S8E432 - Jon Brion 'Meaningless' with Tate Brooks and Silas Lourenco Lang

This week we're joined by Tate Brooks and Silas Lourenco Lang (two-thirds of the New Haven, CT band The Problem With Kids Today) as we unpack Jon Brion's long lost debut album, 'Meaningless'. Initially released independently by Brion in 2001 on his own "Straight to Cut-Out" label and sold through his website and CD Baby, it finally became more widely available in 2022 when it was re-released on Jealous Butcher Records. This collection of catchy power-pop tunes are a perfect representation of what Brion eventually brought to the production and film-score work he became most well-known for. Songs discussed in this episode: I Believe She's Lying (Jon Brion cover) - Rhett Miller; Take It!, Spongebob Squarepants and Patrick Star - The Problem With Kids Today; Very Best Years - The Grays; I Should've Known - Aimee Mann; Gotta Start Somewhere, I Believe She's Lying, Meaningless, Ruin My Day, Walking Through Walls, Trouble, Hook, Line and Sinker - Jon Brion; Try Again - Big Star; Dead To The World, Her Ghost, Same Mistakes - Jon Brion; Voices - Cheap Trick; Voices (Cheap Trick cover) - Jon Brion; Ace Starchild - The Problem With Kids Today

Returning guest, singer/songwriter Oscar Herrera (The Sleep of Reason, Black Tape for a Blue Girl), brings us Bauhaus and their 1980 debut full-length: 'In The Flat Field'. Often cited as a foundational release in the Goth-rock genre, there's no denying this darkly theatrical, often ferocious collection of songs STILL packs an unsettling punch. Happy pre-Halloween! Songs discussed in this episode: Dark Entries (Bauhaus cover) - Revolting Cocks (Feat. Gibby Haynes); I Have A Task - Oscar Herrera; God Of Thunder - Kiss; Isolation - Joy Division; Jigsaw Feeling - Siouxsie and The Banshees; His Box - Dalis Car; Castor and Pollux, To The Sea, Validation - Oscar Herrera; Double Dare, Antonin Artaud, In The Flat Field, God In An Alcove, Dive, The Spy In The Cab, Small Talk Stinks, St Vitus Dance, Who Killed Mr Moonlight, Stigmata Martyr, Nerves, Bela Lugosi's Dead, Telegram Sam (T-Rex cover), Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie cover) - Bauhaus; The Black Harvest (Live) - The Sleep Of Reason; Rose Garden Funeral of Sores (John Cale cover, live) - Bauhaus; Vienna (Ultravox cover) - Oscar Herrera

What is it about multiple voices singing a beautiful melody together that just GETS to us? For this special BONUS Episode, we asked our Patrons to send in a song with amazing vocal harmonies...that got them high! Caution: Ear-candy ahead... Songs discussed in this episode: You Still Believe In Me (Isolated vocals) - The Beach Boys; Live In Favor Of Tomorrow - The Lemon Twigs; Blue - The Jayhawks; Oh So Many Years - Billie Joe Armstrong & Norah Jones; A Good Feelin’ To Know - Poco; In The Court Of The Crimson King - King Crimson; Losing True - The Roches; God Only Knows - The Beach Boys; Trees and Flowers - Strawberry Switchblade; Little Things - Ida; Start Again - Teenage Fanclub; Poppies - La Luz; Bridge On Fire - Shovels & Rope; A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square - Manhattan Transfer; Bellyeye (Cardiacs cover) - The 180 Gs; Ain't That Enough - Teenage Fanclub; The Bleeding Heart Show - The New Pornographers; Misery, P.S. I Love You - The Beatles; Forgetting - The Feminine Complex; Long Time Gone - Crosby Stills & Nash; You're All I Need To Get By - Aretha Franklin; Take It Easy - The Eagles; 14 Cheerleader Coldfront (live on KCRW) - Guided By Voices (Bob Pollard & Tobin Sprout)

