Today I am rejoined by Emmet Penny, who you may remember came on the podcast to talk about Korn with me in a previous episode. This time, we discussed Isis, a highly influential band credited with popularizing the sound of “post-metal” in the 00s. As of this year Isis have been inactive for a decade, and the sound they helped pioneer has largely receded from popularity in heavy music. And yet their work continues to hold a powerful resonance years later. Emmet and I discussed the band’s history, the political and philosophical themes they weaved through their lyrics, and how they fit into the broader culture of post-rock and post-metal in the 00s. Thank you for listening.

Here is a playlist Emmet and I put together for those new to the band: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1AY7QWllbeNMHQz6hOW1ls?si=NnAUqJm4QIqxJ4-oxAye-A

You can find Emmet’s writing on Medium @dumbartistotle. You can follow me on twitter @lamniformes_ or on instagram @iankcory. More episodes soon, until next time.

Today I am joined by Davey Hines, better known as Davey Friday. Davey is a designer, fine artist, and studying architect. His work draws from a wide range of sources, his academic background in biology and architecture, his upbringing in Chicago, and his experience working as a DIY fashion designer. Davey and I first became friends while working together in Chicago and he quickly became one of my favorite intellectual sparing partners. I was delighted to have him on to discuss his artistic evolution and how his more recent work intersects with his political consciousness.

You can find Davey’s work on instagram @daveyfriday and @fridaydealings.

This is the audio version of my latest newsletter, in which I recommend some of my favorite music related newsletters and talk about why the form has had a resurgence recently. This episode was recorded on my "mobile" setup, so please excuse any harsh plosive sounds that made their way into the mix.

You can follow my newsletter here: https://tinyletter.com/IanKCory

Today I am joined by Daniel Müller, the bassist of Wilderun, a progressive metal band whose third album, “Veil of Imagination” will be re-released by Century Media on July 17th. The record is, and I say this with all due respect to the band’s first two albums, a massive leap forward for the group on all fronts. The band have evolved from a progressive minded folk metal act into something harder to pin down, sprawling in its themes and orchestration but laser focused in its melodic intent.

You can find Wilderun’s music at wilderun.bandcamp.com, and you can find links to their Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, and Twitter pages at wilderun.com.

Pre-order "Veil of Imagination" from Century Media:https://centurymedia.store/product/Y4CE256COMBO/wilderun-veil-of-imagination-cd-digital-download

This is the audio version of my latest newsletter, about the current wave of protests in America and a useful concept that I picked up from reading Thomas Pynchon's "Gravity's Rainbow." Power to the people, Black Lives Matter, solidarity forever.

The closing song is a cover of The Style Council's "A Stone's Throw Away."

https://goodlifegarden.org/

Today I am joined by Greg Obis. Greg is the singer and guitarist of the band Stuck, from Chicago. He is also the co-runner of Born Yesterday, a record label which in addition to Stuck’s music, also recently released Cafe Racer’s Shadow Talk. For a day job, Greg works at Chicago Mastering Service and has mastered records by Greg Fox, Paul Cherry, and Another Michael among others. Greg and I spoke about how this path through the Chicago music scene led to the release of Stuck’s debut album Change is Bad, a tense post-punk record informed both by a sense of political hopelessness and the death of Greg’s parents.

You can find Change is Bad on bandcamp at stuckchi.bandcamp.com. You can find more info about Greg’s work as an engineer at gregobis.com.

This is the audio version of my latest newsletter, part autobiography and part comparison between how dancing works in the metal scene versus the hardcore scene. You can find the text version by subscribing to my newsletter at https://tinyletter.com/IanKCory

Today’s guest is Emmet Penney, a writer whose work I edited when I worked for Invisible Oranges. Recently one of Emmet’s best articles, about the material conditions that led to Nu-metal’s popularity, started to make the rounds on Twitter. Around the same time I was doing a deep dive into the discography of Korn, the band that inarguably made nu-metal a trend in the 1990s. The timing felt fortuitous, so I reached out to Emmet and asked him if he wanted to talk about Korn at length for the podcast. Our ensuing conversation is in part a summary of Emmet’s original article as well as our collective analysis of Korn’s impact and importance to the American cultural landscape in the late 20th century.

You can find Emmet's original article and his Medium below:

http://www.invisibleoranges.com/life-is-peachy-nu-metal-and-america/

https://medium.com/@DumbAristotle

This is the audio version of the most recent issue of my newsletter. Basically, I'm thinking out loud about Bandcamp waiving their revenue sharing once again, as well as Spotify's new Tip Jar feature. Are these good for artists? Does this change anything?

Subscribe to my newsletter at: https://tinyletter.com/IanKCory

Sources:

https://pitchfork.com/news/musicians-earned-43-million-from-bandcamp-on-friday/

https://trapital.co/2020/03/18/how-hip-hop-helped-cash-app-grow-faster/

https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/spotify-now-enables-fans-to-pay-artists-money-direct-via-cashapp-and-paypal-partnerships/

Today I am joined by percussionist and composer Adam Holmes. Last year Adam released his first full length album “Compartments” Stemming from his desire to write music for percussion instruments small enough to carry in a suitcase, “Compartments" is a fascinating listen that combines minimalistic instrumentation with live computer processing to create a sound that is both tactile and otherworldly. Over the course of our conversation, Adam and I discussed the technical process behind “Compartments,” how he came to classical percussion, and his thoughts on the state of performing new music live. Thanks for listening.

You can find Adam’s music, as well as his blog, at adamholmesmusic.com.