This week we welcome Mr. Bowie's most enduring, far out and cosmic, colourful creation, Ziggy Stardust. Strap into your rocket ship as we discuss his origins, arrival, success and how, inevitably, Ziggy lived by the chord and died by the very same (almost taking our David with him), but not before leaving us with one of the best albums in the history of rock. It is, to quote the bespangled one, a total blam blam. 

So what do you do if you have it all? The jaw dropping cat-like sexual allure, the universe-cracking enlightenment of the drugs, and the effortless swagger of the rock'n'roll; exuding poetry, lust, mystery and an irresistible smile that suggests you ARE love, life, death and everything in between? Well we started a podcast. But you could just as easily be one of rocks most enduring icons and be Jim Morrison. Ride into the storm with us as we take a desert drive through the history of The Doors and the making of their debut, swirl through each track and take a trip along the rest of their career before it all came crashing down. 

one of the biggest bands in the world, Metallica were the biggest metal band in

the world (sorry Maiden), and while they still remain one of the biggest names

in the stadium game, they are unarguably the most important US metal band of

all time. Paying the world a service by spearheading the movement that fought

tooth, nail and beer tab to destroy poseurs and the hair metal polluting the

stages and airwaves, these guys not only played faster and harder than most,

they also possessed a musical vocabulary unparalleled in the then nascent world

of thrash. Mixing NWOBHM fist pumping riffery with Venom’s over-the-topness and

Motorhead’s relentless, effortless cool, these guys brought metal out of the

garage and into the mainstream. For a while there, they were untouchable. There

was the one with the talent (and THAT roar), the hyperactive businessman, the

one who was just happy to be there and the not-of-this world musical behemoth

hippie. We sit down to discuss their roots, the making of this unrivaled

masterpiece, go from front to back (and “back to the front!”) through all eight

blitzkrieg thrash classics. And for those left

wondering, yes, there are Lars jokes. But probably marginally more Mustaine

jokes, to be honest.

This week's musical category is….. Damn. (Note to self, never finish a sentence you can't finish). We love talking about big, bad classic rock, pop and indie records, but we've really taken a sharp turn into left field here and "quirky" just ain't gonna cover it. Ariel Pink: one of the biggest names in home recording in the last ten years. Part of the beauty is that ten years ago that last sentence wouldn't have made any sense. And much like this man's music, that's kind of the idea.  Is it Retro-dream pop? Chillwave? Bedroom music alterna-genius or just bonkers? Spoiler here, if he were just bonkers, we wouldn't spend an evening talking about the origins of this intriguing, kaleidoscopic creature, his history, the making of this, his most celebrated work, and a recap of his apparent ascent into modern madness; equally despised, loved, misunderstood and worshiped by a generation of bedroom dwelling, aspiring lo-fi laptop Lennons. In this episode we drop super de jour terms like "hypnagogic pop" and try and separate the strange from the sublime, from the kitchen sink.

We may outnumber the White Stripes here at Chez  Album Club, but there's no way one could possibly outgun them. Not only one of the shining lights of the New Rock revolution at the beginning of this century, the truth is this brother and sister duo (just kidding, we've actually done our research) were louder and heavier than most of their peers. And certainly more confounding a proposition. Straight outta Detroit, these candy striped retro charmers, had minimalist slabs of caveman fuzz, slick as hell blues licks not heard in rock since the days of Zep, all kept from falling apart at the seams by Mr. White's pained mewls, croons, screams and possessed carnival barker speaking-in-tongues oddness. And then, on top of that, the man could also pen sweet folky nostalgic ditties. We do give Jack and Meg playful ribbin' here and there, but it's all done with love for what is arguably one of the decade's finest albums and one of rock's most original talents.

To our highly trained ears, the subject of this weeks eipsode, Elvis Costello, sounds a lot like.... well, Elvis Costello. That's all I got. There really isn't anyone like the second most famous Elvis in the music industry. Long before this consummate and staggeringly prolific musician was making really serious grown up music like jazz, opera, lounge, blues, he was a staggeringly prolific purveyor of wirey post-punk power pop with hooks for miles and one the best rhythm sections in popular music. And all while rollicking along with his trademark twitchy nasal croon. Geek rock before geeks rocked, Elvis stood out like a sore thumb; too cerebral for New Wave and too caustic for mainstream play.  We strut through his roots, his early days and the making of this, his second platter, go track by track, tapping our feet incessantly and then recounting the ambitions that took him far beyond the confines of skinny tie wearing, energy packed, jerky pop gems and into feuds, seemingly endless collaborations and 'very serious' muso territory. Geek interrupted.

This week The Album Club is repping our little corner of the world because we haven't "gone local" since we discussed The Avalanches in Season 1. However, we chose not go for the obvious old school big fish such as ACDC, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, or The Saints (there'll be time for all of those, friends!) or even the more contemporary bright lights such as Tame Impala, Jagwar Ma or Courtney Barnett (these too. Boy, are we gonna be busy!). Instead, we thought we'd fly the flag for one of Australia's rock legends: Rowland S Howard. Founding member of the Birthday Party and noise guitarist extraordinaire,it's hard to imagine someone not only keeping up with but, in many ways, outshining the aforementioned Mr. Cave. There's a special place in our hearts for interesting rock stars here at The Album Clubhouse and you just have to Google Rowland, or better yet, fire up the ol' YouTube and watch the man set a figurative fire to his instrument to see where we're coming from. All jangley, steel scratching, shrapnel wielding maelstrom. Sadly, Howard's life was strewn with struggles with addiction and retreated into relative obscurity for a while before his untimely death, but not before surprising many with not one but two fantastic comeback albums earlier this decade; arguably his best work. If you aren't familiar with his god tier caterwauling and and pained howl, you're in for a treat. We give the low down on his origins, his larger than life stage presence, the confoundingly unique approach to guitar playing, and the making of this record, before plunging into the track by track and concluding with a what happened next while the wash of feedback still rings in our ears. Always honest, sometimes troubled, sorrowful but never bitter, Rowland was a total Rock'n'Roll legend. Ben, Andrew and Alex approve.

There was a lot going on in rock n'roll in 1968. The White Album and Electric Ladyladyland  (to name just a few) were re-shaping the contours and reach of the genre and things were moving pretty fast. So it was a hell of a head-scratcher when Ray Davies and his merry bunch  slowed things right down. Eschewing all that cutting edge modernity for a retreat to the Village Green, with all its traditional quaintness and bucolic serenity, The Kinks lit a pipe, donned tweed elbow patches, and consciously stopped looking forward, instead dreamily turning their minds and guitars to the halcyon days of traditional small town life. A ballsy move that was ill received at the time but has earned this record the reputation as one of the band's, and indeed the era's, finest. Our mate Huey joins us to walk through the town's nooks and crannies, discuss the concepts and themes, the making of and the merits of each track, before tackling the frosty reception it received and what lay in store afterwards for The Kinks.