Returning guests Allan & Barb Vest of Oklahoma City-based doubleVee bring us a record considered by many to be one of the key alternative rock albums of the 1980s, 'Doolittle' by Boston's Pixies. Released in 1989, this collection of 15 short-but-potent songs was a thrilling shot of adrenaline that laid the groundwork for much of the nineties indie-rock to follow. Songs discussed in this episode: Here Comes Your Man (Pixies cover) - Teenage Fanclub; Modern Times - doubleVee; Doe - The Breeders; Bigmouth Strikes Again - The Smiths; 'Cross The Breeze - Sonic Youth; Mantovani - The Holy Terrors; Swallowed - Bush; Bone Machine - Pixies; Submarine Number Three Vee, Everyone's Lonely Under The Sea - doubleVee; Debaser - Pixies; Waiting For The Sun - The Doors; Tame, Wave Of Mutilation, Wave Of Mutilation (UK Surf) - Pixies; Debaser (Pixies cover) - Tin Machine; Say Please - Guadalcanal Diary; I Bleed - Pixies; Waiting For The Man - The Velvet Underground; Here Comes Your Man, Dead, Monkey Gone To Heaven, Mr Grieves, Crackity Jones, La La Love You, No 13 Baby, There Goes My Gun, Hey, Silver, Gouge Away - Pixies; Maybe Tonight (What's Inside Of Me), Everyone's Lonely Under The Sea - doubleVee

Hailing from Cork, Ireland, songwriters Cathal Coughlan and Sean O'Hagan formed the band Microdisney in 1980. After relocating to London in 1983, the band recorded six Peel Sessions for BBC Radio and released their debut album for Rough Trade called 'Everybody Is Fantastic'. This week's guest, musician, filmmaker, podcaster and radio host Alexei Shishkin, joins us to discuss the band and that record. The duo's combination of lushly orchestrated pop paired with wryly poetic, at times biting lyrics were right up Alexei's musical alley, and we're here for it! Songs discussed in this episode: Dear Rosemary - Microdisney; Disco Elysium, Tiki Taka - Alexei Shishkin; Palm Of My Hand - The Pale Fountains; Horse Overboard - Microdisney; Pack Yr Romantic Mind - Stereolab; Blues For Ceausescu - The Fatima Mansions; McCardle Brown - Sean O'Hagan; Idea, A Few Kisses, Escalator In The Rain - Microdisney; Half A Person - The Smiths; Dolly (Live, Barbican sessions 2018), Dolly - Microdisney; The King Of Rock 'N' Roll - Prefab Sprout; Dreaming Drains, I'll Be A Gentleman, Moon, Sun, Sleepless, Come On Over and Cry, This Liberal Love, Before Famine, Everybody Is Dead, Everybody Is Dead (Peel session) - Microdisney; Ode To Carl Dennis - Alexei Shishkin

Returning guest Garry Messick (American Doom Podcast) brings us Robyn Hitchcock and The Egyptians' 1991 release, 'Perspex Island'. His third album for A&M records, it's yet another sterling example of Hitchcock's quirkily original - but always charmingly catchy - songwriting. Songs discussed in this episode: She Doesn't Exist (Robyn Hitchcock cover) - Vic Chesnutt; American Doom Podcast Teaser - American Doom; Underwater Moonlight - The Soft Boys; Sitting Still - REM; My Wife and My Dead Wife - Robyn Hitchcock; The Gnome - Pink Floyd; Balloon Man, Oceanside, So You Think You're In Love - Robyn Hitchcock; She Loves You - The Beatles; Birds In Perspex, Ultra Unbelievable - Robyn Hitchcock; Pretty Persuasion - REM; Vegetation and Dimes, Lysander, Child of the Universe, She Doesn't Exist - Robyn Hitchcock; I'm Not In Love - 10CC; Ride, If You Go Away, Earthly Paradise, Are Friends Electric (Tubeway Army cover) - Robyn Hitchcock

In November 1973, Rolling Stone record reviewer Stephen Davis infamously slagged Elton John's double album 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road', calling it - among other things: "a big fruity pie that simply doesn’t bake". Ahem. Now often regarded as Elton and lyricist Bernie Taupin's magnum opus, returning guest and music-biz veteran Ralph Cavallaro joins us as we unpack the record that recently ranked number 112 on Rolling Stone's 2020 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Go figure. Songs discussed in this episode: Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding (Live from Madison Square Garden, 1974), Crocodile Rock, Someone Saved My Life Tonight, Tiny Dancer, Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding, Candle In The Wind 1997, Candle In The Wind, Bennie and the Jets, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, This Song Has No Title, Grey Seal (1970 B-Side), Grey Seal, Jamaica Jerk-Off - Elton John; D'yer Mak'er - Led Zeppelin; I've Seen That Movie Too, Sweet Painted Lady, The Ballad Of Danny Bailey, All The Girls Love Alice, Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting - Elton John; Can't You Hear Me Knocking - The Rolling Stones; Harmony - Elton John; Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Elton John cover) - Queens Of The Stone Age

