Discord and Rhyme: An Album Podcast (Discord and Rhyme)

Gentle Giant comes up so often on Discord & Rhyme, especially considering how obscure they are outside the world of hardcore prog rock fandom, that it’s amazing we haven’t covered them yet. Many 1970s prog rock bands aspired to combine rock with classical (and jazz among other things), but unlike most of their contemporaries, Gentle Giant actually knew enough about classical music to make the combination something more than rock crossed with a touch of 19th century Romanticism. John’s pick for their best album is Octopus of 1972, an album that fires ideas at the listener so rapidly that the various songs (and these are all songs, in the 3-6 minute range) become extremely memorable, even as they’re sometimes among the most complex and bewildering music to come out of the 1970s. Come listen to John, Mike, and Phil tell you why they’ve fallen in love with this band and with this album.

Cohosts: John McFerrin, Mike DeFabio, Phil Maddox

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/129-gentle-giant-octopus-1972

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

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

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

Before they were flattened into part of the public’s collective generic memory of the 1960s, and before an astonishing level of in-fighting and tragedy turned the group’s story into one of the best VH1: Behind the Music episodes, The Mamas and the Papas released one of the best debut albums of the 1960s. It produced three massive hits you’ve heard hundreds of times apiece if you listen to oldies radio, but it also produced a handful of worthwhile deeper cuts, with interesting songwriting (most of the time) and top-notch singing throughout. John leads a discussion with Amanda, Phil, and Ben about the collection of musicians who created one of his favorite 1960s albums and one of the most jaw-dropping soap-operas of the decade.

Cohosts: John McFerrin, Ben Marlin, Phil Maddox, Amanda Rodgers

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/147-the-mamas-and-the-papas-if-you-can-believe-your-eyes-and-ears-1966

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

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

On her junior album Homogenic, Björk (pronounced “Bjerk”) dumped the playful genre-bending of her earlier albums for a consistent palette of strings and volcano-like, almost proto-dubstep beats, and the result is almost universally considered the pièce de résistance of her career. But even more than that, the album is a mature, unique expression of Björk’s inner life, at a time when the press often treated her as more a quirky headline in a swan dress and less a human being. Well, Discord & Rhyme will have none of that! Returning guest Shivam Bhatt has a limitless ability to gush over Björk, and he joins Rich, John, and Mike for an episode best described as “groveling at the feet of a deity.” There are so many things we love about Björk, from her truly outside the box lyricism to her absolutely otherworldly voice, and we hope this episode conveys the unpredictable joy of getting to know her music.

Cohosts: Rich Bunnell, John McFerrin, Mike DeFabio, Shivam Bhatt

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/bjrk-homogenic-1997

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

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

It’s taken us nearly seven years, but the time has come. Midnight Oil, one of Australia's quintessential bands, is probably best known for its tireless political activism as expressed through hits like "Beds Are Burning" and "Blue Sky Mine," as well as the on-stage acrobatics of their 6′4″ frontman, Peter Garrett. But behind the sloganeering and agitprop, the Oils are a fiendishly creative and charmingly oddball band, and their 1982 Australian breakout album 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, recorded at a make-or-break moment for the group, was when they first really landed on their unmistakable aura. Rich has been an Oils fan literally since he was a teenager, and he’s called in Ben and returning special guest Dave Weigel to deconstruct 10 to 1 and all of the power and the passion that went into these incredible songs. 

Cohosts: Rich Bunnell, Ben Marlin, Dave Weigel

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/157-midnight-oil-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-1982

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

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

Mike’s ongoing quest to make Discord & Rhyme more metal inevitably meant we would have to tackle the band so synonymous with metal they put it in their name, and Metallica’s incredible mid-80s prime inevitably meant we would need to tackle two of their albums in the same episode. Ride the Lightning of 1984 and Master of Puppets of 1986 are largely the same album in terms of overall flow, but the differences are every bit as important as the similarities, and the best material from these albums ranks among the best rock music (not just metal) ever created. Join with Mike, Phil, and John as they make the case for why Metallica, despite a career with its fair share of ups and downs (and baffling documentaries), should be remembered as one of the greatest bands of its time.

Cohosts: Mike DeFabio, Phil Maddox, John McFerrin

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/150-metallica-ride-the-lightning-1984-and-master-of-puppets-1986

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

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

It’s Discord & Rhyme’s 25th episode, and we’re celebrating by tackling not one, but two Yes albums (with more in common than they appear to have): The Yes Album from 1971 and Drama from 1980. In this double-length episode, Rich, Phil, and Amanda join forces with Prog John and (making a return appearance) with Washington Post reporter David Weigel, aka Prog Dave, aka The Man Who Wrote The Book On Prog. Yes has one of the craziest histories of any major band from the 1970s onward, marked by a willingness to replace anybody at any time, most notably demonstrated by the time that they responded to the departure of their singer and keyboardist by replacing them with The Buggles, and this episode features a deep dive into the history of Yes and the circumstances that led to one of the least likely lineups ever formed. Join us for a discussion of one of John’s very favorite bands, full of silly sing-alongs, ridiculous listicles of yesteryear, and one of the most scorching hot takes this show will ever produce.

Cohosts: John McFerrin, Rich Bunnell, Phil Maddox, Amanda Rodgers, Dave Weigel

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/025-feat-dave-weigel-yes-the-yes-album-1971-and-drama-1980

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

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

Here we go, yo! It's been a while since this podcast has covered either a hip-hop album or a jazz album — so this week, we're doing both at once! A Tribe Called Quest formed in the late ‘80s in the New York City neighborhood of St. Albans, Queens, which was home to some of the giants of jazz, blues, and funk, and was a hotbed of musical activity in the years when hip-hop was simmering into existence. On Tribe’s 1991 album The Low End Theory, members Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, and Ali Shaheed Muhammed pay tribute to this rich musical legacy with an album that charted a new path for hip-hop by exploring its roots in bebop, hard bop, post-bop, all the other bops, and more. This album isn’t just a classic – it’s one of the sacred texts of the hip-hop genre, and it helped Rich get into jazz after years of failed attempts. So if you’re a jazz aficionado who’s on the fence about hip-hop, or vice versa, we invite you to crank up the bass and check the (discord and) rhime with us. Just watch out for the dungeon dragon!

Cohosts: Rich Bunnell, Mike DeFabio, Phil Maddox

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/149-a-tribe-called-quest-the-low-end-theory-1991

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

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

Surprise! Due to some scheduling conflicts and the fact that we are all humans with lives, we weren’t able to record our scheduled episode in time. But luckily, back in April 2020, we decided it would be a good idea to record an emergency backup episode for just such an event! (Such is our dedication to you, the listener.) So we decided to tackle Revolver, an album that could only have been made by the Beatles, and only in 1966. John, Ben, and Amanda spent a couple of hours chatting about an album that blows our minds, makes us deliriously happy, and changed the course of rock music forever. 

Cohosts: Amanda Rodgers, Ben Marlin, John McFerrin

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/058-the-beatles-revolver-1966

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

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

Well, sit right down, my wicked son, and let us tell you a story, about the subject of this year’s Discord & Rhyme holiday episode: the Pixies! (Or technically, just Pixies.) Hailing from Boston, the alternative rock quartet dealt with mounting intra-band tension with little to nothing to show for it financially, leading bandleader Charles Thompson (alias Black Francis) to break up the band via fax in 1991. But the band’s critical stature gradually grew to gigantic proportions in the ‘90s, as their albums influenced bands like Pavement, PJ Harvey, Radiohead, Weezer, and especially Nirvana, who built an entire movement out of the classic Pixies “quiet-loud” formula. When they reunited for a reunion tour in 2004, they found, much to their shock and awe, that their songs had grown into anthems. Their 1989 album Doolittle is arguably the peak of their original run, featuring songs that could plausibly fill an arena without sacrificing their scrappy indie energy, so join Rich, John, and Dan as they sail away on a (festive) wave of mutilation.

Cohosts: Rich Bunnell, John McFerrin, Dan Watkins

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/153-pixies-doolittle-1989

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

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

Malört: The Redemption of a Revered and Reviled Spirit by Josh Noel: https://www.joshnoel.net/malort-book

Often criminally overlooked among the ’90s indie-rock canon, Helium’s The Magic City is one of the most colorful and unpredictable albums to come out of Matador Records’ reign as kings of the genre. On their second and final album, Mary Timony and crew cast aside the fuzzy, lo-fi guitars for bright, lush arrangements that explore influences as diverse as medieval folk, progressive rock, and video game music. Climb aboard your mighty unicorn and follow Dan, Amanda, and Rich into the cosmos as we travel through this musically rich landscape of aging astronauts, dragons, and Chamberlins. 

Cohosts: Dan Watkins, Rich Bunnell, Amanda Rodgers

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/042-helium-the-magic-city-1997

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

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

Jethro Tull started their career as a hardcore blues band. Within a few years, they were a hardcore progressive rock band, writing album-long suites of extraordinarily complex music. While both of those eras are interesting, the brief period between the two - where the band had moved away from the blues, but hadn’t yet completely progged out - is some of the best music of its era. Sadly, it doesn’t get discussed nearly enough these days. In this episode, Phil, along with Ben, John, and Mike, dive into this era with 1969’s Stand Up - a contender for the best album Tull ever released. So - don your codpiece, jump on one leg, and join in the fun as we discuss one of the best (and most overlooked) rock albums of 1969 (along with several contemporary singles that, while not on the album proper, are far too good to ignore).

Cohosts: Phil Maddox, Ben Marlin, John McFerrin, Mike DeFabio

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/046-jethro-tull-stand-up-1969

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

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

In 1994, Green Day introduced a whole new generation to punk rock with their major label debut, Dookie. There has been a lot of discourse over the years about whether or not Green Day are “real” punk rock, but Dookie has endured as a classic of ‘90s rock, containing numerous standards that have long-since been memorized by anyone reasonably fluent in the rock of the era. Phil discovered Green Day when he was 12 years old - the ideal age for absorbing their combination of crude-but-relatable lyrics and hyper-catchy music, and he still loves them to this day, so he’s absolutely thrilled to get a chance to talk to Dan and Rich about how much he loves Dookie. 

