release for Ipecac. It’s a challenging, doomy, metallic, jazzy, mathematical exercise in esoteric rock music. It explores as much territory as it possible for a band that contains a drummer, bassist and saxophonist, and from the word go it’s an exhilarating listen. On this episode we dive a little into their extensive back catalogue, talk about the collaborative nature of their music and even, EVEN, discuss jazz a little bit. The results are…interesting, to say the least. Is this their definitive album? As ever, you decide. Vote below and let us know.

We haven’t done a mixtape in a wee while so we thought fuck it, let’s do something completely different. This week we’re talking about the soundtracks from films that were commercial failures. There’s some surprisingly fertile ground in this genre, with some great films being considered box office flops, and some terrible films having great soundtracks or scores. The three of us take very different routes on this episode which one could definitely describe as good, bad and ugly. Chris chose the 1993 film Judgement Night, an average film which was an Emilo Estevez vehicle that strove to bust his Brat Pack image and cement him as a serious actor capable of taking on more gritty, adult material. The results are mixed. The soundtrack, however, is surprisingly good, with Immortal Records owner Happy Walters commanding some of the biggest rock and hip hop acts of the day to collaborate on a song. It’s a very interesting experiment. Mark chose the 1986 Prince car crash Under the Cherry Moon. An absolute disaster of a film - which Price plays a gigolo who attempts to swindle a rich heiress in the French Rivera - it received a commercial and critical drubbing. The soundtrack album though, Parade, is one of his best records and contains mega hit ‘Kiss’. And Weaver picked Under the Skin, the 2014 sci-fi art-house adored, Scarlett Johansson film which is perhaps best know as the one where she lures Glaswegian men into the back of a Transit van. It received a lot of critical acclaim but didn’t fare so well at the box office. The soundtrack was composed by London based singer/songwriter/composer/producer Mica Levi, and stands as the only proper score on our list. Which is the best? Well, you decide. We all thought the ones we picked were the best. Vote below.

Weezer are a hard band to like. We need to get this out of the way immediately: The Blue Album and Pinkerton are near flawless records, but there is no chance they will get nominated for inclusion in our discography. As Weaver states in this episode, if it were ten years ago then perhaps Pinkerton could be considered Unsung, but it’s now universally recognised that it’s equal to, if not better than, The Blue Album, so that’s a no go for us. It’s been a while since we did a big/popular artist, and Mark chose Weezer in order to discuss just how wildly their career swings from glorious to dreadful. But as it turns out, even people who like Chris and Dave who like Weezer had no idea that they were on album number 13. You might also be surprised to hear that, given that their fifth record Make Believe was so bad that even some die-hard fans deserted the band. Times have changed. Since that much maligned fifth album they have soldiered on, releasing a couple of good records and a few bad ones. The White Album is one of the good, seeing the band lean heavily on the Beach Boys in order to augment their signature pop-rock jams, whilst returning to the sunny sounds they so gloriously roared onto the scene with on their debut album. That’s not to say that this record stands tall alongside The Blue Album; it doesn’t, but what it does prove is that when Rivers and co really put their minds to it, they’re still capable of delivering wonderful, straight forward pop rock songs. As a band they’re also pretty fascinating. In true Unsung fashion we dig deep into their career and discover some wheat among the chaff. There’s also a particularly high brown nexus too, if you stick around to hear it. Is The White Album Weezer’s Unsung classic? Cast your vote and let us know.

SURPRISE! Here’s a brand new thing that we hope to make into a new thing. Inspired by random nonsense found in Poundland, we’ve decided it could be entertaining to see what music we can get for exactly One Great British Pound. We will then do a slightly humorous super fast Unsung-lite review of the album in question before deciding if it’s worth keeping or heading straight for the nearest rubbish bin. In Poundland, you sometimes get something good (if you dig hard enough you can actually find something decent in there!) or something not so good (we found a lot of Athlete). As it turns out, the media you find in Poundland is all second hand and is provided courtesy of MusicMagpie. So the quality can…vary wildly. Other stores are available. Chris decided to take the first shot at this and sauntered into Poundland, proudly returning with…well, we won’t spoil it here but it’s worth a listen trust us. If you like this let us know! Our plan is to do these super short episodes on a regular basis and if you want to submit your own £1 album, get in touch and we’ll tell you where to send it. We’d genuinely love it if you did that!

Whilst D’Angelo’s R&B stylings weren’t exactly traditional, or even reflected the popular sounds of the time, Kelela makes him sound positively contemporary in comparison. Indeed, on her debut release she takes the Contemporary R&B rule book and throws it right out of the window. In fact, one could argue that she barely gave the damn thing a passing glance before she hurled into the street. Kelela’s music occupies far more esoteric, darker territory. Yes, there might be hints of 90s R&B in her vocals but it’s merely a nod to the past because what she does on Cut 4 Me is something altogether different. Assembling 9 producers for this record must have been no mean feat, but it sounds pretty well strung together. The dark, creepy, empty (in a good way) beats place her firmly in more experimental territory, producing a feel which is more akin to Frank Ocean than Alicia Keys. On this record she’s bringing in influences of bass, electro, grime and techno, completely shredding the blueprint for what R&B can or should be in the process. Many reviews called it “future R&B” and if you’re even remotely aware of the genre and its trapping, you’d be hard pressed to argue otherwise. Some of the people on this podcast are not at all remotely aware of the trappings of this genre, so when Weaver brings it to the table it has somewhat of a mixed reception. A die hard Kelela fan, he presents it for inclusion in the discography not just because he loves or because of the way it stands out and makes you think, but also because this record seems to have influenced, and continues influence, other alternative R&B artists, many of whom are mentioned in this episode. Along the way we discuss how more black artists are gaining prominence in alternative music circles, Chris devices a music game for you fans, and we unveil a new nexus. What do you think - should it be added into our discography? Vote below.

If you’re of a certain age, like your three esteemed hosts, there’s a fair chance you’ve heard the name The Eighties Matchbox B-Live Disaster. The smashed their way into the music press with this, their debut album, and a reputation for chaotic, enthralling on stage antics that captured the attention of music lovers and press alike. They also happened to pop onto the scene at the same time as a bunch of scuzzy garage rock bands, of which they sound absolutely nothing like. They arrived with the plaudits and credibility that some of those bands, like The Datsuns or The D4, hadn’t really shown. What’s more, their sound was just weird compared to what was going on at the time. They turned up, kicked the shit out of everyone, and stuck around to watch the scene pick up the pieces and vanish into the distance. And their reputation certainly wasn’t harmed by their strange look, either. ‘Horse of the Dog’ heralded the arrival of a truly strange, unique band who would later go on to release a further two albums which saw them showcase the whole gamut of their weirdness, moving away from bluesy, gothic psychobilly, to punk n roll, scuzzy desert rock and eclectic psyche. On this episode Chris lays bare his adoration for the band, and we cover the band’s back cat, talk about some of the weird support slots they picked up over their career, do a potted history of psychobilly and much more. Is ‘Horse of the Dog’ the best 80s Matchbox album? Vote on our Facebook page.

And now, for avid fans, we present part 3 of our interview with Benjamin Power/Blanck Mass. After two weeks of talking about Blanck Mass and Ben’s career, it’s now time to talk about music that Ben thinks is underrated. There’s some great, obscure, interesting choices and discussion in this episode around the album’s he’s picked, why he’s picked them and what he loves about them. We also recommend checking out episodes 1 and 2 on the links below. Part 1: https://www.unsungpod.net/episodes/in-session-2-ben-power-of-blanck-mass-part-1 Part 2: https://www.unsungpod.net/episodes/in-session-2-ben-power-of-blanck-mass-part-2

As is tradition for our interviews, we’ve broken it into three parts and this is no exception. On part two Ben talks about the genesis of Blanck Mass, the method behind some of the music and the boys go on a deep dive of the Blanck Mass back catalogue, taking in as much ground as they can. Ben talks about some of the stuff he says is his favourite and things that encapsulate what Blanck Mass really is. They also touch on some of the collaborations Ben’s been a part of and so much more. Mark is again sadly absent from this episode as he’s was ill. But you’ll never even notice. Part one can be found here: https://www.unsungpod.net/episodes/in-session-2-ben-power-of-blanck-mass-part-1

It’s taken more than a bloody year for us to arrange our second interview, but we did it! We promise not to wait so long for the next one. Promise. This week we sit with producer and musician Benjamin John Power, best known for his work in Fuck Buttons and Blanck Mass. In part 1 we talk early life, early influences, the health of electronic music, broken washing machines and sordid rap-metal pasts. Also, Chris raps. Which is a true feast for the eardrums. Mark is sadly absent from this episode as he’s was ill at the time for recording but don’t worry, you’ll hardly notice that he’s missing.