For one of our first episodes back in 2018 (S1E3), we discussed 'Hunky Dory' by David Bowie with then co-host Barry Stock. Honestly, though, for our first 20 episodes or so we were still finding our way and weren't even playing any music clips at that point. So when this week's guest, musician David J (Bauhaus, Love and Rockets), suggested taking on Bowie's fourth studio album, we couldn't resist revisiting this stone cold classic with such a thoughtful, well-informed guest. Essential listening! Songs discussed in this episode: Changes (David Bowie cover) - The Muffs/Robyn Hitchcock/Shawn Mullins/Cybernauts/Bananarama; Bela Lugosi's Dead - Bauhaus; No New Tale To Tell - Love and Rockets; Mambo Sun - T Rex; 10538 Overture - Electric Light Orchestra; The Shape Of Things To Come - Slade; You Can Get It If You Really Want - Desmond Dekker; Ziggy Stardust, Starman, Changes - David Bowie; Sheep (Pink Floyd cover) - Arthur Brown, Rick Wakeman, Jan Akkerman, David J., Carmine Appice; Oh! You Pretty Things - David Bowie; Oh! You Pretty Things - Peter Noone; The Bewlay Brothers, Eight Line Poem - David Bowie; My Way - Frank Sinatra; Life On Mars - David Bowie; Judy Teen - Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel; Kooks - David Bowie; This Guy's In Love With You - Burt Bacharach; Exquisite Corpse - Bauhaus; Quicksand - David Bowie; An Old Fashioned Love Song - Paul Williams; Fill Your Heart, Andy Warhol, Song For Bob Dylan - David Bowie; Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie cover) - Bauhaus; Waiting For The Man - The Velvet Underground; Amsterdam (Live, Olympia 1964) - Jacques Brel; Queen Bitch, The Bewlay Brothers - David Bowie; Oh No! Not Another Songwriter! - David J  

New York City singer/songwriter Robert Scheffler joins us this week with an artist Rob somehow slept on all these years - Aimee Mann. Her second full-length, 1995's "I'm With Stupid", is the one that did it for Robert, and her deceptively biting songcraft and the record's dense, layered guitars made a true believer of your humble host. Songs discussed in this episode: Voices Carry ('Til Tuesday cover) - Gang Green; Always, Excuse The Mess, Basher - Robert Scheffler; Up The Junction - Squeeze; Long Shot, Choice In The Matter - Aimee Mann; Animal Nitrate - Suede; Sugarcoated, You Could Make A Killing, Superball, Amateur - Aimee Mann; When The Hangover Strikes, I Think I'm Go Go - Squeeze; All Over Now, Par For The Course, You're With Stupid Now, That's Just What You Are, Frankenstein, Ray, It's Not Safe, *hidden track - Aimee Mann; We're All Waiting - Robert Scheffler

For this special BONUS Episode, we asked our Patrons to send in a short song - less than 2 minutes - that got them high. As usual, they did NOT disappoint! Songs discussed in this episode: Fingertips - They Might Be Giants; Time: The Donut of the Heart - J Dilla; Just Another Soldier, Shit You Hear At Parties - Minutemen; Manifest - The Weakerthans; Game Of Pricks - Guided By Voices; Abra Cadavor - The Hives; Maybeline (Buddy Holly cover) - Social Distortion; Superstar-Watcher - Yo La Tengo; Short Songs (Live) - Dead Kennedys; Talk Talk - The Music Machine; Feelin' - The La's; Breaking Glass - David Bowie; Minimum Wage - They Might Be Giants; Final Day - Young Marble Giants; Bored To Life - Scream; True Love Will Find You In The End - Daniel Johnston; I Hate Your Lipstick - Veal; I'm Wrong, You're Gone - Natalie Sweet; Rapp Snitch Knishes (feat. Mr. Fantastik), Accordion - MF Doom; Fragile - Wire; As Kind As Summer - The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band; Brother - Oh-OK; Allison - Pixies