The Great Albums

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David Bowie: An Appreciation Jan 12, 2016

Show notes

Brian has recorded a special episode to honor the passing of David Bowie. In it, he explains how a simple soda ad brought the man into his life. It was during this time that Bowie's career was on the wane, coloring Brian's earliest memories toward the negative. But Brian speculates that--during Bowie's self-imposed hiatus--he was able to achieve icon status by staying out of his own way and instead becoming all things to all people.

Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True (w/ guest Jesse Elliot) Jan 11, 2016

Show notes

Singer, songwriter, and musician Jesse Elliot (jesseelliot.com) joins Brian and Bill to discuss Elvis Costello's My Aim Is True (1977, Stiff/Columbia) as we continue to highlight debut albums in January's First Month of First Albums! Incorporating an innumerable score of influences, Declan Patrick McManus (aka Elvis Costello) burst out of the British pub rock scene with some spiky music and a brash attitude. We discuss how Jesse first came to know the music through a mix tape, inherited from his brother and played in his crappy old car, before trying to delineate between punk, post-punk, and new wave. Along the way, we talk about what genre each album track belongs in, Nick Lowe's contributions as a producer, whether Clover was up to the task of backing Costello or if the Attractions would have done a better job, what causes the clipping we hear in the recording, Irish folk music, if Less Than Zero is actually a subpar tune, which songs are totally about sex, and as always a track by track review! Additionally, it's the new year, and we've got a new segment where our guest plays an Elvis Costello tune for us!

Bonus Song Thursday - Those Pretty Wrongs "Lucky Guy" Jan 07, 2016

Show notes

It's Bonus Song Thursday! Bill and Brian follow up their episode on Big Star's seminal #1 Record by taking a listen to Those Pretty Wrongs' "Lucky Guy." A teaming of Big Star's Jody Stephens and LA-based singer songwriter Luther Russell, the song was released as a 7" single in June 2015. Brian and Bill use the context of Jody Stephens emergence as a songwriter within Big Star to talk about and frame the band's career over the intervening years that led up to this release. We talk about how the song's production is a little reminiscent of Stephens' former band, the great bass tones that come out of Ardent Studios, and how happy Brian is that Jody is stepping out on his own as a songwriter. Additionally, we read a very special email that had us floored and will lend a little insight to a few of the things we discussed on the #1 Record episode.

Big Star - #1 Record Jan 04, 2016

Show notes

Brian and Bill ring in the new year and kick off the First Month of First Albums with one that has the number "one" in the title: Big Star's #1 Record (1972, Ardent/Stax). Having grown tired of "the biz" after he helped bring his teen rock group, the Box Tops, to the top of the charts with his smokey vocals, Alex Chilton wanted to make his own original music and found a kindred spirit in fellow Memphis native Chris Bell. Thanks to the close relationship Bell had with Ardent Studios founder John Fry, the band had a home in the studio and on their label, distributed by Stax Records. After solid promotion and stellar reviews across the board, the album somehow only found its way onto a small number of record store shelves, relegating it to cult status for many years. Brian and Bill talk about how the album found its way out of that hole and into a place in our hearts. Along the way we discuss why we we weren't immediately blown away by the album, how the music influenced what we all got used to hearing from our favorite bands over the years, the secret weapon that is Andy Hummel, Chris Bell's guitar solos and expert production, That 70s Show, Chilton's smooth delivery vs. Bell's broken tones, if the Bell-less albums stack up against this one, and as always a track by track review!

Bonus Song Christmas Dec 25, 2015

Show notes

It's Bonus Song Christmas! Wait, what? Didn't we say that the last Bonus Song Thursday was the last episode of the year? Well, it turns out Bill and Brian don't understand how calendars work and we didn't get our releases and recording days lined up so that we could talk about our listeners' suggestions for cool (and terrible) Christmas songs. So Bill took a little bit of time out of his Christmas Eve celebrations (which mostly consists of listening to "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and dancing with his dog Murray's floppy basset hound ears) to read some emails and play a couple new tunes. Featured on this episode are songs by Ron Sexsmith, Over the Rhine, Marah, and Squeeze! Happy holidays, again!

Bonus Song Thursday - The Vaughns "Mr. Skully" + Listeners' Lists! Dec 24, 2015

Show notes

It's Bonus Song Thursday! Brian and Bill cap off the year by reading and discussing the lists sent to us by the listeners of the podcast. Before we get to that, we take a listen to local favorites the Vaughns (thevaughns.bandcamp.com). Then we make our way through the lists of recommended albums, touching on what would be a valuable Dave Matthews Band or Husker Du album to cover. Also, we dive into a little bit about modern listening habits. Happy New Year!

Top 10 Albums of 2015 Dec 21, 2015

Show notes

Bill and Brian (really just Brian) count down their favorite albums from the 2015 calendar year! First we talk about why Adele didn't make the year end list and which pop artist could release the next great album. Then we discuss Brian's criteria for his choices, including the future legacy of these albums and the benefits of year end top 10s. In the course of the conversation, artists like Chicago and Lana Del Rey come up (but were not chosen for this list). Also, Bill shares some thoughts on the defining characteristics of rap music, comparing the tone of the lyrics to jazz and the blues, while Brian discusses 2015 as a year of violence and political upheaval. It's been a very good year for us at the Great Albums podcast, and we are forever thankful to each listener! Happy New Year and see you in the next one!

Bonus Song Thursday - Terrible Christmas Songs Dec 17, 2015

Show notes

It's Bonus Song Thursday! On our previous episode, Brian and Bill were joined by their awesome photo taking significant others, Amanda Guthrie (amandaguthriephtography.com) and Beanie Zee (beaniezee.com), to share some holiday cheer and talk about some of their favorite Christmas songs. But now, as we celebrate the release of the latest Star Wars film, we too must turn to the dark side to discuss some absolutely terrible songs. These songs are the Worst (with a capital W). Paul McCartney makes another unfortunate appearance on the podcast along with some other dreck. Additionally, a listener points us in the direction of some music that takes a Nirvana song into a new sonic landscape!

The 12 Songs of Christmas Dec 14, 2015

Show notes

Bill and Brian celebrate the season by having their significant others Beanie Zee (beaniezee.com) and Amanda Guthrie (amandaguthriephotography.com), both very talented photographers, join them to count down their favorite Christmas songs. We discuss our individual relationships with the holiday and share some memories about what what Christmas means to us. Between the 4 of us we end up with an interesting selection of songs that include the classics, some universally cherished songs, some kind of funny songs, and (of course) Bing Crosby! Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

Bonus Song Thursday - The Horrible Crowes "Behold the Hurricane" Dec 10, 2015

Show notes

It's Bonus Song Thursday! And Bill and Brian welcome indie rocker Andrew Kolbenschlag of Small Planet Radio (smallplanetradio.com) to continue talking about some Gaslight Anthem-adjacent music--namely, primary singer-songwriter Brian Fallon's side project the Horrible Crowes. We talk about how the band evolved over it's 5 albums, where this fits within that trajectory, how these guitar tones differ from the Gaslight anthem, and a little speculation about what Brian Fallon's upcoming solo LP will sound like.

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