Grindcore is what happens when hardcore punks start listening to thrash and decide to slam both together and go faster. It’s extreme, uncompromising and sometimes overwhelming. Pig Destroyer are all of these things and more. Their third album ‘Terrifyer’ is often heralded as a landmark metal album. Many say it’s one of the most important grindcore albums ever written, whilst OG grindcore fans think it’s just not dirty enough. Spoiler alert: we agree with the former. We discuss the genre’s origins, touch on subgenres, dive into the various projects of Scott Hull and give Pig Destroyer’s discography a once over. We also touch upon J.R Hayes’ brilliant lyrics and Scott Hull’s exceptional playing. Is this their best album? Vote below.

Manchester Orchestra have been a band since high school. Which means Andy Hull has been making music, touring and selling actual goddamn records for around half his life. He’s the same age as a couple of us (not Chris) and it really does make you think about what could have been if us three music lovers hadn’t dicked about for so long and just sold out years ago. But alas, that was never in the cards. This week we’re talking about Manchester Orchestra’s third album, and major label debut, Simple Math. Along the way we go deep into their discography, with both Chris and Weaver displaying a large degree of ambivalence to just about everything. In fact, Weaver even crowdsources his opinion, such is his unfamiliarity with this band’s take on earnest emo music. You could say that such attitudes are becoming a feature of many of the episode that feature records picked my Mark… We also talk about how they managed to rise so quickly despite any apparent lack of major label involvement, and a bit more besides. Is this their best album? You decide. Vote on our Facebook page.

Indie darling and savvy industry operator Santi White has been involved in music than you might think. Formerly and A&R rep for Epic Records, she’d been producing and writing songs for other artists for years (as well as kicking around in a punk band for much of the early 00s) before her debut album dropped in 2008. The result of all that time working behind the scenes meant that Santi emerged with a polished, considered and eclectic record that belies its debut album status. Is it perhaps too carefully engineered? That’s one of the many things we discuss on today’s episode as we take a tour of her career thus far, whilst Chris and Weaver get into it a couple of different topics. It’s a pretty interesting discussion all round. As ever, it boils down to whether or not you think this album is worthy of inclusion in our discography. Vote below. Then do us a solid and tell all yr friends.

At some point, some journalist somewhere decided that “celtic fusion” was a genre, and subsequently placed the music of Martyn Bennett in it. What does it mean? Well, your guess is as good as ours. We can safely say though that Bennett’s fifth and final album ‘Grit’ is definitely a genre fusion of sorts. We’ve dedicated a fair amount of time to discussing Scottish artists and albums on this podcast, but we’ve yet to touch on traditional Scottish music. Martyn Bennett is very much from a folk/trad background, but his approach is way more modern and genre bending than most artists. ‘Grit’ is a fascinating album by a fascinating man. Musically, it perhaps sounds a little dated today, but it still has some massive tunes on it. This week Weaver and Chris get into the artist, the album, the context around it and even go on some interesting excursions about the Scottish traditional/folk scene as a whole. As ever, you decide if it makes it into our discography. Vote via Facebook.

We return to our regularly scheduled programming this week as we tackle a punk album which is difficult to categorise. A Wilhelm Scream originally started off as a skate punk band in the mid-90s, first under the name Koen before releasing two albums as Smackin’ Isaiah. As members rotated in and out the band’s sound started to change, and come the early 00s the band eschewed it’s old name and started to move away from skate punk entirely. If we were to take a stab at it, you could probably call them tech punk. Indeed, many have deemed them this over the years, and as such they’ve went onto influence a number of other bands who combine the technical skill and speed of metal with a hearty dose of skate punk. Imagine Bad Religion playing Iron Maiden riffs and you might come a little close to the band’s sound. This week we discuss the band’s third album (or fifth if you take into account the two records released under another name) ‘Career Suicide’. This 2007 release marked something of a departure for the band, where they decided to dump any post-hardcore and emo elements from previous outings and simply focus on riffs, speed and more riffs. We cover the band’s history and ponder whether the difficulty in categorising them may have had ramifications in terms of career “success” (whatever that means). Is this their best album? That is, as ever, up to you to decide.

