Blown Wide Open

Our planet used to be analog; a wonderful, all encompassing organism that communicated with itself through light, sight and sound. For millennia, humankind seemed to do just fine with this message system. Then, in 1946, the world’s first computer was invented, and with the birth of that primitive computational device, a new age, one of synthetic existence, emerged. In this episode of the BWO podcast, your hosts examine how this new leap into the digital world permeated into music and musical technology, from recording techniques of Abbey Road and Motown, to music playback and sampling. Rather than pick a decisive winner, Ian and Adrian discuss the concepts of analog and digital, the pro’s and con’s of each, and what place each occupies in the world of artistic expression. The debate as to whether digital or synthetic music is somehow better than its analog grandfather is a debate that will rage on with every succeeding generation, and as technology leads us like rats out of The Uncanny Valley to a digital world indistinguishable from reality, our musical endeavors will likely follow suit, leaving in its wake an angry, pitchfork wielding mob of analog purists.

Perhaps there is no other style of music more loved and loathed than Classical. Analogous to the love/hate relationship western society has with Shakespeare, Classical Music is simultaneously appreciated by it’s devotees and tolerated by its detractors. Like Shakespeare, however, a brilliant eloquence reveals itself upon the sparsest of examination, and in this episode, The Blown Wide Open Podcast attempts to scratch the surface and unravel the mysteries surrounding classical music. The BWO starts at the very roots of music itself (that being medieval chanting and plainsong), moves its way through the Renaissance, Baroque and Romantic eras and ends with the turn of the century. Above all else, your hosts attempt to expose the beauty and power of classical music that seems to elude the music listener at large. Our hope is that upon completion of this podcast, you will have a better understanding not only of why we listen to classical music, but how as well.

Here at the Blown Wide Open Podcast, our goal is to explore music in all of its complexities, and one of the most in-depth ways to examine art is to create it. In this episode, Adrian and Ian break down the concept of songwriting, sharing with you, dear listener, their own embryonic ideas of juvenile youth-gone-wild musings, continuing with their more modern, well traveled and well schooled techniques of songcraft, and finishing with a discussing examples of the best songwriting that has ever been put forth by humankind(and their choices may surprise you). Our hosts also choose their favorite creations from their own catalog to share with you, both in recorded form as well as played live in the studio, to show you how far they’ve come as songwriters, all the while attempting not to pat themselves on the back so much that they break their arms.

In an effort to create artistic symmetry between film and podcast, this week’s episode examines the score of the latest Star Wars blockbuster, Episode 8: The Last Jedi. Perhaps the last Jedi of the orchestral film scoring, John Williams has done it again with Episode 8, incorporating themes from nearly all the previous films as well as creating new works of art to enhance the story that Disney and Lucasfilm has crafted. Adrian (and to a lesser extent, Ian) break down the new themes, showing how the immeasurable Mr. Williams has interwoven his unparalleled brilliance into the very fabric of our love of Star Wars and film as a whole.

The word “genius” gets thrown around a lot, thrust upon the undeserving on an almost daily basis. With that said, we here at the Blown Wide Open Podcast try to reserve that word for the truly remarkable, and there may be no other living artist that deserves that moniker more than the incomparable Joni Mitchell. Undoubtedly an “artist’s artist”, though not exclusively, Mitchell has carved out a decades long career and has crafted some of the finest songs ever heard, all the while bucking the system and following her own untread path through the bramble that is life. Your hosts Adrian and Ian attempt to explore but a fraction of her artistic output, from early writing and recording to later, more jazz tinged offerings, with special focus on just how many artists have covered her songs(with varying degrees of success).

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In this episode, the second of a two part retrospective, the hosts of BWO further explore the guitar, picking up the story in the 1950’s and finishing it with a Canadian band currently making waves in the guitar community. To whom are we referring? Listen and find out! Ian and Adrian also discuss the evolution of the electric guitar and how advances in technology, from pickups to strings to tremolos, shaped popular music into the juggernaut it has become today and allows our heroes to create the art that without which we would have nothing to talk about. As always, enjoy, like, share and subscribe!

The guitar. The conduit through which our muses speak. In this episode(part 1 of a 2 part epic), Adrian and Ian speak on all things guitar, from invention and early music to embryonic acoustic blues and turn of the century innovation. Our hosts heap praise upon John Williams(the guitarist, not the subject of Episode 2) and his flawless interpretation of classical guitar music, and from there they highlight some of the greatest guitarists throughout the generation and how their influence criss crossed the planet. Marvel at the terrible humour and even worse playing from Ian, seethe with envy at Adrian’s exhaustive knowledge of theory. Above all, enjoy, like, share and subscribe!

Episode 4: The Color and the Shape

In this episode, our hosts breakdown Foo Fighters’ second album, 1997’s The Color and the Shape. Ian refers to this album as one of his favourites of all time, while Adrian reflects on how this incredible album compares to Foo Fighters’ later, and equally incredible, works. Our hosts break down the tracks, from the high energy of “Monkey Wrench” to the balladry of “Walking After You”, all the while fawning over the genius that is Dave Grohl. With special focus on arguably the album’s two strongest tracks, “My Hero” and “Everlong”, this episode features in depth analysis of one of the seminal albums of the 90’s.

Pink Floyd's magnum opus Dark Side of the Moon is the topic of episode three. Adrian brings back the guitar and Ian proves his musical abilities.

In this episode Ian and Adrian discuss the career of film composer John Williams.