Frank Zappa is an awfully difficult man to summarize. He recorded dozens of dozens of albums with numerous different bands in countless different genres. He was a relentless innovator, never sticking with one style for long and always pushing forward into completely new musical territory, whether he thought his audience would be willing to follow him or not. Where do you even start discussing a man whose work consistently defies categorization and lacks a single album that stands as a “representative” work? Well, when all else fails, start at the beginning! On this episode, Phil is leading the Frank Zappa superfan contingent of Discord And Rhyme (consisting of John, Dan, and Mike) through a discussion of Frank Zappa’s wildly innovative 1966 debut double album, Freak Out!. Come for the doo-wop, stay for the musique concrète.
Read More
Can you hear those towering walls of amped-up guitars in our latest episode, accompanied by aching lyrics you can barely hear? That’s because we’ve loaded it with Sugar! After pioneering alternative rock in the hardcore punk band Hüsker Dü, frontman and guitarist Bob Mould briefly went solo, then formed a new power trio named after a stray packet of sugar that caught his eye while eating at a Waffle House. (This naming convention would not be repeated until the 2000 Hootie & the Blowfish covers album Scattered, Smothered and Covered.) Sugar’s high-decibel, disarmingly sincere brand of power pop has always made the band Will’s preferred branch of the Mouldverse, and this week he’s joined by Ben, Will, and special guest Scott Floman to discuss their 1992 masterpiece Copper Blue.
Read More
Elle King is a tough, scrappy, incredibly talented musician who doesn’t get nearly as much attention as she should. Rather than being dismissed as a “one-hit wonder,” which has unfairly (and inaccurately) already happened, she should be appreciated as a versatile artist who can rock your face off with enormous guitars and drums one minute, then turn around and break your heart with a banjo ballad the next. Today we’re here to tell you why her enormous voice, her gift for both melody and lyrics, and her love of really loud percussion are very much worth your time.
Read More
Hey, hey, it’s Discord & Rhyme! If, as alleged, the Monkees were a fake band, you’d never know it from listening to their 1967 album Headquarters - on which they wrote (most of) the songs and played (most of) the instruments. On this episode, Ben leads a discussion about this fascinating and fun anomaly in the career of the Pre-Fab Four. He’s joined by Mickey, Peter, and Mike — oops, we mean by Amanda, Dan, and Rich.
Read More
It’s our third holiday episode, so why not sit comfortably and talk about a third Moody Blues album? By 1972, The Moody Blues had successfully transitioned their sound from the ’60s to the ’70s without losing their ability to generate top-5 charting albums in both the U.S. and the U.K., but they were also on the verge of total burnout that would lead to them taking a six-year hiatus between new studio albums. Seventh Sojourn is the last entry in the band’s core period before they went on break, and it has some of the band’s very best material despite not having any poetry or a single second of Mellotron. Come listen to John, Rich, Amanda, and Phil indulge themselves with an album they know and love from the podcast’s unofficial mascot band, and especially listen for when Amanda confesses to the single hottest take in the history of Moody Blues podcasting.
Read More
On her junior album Homogenic, Björk (pronounced “Bjerk”) dumped the playful genre-bending of her earlier albums for a consistent palette of strings and volcano-like, almost proto-dubstep beats, and the result is almost universally considered the pièce de résistance of her career. But even more than that, the album is a mature, unique expression of Björk’s inner life, at a time when the press often treated her as more a quirky headline in a swan dress and less a human being. Well, Discord & Rhyme will have none of that! Returning guest Shivam Bhatt has a limitless ability to gush over Björk, and he joins Rich, John, and Mike for an episode best described as “groveling at the feet of a deity.” There are so many things we love about Björk, from her truly outside the box lyricism to her absolutely otherworldly voice, and we hope this episode conveys the unpredictable joy of getting to know her music.
Read More
Sly & the Family Stone was in many ways the quintessential American band (and John’s pick as the greatest American band), a rags-to-riches-to-rags story of a San Francisco group that rose from obscurity to worldwide popularity and acclaim, only to implode from intraband conflicts and the excesses of fame. The 1973 album Fresh captures the band right before collapse, after it had survived a transformation from an optimistic 60s psychedelic soul act to a top-notch 70s cocaine funk act, and it’s both an excellent album in its own right and a fascinating prism through which to examine the band’s career as a whole. Join John (host), Rich (moderator), Phil, and Ben as they examine an album adored by George Clinton, Miles Davis, and Brian Eno alike, and an album that even makes "Qué Será, Será" sound cool.
Read More
The song “Black Sabbath” on the album Black Sabbath by the band Black Sabbath is one of the rare occasions where the beginning of a new genre can be traced to one specific moment. We’re here to present the case that this is one of the most important records ever made, without which there would be no Iron Maiden, no Judas Priest, no Metallica, and no Def Leppard, and nobody wants to live in that world. Not only is it one of rock’s most influential albums, it still holds up incredibly well after 50 years. Just listen to that opening riff and try to say that isn’t one of the coolest things you’ve ever heard.
Read More
Surprise! Due to some scheduling conflicts and the fact that we are all humans with lives, we weren’t able to record our scheduled episode in time. But luckily, back in April 2020, we decided it would be a good idea to record an emergency backup episode for just such an event! (Such is our dedication to you, the listener.) So we decided to tackle Revolver, an album that could only have been made by the Beatles, and only in 1966. John, Ben, and Amanda spent a couple of hours chatting about an album that blows our minds, makes us deliriously happy, and changed the course of rock music forever.
Read More
Discord & Rhyme gets the Halloween season started with spine-tingling tales of animals, air, and paper! Well, okay... admittedly, these topics sound a bit more unsettling in the hands of Talking Heads on their 1979 opus to paranoia, Fear of Music. Dan guides a packed panel of Phil, John, Mike, and Rich through Talking Heads’ weird, transitional album that bridges the gap from the band’s early new wave style to its more eclectic flirtations with funk and world music. This ain't no party. This ain't no disco. This is Discord & Rhyme!
Read More