Cohosts: Phil Maddox, Rich Bunnell, Dan Watkins

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/144-green-day-dookie-1994

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

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

Hello, Cleveland! This week, Producer Mike continues his quest to make Discord & Rhyme more metal by turning it up to 11 with an episode on England’s loudest band, Spinal Tap. The fictional Spinal Tap consists of guitarists David St. Hubbins and Nigel Tufnel, bassist Derek Smalls, and a series of cursed drummers, whose misadventures are chronicled in the 1984 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap. The real Spinal Tap consists of Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer, three exceptionally gifted comedians who know what makes metal tick and are very smart at playing dumb. And that extends to the movie’s soundtrack, whose songs walk the line between sophisticated songwriting and sounding like they could conceivably have been written by three boneheads. Because why waste good music on a brain?

Cohosts: Mike DeFabio, Rich Bunnell, John McFerrin

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/146-spinal-tap-this-is-spinal-tap-1984

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

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

Pete and the Escapologists - Chronicles of a Dead End: https://peteescapologists.bandcamp.com/album/chronicles-of-a-dead-end

Jeff Beck had shown off his guitar genius with several fiery mid-1960s hit singles by the Yardbirds; he’d even scored some UK top-30 hits as an unlikely singing star. But all that was prologue to Truth, his 1968 solo debut album. Joined by future Rolling Stone Ron Wood and a then-unknown Rod Stewart, Beck laid down a standout batch of electric blues songs - plus a showtune and an olde English folk song to show off his versatility. Truth has always been one of Ben’s favorite albums, and he joins Rich and Dan to talk about it. 

Cohosts: Ben Marlin, Rich Bunnell, Dan Watkins

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/148-jeff-beck-truth-1968

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

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

George Harrison was reaching his creative peak in the late 1960s, but famously had a difficult time getting the other Beatles interested in recording his songs. So when they broke up in 1970, George got a massive group of musicians together and recorded his entire backlog to release all at once. All Things Must Pass was the first ever triple album by a single artist, and (apart from Apple Jam) is a tightly focused, intense, cathartic listening experience unmatched in popular music. In this episode, Amanda, Ben, and Mike do their best to dissect this extremely dense album and prove that George Harrison was a brilliant musician and deserves the highest respect.

Cohosts: Amanda Rodgers, Mike DeFabio, Ben Marlin

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/145-george-harrison-all-things-must-pass-1970

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

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

Everyone has an opinion about the Doors - whether you think they’re transgressive and mind-blowing, or you find them silly and overrated, or - like Ben - you just think they made some killer music. With invaluable help from Amanda, Dan, and Mike, Ben makes the case that the Doors’ 1967 self-titled debut album contains more killer music than many people realize. It might even blow your mind a little, too. 

Cohosts: Ben Marlin, Amanda Rodgers, Mike DeFabio, Dan Watkins

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/158-the-doors-the-doors-1967

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

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

Amanda has been threatening to talk about bluegrass on the podcast for years, and we finally settled on the perfect album to start with: Live!!!! Almost!!! by the Dillards. Half a comedy album and half a virtuoso performance by expert musicians, it’s a fantastic introduction to the genre. It was recorded in front of an audience completely unfamiliar with bluegrass music, so the band chose songs that were catchy and accessible, then made it even more engaging by adding Smothers Brothers-style jokey commentary in between. The result is an interesting and very entertaining live album that stands a good chance of winning over any bluegrass skeptics, and even if it doesn’t, it gives us a chance to explain why we like it. 

Cohosts: Amanda Rodgers, Ben Marlin, John McFerrin

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/135-the-dillards-live-almost-1964

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

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

We all know that Elton John is a top-tier singles artist, but he is also a top-tier albums artist. His run of nine albums from Empty Sky in 1969 through Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy in 1975 may very well be unmatched in modern music history. It was really hard to pick one to talk about on Discord & Rhyme, but we settled on Honky Chateau because it’s the perfect encapsulation of what Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin were best at (and worst at). Full of incredible musicianship, amazing singing, stellar arrangements, and awkward lyrics, this is an album that’s almost guaranteed to win over anyone who is still skeptical of Elton John. 

NOTE: Amanda made a mistake. Empty Sky wasn't released in the United States until 1975.

Cohosts: Amanda Rodgers, Ben Marlin, Rich Bunnell, John McFerrin

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/154-elton-john-honky-chateau-1972

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

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

The Music Of Songs by Jimmy O'Donnell: https://jimmyodonnell.bandcamp.com/album/the-music-of-songs

If You Try Sometimes... by Benjamin Marlin: https://amzn.to/3ZFJCK5

Discord & Rhyme continues its slow walk through the world of Post-Rock with an examination of the 1996 album Millions Now Living Will Never Die by the Chicago-based group Tortoise. John has been fascinated by the concept of Post-Rock for many years (even if many of the acts associated with it, Tortoise included, rejected it as a useful descriptor), and a large part of this fascination stems from a love he has had for this album for over 20 years. In this episode, John, Mike, Rich, and Dan try to make sense not only of how one should define one of the most ambiguous genres out there, but also of why an instrumental album in that genre (possibly), mostly lacking clear traditional melodies and traditional song structures (the opening “Djed” is 21 minutes by itself), is clearly one of the best albums any of us have ever heard.  Regardless of whether Tortoise is Post-Rock, Prog, both, or neither, this is an album worth learning about, and Discord & Rhyme is up to the challenge.

Cohosts: John McFerrin, Mike DeFabio, Rich Bunnell, Dan Watkins

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/156-tortoise-millions-now-living-will-never-die-1996

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

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

Rich, Mike, and Amanda answer a bonanza of questions from listeners. Topics include retro prog, great live albums and not-so-great live shows, fantasy supergroups, synesthesia, our favorite recent releases, and no fewer than three questions about the Moody Blues. Listen through to the end for a special request to listeners! 

Clips: 

• Peter Gabriel - Start 
• Def Leppard - Animal 
• The Moody Blues - Here Comes the Weekend 
• Ween - Friends 
• The Velvet Underground - I'll Be Your Mirror 
• LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends 
• Jenny Conlee - Hawk (Dorian) 
• Mary Timony - No Thirds 
• Marnie Stern - Plain Speak 
• Peter Gabriel - i/o (Dark-Side Mix) 
• Days Between Stations - The Man Who Died Two Times 
• Mondo Drag - Out of Sight
• Opeth - Heart in Hand 
• iamthemorning - 5/4 
• Liza Minnelli - I Want You Now 
• Robert Wyatt - Sea Song 
• Johnny Cash - A Boy Named Sue (live) 
• Oingo Boingo - No Spill Blood (live) 
• Underworld - Cups/Push Upstairs (live) 
• Girls5eva - Famous 5eva 
• Lalo Schifrin - Theme from Mannix 
• Andy Partridge - I Wonder Why the Wonderfalls 
• The Simpsons - Canyonero 
• Bob's Burgers - Thanksgiving Song 
• The Simpsons - Lisa, It's Your Birthday 

Theme: The Moody Blues - "Question" 

Amanda on synesthesia: https://discordpod.com/blog/synesthesia-corner 

Rich on synesthesia: https://discordpod.com/blog/synesthesia-corner-vol-2-born-to-synesthete

Discord & Rhyme are taking a trip to Canterbury, England - UNESCO World Heritage Site, home of the Canterbury Cathedral, and birthplace of prog-rock legends Caravan. Springing forth from the rich Canterbury scene, Caravan created a style of progressive rock that managed to be complex while retaining a real sense of warmth. The group is not particularly well known outside of progressive rock circles, but Phil has loved them for a long time, and he’s excited to talk about the group’s most famous album, In the Land of Grey and Pink.

Cohosts: Phil Maddox, Mike DeFabio, John McFerrin

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/152-caravan-in-the-land-of-grey-and-pink-1971

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

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

Rich, Ben, and John answer a super-sized mailbag of listener questions, with subjects including jukebox musicals, James Bond themes, songs that give them the happy chills, sample-based hip-hop producers, the usual suite of Moody Blues questions, and a philosophical discussion on how we all listen to music and how this has changed as we've gotten older. This episode also features an interlude on experimental music from Producer Mike, and a listener-submitted puzzle! 

Co-hosts: Rich Bunnell, Ben Marlin, John McFerrin, Mike DeFabio 

Spotify playlist of the songs clipped in this episode: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2ew48yCf2JAnroOVFlaLCv?si=yPstIGylTUOanMidd-cPlA

Hear that? There goes the siren that warns of the air raid – or maybe that’s just Bruce Dickinson’s voice. This week, Mike continues his quest to make Discord & Rhyme more metal with the album Powerslave by Iron Maiden. In the popular consciousness, Maiden are known for their goofy album covers and hits like “Bring Your Daughter … to the Slaughter.” But if you dig just a little deeper, they were vanguards of the new wave of British heavy metal, with a seven-album run in the ‘80s that ranks among the greatest winning streaks of the album era, metal or otherwise. Powerslave is arguably their peak, boasting some of their greatest compositions and brainiest lyrics, with subjects running the gamut from The Prisoner to the military-industrial complex to the dawn of British Romanticism. But most importantly, it rocks, and Mike has invited Phil, John, and Rich to discuss eight amazing songs that will put you at a losfer words.

Cohosts: Mike DeFabio, Phil Maddox, John McFerrin, Rich Bunnell

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/137-iron-maiden-powerslave-1984

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

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

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

Uriah Heep were never critical darlings, but for a brief period in the early seventies, they were making some absolutely killer fantasy-tinged rock. Phil has always had a soft spot for 1972’s Demons And Wizards, which is probably the best example of what could happen when this band was truly firing on all cylinders. He, along with Dan and Mike, makes the case for why this album should be a staple of any respectable early seventies hard rock collection.

