Desert Island Discourse

This week, we tackle a survey of albums from Flying Nun Records, New Zealand’s pre-eminent indie rock label. FEATURED SONGS What Was That Thing – Able Tasmans Tally Ho – The Clean Getting Older – The Clean Anything Could Happen – The Clean Death and the Maiden – The Verlaines C.D., Jimmy Jazz, and Me –…

To celebrate the holiday season, we meet in person(!) to discuss the greatest Christmas album of all time: A Christmas Gift for You From [REDACTED]. We talk Darlene Love, Seasonal Affective Disorder, and everything in-between. FEATURED SONGS White Christmas Sleigh Ride I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) Santa Claus is Coming…

NovembeR.E.M. is finally coming to a close as we work our way from R.E.M.'s breakout success in the early 90's to their honestly quite bleak and depressing decline right up to their breakup. It's a real rollercoaster ride, this one, full of harsh truths, stark revelations, and ill-advised rapper cameos. But it also has "Nightswimming", so it isn't all for naught. Plus, at the end, we finally reveal our top five R.E.M. albums, as well as the very exciting lineup we have in store for the end of the year, so stay tuned, and we'll all get out of this feeling the reason for the season.

This week, we dissect the odds and sods of Dead Letter Office, R.E.M.’s 1987 collection of b-sides. FEATURED SONGS Walter’s Theme Voice of Herold Ages of You Crazy King of the Road

Ring in the month of NovembeR.E.M. with us, as we explore Athens, Georgia’s finest export. We cover band’s 1980s career, from the I.R.S. records years to their criminally underrated major label debut. FEATURED SONGS Radio Free Europe (Hib-Tone Version) Wolves, Lower Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars) Moral Kiosk Perfect Circle West of the Fields Harborcoat…

For the second year in a row, we’re talking witches, dance, and singular soundtracks. It’s Suspiria, this time the new remake by Luca Guadagnino, as well as its Thom Yorke-written score.

Oh god, it's our greatest fear come true: a SpoOoOoOkiLy late episode! So late, in fact, that we missed both Halloween and Dia De Los Muertos. Like this is actually 4 days late. We're terribly sorry. But in a way, that perfectly fits the subject of today's episode, Scott Walker, who's made a habit of going upwards of 11 years between albums. And, y'know, he's pretty scary in his own right.

This week, we talk Liz Phair’s legendary Girly-Sound demos, which launched a thousand ships–or at least three seminal indie-rock albums–in the 1990s. FEATURED SONGS Go West Dead Shark Fuck and Run Bomb Soap Star Joe Ant in Alaska Polyester Bride Flower

We’re joined this week by returning guest/champion Caroline Belle Stewart to discuss indie rock legend Liz Phair. Come for the strange, entrancing song structures, stay for dissections of the patriarchy, rock criticism, and impossible-to-replicate guitar chords. FEATURED Blood Keeper 6’1” Strange Loop Canary Divorce Song Support System Nashville Shane Supernova whitechocolatespaceegg Perfect World Uncle Alvarez…

This week, we talk about the late Chris Bell’s lone, posthumous release, I Am the Cosmos. If you thought the Big Star story was sad before, strap in, folks. FEATURED SONGS I Am the Cosmos Speed of Sound You and Your Sister Get Away I Got Kinda Lost