The Beaten Track

The long awaited collaboration between the acclaimed producer Danger Mouse and Philadelphia's legendary Black Thought. Embracing old school hip hop soundscapes and dipping into 60s and 70s soul, psych and jazz sounds, this record is a triumph in producer/rapper collaborations. Joe and Louis discuss their favourite tracks on the record, including the feature from the late MF DOOM. Oh, and the quizzing features cheating, exploding cigars and bulletproof bananas.

We took our time with this one, ensuring we got each position in this top 5 album list exactly right. Elliott Smith deserves such close attention as well, with his remarkably strong discography which stretched from lo-fi demos to power pop ambitions. Louis and Joe take on the mammoth task of ranking classics like Either/Or, a posthumous release and the slap of Figure 8's full band sound.

This week it was a band that both Joe and Louis have great affection for. Canadian Indie Poppers Alvvays followed up their fuzzy and nostalgic debut in 2014 with Antisocialites, released in 2017 it brought more sugary hooks, delightful melodies and wonderfully crafted pop tunes. We talk you through each and every track on this all flawless record and finish off with the Superheroes of BMX.

Industry industry industry. This week we discussed the pioneers of industrial sound Throbbing Gristle and their ironically titled 20 Jazz and Funk Greats. Featuring a classic Beachy Head album cover and some of the most immersive and honest industrial sounds ever recorded. In tribute to the bands use of samples, listen out for the dog barking we cut into this weeks episode...

Another album ticked off in our grand quest to cover them all, and this one is from this year! Nilüfer Yanya delivered her much anticipated second album earlier in 2022 following her brilliant and messy Miss Universe in 2019, featuring the same knack for dynamic songwriting and artsy production this record is a more focused and coherent affair than her debut. Joe and Louis fire through the albums strong tracklist and do a pretty hopeless round up of the years music so far..

And like a bolt from the blue it's 3 episodes in 3 weeks for the best alternative music podcast out there. And this week it's a beautiful, bright, noisy, pummelling, maelstrom of sound from Rhode Island noise duo Lightning Bolt. Creating a wall of pulsating sound with just drums and pitch shifted bass (oh and some distorted vocals from inside a ski mask) they took their cue from the Japanese noise scene as well as incorporating some free jazz and art-rock styles on their 2003 album. Join us as we take you through the record and reveal the cost of purchasing 30,00 toy monkeys.

What a Killer! Miraculously Louis has waited 65 episodes to choose a Neil Young album to discuss but finally the moment has come. With over 3,000 studio albums and over 1 million if you count the live ones, lost ones and archives it can be difficult to choose a starting point but we managed. The 1975 record Zuma signalled the return of his backing band Crazy Horse and was a momentous record for the development of the guitar sound that would later influence many Grunge artists. Louis and Joe discuss monster tracks Danger Bird and Cortez the Killer, and round off with some lacklustre quizzing.

After a short break we're back to what we do best, diving head first into a shoegaze swirl with this 1996 album from Swirlies. With an impressively long album title and even more impressive experimental songwriting, the album provides an alternative form of this distortion heavy sound. We discuss fuzzy guitars, drum machines and vocoders, whilst Joe's motorsport knowledge is put firmly to the test in an exciting closing quiz.

It's a whopping great double album for Louis and Joe to dive into this week. Big Thief's big album demands big praise. After two albums in 2019 from the Indie Folk outfit they spent the pandemic recording an eclectic collection of songs across four different recording sessions. The result is an immense display of songwriting talent, boundless exploration and boingy harp sounds. Oh, and Joe actually did a quiz this time as well...

Plunging our feet into the sludge this week with the young dinosaurs. With wild, distortion heavy, flanged out guitars and sugary hooks Dinosaur Jr. led the move away from the hardcore punk of the 80s. An iconic band in terms of their influence upon underground music, their 1987 effort saw them at perhaps their most raw and powerful. With an unbalanced mix and a dangerous edge, this slacker band still pack a punch. Joe and Louis peel pieces of scuzzy guitar off them after the onslaught and discuss the definitive Police song.