Discord and Rhyme: An Album Podcast

Latest Episodes:

128: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Kicking Against the Pricks (1986) Oct 24, 2023

Show notes

For this year’s Halloween episode, we wanted to go with an artist who scares the living daylights out of us, and what better choice than Nick Cave? After all, this is a man who once recorded an entire album of murder ballads, and whose legendary single “The Mercy Seat” charts a killer’s stream of consciousness as he is led to the electric chair. We could have picked almost any of Cave’s albums with the Bad Seeds, but Mike threw a curveball and chose the covers album Kicking Against the Pricks, because sometimes the best way to get to the essence of an artist’s work is examining the way they interpret and curate the work of other artists. The album boasts a truly eclectic set of songs, with pitch-dark Delta blues sharing a tracklist with light pop by Tom Jones, Gene Pitney, and the Seekers, all cloaked in the one-of-a-kind, macabre atmosphere that Cave’s fans have come to know, love, and fear. Yet by the time this carnival is over, you’ll have a sense of the light that glows beneath the darkness of his music. Happy Halloween!

Cohosts: Mike DeFabio, Rich Bunnell, Amanda Rodgers

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/128-nick-cave-and-the-bad-seeds-kicking-against-the-pricks-1986

Discord & Rhyme's merch store: http://tee.pub/lic/discordpod

Support the podcast! https://www.patreon.com/discordpod

127: The Beatles - Beatles for Sale (1964) Oct 10, 2023

Show notes

Beatles For Sale is a relatively obscure album, to the extent that any Beatles album could be called obscure. This album was recorded at a time when the Beatles were creatively exhausted and almost half of it is covers, which is why it’s often dismissed as one of their weaker efforts. But we don’t think that’s fair. It’s not world-changing, that’s true enough, but it doesn’t have to be. They were still writing interesting, exciting originals, and the covers are (mostly) very well chosen and excellently performed. Once you’ve listened closely, you’ll realize that tracks like “Rock and Roll Music,” “Eight Days a Week,” and “Every Little Thing” are absolutely essential to understanding the Beatles, and even the tracks that aren't as important are still tons of fun.
Cohosts: Amanda Rodgers, John McFerrin, Ben Marlin, Dan Watkins
Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/127-the-beatles-beatles-for-sale-1964
Discord & Rhyme's merch store: http://tee.pub/lic/discordpod
Support the podcast! https://www.patreon.com/discordpod

126: Slint - Spiderland (1991) Sep 26, 2023

Show notes

Slint are a true one-of-a-kind band - they showed up seemingly out of nowhere, singlehandedly defined an entire genre on a single album, and disappeared before that album was even released. What happened? Why is Spiderland so influential? And, beyond its influence - does the album still hold up today? Phil certainly thinks so - in his opinion, its grandeur has been frequently imitated, but never duplicated. He, along with Mike, Rich, and Dan, are here to talk about just what makes this album so special.
Cohosts: Phil Maddox, Mike DeFabio, Rich Bunnell, Dan Watkins
Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/126-slint-spiderland-1991
Discord & Rhyme's merch store: http://tee.pub/lic/discordpod
Support the podcast! https://www.patreon.com/discordpod

125: The Beach Boys - All Summer Long (1964) and Sunflower (1970) Sep 12, 2023

Show notes

It's Discord & Rhyme's 125th episode, and we are marking the occasion with one of our favorite recording strategies: tackling a famous band by discussing two of their albums while making an end-run around their most critically acclaimed period. In this episode, Ben talks about the 1964 Beach Boys album All Summer Long, where the band really shifted into second gear, while John talks about the 1970 Beach Boys album Sunflower, a beautiful album released during a period when very few people had any time to add the Beach Boys to their day. Rich and Phil join Ben and John to share their thoughts on these two lesser-known albums from one of the greatest (and secretly weirdest) bands one can find in this whole world, and spoiler alert, everybody here agrees that the Beach Boys are terrific (except maybe when Uncle Jesse is prominently involved). It's about time we got around to this band, but we promise this episode will put a smile on your face.

Cohosts: Ben Marlin, John McFerrin, Rich Bunnell, Phil Maddox

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/125-the-beach-boys-all-summer-long-1964-amp-sunflower-1970

Discord & Rhyme's merch store: http://tee.pub/lic/discordpod

Support the podcast! https://www.patreon.com/discordpod

124: Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy (1978) Aug 29, 2023

Show notes

Whether he likes it or not, Warren Zevon will forever be most remembered for his surprise hit “Werewolves of London,” but he’s a far more complex and interesting songwriter than most folks are aware. Forever a musician’s musician, Zevon’s unique voice has influenced scores of artists although he himself has remained something of a cult figure over the decades. While 1978’s Excitable Boy does indeed feature his biggest hit, it is also home to some of the most sharp-witted and acidic songs he ever wrote. Join Dan, Mike, Rich, and returning guest Libby Cudmore as we discuss Zevon and his cast of psychopaths, mercenaries, screwups, and lycanthropes.
NOTE: There's some strong language and dark subject matter in here, so be mindful of that if there's anyone around who shouldn't be hearing it.
Cohosts: Dan Watkins, Rich Bunnell, Mike DeFabio, Libby Cudmore
Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/124-warren-zevon-excitable-boy-1978
Discord & Rhyme's merch store: http://tee.pub/lic/discordpod
Support the podcast! https://www.patreon.com/discordpod