This week we’re joined by friend of the pod Dr. Jason Costello, as we take a slight diversion for the usual format and discuss algorithms, Spotify and the future of music. It may come as a surprise to some people, but algorithmic music has been around in various forms since the 1950s. The first instance of computer-generated composition dates back to 1955-56, where Lejaren Hiller and Leonard Issacson at the University of Illinois used a high-speed computer to create the Illiac Suite. The piece itself was composed by a computer and later performed by a string quartet. So the concept of computer generated music pre-dates a lot of the music we all know and love. And computers have been used to create, and aid in the creation of music for decades. Similarly, algorithms have been used for many, many years to do any number of things. After all, an algorithm is simply a set of instructions that are executed in order to solve problems and complete tasks more efficiently. Algorithms are of course all the rage. They power everything from the computation of an individual’s paycheck by their employers, to the very backbone of the internet itself. A series of computer programs of varying levels and complexities that have become increasingly entwined in our daily lives. In fact, it may prove near impossible for many people live completely algorithm-free lives, such is the way computers regulate large parts of our society. With increasing advances in artificial intelligence, it should come is no surprise to learn that there many people out there who use algorithms and AI to compose entirely original music. In fact, you can even do yourself by signing up to Jukedeck. Whilst people are still experimenting with how to successfully create music which passes as being made by humans, computers are becoming ever more adept at spitting out music on command. Spotify and Big Data The vast majority of people who are reading this right now, almost everyone who listens to this podcast, is signed up to a streaming service. These services are super convenient, and extremely useful for getting you the media you want almost instantly. We won’t bore you by explaining how these work, but you’re no doubt aware of the way these services harvest data about your behaviours on their services. It’s why Spotify can create a daily mix that combines stuff you love with stuff you might not have heard; it’s why they can recommend what to put on a playlist after you add a handful of tracks. They know your preferences. That data works both ways, and it’s this data which makes up the powerful algorithms these services use to give you what you need before you even know you need it. This data can also be used in reverse to mine the preferences of individuals to create music. Music which may not necessarily be designed for you the individual, but could certainly be created by finding out the traits of the most popular tunes and crafting songs from that data. It’s not quite Terminator 2 of course, but it does raise many questions. Jason is on hand to field these questions as we get into how and why this is happening, and ponder on what the future holds for royalty free and incidental music. Along the way you will hear some examples of computer generated music, and some artists who have used such tools to create music that they have later went on to augment. We also chat a lot about how big data effects all the creative industries and so much more.

We retreat to Scandinavia again this week, this time travelling further north than ever before in order to meet Goat. Whilst the band (allegedly) come from the Arctic Circle, the music couldn’t be further from the frozen north in sound. A strange fusion of psychedelic rock and afrobeat, ‘World Music’ plays like a 60s throwback. All at once intoxicating and rousing, it’s an assured debut by a mysterious, talented band. There’s everything from Can to Parliament found in here, alongside influence from a bunch of African artists. We touch upon all of this in today’s episode, and a lot more besides. Chris has compiled a playlist that serves as a brief intro to Afrobeat and more. Is this their best album? As ever, the decision is yours.

Once we’d finished our lengthy diversion into the Satanic territory of black metal, we thought we’d change direction entirely and cover another hip hop album. Cue Chris’ mild bemusement at such an alien genre. We briefly touched upon Danny Brown in our El-P episode, as he’d appeared on a Run the Jewels song, thus giving Mark his usual lazy nexus link. The truth is though, whilst David and Mark both immediately agreed upon this album when the suggestion of doing another hip hop was floated, further reflection on Danny Brown’s career proved troubling. Whilst both gents are fans of his work, Chris was left feeling cold due to the problematic (at best) content of some of the lyrics, particularly on earlier Danny Brown records. We reckon with all of that, wondering why such musical tropes are still acceptable today in the wake of the me too movement. It’s not all doom and gloom though; there’s a great deal of discussion around the sonic texture of the record, and why it stands apart not only in Danny Brown’s catalogue, but in hip hop as a whole. It’s a feisty, occasionally cantankerous, often insightful discussion around Danny Brown’s oeuvre and the language and register of hip hop as a whole. Is this Danny Brown’s best album? As ever, only you can decide.

Last week we gave you the history. This week we give you the music. Specifically, our own unsung black metal albums. We run the gaumt from OG trve kvlt Black Circle made Norwegian Black Metal, to the more recent third wave hipster fare. Along the way we touch on other stuff from different periods too. It’s quite a journey. Look, we can’t pretend the albums we picked aren’t problematic. There are of course many musicians involved in black metal and it’s myriad of subgenres who are not problematic. Yet somehow the lore around this music means that people who like the tunes are often drawn to the more outlandish figures. You can make up your own mind of course - and we’d forgive you if you think talking about records from guys who have done some fucked up stuff is a bit too much for you. All we ask is that you take some time to listen to the music for music’s sake. At least then you can be safe in the knowledge that you’ve given it a bash, even if separating art and artist is more difficult for some than it is for others. In the end, as ever, only you can decide. Vote below. And do tell/tag a friend. Thank you.

Praise be to The Dark Lord himself, for this week we take on the most unholiest of unholy music, and we do it in the only way we know how - with our now patented combination of cynicism, amazement and mild disdain. We’ve promised this for a while and a few people have been asking us for it, so here it is. It’s dark. Super dark. But it’s also fun. Maybe? This is going to offend people. Not because we say anything offensive, but mostly because black metal music is aurally and sometimes (but not always) ideologically offensive. We’ll be talking about some of the worst people we’ve ever discussed on this podcast (there’s a whole lot of murder and neo-Nazism) but it’s all absolutely pertinent to the topic at hand. But hey, the music often good, which leads us to really discuss boundaries of where one draws the line between art and artist. So strap in and come with us on this darkest, heaviest, dirtiest and longest of journeys. Next week: we pick our three albums and you guys get to vote!

After doing something new and splitting dear Tori Amos into two parts, we decided that we’d do another new thing. It just so happens that this new thing coincides with the 20th anniversary of …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead’s second album ‘Madonna’. So to celebrate this occasion Chris decided that we should do a head to head between ‘Madonna’ and ‘Source Tags & Codes’. Weaver dutifully agreed, initially vowing to take the corner of ‘Madonna’ whilst Christ decided to fight the case of ‘Source Tags & Codes’. However, as the week of recording approached, it seemed that the boys had decided that they would switch albums because each had grown fond of the other’s record. So the result is Weaver arguing for ‘Source Tags & Codes’ and Chris is arguing for ‘Madonna’. Which of these is the best Trail of Dead album? Well, that’s totally up to you.

And so here we are, episode 59. Part two of our two part Tori Amos sorta kinda semi special. We never intended for this episode to expand into a two parter but as fans of the pod know, when Chris does his research he does his research so when it comes to an artist with a vast catalogue well…you get what you pay for. If what you pay for is a thorough discussion on the fourth Tori Amos album. Yes, this is what we promised from the start - an in depth dissection of ‘From the Choirgirl Hotel’. We are somewhat split on this one, but one of the things we definitely agree on is that this record definitely has some great songs on it. On this episode we discuss the album, where it sits in her discography and so much more. We also finally tackle the Dave Grohl Nexus, which is delightful. Is ‘From the Choirgirl Hotel’ the best Tori Amos album? Only you can decide. Vote on our Facebook page.

Every time we sit down to talk about an artist with a rather extensive back catalogue things end up escalating into a mammoth career retrospective. Yet, despite being fully aware of this we decided to try to talk about Tori Amos’ career in a brief, but thorough way, only to find that, by the time we had finished recording, the whole bloody thing ended up being a rather unwieldy 2 hours long. So, to spare both your sanity and ours, we decided to split this episode into two parts and put them out a week apart because hey, who doesn’t like a cliffhanger? Chris, unabashed Tori Amos fanboy, decided that her fourth album ‘From the Choirgirl Hotel’ was perhaps the most interesting overlooked album from her storied 25 year plus career, and put it forward for consideration for our discography. As an artist with 15 albums, the challenge was finding one which retained some of the classic, Tori Amos sound but pushed it in new, exciting ways, yet was still underappreciated. This was Chris’ choice. Despite our best efforts to keep things brief, the episode ended up ballooning and as a result part one focuses almost exclusively on her entire back catalogue. Sadly, it means that the Dave Grohl Nexus is missing this week as it falls over onto next week’s episode, but despite that omission we’re confident you’ll enjoy this whistle stop tour of one of this fascinating, eccentric artist. We’ll see you next week for the vote.

It’s hard to believe it’s taken us this long to get to a post-metal record, but here we are. Alongside Traindodge this is one of the more “obscure” records we’ve covered. *shels are a Trans-Atlantic project that comes from the minds of singer and guitarist Mehdi Safa and drummer Tom Harriman. If you’re even remotely familiar with the post-hardcore scene in the south of England you’ll know that this band come from impressive stock. Safa and Harriman formed *shels after the demise of Mahumodo, and over the years the project has included members of Eden Maine, Fireapple Red and Devil Sold His Sold. Their sound is expansive, and when it came to replicating in a live environment the line-up expanded, and at some points reached as many as 8 members on stage, including a trumpet player and three guitarists. It might seem excessive on paper, but once you become acquainted with the breadth and depth of their sound, it suddenly makes a whole lot of sense. So this week, Weaver brings their debut album “Sea of the Dying Dhow” into the show for our consideration. What follows is a whistle stop tour of post-metal spanning both sides of the Atlantic, and we go deep on the band, the genre and more. Is this the best of their two albums? Only you can decide. Vote below.

The mystery at the end of last week’s episode is a mystery no more. And Weaver didn’t even pick it, it was Mark in the end. We lied to you. We lied and we’re sorry. Instead of trying to reckon with some hot button sociopolitical issues like we did last week, this week we’re actually talking about The Bronx. A lot. We cover their entire discography (note: we did NOT cover Mariachi El Bronx, but they are mentioned) and try to figure out what they did to get signed to a major label so goddamn quickly. Conspiracy? A rare moment of an A&R guy actually caring about a band? Is it because they’re actually really good? All options are considered. Aside from rampantly speculating about how they got a major record deal so quickly, we also go on quite the trip with the Dave Grohl nexus, which this week encompasses Skrillex, Lady Gaga, Jane’s Addiction, Alanis Morrisette and of course, the singer of Nirvana himself, Chad Kroeger. It’s a rare moment of consensus from yer bois. Do you think this is the best album by The Bronx? The power is in your hands.

If you expected the mystery record, our first of 2019, to be a neo-soul album then kudos, you clearly read our minds. And if you did actually read our minds, good God was that a mistake. This week we’re a man down as David attends to some family business, but that’s ok! Not only do Chris and Mark talk about D’Angelo’s inventive third album ‘Black Messiah’, but they cover all the topics you love: race, religion, abortion, consent, Veganism, sex, money, drugs and alcohol. It’s a real rollercoaster of an episode. And yes, we were entirely sober. We also get down to the actual business of discussing D’Angelo’s career, the RnB stylings of his first two albums, his mysterious retreat from the public eye for 14 years in between ‘Voodoo’ and ‘Black Messiah’ and we attempt to do a little deconstruction of his reasons behind the huge gap between them. There’s also a couple of interesting nexuses, and Dave makes a miraculous appearance at the end to back Mark’s decision on this record. Have we finally lost the plot? You can decide. If this is how 2019 starts, lord knows how it’s going to end. Is ‘Black Messiah’ worthy of a place in our discography? Vote below.

Happy new year folks! If you’re still with us after last week’s debacle then welcome back! This episode is a much more upbeat affair. It’s also 50% drunker. If you didn’t listen to part one, we highly recommend that you do. Nevertheless, the format is as follows: we answer questions you guys put to us and have a jolly good time disappearing up own arses. This week we’re talking about albums we can’t nominate for the discography due to how big they are; discussing which of the albums we’ve reviewed that we keep revisiting; our favourite song we’ve discovered, and our favourite Dave Grohl Nexus. There’s an edit of this episode which is pure nonsense. That’s how drunk it got. But Chris managed to pull it into something coherent. We hope 2019 is a great one for all y’all. We’re looking forward to doing some new stuff. Thanks for sticking with us.

In the immortal words of Noddy Holder - it’s Christmas. As it’s the end of our first year we thought it was time to start a new tradition, using the final two weeks of the year to reflect on the last 52 weeks and answer a few fan questions in the process. That’s right, it's part one of the Unsung 2018 Xmas Xtravaganza. On this week’s episode we get a little drunk, a little lary and very self-aggrandizing as we talk about our favourite finds of the year. We also give out a few Christmas presents to ourselves as we each save an album that didn’t make it into the discography. Dave askes us what our favourite Wikipedia/research find of the year was and we wrap it all up by talking about our most overrated songs and albums of the year. It is indeed a time for joy. Unless you’re an LCD Soundsystem fan. In which case you might want to skip this one.

Well folks, we did it. We made it through 52 consecutive weeks without killing each other. Also, we didn’t miss an episode. Please send us high fives. We left last week’s episode on a bit of a cliffhanger as Chris hadn’t quite decided which Helmet record he was going to do, but when it came down to it there was only one choice - ‘Meantime’. The band’s second record, their major label debut and the record we got our name from. So I guess you now know who also came up with the name of the podcast. Anyway, we decided to go deep on Helmet’s discography and in the process we all came to some interesting, and different, conclusions on the band’s work. Want to know more? Listen. Yes, it’s another cliffhanger! You’ll need to listen to see what our individual opinions are. Helmet’s best album? Well, you decide. Vote below.

This week on the Unsung Podcast - three lads go off the rails. Weaver decides to pick Carly Rae Jepsen’s third album ‘Emotion’, then throws a curveball by saying the mini album of B sides she released after it is much better. So on this episode we talk about both. Chris is pissed off, throwing derision around the shop like it’s going out of style. Weaver remains staunch in his defense of the record, and Mark briefly loses his shit in the middle before deciding that this album is beige wallpaper. This episode is a bit wild, so we hope you enjoy the ride. You can vote on if this record deserves to be added into our discography below.