Cohosts: Phil Maddox, Mike DeFabio, Dan Watkins

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/134-uriah-heep-demons-and-wizards-1972

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

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

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel were gifted musicians with a deep and complicated personal relationship, which makes them perfect subjects for a Discord & Rhyme holiday episode. Their magnum opus, Bridge Over Troubled Water, was a huge hit in 1970 and is still as beautiful, innovative, and occasionally silly as it ever was. Ben, Amanda, Rich, and John love this album dearly, and discussing all its strengths and arguing over its few flaws was the perfect way to wind up Discord & Rhyme’s sixth calendar year. Happy holidays, everyone, and may all your relationships be less acrimonious than Simon and Garfunkel’s. 

Cohosts: Rich Bunnell, Ben Marlin, John McFerrin, Amanda Rodgers

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/132-simon-and-garfunkel-bridge-over-troubled-water

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

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

In 1994, the charts were dominated by the likes of Mariah Carey, Beck, Gin Blossoms, Ace of Base, and Pearl Jam - and then out of left field came elder statesman Tom Petty with a new album that was heartfelt, thoughtful, and beautiful, but could still rock your face off if it wanted to. Petty may have already released his greatest hits album, but Wildflowers showed that he was nowhere near done writing excellent songs. In fact, there were so many that several had to be cut in order to fit it all onto one album. As a result, Wildflowers is kind of a mess - but it’s an emotional, charming, and very interesting mess that we had a great time talking about. Tonight we ride.   

Cohosts: Amanda Rodgers, Rich Bunnell, Dan Watkins

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/090-tom-petty-wildflowers-1994

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

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

When Discord & Rhyme was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful, a miracle, oh, it was beautiful, magical. We also knew from day one that our podcast was eventually going to talk about Supertramp, and that day has come at last. Amanda and Rich have been immersed in the UK prog-pop band’s music from a very young age, and they’ve recruited Supertramp noobs John and Phil to round out the panel. You may be familiar with their late-’70s album Breakfast in America and its quartet of radio singles, but today we’re talking about their 1974 album Crime of the Century, a musically and psychologically dense song cycle boasting some of the best art-rock production this side of Dark Side of the Moon. Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson had diametrically opposed arranging and songwriting philosophies, which tended to make their albums extremely disjointed, but for this one album, the balance was just bloody well right.

Cohosts: Amanda Rodgers, Rich Bunnell, John McFerrin, Phil Maddox

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/107-supertramp-crime-of-the-century-1974

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

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

HO-HO-HO, we’re HU-HU-HUNGRY like the wolf! Discord & Rhyme has held off on its namesake album for far too long, so Rich, Amanda, Phil, and returning guest Libby Cudmore are throwing a festive ‘80s holiday party with Duran Duran’s 1982 album Rio. The British music and fashion press were obsessed with the emerging glitter-and-puffy-shirts New Romantic scene when Duran Duran first hit the stage with their self-titled debut in 1981. The quintet was immediately branded as a “haircut band” and written off by the critical elite, and a series of exotic videos filmed in Antigua and Sri Lanka only reinforced this vapid public image. But Rich argues that their second album Rio, recorded during a hot streak for the band, is musically sophisticated, artistically triumphant, and makes for a fun discussion with some mulled wine. 

Cohosts: Rich Bunnell, Phil Maddox, Amanda Rodgers, Libby Cudmore

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/038-duran-duran-rio-1982

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

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

In the early 1970s, Jonathan Richman assembled a band that recorded a groundbreaking set of songs fusing garage-rock sensibilities with his own entirely unique worldview. Unfortunately, before The Modern Lovers managed to complete a proper album, Richman’s musical interests drifted into an entirely different direction, ultimately leading to the dissolution of this version of the band. The collection of recordings that finally saw release as 1976’s The Modern Lovers stands as a snapshot of a band at a specific moment in time and has served as an endless source of inspiration for punk and indie artists ever since. Take a spin past the Stop and Shop and join us with the radio on for a chat about this groundbreaking classic.

Cohosts: Dan Watkins, Rich Bunnell, Phil Maddox

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/143-the-modern-lovers-the-modern-lovers-1976

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

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

If you only know Talk Talk for their ‘80s night staple “It’s My Life,” you might well wonder what an experimental weirdo like Mike is doing hosting an episode about them. However, if you know a little more about their strange and fascinating career trajectory, it makes perfect sense. The sparse, atmospheric Spirit of Eden couldn’t be more different from Talk Talk’s synth-pop origins or from anything else in the musical landscape of 1988, and it more or less doomed the band’s career when it came out, but the sound of rock music in the 21st century wouldn’t be the same without it. Listening to Spirit of Eden is an experience that’s almost impossible to relate by means of such quotidian devices as “words,” but Mike, Phil, Rich, and John are all going to try anyway.

Cohosts: Mike DeFabio, Rich Bunnell, Phil Maddox, John McFerrin

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/155-talk-talk-spirit-of-eden-1988

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

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

We’ve held off on R.E.M. for a while, because the Athens, Ga., quartet is just such a heavyweight in the rock canon. They’re so huge, in fact, that they merit two episodes: one for the mumbly, Byrdsy alt-rock troubadours of the ‘80s, and one for the slightly less mumbly arena rock titans of the ‘90s and onward. We’re starting off with their 1983 debut Murmur, which fueled the rise of college radio with songs that were strangely out of time (so to speak) with the trends of the ‘80s. The compositions on Murmur are so hazy and oblique that they almost resist analysis, and that’s before you even consider Michael Stipe’s lyrics. But John, Mike, Phil, and Ben are willing to give it their best shot, so join them as they embark on a long-delayed pilgrimage west of the fields to discuss one of this podcast’s favorite bands.

Cohosts: John McFerrin, Mike DeFabio, Phil Maddox, Ben Marlin

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/139-rem-murmur-1983

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

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

For one of the most popular, beloved, and commercially successful bands of the 1970s, Earth, Wind, & Fire have become something of an afterthought by the 2010s. Bandleader Maurice White’s death in February 2016 earned a few loving obituaries, but mostly got lost in the shuffle between Bowie and Prince’s respective passings. More recently, Taylor Swift’s gentrified, tone-deaf cover of their signature hit “September” underscored a sad reality: Earth, Wind, & Fire have passed the Beach Boys “Endless Summer” threshold and become a Greatest Hits band, their songs part of the cultural wallpaper.

For the inaugural episode of Discord & Rhyme, host Rich Bunnell uses EWF’s 1977 release All ‘n All to illustrate that EWF were far more than a playlist’s worth of hit singles. All ‘n All is the arguable peak of an incredible run of late-’70s albums, several of which deserve to be viewed as part of the canon alongside Revolver, Songs in the Key of Life, and Dark Side of the Moon. And their influence on hip-hop has been astronomical, their grooves and riffs providing the basis for tracks by Brand Nubian, MF DOOM, A Tribe Called Quest, Organized Konfusion, Big Pun — the list goes on and on and on.

Three out of four co-hosts this week had little to no experience with All ‘n All before researching this episode, so this premiere should be educational! Tune in next episode when Amanda dives into the Moody Blues’ On the Threshold of a Dream, an album every one of us knows to a fine grain.

Cohosts: Rich Bunnell, Mike DeFabio, Phil Maddox, Amanda Rodgers

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/2018/6/26/episode-001-earth-wind-fire-all-n-all

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

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

It’s time for a psychedelic podcast extravaganza, five years and two recordings in the making! The album Chips from the Chocolate Fireball by XTC’s alter-egos the Dukes of Stratosphear was supposed to be our fifth episode, but technical difficulties turned the episode into a splendid cream bun. But Rich, Ben, and Mike are finally back for a second round discussing a collection that perhaps isn’t XTC’s definitive artistic achievement, but it’s possibly the most pure fun you can have in their discography. Artistically adrift in the mid-’80s, the band adopted goofy pseudonyms and recorded a loving tribute to the ’60s music of their youth, produced by psychedelic engineering wizard John Leckie. If you enjoy Pink Floyd, the Byrds, the Small Faces, the Kinks, the Yardbirds, and especially the Beatles – which you most likely do, because you’re listening to this podcast – you owe it to yourself to take a bike ride to the moon with the Dukes.

Cohosts: Rich Bunnell, Ben Marlin, Mike DeFabio

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/130-the-dukes-of-stratosphear-chips-from-the-chocolate-fireball-1987

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

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

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical Oklahoma! was a massive hit on Broadway in 1943. It changed musical theater forever and inspired a well-remembered 1955 film. Ben hasn't seen the musical or the film, and he doesn't know the plot or the names of the characters. But he loves the music. He and Rich and John dive into a 1964 studio recording of the Oklahoma! soundtrack and make a case for why the show’s musical numbers endure.

Cohosts: Ben Marlin, Rich Bunnell, John McFerrin

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/133-rodgers-and-hammerstein-oklahoma-1964

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

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

1 2 X U! As punk was just beginning to take off in the UK, Wire was already looking ahead, itching to push the genre toward artsier, more abstract frontiers. Their 1977 LP Pink Flag planted the seeds for post-punk and hardcore before most kids had even had a chance to spike their first mohawk. Boasting a dizzying 21 tracks at an economical 35 minutes, Wire packed more into one album than some of their peers managed in a career. Join Dan, Phil, Mike, and Rich as they discuss how it holds up as one of the boldest debuts of the punk era. 

Cohosts: Dan Watkins, Phil Maddox, Mike DeFabio, Rich Bunnell

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/131-wire-pink-flag-1977

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

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

The Grateful Dead are such a ubiquitous cultural institution that many people don’t engage with their music - it’s frequently written off as slow, lazy music for stoners. Well, Phil isn’t a stoner at all, and he’s here to tell you all about why the Grateful Dead are great. While the group is perhaps best known for their marathon live sets and endless catalog of concert recordings, Phil decided to focus on 1970’s American Beauty - the album generally considered to be the band’s best studio LP. Short on jams and long on great songs and fantastic harmony vocals, American Beauty is a folk-and-country tinged masterpiece and is a wonderful entry point for beginning your voyage into the world of the Grateful Dead.

