September 22, 2020

Episode 024: The Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I (1999) with Special Guest Glenn Case!

59 minutes

Independent musician Glenn Case is back, this time on an album discussion episode! After winning the PLAY DISC Request Lottery at the end of last episode, Glenn agreed to join us for the discussion on The Dismemberment Plan's 1999 album Emergency & I. OVer the course of our conversation, we discuss...

Glenn's occasional correspondence with Dismemberment Plan frontman Travis Morrison, including Morrison's reaction upon learning we were doing this episode

Jon and Harrison's difficulty in trying to identify any preceding influence that might explain this album

The multiple songs on this album that have odd time signatures, and the one where it was most noticeable ("Is there such thing as seven-and-a-half over four?")

The relationship between computer coding and writing these types of songs

The early articulation of the idea of "emotional labor" in "Memory Machine"

Some discordant vocal melody choices and how they lead to "breakthroughs" as the songs evolve

The album's themes of loneliness, struggle, isolation, desperation... The human condition

Comparing the hormonal libidinous "Girl O'Clock" with Joe Jacksons' hormonal libidinous "Pretty Girls"

Harrison finds an unlikely point of comparison in an anime (who had that on their Bingo card?)

"I Love a Magician" and the Turd in the Caviar

Our key tracks and a preview of next week's episode!

Come join us for an hour of thoughtful and good-humored commentary, and we'll catch you on the B-side!

The spreadsheet Request Lottery picks and their associated numbers can be seen here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xOiYNZduLxz7L2CtNUPK1YOu63ni2XTWpcy1cdB6EQw/edit?usp=sharing You can get your request on this list by donating to our Patreon account at the $5 level or above.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Special Guest: Glenn Case.

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By Jon Porobil & Harrison Porobil