A lovely return to hip hop this week, as Mark nominates El-P’s fourth solo album ‘Cancer 4 Cure’ for inclusion in our discography. David and Mark go deep on El-P’s back catalouge, taking detours through the discographies of some Def Jux artists and giving some time Killer Mike’s ‘R.A.P Music’, which was produced by El-P and came out within weeks of this album. And what conversation about El-P and Killer Mike can be complete without mentioning Run the Jewels and the staggering success they’ve had over the past five years? We cover that too. Is ‘Cancer 4 Cure’ the best El-P record? That’s up for you to decide. Vote below.

Back to more conventional territory this week. Sort of. Mike Patton, in fact not just Mike Patton but every member of Tomahawk, has been involved in a vast number of musical projects over the years. With most of the Tomahawk releases, one could convincingly argue that the band are the fulcrum for some of their most “conventional” work. Whilst all have been involved in some of the most important records ever made, they’ve never quite produced anything like Tomahawk. Conventional wisdom amongst fans of the band dictates that the band’s self titled first album should take the crown as their best work. We’re here to argue differently. Yes, you read that right - we’re here to argue differently. All three of us. United in a rare moment of praise for an album. We dive into the band’s history and take a tour of their entire discography, briefly touching upon each individual artist’s history but never lingering on it too long, because each one of them has a record we’ll cover at some point in the future. So enjoy this tour of Tomahawk and their fantastic discography, then tell us - do you think it’s their best album? Vote below.

Nothing like a curve ball, eh? This week Weaver dives deep into his catalogue of dance album and produces the spell binding ‘Glass Swords’ by Glasgow’s very own Rustie. This is our first time we’ve ever covered a dance album and the results are…mixed. ‘Glass Swords’ is often cited as being one of the most important and influential electronic records of the decade. Dave leans heavily on this fact, whilst citing how it’s both bizarre and wonderful that artists like Rustie and Hudson Mohawke have helped to define the sound of trap music; no mean feat when you considered the distance between Scotland and the American deep south. Dave and Chris give us a whilst stop tour of the more esoteric side of UK dance music covering labels such as Numbers, LuckyMe, PC Music and Warp amongst others. Is ‘Glass Swords’ Rustie’s best work? Only you can decide. Vote below.

Due to some personal issues David couldn’t join us this week, which means that Rustie’s ‘Glass Swords’ has again been pushed back until next week. We didn’t think it’d be right to cover a record he chose without him. So Chris and Mark decided to try something a bit different. Threatin is ostensibly the solo project of LA based musician Jared Threatin. In November 2018 he and four sessions musicians embarked upon a European tour in support of the band’s debut album ‘Breaking the World’. Once they began their tour things took a turn for the strange. This week Chris and Mark dust off their old investigative journalism hats and take a look at the curious case of Jered Eames. Threatin, and the media shitstorm which followed, serves to highlight a a huge number of shady dealings that go on in the music industry on a regular basis. From those who take the mantra of “fake it til you make it” quite literally, to those at the very top of the music industry who have no qualms with using bots to enhance the figures of some of the world’s biggest artists, it’s clear this is not just an isolated case. So sit back and enjoy a deep dive into the career of a fictional band, and listen in wonder as we tell you just how messed up the internet can be for musicians of all kinds. Links: https://www.sickchirpse.com/guy-paid-thousands-pounds-tour-uks-most-prestigious-venues-play-nobody/ https://www.spin.com/2018/05/tidal-fake-streams-kanye-beyonce-investigation-300-million/ https://readwrite.com/2013/01/28/youtube-bot-vevo-videos-lady-gaga-spk/ https://medium.com/cuepoint/the-power-of-false-pretense-87f6cd4d0d31 https://williamsonsource.com/10-things-about-brentwood-we-bet-you-didnt-know-lace/ Whyte Lace commerical: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQwgVYzEEnQ

Here’s a story. When you start a podcast you kinda want people to listen. I mean, we wouldn’t be making the bloody thing if we didn’t think we could offer something interesting and/or entertaining. You never really expect people to do it though, and so when you start to ask the people you didn’t expect to listen to give you money for the whole damn endeavour it feels a bit like daylight robbery. Yet, people listen. Not a lot, but enough. And then people donate. Not much, but a little. Then somehow, it begins to feel like a proper thing. Pride swells, hearts flutter and brains are completely baffled by people’s willingness and generosity for giving money to three guys who are probably still chancers. So we’d like to thank all of your for giving a shit about this like we do. As some may know, a while ago we put a post on Facebook saying that if someone would be daft enough to donate £100 we’d do an episode with them in their living room on a record of their choice. We didn’t think it’d actually happen, yet it did. The man? Dundonian legend Fraser Stewart. Some may know him from the band Fat Goth. In keeping with the very spirit of this podcast he chose an Unsung band with an Unsung record, pulling the album ‘I am Forever’ by a little known band from Oklahoma City called Traindodge. This is our thanks (?!) to him. And he takes on a wild ride as he talks about his connection to this band and their music. Also, he finally did a theme tune for the Dave Grohl Nexus and we must warn you - it’s so good it might actually break the internet. Is this the best Traindodge album? Vote below!