Cohosts: Phil Maddox, Ben Marlin, Mike DeFabio, Dan Watkins

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/039-the-grateful-dead-american-beauty-1970

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

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

Peter Gabriel is a favorite artist of many of us here at Discord & Rhyme, but we’ve saved him for our own 138th Episode Spectacular. Peter Gabriel III (aka Melt, so called because half of Gabriel’s face on the album cover looks like a melting candle) isn’t just John’s favorite Peter Gabriel album; it’s an album that made him reconsider (in a favorable light) the entirety of popular music in the 1980s and the concept of using the production studio to create entirely new sounds, and John leads a very enthusiastic discussion on an album that we love very much. Join John, Amanda, Rich, and Mike as we gush over an album that transformed solo Peter Gabriel into something greater than “the guy who used to sing for Genesis”; a dark noisy hellscape frontier of an album full of burglars, assassins, and not one cymbal anywhere.

Cohosts: John McFerrin, Amanda Rodgers, Rich Bunnell, Mike DeFabio

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/138-peter-gabriel-peter-gabriel-iii-1980

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

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

Get ready for some classic Americana, brought to you by four Canadians (and one American), discussed by four Americans (including one living in Canada). Because Neil Young and Joni Mitchell weren't enough, Ben goes back to the frozen north for the Band's 1968 debut album, Music From Big Pink. Ben discusses why he loves the Band and Music From Big Pink, joined by Amanda, Dan, and Mike. 

Cohosts: Ben Marlin, Mike DeFabio, Amanda Rodgers, Dan Watkins

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/141-the-band-music-from-big-pink-1968

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

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

Joni Mitchell's fourth album, Blue, is host Ben Marlin’s favorite Joni album and one of his favorite albums of all time. But it's also the Canadian singer-songwriter’s most accessible album, direct and hooky in a way she would rarely allow her music to be, before or since. For that reason, it's probably the best gateway to Joni Mitchell for listeners who aren't familiar with her.

Aside from the catchy melodies, Joni’s lyrics pushed the “confessional singer-songwriter” style further than it had ever gone before. Her songs here are deeply personal, but in a way that is still beautifully universal. Dive into Blue with us and revel in Joni’s unique genius.

Cohosts: Ben Marlin, Rich Bunnell, Amanda Rodgers, Chris Willie Williams

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/011-joni-mitchell-blue-1971

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

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

It's time for our annual summer break, so we're letting an episode out of the Patreon vault in which Mike, Rich, and Amanda discussed some of our favorite one-hit wonders, as defined in our own heads. (Amanda is not sorry for the extremely corny title of this episode.) Make sure you listen until the end to hear Producer Mike's mashup masterpiece!

The hits include:  

• Pure Prairie League - Amie
• Link Wray - Rumble
• Nu Shooz - I Can't Wait
• Gotye - Somebody That I Used to Know
• The Crazy World of Arthur Brown - Fire
• Deee-Lite - Groove Is In the Heart
• Climax Blues Band - Couldn't Get it Right
• Argent - Hold Your Head Up
• Mark Morrison - Return of the Mack
• Loreena McKennitt - The Mummers' Dance
• Wall of Voodoo - Mexican Radio
• Ylvis - The Fox
• The Other Leading Brand - Groove Is In a Lonely Heart

(also the intro is from That Thing You Do! but you probably knew that)

Cohosts: Rich Bunnell, Mike DeFabio, Amanda Rodgers

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

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

Due to some technical difficulties, we had to push back our Talk Talk episode, so to fix the hole in our schedule we are talking about the Beatles again! We've discussed covers of Beatles songs before, but there are millions of them so there will always be more to talk about. We're covering a lot of sonic ground in this episode, with a few songs we all love and a few that are more polarizing. Also: important information for Apple users regarding Patreon, some information about listening on Spotify, and more! 

The covers: 

• 801 - TNK (Tomorrow Never Knows)
• The B-52s - Paperback Writer
• Wes Montgomery - A Day in the Life
• Ghost - Here Comes the Sun
• Andre 3000 - All Together Now
• Tony Furtado & Alison Krauss - I Will
• The Melvins - I Want to Hold Your Hand
• Ella Fitzgerald - Savoy Truffle
• Phil Collins - Tomorrow Never Knows
• The Jam - And Your Bird Can Sing
• Peter Serafinowicz - A Full Day in the Life
• Flaming Lips - She's Leaving Home

Other clips: 

• George Burns - Fixing a Hole
• The B-52s - Roam
• Ella Fitzgerald - Mack the Knife
• King Crimson - The Sheltering Sky
• Peter Serafinowicz - Ringo Remembers (Christmas)
• Alvin and the Chipmunks - Do You Want to Know a Secret

A Full Day in the Life on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/bren-murphy/a-full-day-in-the-life-by-peter-serafinowicz

Ringo Remembers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW1ou7SH3is

Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6PvhYhqz6gOAKTGW1YnbG4?si=61ee29f8952541b5

Cohosts: Rich Bunnell, Amanda Rodgers, Dan Watkins

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

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

We're departing from our usual format for this episode. Everybody needed a pick-me-up, so instead of discussing an album, we're talking about songs: specifically, the ones that make us love music. Some of these are the songs we loved as little kids that built our musical foundations, and some of them are illustrations of specific things we adore. We went all over the map for this one and had a great time, so please enjoy the episode and tell us the songs that make you love music. 

The songs: 

• Simon and Garfunkel - Kathy's Song (Live)
• Claude Debussy - Prelude To the Afternoon of a Faun
• Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention - King Kong
• The Beatles - I Am the Walrus
• The Beatles - Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight
• Justin Hayward - Heart of Steel
• Jethro Tull - Living in the Past
• They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul
• Madonna - Live To Tell
• Steve Hackett - Spectral Mornings
• Yes - Awaken
• James Horner - The Wrath of Khan (Main Theme)
• ABBA - Thank You for the Music

Cohosts: Rich Bunnell, Phil Maddox, John McFerrin, Amanda Rodgers

All of these songs in a Spotify playlist (turns out "Heart of Steel" is on there in Canada): https://open.spotify.com/playlist/31dDmAhSYpFCXRBCcnSHLD?si=1b85117917524b32

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

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

The Jefferson Airplane's drugged-up, hyper-political jams are often dismissed as a relic of the late 1960s. But the band's talent was in abundance on their earnest debut album The Jefferson Airplane Takes Off; and when they added vocalist Grace Slick to their lineup and recorded their second album, 1967's Surrealistic Pillow, the whole world discovered what they were capable of.  In discussing that album, Ben, Amanda, and John make the case that the Airplane's musicianship, harmonies, and attitude all hold up today.

Cohosts: Ben Marlin, John McFerrin, Amanda Rodgers

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/102-jefferson-airplane-surrealistic-pillow-1967

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

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

We used to think that the day would never come, but Discord & Rhyme has reached a new milestone: it’s our first singles compilation! New Order issued Substance in an effort to bail out Factory Records, whose financial mismanagement is the stuff of legend. But that also meant that the label was willing to spend money on cool new equipment for the band, which meant that they were always one step ahead of the game technologically, leading an unintentional revolution in electronic dance music. Substance spans the years 1981–1987, during which the band rose from the ashes of Joy Division, issued the groundbreaking 12-inch single “Blue Monday,” and ascended to arena stardom with appearances on major soundtracks such as Pretty in Pink and hits such as “Bizarre Love Triangle” and “True Faith.” They’re one of Rich’s very favorite bands, so join us as he leads Mike and John on the journey from Manchester to Madchester.

Cohosts: Rich Bunnell, Mike DeFabio, John McFerrin

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/088-new-order-substance-1987

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

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

Kick off your shoes, take a seat in your comfiest electric chair, and join the Discord & Rhyme crew for a look at Alice Cooper’s 1971 shock-rock classic Killer. In this episode, Dan is joined by Mike, Phil, and Ben to discuss how there is much more to Alice Cooper than the elaborate stage show and persona. In particular, we break down what a great group of players the original Alice Cooper band was and how they managed to craft some of the most fun and exciting hard rock of the early ’70s.

Cohosts: Dan Watkins, Mike DeFabio, Phil Maddox, Ben Marlin

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/051-alice-cooper-killer-1971

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

By the time he recorded his third solo album, After the Gold Rush, Neil Young had already been part of successful records by the Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, and his second album had hit the top 40. As great as that music had been, though, Neil hadn't yet reached his peak - at least according to Ben. Ben explains why After the Gold Rush is a high point in a career full of high points, and why the album and its singer have meant so much to him since he was a teenager. Rich, Phil, and John also weigh in and discuss their varying - but generally substantial - levels of Neil Young fandom. 

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

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/118-neil-young-after-the-gold-rush-1970

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

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

Discord & Rhyme goes to the movies! This Halloween we're ringing in spooky season by exploring the work of filmmaker and musician John Carpenter. Best known for introducing the world to Michael Myers with the horror classic Halloween, Carpenter has built a solid filmography as a director while also providing his own distinctive musical vision with his scores. The 2017 career-spanning collection Anthology: Movie Themes 1974-1998 features fresh recordings of some of his most recognizable and beloved soundtrack work. Join Dan, Mike, and Rich as they slightly drift from the usual Discord & Rhyme format to indulge their movie nerd obsessions. 

Cohosts: Dan Watkins, Rich Bunnell, Mike DeFabio

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/151-john-carpenter-anthology-movie-themes-1974-1998-2017

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

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

In Episode 2, we talk about an album all four of us know by heart and love passionately: On the Threshold of a Dream, the third album by the Moody Blues. We start with our own adaptation of “In the Beginning,” the poem that begins the album, and we couldn’t resist throwing in a Simpsons joke. (You get a bunch of thirtysomethings together, Simpsons jokes are inevitable.) We provide an overview of the Moody Blues' entire career, using this album as an anchor. If you enjoy listening to people talk enthusiastically about stuff they really, really love, this is the episode for you.

Cohosts: Amanda Rodgers, Phil Maddox, Rich Bunnell, John McFerrin

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/2018/7/14/episode-002-the-moody-blues-on-the-threshold-of-a-dream-1969

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

We're talking about Ween today, so listener beware: Here be dragons, also salty language. For his first outing as host, Phil Maddox leads his co-hosts through New Hope, PA, alternative rock duo Ween’s highly idiosyncratic and mildly sophomoric 1997 release The Mollusk. Ween initially gained notoriety in the early ’90s, when major labels were snapping up every weird band under the sun in search of the next Nirvana, and it was awesome. The band is best known for its grating MTV hit “Push th’ Lil’ Daisies,” but The Mollusk is more of a loving homage to progressive rock and sea shanties — with a few jarring doses of Ween humor. Rated R for language.