123: Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - Naturally (2005) Aug 15, 2023

Show notes

Are you ready to do the Dap Dip? This week, the Discord & Rhyme Super Soul Revue travels back to 2005 to discuss Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, who play sunny R&B that sounds like it came straight out of the late ‘60s or early ‘70s. But despite the retro sound, there’s nothing retro about this band, who were just playing the music they loved and recording it the way they loved it. And Sharon Jones herself was the real deal, a classic diva who was born in the South literally across the state line from James Brown. The world lost Sharon Jones to cancer in 2016, but her voice lives on in the Dap-Kings’ catalog, which includes six wonderful studio albums and innumerable covers recorded for hire. So put a fish in your dish and join Rich, Mike, and Dan to talk about an album that will make you fall in love with soul all over again.
Cohosts: Rich Bunnell, Mike DeFabio, Dan Watkins
Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/123-sharon-jones-and-the-dap-kings-naturally-2005
Discord & Rhyme's merch store: http://tee.pub/lic/discordpod
Support the podcast! https://www.patreon.com/discordpod

Bonus: Unexpected Guitars! Aug 01, 2023

Show notes

We're on summer vacation after finishing our King Crimson episode, so please enjoy this release from the Patreon vault! We call these our Mad Libs episodes, where we pick a category and discuss songs that fit that category somehow. This is one of our favorites, so we hope you like it! (Please note that we recorded this in September '22, before we did the Rumours episode and before Gordon Lightfoot passed.)
More Mad Libs episodes: https://www.patreon.com/discordpod
Cohosts: Mike DeFabio, John McFerrin, Amanda Rodgers
Songs:

Gordon Lightfoot - The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Funkadelic - Get Off Your Ass and Jam
Roxy Music - Amazona
Steely Dan - Reelin' In the Years
Neil Young - Like a Hurricane
St. Vincent - Huey Newton
Fleetwood Mac - Big Love (Live)
Guitar Slim - The Story of My Life
Metallica - Orion
Janet Jackson - Black Cat
Chicago - Free Form Guitar
The Beach Boys - All I Wanna Do

Extras:

122: King Crimson - Discipline (1981) Jul 18, 2023

Show notes

It's only talk! This week, Mike rounds out our fifth-anniversary triad of King Crimson discussions with some dialogue, duologue, diatribe, dissension, and declamation about the band's 1981 album Discipline. On this album, bassist Tony Levin and guitarist and vocalist Adrian Belew joined Crimson veterans Robert Fripp and Bill Bruford to produce some of the most complicated music in the Crimson oeuvre, with every musician devoted to making their instrument produce sounds you’ve never heard. But paradoxically, it's also one of their catchiest albums, dabbling in new wave and world beat in the same musical sphere as Talking Heads, who were part of the same New York scene as Fripp in the late ‘70s. Discipline may sound like a sharp, disorienting left turn for King Crimson on first listen, but the album did a lot to cement the band’s music as a living document to be iterated upon. Join us as we break it down, frame by frame!
Cohosts: Mike DeFabio, Rich Bunnell, Phil Maddox, John McFerrin
Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/122-king-crimson-discipline-1981
Discord & Rhyme's merch store: http://tee.pub/lic/discordpod
Support the podcast! https://www.patreon.com/discordpod

121: King Crimson - Red (1974) Jul 04, 2023

Show notes

Part two of the Discord & Rhyme celebration of King Crimson brings us to the 1974 album Red, the band’s final studio(-ish) album before it disbanded for 7 years. John’s history with King Crimson began with this album, and while he didn’t initially like it, it’s long become his favorite King Crimson album, and the ‘72-’74 King Crimson lineup especially has long become one of his favorite bands. This episode examines how everything in King Crimson’s turbulent history to this point made this album possible, and how the band’s refusal to get pigeonholed as “progressive rock” allowed it to create some of the heaviest, most powerful, and most awe-inspiring music ever made under the general umbrella of “rock” music. Also, “Starless” might be the best song ever recorded, and we're happy to tell you why.
Cohosts: John McFerrin, Amanda Rodgers, Mike DeFabio, Phil Maddox
Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/121-king-crimson-red-1974
Discord & Rhyme's merch store: http://tee.pub/lic/discordpod
Support the podcast! https://www.patreon.com/discordpod

120: King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King (1969) Jun 20, 2023

Show notes

As frequently as we mention King Crimson on this podcast, you’d think we would have done a proper episode on them by now. But we wanted to hold off until we could really do it up right, so this is the premiere of our three-episode series on the greatest pioneers of progressive rock. They didn’t fully invent prog, but they did more to solidify the genre than any group that had come before them, to the point where each song on their debut album spawned a different prog subgenre - so, while this isn’t the first prog album, it might be the most important. Time to get started on this journey, because the cracked brass bells have rung to summon back all us fire witches to discuss The Court of the Crimson King.
Cohosts: Amanda Rodgers, John McFerrin, Mike DeFabio, Dan Watkins
Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/120-king-crimson-in-the-court-of-the-crimson-king-1969
Discord & Rhyme's merch store: http://tee.pub/lic/discordpod
Support the podcast! https://www.patreon.com/discordpod

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Discord and Rhyme: An Album Podcast

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected