a.k.a. It Was Pod, We Cast in the Water

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Ravaged by tour strife and the rigors of funemployment, your beleaguered hosts call upon their deepest inner resources (and the magic healing powers of whisky) to steady themselves for another epic two parter—an exploration of the wild and ranging works of Phil Elvrum/Elverum. Luckily, we’re starting small, with the four official studio albums that make up the discography of that late, great early Elvrum project, the Microphones. But beset on all sides by despair, distortion, and the Big Black Death, will even this small task prove too much for Max and Andrew? Judging by the 45 minutes of drunken rambling we cut from the episode, the answer is “probably.” Also: The rise and fall of Incubus, DRUMS DRUMS DRUMS, and a brief discussion of Mac McCaughan’s relative chunkiness

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Music

Get Off the Internet

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It Wouldn't

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Florida Beach

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Where It's Hotter Pt. 3

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The Pull

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Ice

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I Want Wind to Blow

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The Glow Pt. 2

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My Warm Blood

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The Moon

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The Sun

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Mt. Eerie

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Universe (1)

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Headless Horseman

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Map

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Bass Drum Dream

a.k.a. “Cast Thou Considered the TetraPod?”

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Your desert island girl is on tour, and you know what that means: late episodes, loose editing, and a whole lot of Mountain Goats flavored discourse! Our exhausted but generally amiable hosts finish up their exploration of the Mountain Goats mammoth discography by covering all 9 albums that make up the hi-fi era so far. From the shaky yet atmospheric Tallahassee to the triumphant wrestle mania (unofficial) of Beat the Champ, we chart the path of these indie folk stalwarts from one man and a boombox to three men, a variety of actual producers, and relative stardom. Also: rare tracks, tales from the road, and 100% fewer dildos!

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Music:

“Boys are Back in Town”

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“Tallahassee”

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“No Children”

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“Slow West Vultures”

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“Palmcorder Yajna”

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“Cotton”

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“Up the Wolves”

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“Dance Music”

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“Song for Dennis Brown”

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“Half Dead”

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“Get Lonely”

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“In the Hidden Places”

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“Heretic Pride”

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“Lovecraft in Brooklyn”

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“Autoclave”

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“Isaiah 45:23”

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“Psalms 40:2”

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“Mosquito Repellant”

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“Damn These Vampires”

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“Outer Scorpion Squadron”

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“For Charles Bronson”

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“Amy (AKA Spent Gladiator 1)”

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“The Diaz Brothers”

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“In Memory of Satan”

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“The Legend of Chavo Guerrero”

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“Heel Turn 2”

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“Hair Match”

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“The Shadow Song”

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“Mountain Goats T-Shirt Song”

a.k.a. no please andrew don't make me type this

Get your special shoes on, castaways—it's time to tackle the epic heights of that most indelible of indie institutions, The Mountain Goats. Faced with a discography of 15 albums and counting (keep an eye out for Goths!), your desert island duo are approaching this task the only way they know how—by dividing, labeling, classifying, and (hopefully) conquering. Thus, we begin our story with the works of John Darnielle and his trusty boombox, covering his pre-Vanderslice works from Zopilote Machine to All Hail West Texas. Will this massive undertaking be the strain that finally tears the island apart? Can a lo-fi girl from Texas win out against a hi-fi city boy? And will there be any peanuts waiting for us at the end? Find out in our latest thrillingly folksy installment of Desert Island Discourse.

This week, the castaways trade in the idyllic island life for cold storage as Max and Andrew tackle their first survey/grab bag episode. From the wild and ragged sounds of the Slits to the catchy innocence of Stockholm Monsters, we commemorate three episodes of crowd-pleasing hit-makers by diving into a scattered array of the great obscure and semi-obscure arty rockers that made the bleak industrial wastes of northern Britain so very fashionable for decades to come. It's a celebration of our favorite difficult-to-define and stunningly imperfect genre, resulting in quite possibly our nerdiest and most gushing episode to date. Also: electric dildos, two different Radio Pragues, The Chameleons Fan Cast, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers' shocking post-punk past.

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Songs:

This Is Helena - OMD

God Save the Queen - Sex Pistols

Shoplifting and Love Und Romance - The Slits

Damaged Goods and Ether - Gang of Four

Albatross and Poptones - PiL

Atrocity Exhibition and A Means to an End - Joy Division

I Can't Escape Myself and Heartland - The Sound

Sleep No More and Dark Parade - Comsat Angels

SPQR and Paper Hats - This Heat

Telegraph and Radio Waves - OMD

Monkeyland and View From a Hill - The Chameleons

Your Uniform and Terror - Stockholm Monsters

Makeshift Swahili - This Heat

Genetic Engineering - OMD

A New Kind of Water - This Heat

Of All the Things We've Made - OMD

a.k.a. “If you liked it then you should’ve POD a CAST on it” This week on the island, we’re visited by the incomparable Caroline Rayner to talk about the one true Queen of Pop: Beyoncé. From the charmingly dated and Sean Paul riddled Dangerously in Love to the impeccable and utterly shafted Lemonade, we chart the course…

Welcome back to the island! Things have taken a turn for the anxious this week, as your hosts tackle the storied, unpredictable discography of that most unlikely of great bands, Radiohead. From brit-pop trifles to esoteric electronica to some awfully quaint Bush-era paranoia, we cover every croon, wail, and blip from everyone's favorite prophets of urban despair. Will our heroes crumble under the existential weight of an increasingly alienating world? Will Max ever figure out that the word she's looking for is "unsettling"? And will Pablo Honey actually get more than a minute of discussion? The answer to all three is no, but you should listen to the episode anyway.

Music:

"Radio Head"—Talking Heads

"You"—Radiohead

"The Bends"—Radiohead

"Paranoid Android"—Radiohead

"Everything in its Right Place"—Radiohead

"Knives Out"—Radiohead

"2+2=5"—Radiohead

"Bodysnatchers"—Radiohead

"Morning Mr. Magpie"—Radiohead

"Burn the Witch"—Radiohead

"Let Down"—Radiohead

"Canned Laughter"—Pop Martyrs

In our very first episode, your desert island duo inadvisably crack open the liquor to explore the 80's discography of the purplest one of them all: Prince. Will the most Album Album win out over the Sexiest Sex? Will Andrew finally learn what "Head" is? And is the water really, truly warm enough? The answers to all these questions and more lurk behind the iffy sound quality and inordinately long running time of this, the confounding debut of Desert Island Discourse.

Intro and Outro Music: "Canned Laughter" by Pop Martyrs

Interstitial Music: "Too Drunk to Fuck" by Nouvelle Vague