Cohosts: Phil Maddox, Rich Bunnell, Dan Watkins, Chris Willie Williams

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/2018/7/22/episode-003-ween-the-mollusk-1997-9smdg

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

It's Discord & Rhyme's first hip-hop album! In this watershed episode, our producer, Mike, walks Rich, Will, and Phil through hip-hop supergroup Deltron 3030's self-titled 2000 dystopian sci-fi opus. Deltron 3030, a collaboration between emcee Del the Funky Homosapien, turntablist Kid Koala, and producer Dan the Automator, is at once funny, action-packed, thematically dense, and searing in its social commentary. It also boasts an encyclopedic range of samples, both typical of Automator's eclectic taste and of particular interest to Mike as a fellow producer. The album served as a gateway drug to hip-hop for all four hosts this week, and if you're on the fence about the genre, we hope it will do the same for you.

Cohosts: Mike DeFabio, Rich Bunnell, Phil Maddox, Chris Willie Williams

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/2018/8/4/episode-004-deltron-3030-deltron-3030-2000

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

Do we really need to introduce Aretha Franklin? Undisputedly the best soul singer around — perhaps the best singer, period — her string of massive hits and modern classics is longer than some other artists’ entire careers. Her voice is so recognizable now that it’s easy to take for granted, but when she moved to Atlantic Records in 1967 and released I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, she made gospel-style music blare from American radios at a volume then unheard of, and with a confident feminist swagger.

When we recorded this episode, we had absolutely no idea that we were doing it at the end of the Queen of Soul’s reign. We’re all very glad we took the opportunity to delve into her amazing recordings, and we hope we did her justice. The Queen herself may be gone, but she’ll never, ever be forgotten.

Cohosts: Phil Maddox, Rich Bunnell, Ben Marlin, Amanda Rodgers

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/2018/9/4/006-aretha-franklin-i-never-loved-a-man-the-way-i-love-you-1967

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

In Prog John’s first go-around as host, the Discord and Rhyme crew (John, Amanda, Mike, and Dan) turn their attention to the debut album of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, an album and band that everyone in this episode agrees is far better than consensus critical opinion would suggest. John offers a spirited defense not only of the band and this album, but also of prog rock in general as well as of one of his favorite classical composers, the 20th-century Hungarian composer Bela Bartok (Mike agrees wholeheartedly with John’s Bartok love, while Amanda is far more ambivalent). This podcast offers deep dives into each of this album’s six tracks (the 12:27 “Take a Pebble” is discussed over six parts), as well as close examination of the band’s roots and influences, collectively and individually. We can practically guarantee that this will be the only podcast you ever hear that contains excerpts from ELP, the Vince Guaraldi Trio, a Bach keyboard suite, and, somehow, the Japanese anime “Cowboy Bebop.”

Cohosts: John McFerrin, Amanda Rodgers, Mike DeFabio, Dan Watkins

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/2018/9/18/007-emerson-lake-palmer-emerson-lake-palmer

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

Discord & Rhyme is excited to welcome its first guest co-host! David Weigel is a politics reporter for the Washington Post, but more importantly for our nefarious purposes, he is the author of the truly excellent progressive rock history The Show That Never Ends: The Rise and Fall of Prog Rock. But this episode is also a reunion: Dave used to geek out about music with your hosts on the teeny-tiny ‘90s music websites we lovingly called the Web Reviewing Community (WRC). And today, he’s geeking out with us all over again by helping us tear apart Todd Rundgren’s A Wizard, a True Star, track by minute-long track.

Cohosts: Mike DeFabio, Amanda Rodgers, Rich Bunnell, Ben Marlin, Dave Weigel

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/2018/10/2/008-feat-dave-weigel-todd-rundgren-a-wizard-a-true-star-1973

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

We’re sorry, Miss Jackson. For nearly two decades, Janet Damita Jo Jackson was one of the world’s most reliable hitmakers, but her reign came to a complete halt after the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show and its infamous “wardrobe malfunction.” After a stunning career spent deliberately pushing boundaries, somebody else took it a step too far and she suffered the consequences.

However, her legacy of pop masterpieces and powerful feminism was never forgotten. She kept living her life, putting out terrific albums, and never relinquishing control. Janet may have been less visible for a while there, but she never truly went away - and now that she’s been nominated to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the third time, we’re going to do whatever we can to make sure she gets in, including making sure all our listeners know how excellent Control is. We hope you enjoy this as much as we do.
 
Cohosts: Rich Bunnell, Phil Maddox, Mike DeFabio, Amanda Rodgers

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/009-janet-jackson-control-1986

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

DISCOOOORD AAAAND RHYME! ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR! This is our shortest, leanest episode to date, and it’s a rush! This podcast isn’t just prog, soul, and synths. We’re also into punk rock, and if it happens to have saxophones, well, that only sweetens the deal. In his first outing as host, Dan leads Rich, Mike, and Will through Germfree Adolescents by X-Ray Spex, a London punk quintet that existed aggressively for about a year before bandleader Poly Styrene started seeing visions of dayglo in the night and decided the life was too much for her. Adolescents’ 12 tracks are loud, colorful, diverse, and hilarious — though have a lyrics site on hand, because the brilliantly shrieky Poly can be nigh-on indecipherable. Germ-Free Adolescents turns 40 in just a couple weeks, and we hope this episode earns it some new fans!

Cohosts: Dan Watkins, Rich Bunnell, Mike DeFabio, Chris Willie Williams

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/010-x-ray-spex-germfree-adolescents-1978

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

American folk music has always been heavily influenced by black musicians, many of whom have been largely forgotten — especially the women. Rhiannon Giddens is aiming to change that by using her phenomenal voice as a spotlight and shining it on the artists that came before her. In this episode, Amanda leads the Discord & Rhyme team through Giddens’ 2015 album Tomorrow Is My Turn, a mix of well-known standards and obscure gems. The album is not only fantastic on its own, but serves as a wonderful starting point for a larger discussion of the music that has come out of American history and the women who helped to shape it.

Cohosts: Amanda Rodgers, Rich Bunnell, Chris Willie Williams, B. Heard

Complete show notes: http://discordpod.com/listen/012-rhiannon-giddens-tomorrow-is-my-turn-2015

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

MEAT!!! 1991’s Forbidden Places was the major-label debut for Meat Puppets, a critically adored 1980s Phoenix alternative rock band known for its mixture of country and psychedelia — then, three months later, Nirvana’s Nevermind came along and changed the face of music. Acknowledging the Puppets as an influence, Kurt Cobain invited Curt and brother Cris to Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged sessions to play on covers of three songs from Meat Puppets II (1983), but by that point, the band’s momentum had been interrupted. So with today’s episode, Will hopes to do justice to a fine, sturdy power pop album that, in an alternate universe, would have made the Kirkwoods & Co. huge.

Cohosts: Chris Willie Williams, Phil Maddox, Rich Bunnell, Dan Watkins

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/013-meat-puppets-forbidden-places-1991

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

Do not attempt to adjust your podcast apps. Discord & Rhyme is devoting the whole month of January to the world of George Clinton’s Parliament-Funkadelic, better known as P-Funk. Though P-Funk eventually came to comprise a single, massive collective of musicians releasing records under the names Parliament and Funkadelic, the two sides of P-Funk have different sounds and histories, and in this episode and the next, we’re going to dive in to what makes each one supergroovalistic. We’re starting with Funkadelic, as Phil takes Ben, Dan, and Mike through 1971’s Maggot Brain, a ragged, scuzzy, surreal album that some consider P-Funk’s crowning achievement. And be sure to come back in two weeks, when Mike will be covering Parliament’s masterpiece Mothership Connection, thus completing the P-Funk cosmology.

Cohosts: Phil Maddox, Ben Marlin, Mike DeFabio, Dan Watkins

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/014-funkadelic-maggot-brain-1971

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

You can’t have the funk unless you have the whole funk and nothing but the funk, so Discord & Rhyme is treating you to a second round of P-Funk. This time, Mike rounds out the story by discussing Parliament, who are tighter and much more orderly than the looser, rougher Funkadelic, and feature a truly excellent horn section. Their 1975 masterpiece Mothership Connection officially declared Parliament-Funkadelic as a cohesive, galactic entity, and its space-age soundscapes have massively influenced music since, even spawning the “G-Funk” subgenre of hip-hop most famously associated with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. Even more relevant to this podcast’s very particular tastes — it’s kind of proggy!

Cohosts: Mike DeFabio, Amanda Rodgers, Rich Bunnell, Ben Marlin

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/015-parliament-mothership-connection-1975

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

British art rock band Procol Harum is remembered today mainly for its 1967 single, “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” and for almost nothing else. This is a mistake; far from a one-hit wonder, Procol Harum established itself from 1967 to 1974 as one of the more consistently solid album-oriented bands of the era, even as their style shifted from art rock to hard rock and back. In this episode, Prog John makes his triumphant return by leading Rich, Phil, and Mike through a look at a long-time favorite of his, the 1974 album “Exotic Birds and Fruit.” The album saw the band make a conscious turn from an orchestra-centered style towards a style that synthesized its whole past (including its mid-60s R&B roots). Join us we take a journey through a wonderful (mostly) album and a band that does, indeed, go far “Beyond the Pale.”

Cohosts: John McFerrin, Rich Bunnell, Mike DeFabio, Phil Maddox

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/016-procol-harum-exotic-birds-and-fruit-1974

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

Discord & Rhyme is breaking format this week to talk about ... a video game soundtrack! This week’s host, Rich, has a love for the classic Capcom NES series Mega Man that may run even deeper than his love of music, and composer Takashi Tateishi’s legendary soundtrack combines the two with panache. Mega Man 2 was a true passion project, developed on the side while its team worked on games that were deemed more profitable. To give Tateishi inspiration under such stressed circumstances, producer Akira “A.K.” Kitamura encouraged him to build the level design into his compositions, giving him a series of punchy phrases (“Keep moving along at a brisk pace… don’t stand in one place for too long!”) to use as frameworks. The result is routinely considered one of the greatest video game soundtracks of all time, and a fine standalone piece of electronic music, to boot. Rich takes Phil, Will, and special guest Shivam Bhatt through the soundtrack’s most important cuts — including a handy primer on the NES sound chip!

Cohosts: Rich Bunnell, Phil Maddox, Chris Willie Williams, Shivam Bhatt

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/017-feat-shivam-bhatt-takashi-tateishi-mega-man-2-ost-1988

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

Put down that chainsaw, and listen to us — it’s time for Discord & Rhyme’s guide to Devo! You probably best know Devo for their 1980 hit “Whip It,” but that song is only the tip of the Devo iceberg, which is red and shaped like an energy dome. This episode, Dan skews from the standard Devo path, choosing neither their critically adored debut Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo nor their commercial breakthrough Freedom of Choice. Instead, he guides Mike, Rich, and Will through the album between those two, Duty Now for the Future, a pioneering album in the genre of synthpop, and an example of the gristly “connective tissue” that enriches a really great band’s discography. You might not have heard of anything on the album, but every single song is brimming over with that distinctive Devo identity.

CONTENT WARNING: Several songs on Duty Now for the Future are very blunt about the subject of male sexuality, part of Devo’s distinctive brand of satire, so be warned.

Cohosts: Dan Watkins, Mike DeFabio, Rich Bunnell, Chris Willie Williams

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/018-devo-duty-now-for-the-future-1979

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

Good morn and evening, friends, and get ready for a super-sized episode. Stevie Wonder has a deep catalog of classic, beloved LPs, but since this week’s host, Ben, follows the “because it’s there” approach to choosing albums for this podcast, we’re tackling the longest, most epic one of all: 1976’s Songs in the Key of Life. Encompassing two LPs and a bonus EP, Songs is “massive and meant to be massive,” Ben argues to co-hosts Phil, Mike, and John — and just look at the list of personnel if you don’t believe us. Even if not every song lands, the album is such a mountain range of joyous musical peaks that you’re likely going to emerge from it adoring at least a dozen tracks. Plus, ‘90s kids will recognize the source material for both Coolio’s legendary anthem “Gangsta’s Paradise” and Will Smith’s much less legendary soundtrack cash-in “Wild Wild West.” This one might take you a few commutes, but if you’ve somehow not yet experienced the music of Stevie Wonder, we promise you’re about to have a new favorite artist.

Cohosts: Ben Marlin, Phil Maddox, Mike DeFabio, John McFerrin

Complete show notes: http://discordpod.com/listen/019-stevie-wonder-songs-in-the-key-of-life-1976

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

Remember when Amanda said T-Bone Burnett is her favorite producer? She’s proving it this episode by walking Rich, Will, and John through Raising Sand, the unlikely collaboration between blues-rock god Robert Plant and bluegrass goddess Alison Krauss. These two found the common ground between their respective genres by covering artists from the Everly Brothers to Sam Phillips, and found their own beautiful sound while they were doing it. All of the musicians on this album are incredible, but nobody except T-Bone Burnett could have seen this project through, and that is why we love him.

Cohosts: Amanda Rodgers, Rich Bunnell, John McFerrin, Chris Willie Williams

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/020-robert-plant-and-alison-krauss-raising-sand-2007

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

The Magnetic Fields' fastidious idea-geyser Stephin Merritt decided to preempt anyone else's attempts to pay tribute to his music by doing it himself. The result was 1995's indie-pop classic Wasps' Nests, recorded under the tongue-punishing name the 6ths, for which Merritt wrote and recorded all original songs, but recruited the cream of the who's-who of mid-'90s indie-rock to sing each of the tracks. On this episode of D&R, Will plays tour guide, herding Amanda, Dan, and Rich through Merritt's menagerie of indie-rock icons, exploring how their own musical styles react and fluoresce when combined with his singular, synth-heavy indie-pop backdrops. And holy every-profanity, Barbara Manning, Will's musical heroine, stops by to tell us about her experience contributing to this album and hanging out with Merritt in general!

Cohosts: Chris Willie Williams, Amanda Rodgers, Rich Bunnell, Dan Watkins

Complete show notes: http://discordpod.com/listen/the-6ths-wasps-nests-1995

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

Discord & Rhyme’s panel is just a power trio this week of John, Rich, and host Producer Mike, but that didn’t stop them from covering an album with some of the headiest concepts in popular music. On 1982’s The Dreaming, Kate Bush opines on the futility of squeezing the totality of human knowledge into your puny brain; tells a tale of a heist caper that’s more about the anxiety of pulling off a heist; and puts you in the head of a Viet Cong soldier who’s about to throw a grenade — and that’s just the first three songs! Mike loves The Dreaming because the music sounds like it’s “happening in some non-Euclidean space inside Kate Bush’s head,”  and if you’re only familiar with her already out-there hits like “Running Up That Hill” and “Wuthering Heights,” the pure sonic experience of this album may be overwhelming. But if you sit back and let the weirdness in, this is music unlike anything else on this plane of reality.

Cohosts: Mike DeFabio, Rich Bunnell, John McFerrin

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/023-kate-bush-the-dreaming-1982

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

SURPRISE!!! We just thought we’d drop in, for an episode that’s truly a Discord & Rhyme party out of bounds. This week, Rich turns his watch back to late ‘70s Athens, GA, where you were either a student, a townie, or one of the artsy deadbeats in between. The B-52s fit into that last category, and the quintet had no artistic inspirations — they just sort of alternated between hanging out and crashing people’s parties, until a fateful encounter with a flaming volcano rum drink birthed the band proper. You most likely know the B-52s from their late ‘80s MTV comeback hits “Love Shack” and “Roam,” but we’re delving into their 1980 sophomore album Wild Planet, which captures every side of the band’s unique vibe, as well as how all five members contributed to their signature sound. And we’ve got a B-52s-sized panel for you: Rich is joined by Amanda, Phil, Ben, and special guest Libby Cudmore, who we hope will make a return visit to Discord & Rhyme’s wild planet.

NOTE: We said some swears and discussed some adult issues, so maybe save this one for when the kids aren't around.

Cohosts: Rich Bunnell, Amanda Rodgers, Phil Maddox, Ben Marlin, Libby Cudmore

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/024-the-b-52s-wild-planet-1980

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

This week, the Discord and Rhyme crew settle in for a breezy, fast ‘n bulbous chat about one of the most infamously impenetrable albums of the 20th century. Sure, we could have made it easy on ourselves and chosen one of Captain Beefheart’s shorter, more accessible records, but where’s the fun in that? On this episode, Dan guides Mike, Phil, and Rich through Beefheart (and the Magic Band)’s 1969 magnum opus Trout Mask Replica, a double (yes, double) album that, depending on who you ask, is either a hugely influential, groundbreaking masterpiece or completely unlistenable noise. Listen as we discuss the insane story behind how the album was made, list the dozens upon dozens of bands and artists who have scrapped the album’s sound for parts in the decades since, and break down why people who enjoy it aren’t just trying to prove how cool they are.

Cohosts: Dan Watkins, Mike DeFabio, Rich Bunnell, Phil Maddox

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/026-captain-beefheart-and-his-magic-band-trout-mask-replica-1969

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

Get jammed by Discord & Rhyme! This week, we spotlight British punk rockers The Jam, specifically their 1979 post-punk opus Setting Sons. John, Rich, Dan, and host Ben unpack Paul Weller's dark subject matter and make the case that it can still result in fun — and even uplifting — music. It doesn't hurt that the band's spare, crackling energy makes even the dourest songs danceable, and that the 20-year-old Weller's worldview — cynical and biting, but somehow still hopeful — transcends the grimy streets of late-1970s England. Join four Yanks (plus one expat in an edifying guest appearance) as we discuss how Paul Weller's message resonates with us — even 40 years later, even Over Here, and even in our decidedly un-punky mid-thirties.

Cohosts: Ben Marlin, Rich Bunnell, John McFerrin, Dan Watkins

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/027-the-jam-setting-sons-1979 

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

We are commemorating the 50th anniversary of two world-changing events: the Apollo 11 moon landing and the release of To Our Children’s Children’s Children, the Moody Blues album it inspired. Dense but accessible, spine-chillingly beautiful, and toweringly ambitious, To Our Children’s Children’s Children pushed the band’s sound as far as it could possibly go. The five of us on this episode think it's their very best creation, and we tried hard to convey why we love this music with all our hearts. We can't fully explain what it means to us in a mere two and a half hours, but we sure tried.

Cohosts: Amanda Rodgers, Mike DeFabio, Phil Maddox, John McFerrin, Chris Willie Williams

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/028-the-moody-blues-to-our-childrens-childrens-children-1969

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

Arguably the rock-geekiest band of all time, Hoboken indie-rockers Yo La Tengo have internalized seemingly every album they've ever heard, and they mix these diverse influences into distinctive and tasty musical stir-fries. Sometimes they're noisy and deliberately sloppy, sometimes they're gorgeous and pensive, but they're almost always engaging, and I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One is simultaneously their most accessible and their most eclectic album to date. It also happens to be Will's favorite album ever, so get ready for a heapin' helpin' of superlatives as he hosts this in-depth look at its 16 songs, along with fellow YLT fans Dan, Mike, and Rich.

PLEASE NOTE: We said some swears in this one. We just thought you should know.

Cohosts: Chris Willie Williams, Rich Bunnell, Mike DeFabio, Dan Watkins

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/029-yo-la-tengo-i-can-hear-the-heart-beating-as-one-1997

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

Progressive metal titans Dream Theater are one of those “love them or hate them” bands that everybody seems to have an opinion on. Phil firmly falls into the “love them” category. On this episode, he and the crew take on one of Dream Theater’s most well-known albums, 1999’s “Metropolis Pt. 2 - Scenes From A Memory”, and get into the nitty gritty about what they like about it and what they don’t like about it. There’s a lot more discord on this episode of Discord And Rhyme than average, as the crew ranges from lovers (Phil) to the more skeptical (everyone else).

Cohosts: Phil Maddox, Rich Bunnell, John McFerrin, Dan Watkins, Shivam Bhatt

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/030-dream-theater-metropolis-part-ii-scenes-from-a-memory-1999 

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

My, my, my! Brian Eno is the producer’s producer, so it only makes sense that Producer Mike would eventually get around to him. Eno is renowned for producing classic albums for U2 and Talking Heads, pioneering and naming the genre of ambient music, and composing the seven seconds that comforted Windows 95 users as they learned how to use the Start button. Today, Mike guides Dan, John, and Rich through Here Come the Warm Jets, Eno’s 1974 solo debut, released shortly after Roxy Music proved too small to house both his ego and Bryan Ferry’s. Warm Jets was composed and produced piecemeal in the studio, which Eno saw as its own instrument, and the result is a taped-together masterpiece filled with overdubs (one song contains 27 tracks of piano). It can take some time for the noisy blur of Warm Jets to coalesce into identifiable, hummable pieces, but we’re hoping to help ease you into the madness.

Cohosts: Mike DeFabio, John McFerrin, Rich Bunnell, Dan Watkins

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/031-brian-eno-here-come-the-warm-jets-1974

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

This week on Discord & Rhyme: witty, unpredictable talent and natural game. In the early ‘90s, Bobby Diggs, aka Bobby Digital, aka the RZA, served as de facto leader for a nine-piece Staten Island (or Shaolin) collective that changed the face of hip-hop. The Wu-Tang Clan’s rhymes were clever, aggressive, filled with pop culture references, and came at you from all sides, paired with production from the RZA, who preferred to sample empty space and dissonance over conventional hooks. Between 1994 and 1996, the members of Wu-Tang unleashed a whole volley of classic solo albums, and 1995’s Liquid Swords by the GZA, alias the Genius, might be the greatest of all of them. On this episode Rich leads Mike, Ben, and Phil through RZA’s chaotic sound landscapes and GZA’s murderous rhymes tight with genuine craft, both of which helped him realize that hip-hop is one of the greatest things in the entire world.

NOTE: This episode is marked Explicit, which you may or may not be able to see in your podcatcher, due to some strong language and violent imagery (i.e., we said a bunch of swears). Don't say we didn't warn you! 

Cohosts: Rich Bunnell, Mike DeFabio, Phil Maddox, Ben Marlin

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/032-geniusgza-liquid-swords-1995

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

This week on Discord & Rhyme, we strap in for another ride through ’90s indie rock as we discuss Pavement’s beautifully messy third album, Wowee Zowee. Released right as the band was positioned for a possible mainstream breakout, this sprawling, stylistic tour de force was apparently the last thing MTV’s Buzz Bin was looking for in 1995. Over the years, however, fans and critics have come around to the album’s wild, unpredictable twists and turns through gorgeous soundscapes, tossed-off blasts of punk fuzz, country-rock ballads, big power-pop hooks, and stoned weirdness. Special guest (and fellow music podcaster himself) Jeff Blehar joins Dan, Phil, and Rich for a deep dive into Pavement’s eclectic masterpiece.

(NOTE: We said some swears in this one, but nothing too terrible.)

Co-hosts: Dan Watkins, Phil Maddox, Rich Bunnell, Jeff Blehar

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/033-feat-jeff-blehar-pavement-wowee-zowee-1995

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

ULLA!!! Discord & Rhyme tackles an art-rock/disco musical based on the 1898 H.G. Wells novel The War of the Worlds and which John posits as the most ‘70s album ever made. Featuring an unforgettable spoken word performance by Richard Burton, as well as an absolutely fascinating who’s who collection of prominent late-’70s vocalists from the worlds of rock music and musicals, this album has gone down in history in the United States as a cult obscurity, but is one of the 40 best-selling albums of all time in the United Kingdom. In this episode, John leads Amanda, Phil, and Rich in a deep-dive examination of this album, with particular focus on the various leitmotifs used in creating the music, but also focuses on the question of how such a strange album, made by somebody best known for writing British advertising jingles and television themes, became such a lasting cultural phenomenon in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking nations outside the United States and Canada.

Cohosts: John McFerrin, Rich Bunnell, Phil Maddox, Amanda Rodgers

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/034-jeff-waynes-musical-version-of-the-war-of-the-worlds-1978

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

In this episode, Ben leads everyone through an album nobody would have pegged him as loving (since it's not by Elvis), 1967's The Velvet Underground and Nico. Produced (sort of) by Andy Warhol and featuring singing (sort of) by German model Nico, the album's noisy, abrasive rock music - sweetened by Lou Reed's reliable pop instincts - has influenced generations of bands. But is it any fun to listen to? Ben says heck yes, Will rolls his eyes, and Amanda and Phil bring some sorely needed nuance to the table. There's definitely Discord here - probably inevitable whenever Lou Reed is involved.

WARNING: This episode contains some adult themes and naughty language. Listener discretion is advised. 

Cohosts: Benjamin Marlin, Phil Maddox, Amanda Rodgers, Chris Willie Williams

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/035-the-velvet-underground-the-velvet-underground-and-nico-1967

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

Once one of the biggest bands in the world, Def Leppard is now a bit of a joke among “serious” rock fans. But do they deserve that? Amanda thinks not, and does her best to convince Rich, Mike, and Phil that Hysteria is a truly excellent album. Even if you’re not on board with Mutt Lange’s super-shiny production, this is a terrific bunch of songs, and very much worth any music fan’s time. Yes, even “Pour Some Sugar On Me.” Especially “Pour Some Sugar On Me.” 

Cohosts: Amanda Rodgers, Rich Bunnell, Mike DeFabio, Phil Maddox

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/036-def-leppard-hysteria-1987

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

There are plenty of love albums out there and plenty of breakup albums, but apart from Marvin Gaye's fascinating Here, My Dear, how many romantic spite albums can you think of? It's a tough balance to strike, but Mountain Goats frontman John Darnielle has created likely the ideal such creature on Tallahassee: a schadenfreude- and gin-sodden indie-rock epitaph for the Alpha Couple, two characters he'd been working with for years and whose relationship only got less healthy with time. Join Will, Dan, Rich, and returning guest B. Heard, won't you, as we don our emotional headlamps and rotgut-protection boots and investigate the open throat of the Alpha Couple's cellar door?

WARNING: This album contains mature subject matter and also there are a few bad words, so listener discretion is advised.

Cohosts: Chris Willie Williams, Rich Bunnell, Dan Watkins, Brent Heard

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/037-the-mountain-goats-tallahassee-2002

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

Since this podcast's very beginning, there was only one real option for our 69th album: 69 Love Songs, Stephin Merritt’s three-disc 1999 opus. It's a seemingly impossible romp through dozens of musical styles that could be hilarious, heartbreaking, mocking, sincere, or all of the above in one big clump. We've recorded one episode for each disc, which we'll be releasing over the next three days. Please enjoy all our little words! 

NOTE: The Magnetic Fields use some bad words and so did we, just so you're aware.

Cohosts for vol. 1: Chris Willie Williams, Rich Bunnell, Amanda Rodgers, John McFerrin, Libby Cudmore, B. Heard

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/069-the-magnetic-fields-69-love-songs-1999

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

Time to ignore the mainstream again! In which Rich and Will get to discuss their favorite bands, Dan critiques MTV's song choices, and then they talk about Nicolas Cage for some reason.

Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians - Balloon Man
World Party - Put the Message in the Box
XTC - Dear God
They Might Be Giants - Ana Ng
Camper Van Beethoven - Eye of Fatima (Pt. 1)
Modern English - I Melt With You
 
Get early access to bonus episodes on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/discordpod 
 
Opening music: The Hector Collectors
https://thehectorcollectors.bandcamp.com/
 
Closing credits music: Kenneth Kraylie
https://kennethkraylie.bandcamp.com/
https://casinos.bandcamp.com/

Heading back to the Motor City! This time around, we learn that this was a very dorky period for the Hot 100, plus more bonkers information about the Supremes and another Marvin Gaye classic.

The Temptations - Runaway Child, Running Wild
Marvin Gaye - Too Busy Thinking About My Baby
Jr. Walker & the All Stars - What Does it Take (To Win Your Love)
The Temptations - I Can't Get Next to You
The Originals - Baby, I'm for Real
Diana Ross & the Supremes - Someday We'll Be Together

Cohosts: Rich Bunnell, Ben Marlin, Phil Maddox
 
Get early access to bonus episodes on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/discordpod

Theme music: "The Motown Song" by Rod Stewart feat. the Temptations

Closing credits music by Kenneth Kraylie, originally composed by Andy Partridge with new lyrics by Adam Smith of the Hector Collectors

https://kennethkraylie.bandcamp.com/
https://casinos.bandcamp.com/
https://thehectorcollectors.bandcamp.com/

John enjoyed taking part in the episode on Songs in the Key of Life so much that he demanded to host his own Stevie Wonder episode. This week, John leads Ben, Rich, and Phil in a discussion on Innervisions, Stevie’s 1973 masterwork that showed him capable of making music that could not only entertain but also speak to weightier matters of racism, spirituality, and philosophical introspection. Come join us as we admire an album that hits every bit as hard today as it did upon release, and whose presentation of the full range of human emotions suggests that, no matter how terrible things may seem, there’s always cause to have some hope.

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

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/stevie-wonder-innervisions-1973

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

Continuing our Motown journey! In which we get to our first Cashbox chart-topper, Mike compares the Supremes to the Beatles, and we learn the wild history of Gladys Knight & the Pips.

