“That’s Not Actually a Place You Want to Go”

For season 3 episode 1, I’m taking it solo again, because nobody else knows about William Basinski or The Disintegration Loops. And if they do, they’re not talking. But I love that project enough for us both.

Listen now

Show Notes

• I didn’t make an episode for two years! Oops.
• The podcast I clumsily push is that one I clumsily appeared on in 2015 – The Wayne Gale Variety Hour, when they tried to put together a survey of film taste for their 100th episode. More fun than it sounds!

Advertisement

“Eight of Them Are Almost Completely Unnecessary”

For season 2 episode 2, my guest is Tim PopKid, the record collector and music enthusiast behind I Buy WAY Too Many Records Dot Com. He loves one of my favorite bands, Rocket From the Crypt, so that’s mostly what we talk about. Give it a shot!

Listen now

Show Notes

• I didn’t get a chance to give you a sample of Swami John Reis and the Blind Shake. You should seek that out and enjoy it.
• You can read the blog of PopKid Records, visit their Bandcamp site, buy stuff at their store, and check their history on Discogs.
• Aside from the RFTC family of bands, we also discuss Cloud Nothings, Ex Hex, Otis Redding, Built to Spill, and Superdrag spinoff The Lees of Memory.
• Beginner RFTC collectors can’t live without Pette Discographies.
• While it has been about three months since I recorded this conversation, PopKid Records still has not revealed the nature of their collaboration with Japanese record label Snuffy Smile. You can join me in eagerly awaiting it!

“Giddy Up, Jingle Horse”

Oh, I hope I’m getting this out in front of an audience that isn’t already burned completely out on Christmas music. This seemed like a really good idea at the time. Welcome to Season 2, welcome back to Thad, and I hope you welcome us into your hearts.

Listen now

Show Notes

• The Seth Godin post that I riff on in the monologue.
• The amazing video for Wham!’s “Last Christmas”.

“Not My Bag of Music”

In the fourth episode, Dan interviews Collin Hummel of FlashMob!. They talk about life on the road, playing bars and clubs, and what it means to connect with a (drunk) audience on your own (impossible) terms.

Listen now

Show Notes

• O’Gara’s gets a bad rap here, but it’s a bar in St. Paul.
• I didn’t know what Hairball was, but that looks like a lot of work.
• I’d never heard of The Almost, either.
• I suppose you might discover that, in the six months it took me to edit this episode, Collin has left FlashMob! and they’ve continued on. Updates to come in a future episode?!

“Small Things Hidden Inside Big Things”

In the third episode, Dan gives up interview subjects. Topics of discussion include the new Beats Music and seminal indie rock favorites, Pixies. Of all of the acts on Beats Music’s “Under the Influence: Pixies”, which are actually influenced by Pixies?

Listen now

Show Notes

The great thing about having no guest is that I elaborate on every weird tangent that strikes my fancy. So not a lot of notes this time.

• I guess I don’t exactly explain what 120 Minutes is. Now you know.
• I mention The Natural History. I found this video totally charming, and the rest of the song is great.
• The Strokes are fine and everything, but if you haven’t seen the video with lead singer Julian Casablancas working with Daft Punk, you’re missing out.

“Professionals Always Make It Look Easy”

In the second episode, Dan talks to Josh Dingman about Queens of the Stone Age, Dave Grohl, his band (Panda Soup), playing in bars, the 90’s, songwriting, and rock music video games.

Listen now

Show Notes

• The Gene Ween demos.
• Enjoy a recording of Panda Soup playing an R.E.M. song.
• The new The National record.
• A Vampire Weekend discography.
• The story of “Spotify doesn’t pay artists enough” was featured on Slate.
• Spotify’s response to the controversy was written up in Forbes.
• The Amazon vinyl-sales growth Josh refers to was featured in Engadget.
• The most recent Killers album is actually a best-of, their second compilation. As odd as that is.
• Have I already linked off to the entry for …Like Clockwork? Okay.
• My infatuation with Dave Grohl started with this post from Merlin Mann.
• Speedy Ortiz was written up in Pitchfork.
• Oh, I forgot Handsome Boy Modeling School in that batch of turn-of-the-century Automator records.
• I’m reading Melody in Songwriting.

“You’ve Never Seen Anything Like This”

In this episode, Dan and Thad Brink discuss Neko Case, kind-of barely liking country music, Sound City, First Avenue, Chicago, Cypress Hill, iTunes Radio, albums and singles, and movies.

Listen now

Show Notes

• You should listen to (and support) the live stream of The Current. It’s not without its faults, but it will make you a better person.
• Thad’s go-to, Radio K, also affords listening online and through an app.
• The new Neko Case record.
• Sound City.
• Metric is from Canada, and they’re great. Poliça is from Minneapolis, and they’re also great.
• The person “who saw Eraserhead on cable TV” was Charles Bukowski. I knew I knew that story from somewhere.
• That was a terrible answer to Thad’s question about “essential” artists that I don’t care for. U2’s fine and all, but they aren’t widely considered a classic rock band. Better examples would be The Rolling Stones — just like Thad and Led Zeppelin, I think they have a handful of good songs, but I don’t need to get deeper into their catalogue. That’s probably another whole show. The most well-regarded “essential classic rock band” I out-and-out dislike is probably Pink Floyd.
• Thad says: “How could I forget OK Go in the discussion of Chicago bands with a niche? They have the best choreography and videos like this made a lot of noise for them, but they are also solid musically.”