After the eclectic weirdness of Butthole Surfers things are taking quite a dark turn with Chelsea Wolfe’s fourth (or fifth depending on who you ask) album ‘Abyss’. It’s a heavy album. Musically, it’s heavy and muscular in an almost doomy way, and in terms of content it could give Robert Smith a run for this money. Chelsea plays with a lot of different influences on this record; the aforementioned heaviness of doom; unsettling industrial soundscapes; the bleak sparseness of neofolk; the chime of alt. rock; all of it is represented here and pulled together, and apart, in fascinating ways. On this episode Mark offers his reasoning behind choosing this over ‘Pain is Beauty’, whilst Weaver explains how he too found it hard to pick between the too. Chris defends ‘Hiss Spun’, whilst also giving us an insight into her past. As ever, the boys also take a tour of her discography, before taking strange detours into sleep paralysis, the puritanical streak of left and a bunch more wild and whacky sidebars. Also, the Dave Grohl Nexus falls apart in front of Mark as the other two bust out some truly impressive connections. Is this her best album? Only you can decide. Vote via our Facebook page and as ever, don’t forget to share it with your friends.

There are screeds and screeds dedicated to the Butthole Surfers. For most of their career they were a law unto themselves musically, and for a large part of their early career they were also a law unto themselves physically. Their 80s gigs are the stuff of legend, such was the level of disregard for human decency and safety. Yet most stories are bookended with just how good they were live. Not because of their on-stage antics - although we can imagine slight/massive fear for one’s health or life would certainly heighten the experience of seeing them - but because of how well they managed to play and sound in amongst the whirling maelstrom of noise, limbs, fire and nakedness that they brought to every venue they stumbled into. For the most part their records straddle the line between awesome genre bending songwriting and outright no-fucks-given avant-garde nonsense. And when we say nonsense we mean it in the very truest sense of the word. They were a band unconcerned with trends, and at many points, completely unconcerned with traditional songwriting in general. On this episode Chris picks their album Independent Worm Saloon because he feels it is the album where the Butthole Surfers embrace the tuneful directness that they frequently toyed with on previous records, whilst still maintaining their patented weirdness. Weaver reckons that Locust Abortion Technician is a better representation of the real Butthole Surfers, whilst Mark agrees with Chris. We dive deep into their history and discography here, so the episode is a little longer than usual but it’s also a lot of fun. Is this their best record? Only you can decide. Vote on our Facebook page below.

Whether you know them as purveyors of 80s synth pop goodness or pre-post rock (yes, we understand that pre-post rock is a strange way to put it) pioneers, Talk Talk have left an indelible mark on music. Bands from all genres cite their influence. From the likes of No Doubt to Interpol, Sigur Ros to AFI, Talk Talk’s influential status is resolute. Well, it’s resolute to most people. On this episode David gives us a stirring defence of this most obtuse of albums; a jazzy, experimental rock album which spends most of the time being minimal and mellow as opposed to bombastic and loud. We take a deep dive into their discography (which is mercifully small compared to some of the recent episodes), and ponder if this really was the beginning of post rock as we know it. Mark sits on the fence whilst Chris pulls out something of a face turn as he tackles the album from an intellectual point of view. Do you agree? Vote on our Facebook page. Also, if you can spare a second, tell a friend!

It’s punk-o-rama this week. Well, it’s not actually the punk-o-rama compilation or anything, but it is the first punk record we’ve covered a little while. Mark’s choice is ‘Black Sails in the Sunset’ by AFI, a band whose career has shifted in unexpected ways since their inception in 1991. From snotty skate punk to eyeliner soaked, Misfits aping goth-punk, straight through the mid 00s emo trend right up to their reinvention as a rock band with heavy synth-pop elements, AFI are an outfit who have followed their muse faithfully, never afraid to go in a different direction if the song demands it. Yet with such a fluid approach to genre as comes a mixed bag of success. 'Black Sails’ marks the midway point between their punk and goth vibes, channelling the Misifts but hinting at something more textured that seemed to lie just beyond. Mark attempts to make a case for why this is the best AFI record, before revealing how in depth analysis of it lead to a slight change of heart. Do you agree? Vote on our Facebook page. Also, if you can spare a second, tell a friend!