The Marvelettes - The Hunter Gets Captured By the Game
Diana Ross & the Supremes - Love Is Here and Now You're Gone
Martha Reeves & the Vandellas - Jimmy Mack
The Supremes - The Happening
Stevie Wonder - I Was Made to Love Her
Gladys Knight & the Pips - I Heard It Through the Grapevine

Cohosts: Ben Marlin, Mike DeFabio, John McFerrin

Theme music: "The Motown Song" by Rod Stewart feat. the Temptations

Closing credits music by Kenneth Kraylie, originally composed by Andy Partridge with new lyrics by Adam Smith of the Hector Collectors

https://kennethkraylie.bandcamp.com/
https://casinos.bandcamp.com/
https://thehectorcollectors.bandcamp.com/

The Tragically Hip are practically Canada’s national band, but they’re virtually unknown elsewhere. Today we’re aiming to change that by covering one of their best albums, Fully Completely. Not only is this album packed full of references to Canadian history and culture, it’s also packed full of excellent rock songs. Our goal for this episode is to convert all of you into Hip fans, so come for the terrific music, stay for the Canadian history lesson!

Cohosts: Amanda Rodgers, Chris Willie Williams, Rich Bunnell, Sean Rodgers

Fully complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/043-the-tragically-hip-fully-completely-1992

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

The song “Black Sabbath” on the album Black Sabbath by the band Black Sabbath is one of the rare occasions where the beginning of a new genre can be traced to one specific moment. We’re here to present the case that this is one of the most important records ever made, without which there would be no Iron Maiden, no Judas Priest, no Metallica, and no Def Leppard, and nobody wants to live in that world. Not only is it one of rock’s most influential albums, it still holds up incredibly well after 50 years. Just listen to that opening riff and try to say that isn’t one of the coolest things you’ve ever heard.

Cohosts: Mike DeFabio, John McFerrin, Phil Maddox, Amanda Rodgers

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/059-black-sabbath-black-sabbath-1970

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

Since this podcast's very beginning, there was only one real option for our 69th album: 69 Love Songs, Stephin Merritt’s three-disc 1999 opus. It's a seemingly impossible romp through dozens of musical styles that could be hilarious, heartbreaking, mocking, sincere, or all of the above in one big clump. This is the third and last episode of this series, so get your bottle of gin and join us!

NOTE: The Magnetic Fields use some bad words and so did we, just so you're aware.

Cohosts for vol. 3: Chris Willie Williams, Rich Bunnell, Amanda Rodgers, John McFerrin

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/069-the-magnetic-fields-69-love-songs-1999
Support the podcast! https://www.patreon.com/discordpod

Happy New Year! In the last episode of this round of Motown tracks, Stevie Wonder steals a song from Jeff Beck, Gladys Knight & the Pips get done wrong again, and Rich attempts to seduce Ben and John.

Stevie Wonder - Superstition
Gladys Knight & the Pips - Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)
The Temptations - Masterpiece
Stevie Wonder - You Are the Sunshine of My Life
Diana Ross - Touch Me in the Morning
Marvin Gaye - Let's Get it On

Cohosts: Rich Bunnell, Ben Marlin, John McFerrin

Theme music: "The Motown Song" by Rod Stewart feat. the Temptations

Closing credits music by Kenneth Kraylie, originally composed by Andy Partridge with new lyrics by Adam Smith of the Hector Collectors

https://kennethkraylie.bandcamp.com/
https://casinos.bandcamp.com/
https://thehectorcollectors.bandcamp.com/

Continuing to ignore the mainstream! In this episode: Rich is shocked to discover that the Cocteau Twins are actual humans, we collectively approve of surprise bagpipes as a concept, and Amanda continues to dislike bands with the word "sonic" in the name.

The Church - Under the Milky Way
Cocteau Twins - Carolyn's Fingers
Julian Cope - World Shut Your Mouth
Sinead O'Connor - Mandinka
Sonic Youth - Kool Thing 

Cohosts: Rich Bunnell, Mike DeFabio, Amanda Rodgers

Get early access to bonus episodes on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/discordpod 

Opening music: The Hector Collectors
https://thehectorcollectors.bandcamp.com/
 
Closing credits music: Kenneth Kraylie
https://kennethkraylie.bandcamp.com/
https://casinos.bandcamp.com/ 

Discord & Rhyme gets the Halloween season started with spine-tingling tales of animals, air, and paper! Well, okay... admittedly, these topics sound a bit more unsettling in the hands of Talking Heads on their 1979 opus to paranoia, Fear of Music. Dan guides a packed panel of Phil, John, Mike, and Rich through Talking Heads’ weird, transitional album that bridges the gap from the band’s early new wave style to its more eclectic flirtations with funk and world music. This ain't no party. This ain't no disco. This is Discord & Rhyme!

Cohosts: Dan Watkins, Rich Bunnell, Mike DeFabio, John McFerrin

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/057-talking-heads-fear-of-music-1979

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

Sly & the Family Stone was in many ways the quintessential American band (and John’s pick as the greatest American band), a rags-to-riches-to-rags story of a San Francisco group that rose from obscurity to worldwide popularity and acclaim, only to implode from intraband conflicts and the excesses of fame. The 1973 album Fresh captures the band right before collapse, after it had survived a transformation from an optimistic 60s psychedelic soul act to a top-notch 70s cocaine funk act, and it’s both an excellent album in its own right and a fascinating prism through which to examine the band’s career as a whole. Join John, Rich, Phil, and Ben as they examine an album adored by George Clinton, Miles Davis, and Brian Eno alike, and an album that even makes "Qué Será, Será" sound cool.

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

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/sly-and-the-family-stone-fresh-1973

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

The latest installment of our Africa playlist, concentrating on Senegal!

Orchestra Baobab - Bul Ma Miin
Youssou N'Dour - Immigres/Bitim Rew
Youssou N'Dour - 7 Seconds (feat. Neneh Cherry)
Baaba Maal - Lam Tooro
Mumford & Sons and Baaba Maal - There Will Be Time
Toure Kunda - Emma
Toure Kunda - Emma Salsa

Complete playlist (Spotify): https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3Cs1jq3CaAI2ivZXTuBpnk?si=4018d6cd5b044022

Cohosts: Rich Bunnell, Amanda Rodgers, Chris Willie Williams

Opening music: "Houses in Motion" by Angelique Kidjo 

Closing credits music: Kenneth Kraylie 

https://kennethkraylie.bandcamp.com/
https://casinos.bandcamp.com/

Today we're sharing one of our Patreon exclusives with everybody! In this one, Rich and Amanda talk about a '90s rock classic. You can get more of these bonus mini-episodes for just $3 a month! https://www.patreon.com/discordpod

Since this podcast's very beginning, there was only one real option for our 69th album: 69 Love Songs, Stephin Merritt’s three-disc 1999 opus. It's a seemingly impossible romp through dozens of musical styles that could be hilarious, heartbreaking, mocking, sincere, or all of the above in one big clump. This is the second of three episodes we've recorded, one for each disc. Come on and kiss us like you mean it.

NOTE: The Magnetic Fields use some bad words and so did we, just so you're aware.

Cohosts for vol. 2: Chris Willie Williams, Rich Bunnell, Amanda Rodgers, John McFerrin

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/069-the-magnetic-fields-69-love-songs-1999
Support the podcast! https://www.patreon.com/discordpod

SCOOBITY WAH! Returning guest Libby Cudmore’s love for Steely Dan is so immense that we needed two albums to contain it. Much like the Oscars, we’re going without a host for our 50th episode, with Libby joining Rich, Mike, and Dan for 2+ hours of free-for-all Dansplaining. We’re specifically focusing on 1973’s Countdown to Ecstasy, where the Dan functioned as a full band under the command of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, and 1977’s Aja, by which point Becker and Fagen had gone studio-only and ditched the band for a revolving door of experienced session musicians. Aja is a much smoother, “FM radio” album in contrast with Countdown’s breezy “AM radio” rock band vibes, but Becker and Fagen’s musical sensibilities and biting sense of humor made sure the Steely Dan identity remained intact throughout. So grab either a big black cow or a glass of scotch whisky and join us, because this is a really fun one.

NOTE: Rated Explicit for naughty language.

Cohosts: Dan Watkins, Rich Bunnell, Mike DeFabio, Libby Cudmore

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/050-steely-dan-countdown-to-ecstasy-1973-and-aja-1977

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

Hey, hey, it’s Discord & Rhyme! If, as alleged, the Monkees were a fake band, you’d never know it from listening to their 1967 album Headquarters - on which they wrote (most of) the songs and played (most of) the instruments. On this episode, Ben leads a discussion about this fascinating and fun anomaly in the career of the Pre-Fab Four. He’s joined by Micky, Peter, and Mike — oops, we mean by Amanda, Dan, and Rich.

Cohosts: Ben Marlin, Rich Bunnell, Amanda Rodgers, Dan Watkins

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/063-the-monkees-headquarters-1967

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

Continuing our series on the Yellow Pills compilation, featuring returning special guest Dave Weigel!

Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/67MbIIImCx9MRdYZuel6MG?si=wdezwl38ReuBtYAb36rgZw

Co-hosts: Rich Bunnell, John McFerrin, Dave Weigel

• Randy Winburn - Somebody Else's Girl
• Luxury - One in a Million
• The Toms - Sun
• Luxury - Countdown
• The Colors - Rave it Up
• The Speedies - 1-2-3
• The Kids - Hey Little Girl
• The Bats - Mr. Peculiar

Opening music: 20/20 - Yellow Pills
 
Closing credits music: Kenneth Kraylie
https://kennethkraylie.bandcamp.com/
https://casinos.bandcamp.com/

It's the last of this Motown disc, including "Tears of a Clown" Redux, some more of our best pal Stevie Wonder, and a Diana-less Supremes hit.

The Jackson 5 - I'll Be There
Stevie Wonder - Heaven Help Us All
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles - The Tears of a Clown (US Version)
The Supremes - Stoned Love
Gladys Knight & the Pips - If I Were Your Woman

Cohosts: Phil Maddox, Ben Marlin, John McFerrin  

Theme music: "The Motown Song" by Rod Stewart feat. the Temptations

Closing credits music by Kenneth Kraylie, originally composed by Andy Partridge with new lyrics by Adam Smith of the Hector Collectors

https://kennethkraylie.bandcamp.com/ 
https://casinos.bandcamp.com/ 
https://thehectorcollectors.bandcamp.com/